Audio Version Of The Blog – 04.20.13

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Developmental Dialectic And The Problem Of Responsibility

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Peace”: And you find that all the seeds from which the good states grow are only the corrupted deeds themselves, meaning that all the exposed evils that come from under the hands of the wicked in the generation join and accumulate to a great sum, until they weigh so heavily that the public can no longer bear them. Then, they rise up and ruin it and create a more desirable state.

All evil must be exposed because the good will sprout out of it. It is impossible to achieve the good unless it is preceded by the revelation of evil.

There is nothing new in it. Abraham spoke about this issue. It is well known both in Kabbalah and outside of Kabbalah. History, nature, and the dialectic process serve as proof to it. Each state lasts until its shortcomings “ripen” to the degree that they become obvious. Namely these shortcomings destroy the current state and shape a subsequent one. This is a scientific and historic fact.

The same laws apply to humans. It is not an accident that children do not obey their parents; it is natural.

Question: If the evil is unavoidable, why do we call the Creator “Good that does Good?”

Answer: It is so because it characterizes a developmental tendency oriented to the goal, rather than the path per se. Can one develop if he feels great? The state of complete comfort doesn’t allow further advancement. What would push us forward if everything were fine?

The problem is that we take good things that happen to us for granted. We don’t value the positive events in our lives, nor do we consider them important. And vice versa, we treat hardships as an unfair burden.

In other words, we evaluate good and bad things on different scales. The final outcome of the deeds we accomplished during our lifespan turns out to be opposite to what we considered them to be. We simply cannot avoid the “pricks” of life. If someone says bad things about us, we boil for many months until we find a way to repay the debt. Everything that we bear in mind and heart against those who insulted us seems normal and natural to us: “He deserves it!”

Question: Still, shouldn’t there be a balance between troubles and joys? Instead, we are told that we are beholden to the Creator from the very beginning. As it is written, “‘All is in deposit, and a fortress spreads over all of life. The store is open and the shopkeeper sells by deferred payment; the book is open and the hand writes. And all who wish to borrow may come and borrow…’” (Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”). What exactly does He lend me?

Answer: The thing is that you can take goods from the shop now and pay for them later. Today, grocery stores use the system where their owners keep track of what their regular customers bought on credit, and at the end of month the latter have to pay their bills. On our way to the goal, we also are allowed to borrow. Moreover, we’ll pay our debts not at intermediate stages, but the very end of our path, when the goal is achieved.

At this time, we only beg the Host to grant us powers, desiring to obtain certain virtues: “Where is Your generosity? Where is Your empathy?” Take everything you want from the shelves; everything is at our disposal. You will pay your debts at the very end of the path when your job is complete.

In fact, there is nothing to return since we will change so much that our indebtedness will disappear.

So, don’t think that the Creator needs our payment. No, He needs only our attitude. He wants us to agree with His calculations and nothing more than that. Our “healthy” egoism prompts us that there is a trick on the Creator’s behalf, but it is not true. With our mere consent to receive the power for correction, we will immediately receive it and will pay off our bills.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/15/13, “The Peace” 

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Living Water From A Common Well

Living Water From A Common WellQuestion: How do we build the right intention in us?

Answer: The intention is the result of the work of the person, the result of the Light that influences him, as a reaction to his right efforts to be included into the group, from his intention to acquire an intention for the sake of bestowal. Only the Light can give him this intention, its power.

When the Light illuminates the center of the group, everyone is connected to that center as to a well of living water, and then everyone and all together receive the Light that Reforms. In this way, thanks to the intention, we correct the desire so that it will be under the control of the intention. This is called the people of Israel conquering the land, meaning the power of intention.

This is the work in the group and during the study, where everyone intends to attract the Light that Reforms. This is continuous work to attract the Light to the center of the group, into the connection between us, our readiness to be one. Thanks to the illumination that comes, our vessels of reception are expanded “620” times. This is, by correcting each and every step, every small desire, with the intention in order to bestow, we build an immense desire that contains many distinctions. Every part swells 620 times.

The center of the group is the Shechina, our connection as one person with one heart. This is not our whim, but the condition of the spiritual statute, which demands this kind of connection from us in order to correspond to the Light. So, to the degree of the effort that we invest, the Light will act on us and help us to really connect.

The moment that we reach the first minimal degree of connection, we begin to discover the Light within us. This is called crossing the Machsom (the border to the upper world), birth into the spiritual world, meaning to a state of absolute bestowal to everyone and from all of us to the Creator.

The Light performs corrections, while our task is to exert effort.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The Two Faces Of The Light

The Two Faces Of The LightBaal HaSulam: “The Writings of the Last Generation”: It is a fact that Israel are the most hateful of all the nations whether it is for religious reasons, because of race, because of…or because of cosmopolitanism, etc. It is because hate precedes all the reasons, but everyone solves his hate according to his own psychology.

Once the nation of Israel was as one man with one heart, and hence although it’s dispersed all over the world today, the nations of the world treat us as one whole. In the world, this attitude is originally rooted between the desire to receive and the intention for the sake of bestowal, and we have to correct it only on the spiritual degrees.

There cannot be any correction in our world. Although there are attempts to “mediate” between us and our Palestinians neighbors, Turkey or others, there is no way these problems can be solved on the level of our world. It’s because our situation here is only the result of an action that stems from Above.

This is one of the fundamental laws. There is only a motionless desire to receive in this world. The only thing that can move it is the Light, the force of life.

When the Light comes in its time, it brings about trouble and evil (1). Why? It’s because it is then revealed through its posterior. But if the Light comes as a result of our request for correction (MAN), it’s revealed as the good and benevolent Surrounding Light (Ohr MakifOM).

Thus the only difference is to what extent we can advance towards the goal faster than the forces that come from Above. Our free will is between these two options.

So there are simply no efficient means on the level of this world. Talks on all levels, politics, the UN, and so on are all useless. In fact, it’s all the outcome of the action of the upper Light that influences different factors in our world according to the first option.

No matter how many decisions are made in summit meetings and conventions, the Light actually determines everything. Essentially, the politicians are puppets, and the only thing that is really effective is our request for correction, which we raise before the negative force comes. Only then will the negative force be changed to the positive one—after all, we want to be corrected without waiting for trouble.

So how do we reach this request? We do so with the help of the group and the study (a prayer). The group connects us into one body, one vessel, and by praying during the lesson we connect to the one source of the Light, to the Creator.

The Two Faces Of The Light

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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, “The Israeli Nation”

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Autumn In The Countries Of “The Arab Spring”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Global Post): “Unemployment in Arab countries rose to 16 percent in 2012 following the revolts which erupted the previous year, Arab Labour Organisation chief Ahmed Mohamed Luqman announced on Sunday.

“‘The unemployment level in the Arab world was 14 percent in 2010, which translates to 17 million people out of work,’ Luqman said in Algiers.

“‘This increased by two points by the end of 2012 to 16 percent, or 20 million people unemployed,’ the ALO director general added.

“Luqman said the upheavals that swept the Arab world in 2011 and 2012 had caused the rise, particularly because of a plunge in foreign investments and the number of tourists visiting the region.”

My Comment: Only after the elite and the peoples of these countries realize that what is happening is inter-Arab conflict will they be able to change their state. The migration of young people, the best productive force, to non-Arab countries weakens their homeland. The takeover of Europe can become a boomerang. The world is round, mutually dependent, global, and integral. It’s neccessary to take this into account!
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Choice Turned A Person Into A Passive And Anxious Consumer

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Renata Salecl, Slovenian social and legal theorist): “With freedom come choices. Every choice is an opportunity to select the best possible outcome, the one that would make us happiest. More choices lead to more happiness, right? Of course we find the opposite to be true. As choices increase, so does anxiety. In the latest installment of the RSA animated lecture series, Slovenian social and legal theorist Renata Salecl argues that this anxiety, coupled with the capitalist ideal of the self-made person, leads to a kind of social paralysis.

“’Today’s ideology of choice,’ says Salecl, ‘actually pacifies people and makes us constantly turn criticism to ourselves instead of organizing ourselves and making a critique of the society we live in.’” (Source: Open Culture)

“You are also ashamed of poverty. We are afraid that people will laugh at our choice; we recognize the need for public opinion in relation to yourself. We never make choices for ourselves, in isolation from society. We choose what others choose. Thus, choice is a social category, and specifically this feature brings a feeling of anxiety.

“Another reason is an attempt to make the right choice. As a result, people change mobile network operators or partners, but always remain unsatisfied.

“The third reason is that choice inevitably involves losses, the possibility of following a different path, which produces maximum discomfort today.

“The main loss, in which we have no choice, is death. But even in this case we are trying to plan, to delay it, to gain control over it. …

“The ideology of the modern world was based on the fact that anyone can succeed in anything. The idea of a self-realized man who had achieved everything himself was central to this ideology. Anyone can become a celebrity. ‘Everyone can succeed’— this credo dominates society. … In the past, people wanted to become famous in something: some invention, research, or a special talent. Now, they all want to become famous for the sake of fame, not for something, but just famous. …

“Why doesn’t social change happen? –A fear of change, a fear of loss.

“The defining features are self-criticism, a sense of guilt for one’s own failure, and anxiety in the face of choice. Thus we see that the ideology of choice is not optimistic and thus prevents social change.

“The fear of change is associated with the fear of loss. When you have little, you are afraid of losing even that and you prefer not to provoke social change. People become passive and criticize themselves instead of getting organized and taking a critical look at modern society in which we live.” (Source: theoryandpractice.ru)

My Comment: In fact, a person has no choice because the society is governed according to the plan of nature, and a person is completely subordinated to society, environment. The only choice is to choose the environment, and then he will be under the influence of this society against his will. But if a person picks the right environment that corresponds to the upper Nature (the Creator), then he secures for himself a quick and easy progress toward the goal of creation and thus avoids all kinds of problems.
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