The Purpose of the Association
The lesson of December 16, 2004
Man is born with a drive to receive…
Our entire nature is the desire to receive pleasure. All of the things we desire, everything we think about, and everything that emerges within us are nothing other than the various degrees of the presence or the absence of pleasure, and nothing more.
Even the most removed and abstract notions in our thoughts and plans, which may seem to be completely unrelated to feelings, are nevertheless based only on the perception of “better” or “worse”. Only afterwards do we receive various measurements in our mind.
Man is born with a drive to receive called self-love (or egoism, which is the name we use to refer to the desire to receive pleasure). Wherever he cannot see a benefit for himself, he has not fuel enough for the slightest movement.
In addition, the pleasure that a person expects in the future must be greater than the pleasure he feels right now. In this case, the difference between the current pleasure and the expected future pleasure will be the driving force that will cause him to move.
Yet without nullifying this self-love it is impossible to achieve the emulation of G-d, i.e. identifying in His form.
How, then, are we able to nullify our own egoism? Where will we get the energy to do this? If I received pleasure by suppressing my egoism, as a masochist does, then I would suppress it in order to receive pleasure. However, our task is to suppress our egoism in order to achieve union with the Creator, that is, to achieve the property of bestowal. However, my nature was not created such that the property of bestowal is a reward for me.
If I was able to imagine my future state as a reward, meaning the state in which I give everything and do not have any concern for myself, and in which I concern myself only with other people and I love everyone; if I conceived of this state as a reward then I would have the strength to achieve it and to suppress my egoism. However, if I am made only of egoism then how can I annihilate it all by myself? Egoism itself will not allow me to do this; it will not permit me. What, then, is the way out of this dilemma?
Rabash writes: “This is in direct opposition to our nature; thus the need for an association. Together, as a great power, we can work to nullify the will to receive, which is, itself, The Evil, in as much as it interferes with the attainment of the purpose for which man was created.”
I have been given a specific goal and I have to achieve this goal. However, I am not capable of achieving it because it is contrary to my egoism. Egoism does not allow me to take even the smallest step towards this goal. How, then, will I be able to find the strength within myself in order to achieve this goal?
Therefore the association must be made up of individuals, all of whom are of the same world-view, that is, that the will to receive must be subdued. Then, the association of such individuals will establish a great power that will be able to overcome its collective self-love. This is by reason of the inclusion of the general in the particular: each is included in all, and, conversely, all in each. Therefore each individual can tap into the great collective power of the whole association to achieve the goal.
Each person will receive such a great force of opposition to his own egoism, that it will enable him to suppress his egoism and to ascend spiritually.
A person should not even attempt to find the strength for spiritual change and spiritual ascent inside of his own self, because to do this is absolutely impossible. It is precisely our own egoism, our “evil”, or our Klipa that forces us to search for the source of these forces within ourselves.
In reality, only after a great amount of searches, perhaps even after many years, does a person arrive at the state when he finally understands that he does not contain anything that can help him to ascend spiritually.
The only place where he is able to acquire the energy to perform an anti-egoistic action against his nature and in order to rise above it into the spiritual world, is only from the people around him. That is, a person should never appeal to himself, but rather only to his environment.
In order to achieve this "inter-inclusion" of one individual with another, each person must nullify himself before the other.
By doing this a person will be able to receive an impression of the greatness of the goal from the others to such a degree that he will be willing to part with his own egoism, because he will see that egoism and the goal contradict each other,
This is accomplished when each sees the other's good points and disregards his failings. He, who considers himself even a little above his fellows, will not be able to fully join them or assimilate with them.
A person will not be able to give them his own feeling of the greatness of the goal as well as his feeling that one can part with one’s egoism for the sake of achieving the goal. In addition, he will also not be able to receive their feeling of the greatness of the goal, and that it is worthwhile to part with egoism for the sake of reaching the Goal.
Similarly, at the time of this self-nullification, they must be serious. Otherwise they will not be in tune with the overall goal. They must be very careful not to be drawn into words and actions which do not contribute to the purpose for which they were assembled, namely intimacy with G-d (this should always be the purpose).
Only when not among colleagues is it better to conceal the intention in their heart and to be, externally, like every one else. A person should not stand out and should not talk about what he is doing in his group when he is in an outside environment and when he encounters other people who do not relate to this Goal.
Therefore it is essential that when colleagues come together that they should be egalitarian with each other in order to be able to nullify themselves to each other. The members of the group must have exactly the same desires and the same goal. They must constantly clarify this, in order for all of them to be as one person with one mind and one heart, and for each person to understand the others in such a way that it will be easy for him to lower himself before the others in order to become impressed by their exaltation of the goal, i.e. the greatness of the Creator and the greatness of unifying with Him. This impression has to be so great that even the biggest egoism will not be an obstacle. Rather, a person will always and happily stomp it for the sake of unifying with the Creator.
This association must take care not to be encroached upon by lightheadedness, which would destroy everything.
The biggest mistake and the greatest harm that a person can inflict on the group is when he brings lightheadedness into it, that is, a slighting or any kind of light attitude towards the goal. Lightheadedness is not when a person tells a joke or a funny story to raise his friend’s mood. Lightheadedness is not even when I talk about something that happened somewhere in the world. Lightheadedness is the name for a light thought about the Goal of creation, that is, when I begin to think that the Goal of creation is not as important as it should be thought of, and when a light thought in relation to it emerges within me. This kind of attitude destroys everything.
On the other hand, when one is not with a colleague of the association, one must show no seriousness, but to be just like the person with whom he now is. He should not to talk about serious things, but about things of interest to the one he is with now, who is termed "the uninvited guest".
If someone from the outside chanced to be at the group meeting, the group has to stop being serious. They should immediately begin to talk on the level of the uninvited guest, that is, they should never reveal their goal and their exaltation of the goal in front of this person, because this person, who is not in the perception of the greatness of the goal, will introduce to it his lightheadedness, prejudice, and disdain, and this will transmit to everyone else.
We must fear the presence of outside people in the group. An outside person to the group can be even I, who has been studying for a long time already, if my current attitude towards the group and towards the gathering of the group is equivalent to the attitude of an outside person. That is, if my current thoughts are careless.
Therefore, each one of us should first realize that he cannot move towards the goal on his own, because movement towards the goal can happen only by suppressing one’s egoism, that is, by pushing upwards away from it. In order to take a jump up from egoism a person should envision to himself that there is something above that is more attractive than the egoism is. A person does not have this evaluation initially, rather, egoism attracts a person more than anything else. This means that I must have a greater force of attraction to the goal and the Creator than the force of my attraction to egoism; I have to feel that they are opposite. Then, when I become aware of this inside of myself, I must then turn to the group so that it would help me to acquire the force of rejection of egoism and attraction to the Creator.
If I relate to the group with the purpose of receiving this force from it, then this means that I perceive that the group can give me something, that it is higher than me, better than me and more perfect than I am. In this case, I lower myself before the group and I make myself small relative to my friends. That is, I have to see them as great people, as corrected and good. I have to turn to them and find love for them within myself, because we receive pleasure from those we love and we wish to be closer to them and to acquire something from them. As a result of this, the perception of the entire group’s importance of the goal will emerge in me.
This is how relentlessly constant work on yourself with the help of the group brings a person to the point when he acquires the strength to ascend more and more, to push upwards away from egoism more and more and to ascend higher. A person is able to ascend the steps of the spiritual ladder only to the degree that he receives strength from the group.
Is the group still necessary after the passing of the Machsom? Movement by way of the group does not end in our world during the time of preparation, i.e. in the double and single concealment. After the passing of the Machsom, the group and the teacher become even more necessary. Afterwards a person already begins to unify with the other souls in action, he begins to accept their suffering as his own and then to receive the perception of the Creator and unification with the Creator inside of their Kelim, and thus a person achieves universal love.
Question: In the article it says that in order to receive additional desire, a person must justify his friend. How can I justify him when I see that my friend sleeps during the lesson, then he leaves to go somewhere, eats some pastries and comes back to the lesson for twenty minutes?. Am I being shown this state on purpose, and do I have to justify it?
If I see that my friend is in a state of descent and in a bad state, then I have to justify him. I have to say the following: “If I was experiencing this kind of descent then I would act the same way or worse. My descents are always smaller than his, and I still act this way sometimes”. This is how I have to justify him until I finally consider him to be my friend.
If we all come to the conclusion that he is no longer our friend then we have to do something else with him. That is, we have to decide that he is not our friend, disconnect from him, take him outside of the boundaries of our society and, obviously, no longer become impressed by him. However, if he is still located within our society and I consider him to be my friend then I am obligated to lower myself before him, to look for every kind of justification for him and to persuade myself in all kinds of ways in order to justify him and place him above myself.
If, however, I objectively see that his behavior is completely not in accord with the Statute, that is, with that which every person must give to the group, then I should consult with the group and together we have to decide what to do with this friend. However, until we have reached a decision, I am obligated to relate to him the same way as to all the others: to lower myself and to try to receive the greatness of the goal from him, despite the way he behaves.
In sum, I cannot receive the exaltation of the goal from this friend because right now he is not generating it and is not putting it out. Nevertheless, I am able to receive the lowering of myself relative to him, or to lower myself before him, which is one of the two components of advancement.
It is not a big problem for me to lower myself before someone who is higher, who is excited, who studies all the time and always participates in everything. I objectively see that this is true. However, if I am able to lower myself before someone who is really in a state of descent, who is unable to study and to show everyone that the goal is great inside of him; if despite all of this I still find a way to lower myself before him and to find a justification for him, then I am really lowering myself.
The work of lowering oneself is precisely with regard to this kind of friend, who is in a state of descent. On the other hand, the work of elevating oneself is when I try to find which one of my friends is really in the state when he can say something inspiring, can show a good example and can somehow express his aspiration. Another thing I can do is to look at my friends, simply see how they are working everywhere and participating in everything, and to absorb their feeling of importance.
I see two states in my friend. I am given the sight of these two states on purpose. In addition, these states are such that I am able to criticize a person’s states of ascent as well as his states of descent. I can simply criticize everything, or vice-versa, I can appreciate this or that state, love my friend in these states and benefit from both of his states.
Question: Why is the uninvited guest’s carelessness and disdain absorbed more easily that the friend’s importance of the goal?
Everything that goes toward egoism’s benefit is accepted automatically and we do not have to exert any efforts for this to happen. For this reason, even if a person on the street says something against the Goal of creation then I agree with him inside of myself: “Yes, it seems to be true”, because I immediately become subjected to the influence of his egoism. When I am located outside of the group I may even laugh at myself in the group. This is the degree to which I can be under the influence of the outside people around me, because this goes toward the benefit of my egoism and I do not need to exert any efforts against this.
The conclusion from all of this is that, if I am located somewhere outside of the group, then I have to externally appear absolutely the same way as everyone else and at the same time I have to be completely “Tzimtzummed” or concealed from them. You should never express anything or answer any questions when people ask them. This is the same as what goes on in my family: I do not talk about this, it is my personal matter and other people cannot poke their noses in it because this is my soul. That’s all. I can open your mouth and see your tonsils, but not your heart. That’s all, simply in the direct and simple sense of the word: “This is none of your business, it is my personal matter”.
Question: How can I connect the fact that I have to look for the single governing force in everything and at the same time justify and exalt my friend?
My search for the Creator is realized in my egoistic desire, which has to receive correction. The Creator will become perceived in the corrected egoistic desire, which will no longer be egoistic but will rather have the altruistic intention. The Creator will become perceived this way because the desire itself will acquire the Creator’s form.
Based on this, I have to work in two directions: I have to suppress my egoism, i.e. the egoistic desire with the intention “for myself”; while exalting the intention “for bestowal”. Therefore, two completely opposite attitudes towards the group and towards yourself come from this, or two kinds of work: the suppression of one and the exaltation of the other. This is because we are working inside of one single desire to receive pleasure, but with two opposite intentions: “for myself” and “for bestowal”, that is, the Creator.