In the news (from BBC): “Music ‘nurtures’ premature babies” Mounting evidence suggests that playing music to premature babies while hospitalized helps them grow and thrive.

The benefits are calmer infants and parents, as well as faster weight gain for the babies and shorter hospital stays.

A Canadian team reviewed nine studies and found music reduced pain and encouraged better oral feeding.

My comment: Music helps because it contains harmony born out of the unity between opposites. It is precisely when these opposites unite that they create harmony which corrects destructive thoughts, desires and qualities. Outwardly, this manifests as relaxation, distraction, etc. However, this quality is only contained within music with huge internal harmony such as classical music (Mozart) and not music that is built on destruction (Rock, Pop, etc).

Related Material:
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Laitman.com Post: Babies – Physical And Spiritual

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A question I received: Today’s school children are also taught to share and to contribute, but once they go out into the world, they come under the influence of a different set of values. What should we add to the existing educational system, in order to form a person, and not a professional?

My Answer: An ordinary modern school cannot raise a person, nor instill in him or her the correct attitude towards others. The only way to do this is with the help of the right environment (society), which we first need to create around students.

None of the schools that currently exist in the world set such a goal for themselves. Children all around the world are taught to succeed in passing formal tests, winning in competitive struggles, and stepping over others. Their compass is set to make them succeed, to acquire a profession for the greatest profit.

This used to work in the times of a competitive society. However, we now find ourselves in an integral society that functions according to the law: “the strongest does not prevail (above others); rather, the one who is united with the rest wins (together with all).” Therefore, there is a need to form a different kind of man: not everyone’s adversary, but everyone’s friend.

Forming such a person is against our egoistic nature. Therefore, what is needed is a special method (the Science of Kabbalah) and the means (the Correcting Force). Otherwise, people will once again pervert the idea of unity and start calling for the “Proletarians of all countries, unite!”; they will once again start building socialism or kibbutzim. Our egoism cannot come up with anything better than that.

Therefore, the proper upbringing is society’s number one problem. If it is not resolved,  society will not be able to reform itself as Nature demands. Such reform can only be achieved by applying Kabbalistic principles.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Schools Should Teach Children How To Become Human Beings
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Kabbalah Today Article: From Generation I—to Generation We

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In the News (from The Guardian): “Why the wheels fell off Germany’s economic model” – “There is a worldwide financial and economic crisis and Germany has been very badly hit because of its long-standing policy of wanting to become the world’s number one exporter,” explains Berlin’s deputy mayor and economy minister, Harald Wolf. “There has been a dramatic drop in export orders for industry and that will have appalling consequences for jobs….”

This is because German firms have worked hard to remain competitive in world markets in recent years and to make high-quality products that people want to buy. Exports accounted for 60% of German growth in recent years. The flip side is that it is has gotten slammed now that other countries don’t want to buy from Germany any more.

My Comment: The world has to give up high quality goods since the world bears down to the lowest common denominator – the average one.  The global and integral nature of the new world is pushing us to this state.

Throughout history, there have been revolutions that tried to bring about this state of balance, to “average out” humanity so that there wouldn’t be the diverse classes of the rich and the poor.  This was done so everyone would have all they needed for existence but no more, since excess is prohibited by Nature.

Related Material:
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Bail Yourself Out: III. Achieving Equilibrium. Chapter 12:”Money, Money, Money”

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In the News (from Nature): “Why inequality is fatal” In their new book The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better, epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett extend this idea with a far-reaching analysis of the social consequences of income inequality. Using statistics from reputable independent sources, they compare indices of health and social development in 23 of the world’s richest nations and among the individual US states. Their striking conclusion is that the societies that do best for their citizens are those with the narrowest income differentials.

Many measures of the quality of life, including life expectancy, are correlated with the degree of economic equality in each country. A variety of problems such as mental illness, obesity, cardiovascular disease, unwillingness to engage with education, misuse of illegal and prescription drugs, teenage pregnancy, lack of social mobility and neglect of child welfare increase with greater inequality.

My Comment: Everything in Nature is interconnected and geared towards balance and harmony. Currently, as we recognize that we are indeed “a small village” with each part of the world interconnected with the other, it is vital that we sustain balance. The imbalance among us, in society, is what causes the crises.

There is only one way to extricate ourselves from the crisis – and the authors found it. They came to the conclusion that egoism as a traditional engine of progress has exhausted itself and needs to be replaced. Their suggestion is that we make the transition from the system of egoistic consumption to a friendly and unified society: that we move from chasing profits to pursuing venues of mutual interest.

Related Material:
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A question I received: It is impossible to be in balance with Nature if my only approach toward life is egoistic. How can I achieve balance with Nature?

My answer: Today we are forced to face the truth. We are under the threat of hunger, epidemics, natural disasters, etc., and our natural development has led us to this situation.

We have relied on the sciences to improve our lives, but what have they given us? Their use has yet to bring us any good! Quite the opposite, we have destroyed our whole planet, our lives, have gotten entangled, thrown off-track, and are now facing a dead end.  Humanity’s foundation has been built on the wrong principles leading us to develop for thousands of years in the wrong direction – towards egoism.

That is why we must immediately change the principles of our foundation and embark on a new path!  The science of Kabbalah, and not the earthly sciences will help us advance on the path of development in a completely different manner. We will then utilize all scientific knowledge not to humanity’s detriment, but towards the common good. The principle underlying all scientific development must be the desire to do good onto others, rather than the use of knowledge, power and force for one’s own sake.

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