In the News (from InterScience): “Prismatic Lenses Shift Time Perception” We took advantage of a well-known spatial modulation (prismatic adaptation) to test the hypothesis that the representation of time is spatially oriented from left to right, with smaller time intervals being represented to the left of larger time intervals. Results showed that prismatic adaptation inducing a rightward orientation of spatial attention produced an overestimation of time intervals, whereas prismatic adaptation inducing a leftward shift of spatial attention produced an underestimation of time intervals. These findings not only confirm that temporal intervals are represented as horizontally arranged in space, but also reveal that spatial modulation of time processing most likely occurs via cuing of spatial attention…

My Comment: This is because our brain perceives time, movement, and space in the same way – in the form of abstract values. In fact, these categories only exist subjectively, in our perception. If our perception were different, we would perceive the surroundings differently as well.

Everything in existence is formed by two forces: bestowal and reception. These forces produce different concepts inside us about the world, actions and events. It is similar to how electricity can set many different mechanisms in motion and cause different actions to occur, even though it is a single force.

Related Material:
Laitman.com: The Nonexistent Movie Of Our Reality
Laitman.com Post: The Ouality Of Bestowal Brings Vitality And Universal Respect
Laitman.com Post: The Mysteries Of Our Perception
Shamati #1: “There is None Else Beside Him” – Lesson 2

Filed under: Perception - No Comments →

In the News (from The New York Times): “Europe Relaxes Rules on Sale of Ugly Fruits and Vegetables” Misshapen fruit and vegetables won a reprieve on Wednesday from the European Union as it scrapped rules banning overly curved, extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce from supermarket shelves… The rising cost of commodities also persuaded the European Commission that there was no point in throwing away food just because it looked strange… European shoppers will then be able to choose their produce whatever its appearance.

My Comment: Everything created by Nature is beautiful. It is the genetic engineering that is supplying us with ugly products, and causing cancer and other diseases. However, right now this is the only way we can provide for ourselves.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Some Even Make A Profit Off Of Expired Food
Laitman.com Post: Don’t Mess With Nature’s Balance
Laitman.com Post: Our Living Depends On Our Attitudes
From Chaos to Harmony: “Breaching the Balance. The Crisis as an Opportunity to Restore Balance”

Filed under: Economy - 1 Comment →

In the News (from The Independent): “Just 96 months to save world, says Prince Charles” Capitalism and consumerism have brought the world to the brink of economic and environmental collapse, the Prince of Wales has warned in a grandstand speech… Charles’s speech was described as his first attempt to present a coherent philosophy in which he placed the threat to the environment in the context of a failing economic system…

Charles said that without “coherent financial incentives and disincentives” we have just 96 months to avert “irretrievable climate and ecosystem collapse, and all that goes with it … If we don’t face up to this, then Nature, the biggest bank of all, could go bust…”

My Comment: The ecosystem doesn’t depend on us, but the economic system does. However, the way to change it for the better is not by trying to influence it directly, but by correcting our intentions from “reception” to “bestowal.” How can this be done? It is only possible by drawing a spiritual force from above, the force that created our egoism and that can change it, turning it into the opposite quality, that of bestowal and love. The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us how to draw this force of correction.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: True Bestowal Is When We Come Out Of Ourselves
Laitman.com Post: Can The World’s Problems Be Solved Without Kabbalah?
Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life: “The Giving Force and the Receiving Force”

Filed under: World - 1 Comment →

A question I received: Modern society is reliant on information. Now, in this time of crisis, the question of information overload becomes very real. Information overload refers to a situation where a person becomes a slave not only to material things but also to information; a person loses himself, drowns and detaches from his “I.”

My Answer: Actually, a person has yet to acquire his “I,” so he doesn’t have anything to lose. He is born into a specific situation without having any say about it. He has no choice as to his natural abilities, his personality traits, his family or upbringing. The clothes he wears, the way in which he sits, the food he eats, the way he speaks and the way he thinks are all things he absorbs from the society around him. Society teaches him to behave the way he does, and he acts according to the examples, conventions and values that he absorbed. Therefore, he does not have his own “I.”

Now, getting back to your question: When I go on the internet, I am not overloaded with information. I look for the things that interest me: a synopsis of today’s news or the latest in science. I am not overloaded with information because everything else on the Internet – 99% of its resources, just don’t exist for me. If a person is focused on an important goal, then he does not want to waste time on things that are less important.

In other words, everything depends on a person’s desires. If one’s desires are a level higher than what the current sources of mass information are able to offer (and frankly, today’s huge supply of information does not offer people anything but garbage), then a person does not see this information. Rather, he sees beyond this supply of information.

Thus, I would once again like to emphasize the importance of education, because it is the only means to change the society.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Freedom Is Being Able To Choose Your Master
Laitman.com Post: Bestowal To Others Is The Perfect Fulfillment
Laitman.com Post: Living Within The Desires Of Others
Laitman.com post: New Study Shows Teens Benefit From The Internet
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Freedom”

Filed under: Internet - 1 Comment →

In the News (from MailOnline): “Why richer mothers have more sons and poorer women can expect girls” Wealthier mothers tend to have more sons while hard-up women produce more daughters, a study claims. According to evolutionary theory, when conditions are good, and babies are likely to be healthy, a mother’s best chance of passing on her genes to another generation is to have boys.

My Comment: This is determined by the spiritual root, where Zeir Anpin, or the male part of creation, is the source of the Light for the female part, his Malchut. And she awaits fulfillment from him.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On the Men and Women Inside Us
Laitman.com Post: A Conversation About Pregnancy and Birth
Article: “The World of Infinity”
The Zohar: “The Night of the Bride”

Filed under: Science - No Comments →

In the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” Baal HaSulam writes about a person’s desire to clearly understand the meaning of his life. He says, “Yet the question, ‘What is the meaning of my life?’ stands as bitterly and as vehemently as ever. Sometimes it meets us uninvited, pecks at our minds and humiliates us to the ground before we find the famous ploy to flow mindlessly in the currents of life as yesterday.”

People will small desires are like small children: they want order. They set limits for themselves and live within confines that help them to feel safe. In addition, these people want their relationships with others to follow a hierarchy. They want to know, “This person is higher than me, and that one is lower. This one I have to fear and that one I have to respect.”

Many politicians, psychologists and sociologists use this to their advantage, and religion is also based on this. Throughout history, people have feared the forces of nature, believing that they are more powerful than they. They tried to smooth things over by treating these forces with respect, and thus, people built special systems by which they expressed their attitude to the forces of nature.

This is how religion was created. And religion was good for the people because it gave them a clear understanding of what was required of them. This institution was satisfactory to all, because people were able to shield themselves with religion.

Today, however, we are living in an entirely different era. Now the will to receive pleasure has outgrown all limitations. Whether people are secular or religious, they can no longer contain themselves within the previously set limits. They can no longer flow “within the currents of life as yesterday.”

In the past, people simply carried out predetermined actions without much analysis or debate. People acted in certain ways, and were contented by this because they knew that they were living their lives correctly. Today, however, people can no longer be satisfied by this lifestyle, because none of these actions give them the answer to the question, “What do I live for?”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Percieving The World From Beginning To End
Laitman.com Post: Religion Is Just A Cultural Framework In Our World
Laitman.com Post: All Of Evolution Is Aimed At Making Us Attain The Upper Level Of Consciousness
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Essence of Religion and its Purpose” – Lesson 1
Interview: “Psychological Counseling at the Time of the Crisis” (Part 2)

Filed under: Spirituality - No Comments →

In the News (from Global Issues): Many people are now calling for fundamental reforms of the financial systems, internationally. This includes international banking and finance, to reform of international financial institutions such as the World Bank and IMF … it was hoped leading developing countries might have voice to make the rich nations agree to meaningful measures … Instead, rich nations resisted substantive reforms demanded by developing countries.

My Comment: Today, no one is making any offers to anyone because the future is uncertain. People can plan for long-term reforms as long as the markets are predictable, but now, no one understands what is going on. And this trend will continue until people discover that the problem is the faulty relationships within the society.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: No-one At The World Economic Forum Wants To Admit That They Have No Solution To The Financial Crisis
Laitman.com Post: Fear And Suspicion Will Vanish If Everyone In The World Will Unite
Laitman.com Post: The Root Of The New Economic Model
Laitman.com Post: The Horn Of The Messiah Is A Call For Unity

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Nature’s goal is to reach globalization. Along with all humanity, Nature develops toward globalization according to the principle of self-organization, in line with predetermined laws of development. This is also how a fetus develops in a mother’s womb. As the fetus grows and develops, it builds increasingly complex systems, which evolve and reach greater levels of harmony and interconnection with each other.

The law of development necessitates a process where things become increasingly more complex, more integral and more interdependent. Ultimately, the result is that all subsystems are incorporated into one whole. However, these processes are revealed gradually and they become clearer over time.

A person, however, is influenced by his natural egoism, and thus he does not want to take part in this process voluntarily. Yet, under the influence of various factors, such as the global crisis, a person will be forced to participate, until he will reach the realization that instead of being forced, it’s better to do this voluntarily. He will realize this because he will see the inevitability of the law of development.

Thus, the suffering that comes along with the global crisis will cause us to voluntarily realize that our lives are global. At first we will agree to this reluctantly, and later we will understand it and accept that it is the best thing for us.

This is how today, Nature is beginning to show our future state to us. Kabbalah, however, enables us to understand this in advance, and thus to lessen the suffering that’s coming our way. Kabbalah allows us to study and understand the reasons for the blows in a timely manner, before the blows actually reach us.

And that’s all there is to globalization!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We Are Hardwired Into The Eternal Circuit Of Nature
Laitman.com Post: When It Comes To The Global Crisis, We Cannot Afford To Procrastinate
Laitman.com Post: Passing Through The Crisis To The Promised Land
Kabbalah Today Article: Globalization 101

Filed under: Suffering - No Comments →

A question I received: As a child, I asked my grandmother about the war she lived through, and she said, “You know, people get used to everything, even war.” So, in the current situation of economic uncertainty, this would mean that what’s happening isn’t so bad, because people will simply get used to having smaller salaries, and eventually everyone will simply forget about the crisis completely.

My Answer: This is exactly what the government leaders are hoping for: that our living standard will gradually decrease and reach a humble type of existence, a much lower living standard than today. This will also improve the ecology and the public relations. When everyone suffers together, people are comforted and everyone is in agreement.

However, what people don’t realize is that the crisis was not caused by overproduction or market speculation, but by the fact that human egoism has grown so much that we have lost all control over it. We are now at the final stage of egoism’s development, and Nature is now leading us to the next stage of our development – altruism. The fact that we are revealing a total interconnection between us and Nature means that this stage is already here. It is being revealed, and we have to adapt to it.

The only thing that can help us go through this period more smoothly is the dissemination of Kabbalah’s wisdom, which will explain the situation and the means to correct it. The government leaders will not be able to correct anything; in fact, they cannot even reach an agreement regarding anything. It would be good if they were able to reach a consensus at their G8 or G20 meetings and decide how much each country should lower its living standard for the sake of the common good.  However, instead they are involved in protectionism, where each is trying to separate from the rest. And this kind of behavior often leads to war.

Nevertheless, I am hopeful that the situation will reach a good outcome, and I do hope that they will discover the true reasons for the crisis and the solution, which is explained in Kabbalah. The program for everything already exists in Nature. However, this program does not include anything that’s artificial, such as the measures they are trying to take.

Unfortunately, for now they are still talking like regular leaders: “I have power, an army, police, and money.” Thus, they rule the world and every individual country using two things: the authority of money and the authority of force.

But what people need today is to be enlightened, educated about the global world we are now living in, and about the fact that all of our suffering is caused by a faulty global connection among us.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Crisis Is A Call For Us To Ascend Above This World
Laitman.com Post: Is The World Heading For Nazism Or Spiritual Development?
Laitman.com Post: The Root Of The New Economic Model
Laitman.com Post: Can Those Who Suffer Save The World?
Kabbalah Revealed: Chapter 6: “The (Narrow) Road to Freedom”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

A question I received: If you worked on Wall Street, would you not have done the same? They had an opportunity to embellish stock prices, fool the world, and receive a return of hundreds more times what the stock was originally worth. The problem is that the lies came to the surface and the stocks collapsed. So now the government is lining the pockets of the bankrupted financiers just to keep the entire system from crumbling. What’s next?

My Answer: By causing us to develop, Nature is pressuring us to find a solution. Kabbalah offers people a way to learn about the global world we have found ourselves in – a world of total, universal interconnection. Then, using this knowledge, we will be able to build a new society as well as a new kind of personal and public relations.

This wisdom enables people to see that we will reach a terrible outcome – such as wars and natural disasters – if we continue to develop arbitrarily. This outcome is opposite to the social change that Nature requires of us in a global world. The needed change is to create more global connections, mutual understanding and common participation.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Crisis Is The Revelation Of Our Broken Connections
Laitman.com Post: Reflections On The Crisis
Laitman.com Post: What Would It Be Like to Live In a Perfect World?
Laitman.com Post: A Game Played By The Rules Of Connection And Collaboration
Baal HaSulam Article: “Building the Future Society”
Lesson on Baal HaSulam Article: “The Bond (Arvut)”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →