Good Environment – 10.14.11

My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Advice for the Week

State Security Agencies Out Of Commission

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday an economic expert is someone who knows how to make money at another’s expense without breaking the law. But we’re talking about another kind of economy, one which everyone must know because it allows a person to fulfill his soul, and not his pocket.

We provide all the physical necessities, everyone receives what they need, and we make sure that both children and adults learn to stay within the family budget. That is our first task: to take care of people’s basic needs, such as shelter, food, clothes, some work, a lot more study, and so on. And everything beyond the necessities must be purified and transferred to the spiritual domain.

That doesn’t mean that the owner of a factory making decorations will need to shut down his business. No, that is necessary as well, but only in a form and measure that doesn’t involve our ego. Everything must be balanced, but not by a state security agency; rather, it must be balanced by man himself whom we are raising to the human degree.

We cannot and don’t intend to issue arbitrary directives: “As of today everyone gets only one bottle of milk per day,” and so on. We need to elevate people to a level where they would be willingly content with quality, moderate consumption.

In the new economy, nothing can be actualized without education and the ascent of humanity. Essentially, we leave our “beast” in the material economy, while in all other aspects the economy assumes a spiritual form.

So, we have two economies: material and spiritual. The material economy is built upon monetary exchange, just as before, although perhaps the situation will change going forward. Whereas the spiritual economy must immediately complement all that a person is missing. His competitive aspirations, jealousy, hatred, inner impulses, “the grass is greener,” and so on, all these voids must be filled.

One cannot be abandoned midway without assistance. And education is essential for this. When the masses connect to this process and accept these explanations, everyone will have an environment that fulfills, obligates, and elevates him. And the more intensely he is gripped by hatred, jealousy, estrangement, and ambition, the more clearly he will feel that it is precisely the right environment that can fulfill these desires with mutual guarantee, while in the egoistic world they remain empty.

He will not decrease his aspirations, but increase them and actually fulfill them. Our essence cannot be pacified, so let it grow, but grow correctly.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/2011, “Peace in the World”

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The Solution To The Crisis Is In Similarity To Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank): “The euro zone sovereign debt crisis has become systemic and risks to the economy are increasing rapidly with Europe’s banks in the danger zone, European Systemic Risk Board (ESRB) Chairman Jean-Claude Trichet said on Tuesday.

“‘The high interconnectedness in the EU financial system has led to a rapidly rising risk of significant contagion. It threatens financial stability in the EU as a whole and adversely impacts the real economy in Europe and beyond.’

“Trichet called for governments and European authorities to act together to solve the crisis, adding that delay would be disastrous.

“‘It is a matter of urgency that all authorities act in unison, with total commitment to safeguarding financial stability,’ he said.”

My Comment: It is not just the financial, but the systematic, global, and general crisis of all spheres of human activity, stemming from the crisis of man and society. Only the gradual unification of all people into one whole, as required by integral nature, will bring us to balance with it and free us from all the crises, which are the signs of our disparity with nature.
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Weekly Torah Portion – 10.14.11

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Vezot-Abraha,” Selected Excerpts
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The Debt Crisis Deepens

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister of Russia): “‘The debt crisis in Europe and the United States is being aggravated by their economies being on the brink of recession. There has been no…clarity concerning their recovery prospects, unfortunately for all of us, including for Russia.’

“The prime minister said that the crisis involving the sovereign debt of the industrialized states demands that politicians, economists, and investors reassess their traditional approaches.

“‘The summer-time tremor in the global economy demonstrated once again that the development models, based on debt growth, are not working,’ Putin noted.”

My Comment: And yet, until the crisis erupts fully and the inability of all governmental mechanisms to manage manifest completely, we will not hear anything from the authorities besides talk—and they will not hear us.
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Our Future: Consumerism Or Humanism

Opinion: (Jagdish Kapur, 1920-2010, Co-Chairman and Founder of the WPF “Dialogue of Civilizations,” from wpfdc.com): “The fundamental mistake of industrially developed civilization is that it treats any person with the same measure, so he turns into an abstract economic entity, an element of the herd… and the reverse movement of machine – consumption is serviced here. But that is a violation of the laws of nature. Remaining in the hands of this misfortunate, illusory economy, they do not realize how close they are to a collapse of the whole system… We rapidly approach complete indifference to anything in the world with the exception of bank notes.” (Source: wpfdc.com archives)

“The unipolar power system as a result of the misdirection of its boundless physical vitality outside the corrective ethical and moral constraints is rapidly coming to the end of the road… Many countries are being drawn into this dangerous diversion of vitality towards developmental paths unrelated to their needs resources and cultural constraints. This is creating vast differentials between different strata and diverse ethnic, religious and cultural groups within a society and the world system.

“And then he continues, ‘We must recognize that the world is not just a globalized loot-haven, but a family of nations in a true sense, where all members of the family have a right to pray, work, and establish life styles of their choice. A state or a group of states in the name of freedom, democracy, and human rights or any other contrived or media projections have no right to impose their neo-imperial designs, will, and shattered moral and ethical consumerist frame over others. They have already done enough damage to the human system. It is time to stop.'” (Source: wpfdc.com archives)
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Why Can’t We Relax

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World“: How can we even try to ease one’s mind by promising him equality with all the people in the collective? For nothing is further from human nature than that, while one’s sole inclination is to soar higher, above the whole collective.

Even if we could reach “fair” distribution and social “justice,” wouldn’t the tendency to be more than others appear in every individual? Why do I have to be like everyone else? Can we bear it?

Fair distribution in itself is opposite to our nature, our essence. After all, we each feel our own uniqueness. There is nothing more hateful than to be like others, to be identical. I have to be different in someway, opposite or superior to others; otherwise I don’t feel that I am human.

Animals can be similar to one another and so can undeveloped people. But we’ve already grown out of it. We’ve been through ages of evolution at the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature of the human degree. Now we have reached the level of “human within human,” and so no one can be satisfied by being like everyone else. It could have been so in the age of slavery or feudalism, but today’s world is changing. Look at what’s happening in China or India, where people used to naturally be inclined to be like others. Today it isn’t so.

Hence, it’s impossible to establish social justice because by nature, no one can be equal to another. It is impossible to reach social equality in our world on our own. When we lived in tribes, everything was fine, but today there is no chance to reach peace, satisfaction, and common consent that we won’t breach shortly thereafter.

This is a great problem, and it stems from our uniqueness. The Creator has “cunningly” inserted this “provocative” attribute into us, which breaks our social initiatives and doesn’t allow us to relax and to agree with being like everyone else.

And although we have clarified that it comes from a sublime reason, that this attribute extends to us directly from the Creator, who is single in the world and the Root of all creations, still, out of the sensation of singularity, when it sits within our narrow egoism, it affects ruin and destruction until it became the source of all the ruins that were and will be in the world.

So, despite the efforts of the demonstrators, sincere fighters, and instigators, nothing will help us. The conflicts will never allow us to reach an agreement at the round table. Every agreement will bring about new corrections and reprimands. No agreement will ever last for more than a moment.

It’s not just that people cannot be equal to one another. Today mutual connection is required because people have to adapt to nature this way. This is the second big problem: How can we reach connection above all the differences, all the desires, and all the uniqueness of every individual?

We have to “erase” this uniqueness; otherwise, how can we connect? Or we must use this uniqueness in order to connect.

Now we are in a very delicate position: Man’s nature with all its contradictions and uniqueness is pushing him to use others. And opposite to it, there is the necessity to unite.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/2011, “Peace in the World”

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A Course For The Development Of The Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: This evening an introductory lesson on the wisdom of Kabbalah will take place in many cities in Israel. It is a launch pad for a new semester that will begin in our learning centers in another two weeks.

Answer: That is the basis of everything. Not long ago they asked me if we need to continue learning the wisdom of Kabbalah or was it enough to study only articles, like “Mutual Guarantee,” “Peace in the World,” and others. They asked me if it weren’t worthwhile to end the study of TES (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) or The Book of  Zohar.

First of all, for me it is all really the same. The wisdom of Kabbalah has four languages through which Kabbalists tell us how we can correct our matter: desire.

It is impossible to manage without these sources. Without them, we do not draw the Surrounding Light, the Light that Reforms. We develop our mind and sensations specifically through this. The soul develops through the study of the wisdom of Kabbalah and not through the connection with regular people. We take from them the need to develop the soul, when we try to help them, and then later, during the lesson, we raise this need to the Light, and then this need develops us.

We have to exist between these two factors: on one hand, to get closer to the lower ones to receive the desires from them and to learn the needed materials to disseminate among them, and on the other, to get closer to the upper one through the study of The Book of The Zohar, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, and the articles.

If a person feels his point in the heart and wants to reach the purpose of creation, and not just the good life in this world, he must study the wisdom of Kabbalah in a systematic way. I don’t know how it is possible to correct the soul without the foundations concealed in the process of the study, without working with the authentic sources. To hear, here and there, lectures and lessons is not at all the same as the systematic course at the learning center.

I recommend for everyone to take this course, even if a person has already heard our lessons. Only in this way it is possible to learn the order of the work, to feel the language, to understand the terms and definitions, and most importantly, to acquire the correct approach that one won’t get via the daily lesson. An introductory course is a must.

In addition to this, it prepares the person in a special way for the social connection to the group. After all, we aren’t speaking only about the studies, but also about the internal work. It is not by chance that most of the students of the learning center don’t want to leave and continue to study.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/10/2011, “Peace in the World”

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The Era Of Global Education

Dr. Michael LaitmanI need to create the type of environment and atmosphere around me which will constantly convince me of the fact that being interconnected and compliant with others will lead me to a safer and better life. It is a life where I will feel good.

You take the formula of total interconnection between all elements in nature and reveal it to people in a way that they can understand. You explain to them that it’s good to care for one another because it is in this way that you become similar to nature that surrounds you. In so doing, you will benefit a great deal because you obtain harmony with nature. Then, all forces of nature, both concealed and revealed, will be benevolent towards us, and we’ll benefit in every way.

Let’s conduct an experiment and see how much we’ll succeed in business and in economics if we start treating each other with more compassion, like members of one family. This is difficult; however, if we begin to convince each other subtly, without any pressure, then surely no one will lose.

I teach my children not to fight, not to provoke others, to be polite, to say please and thank you, to share, and to make friends. I teach them these things because I know that this behavior will provide them with maximum safety. I don’t teach my children to punch people or to steal because first and foremost, I want them to be safe in life. If they are kind to people, they will always find a more or less normal condition to exist in.

Why can’t we establish these interrelations worldwide? We’ve considered all this before—in our visions of utopian societies.

We have to enlighten people about the era we’re entering into. Everyone must understand that we live in the era when everything is interconnected, where everyone is like a part of a single family, and everyone is dependent upon one another. This is the era where we reeducate ourselves to become a global and integral element of society, the era where each person understands his uniqueness, his own unique contribution to the world, and for this reason should feel responsible for his part. Each person has to feel this way in relation to all the others.
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From the Talk on Global Education 9/7/2011

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 10.14.11

Writings of Rabash “The Fruit of the Citrus Tree”
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “VaYechi (And Jacob Lived),” “Four Species,” Item 210
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Preface to The Book of Zohar, Item 13, Lesson 5
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Writings of Baal HaSulam One Commandment,” “Speech, Thought and Action,” Lesson 6
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