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The Complaint Of The Whole World Is Our Prayer

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur global group that brought people aspiring to the Creator (Isra-El) together reaches out to the general public and disseminates integral education, meaning the method of connection. Connection is the cure for all problems because the only thing we need to do to correct the world is to correct our shattering.

In this way, the three degrees are connected: the public, the group, the Creator. Our task is to make people aware that connection will make our lives better. But why do we disseminate? We do so because the degrees are arranged in such a way that without this we cannot ascend.

The Kabbalists of the past generations had a very strong spiritual gene, Reshimo, and were willing to devote their whole lives to the spiritual goal, ignoring everything else. But we are not capable of this, we have such heavy egoism that we cannot rise in this way. We do not have such a great desire to adhere to the upper one, that is, to realize our soul. Therefore, in our generation, we should advance to correction with the whole world.

We need the whole world even to help ourselves. Our degree does not have enough desire to rise to the corrected state. We need the whole immense world to add its cry to our prayer, and that will be enough to raise and correct everyone. That’s why it’s so necessary to disseminate.

We need to connect the complaint of the entire world to our prayer and raise it to the upper one. This is the formula that relates the three degrees: the public, us, and the Creator. This is the internal essence of dissemination.

Our task is to explain to people that we can draw fulfillment from connection, all the power, all the success; it’s a wonderful means! And we have the ability to lead to this internal connection and not just create a commune or a kibbutz. Unity is the law of integral nature, and we have the ability to establish a successful relationship that benefits all the participants.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/13, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Escape From The Captivity Of Pride

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe work on one’s egoism is basically the struggle against pride. Everything is arranged in the form of steps and a person is not aware of his true position and actions. Egoism does not allow him to see, and hide the actions of the Light from him, as if they do not exist. Therefore, we think that the world revolves on its own and there is no one who manages or plans it. Everything supposedly spins freely, by chance, without any reason and purpose.

Being in complete concealment, a person is used to thinking that he does everything himself. Only with the help of the environment does he have the opportunity to become stronger and rise a little bit above himself, above his selfish desire, to look at what is happening from the outside. Then he will see that he did not act and all that happens did not include his efforts, his plan, or his independence.

Therefore, we are constantly fighting a war over who will rule: our egoistic desire, Pharaoh, or the Creator. This struggle is taking place both in the smallest of situations and relative to the entire attitude to life. The argument between the impure force (Klipa) and holiness is only about this.

The sign of the impure force is pride, that is, when a person thinks that he himself is able to do everything himself. In fact, he has a choice in only one thing, each time to be included in the correct environment. Of all the billions of opportunities that arise in life, not one gives him any freedom of action, except for one: first of all to be included in the correct environment and then through it to continue in the action of the environment in which he has been absorbed and has disappeared.

This is the only way to avoid pride, conceit, and wrong actions. And then the person will actually be able to do something in addition to the group, to join Malchut to divinity. And just analyzing and judging oneself will not help at all. Only by being included in the environment, even the smallest action becomes spiritual.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/27/13

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From Branch To Root

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”: each lower world is an imprint of the world Above it. Hence, all the forms in the Higher World are meticulously copied, in both quantity and quality, to the lower world.

Thus, there is not an element of reality, or an occurrence of reality in a lower world, that you will not find its likeness in the world Above it, as identical as two drops in a pond. And they are called “Root and Branch.” That means that the item in the lower world is deemed a branch of its pattern, found in the Higher World, being the root of the lower element, as this is where that item in the lower world was imprinted and made to be.

Inanimate, vegetative, animate and speaking levels of this world (see diagram below, marked in yellow) represent the last link in the chain of the worlds. This material world is a branch. Above it, there is a world of roots (marked in red), which is, in fact, a branch of another world that is higher than it. So, both “lower” worlds (our realm and the next one) stem from one root that is above both of them (marked in green.)

Definitely, there are more worlds out there, but in this diagram we will show only three of them. However, the shapes and the elements of reality and all occurrences come unchanged and equal in every world, both in quantity and quality, since we deal with one reality that is divided into separate levels only in our perception.

From Branch to Root
Eventually, our duty is to reconnect all worlds within our sensations. We can do so by using the one and indivisible language of branches. Kabbalists have found a set and annotated vocabulary that is associated with this physical world, sufficient to create an excellent spoken language. It enables them to converse with one another of the dealings in the Spiritual Roots and in the Upper Worlds by merely mentioning the lower, tangible branch in this world that is well defined to our corporeal senses. We recognize, feel, and formulate these names and appellations in this world.

Even though they are originated by our corporeal nature, still they have earned the right to be expressed by utterance through their branches, and arranged before our senses here in the tangible world. Kabbalists associate them with their roots.

The whole entirety of things and events descends to us through the chain of worlds, until it “dresses” into sensations that are interwoven with words and names, which, in their turn, are connected with the Upper Roots, to which this corporeal branch points because it is related to it, being its imprint, thus leading us to the origin, the Upper Light.

All phenomena descend through the chain of branches and roots. We name them by words and appellations that are linked to them on this plane and that are deeply inbuilt into our cognizance and senses.

When we hear the word “glass,” we know for sure what it signifies. The same applies to spiritual phenomenon. The fact that it doesn’t possess the material substance of a glass is irrelevant, nor is it important that it lacks the shape of a glass. It still preserves its essence since its core is permanent at all levels.

There is no other way to define a phenomenon or an event. The wisdom of Kabbalah uses precise language that is linked to permanent roots of the Higher nature. It is based on a perpetual, unchangeable system.

As we develop, in our eyes only the relationships between various parts of Kabbalah change, although the parts, per se, remain intact. This is the reason why Kabbalah is known as the “authentic wisdom”: Everything put in its language is always true. After all, we cannot change the order of the branches and roots or the relationships between them: The only change is in our perception.

And of course, the use of the language of branches entails a number of consequences. In particular, thanks to their books, Kabbalists can lead us to spiritual ascents and thanks to them, we can carry out various studies, etc.
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From the 4th part of the  Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/15/12, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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War Or Peace?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There are many signs that predict that humanity is heading towards a global war. Our task is to make people rethink their lives. But it turns out that is some excitement inherent in a potential. Many people even want it…

Answer: In society there are many who want war. During wars, they get rich and climb the rungs of the societal ladder. Wars reorganize and restructure the entire society, overturn monarchies, change presidents, etc. Wars trigger immense reforms.

But the fact is that now the changes should take place in society; that is, society must become globally interconnected. And so if there is a war, it would be terrible as it would reveal all our negative qualities, I would say, the miasmas, which we have to correct particularly through integral interaction. The next war would be universal, not just somewhere in Europe, but also in Africa, Australia, where people currently don’t even feel anything.

This is because the world is global today and people still do not want to adjust to new conditions, do not want to be globally interconnected; the war would have to disclose the necessity for us to connect.

Either we disseminate our knowledge and help others realize that there is no choice but to integrate or nature will unite us by forcing us to go through enormous tragedies such as a nuclear war.
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From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing,” 5/24/12

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Class Struggle Forms A New World

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Michael Schuman, correspondent for TIME, author of The Miracle: The Epic Story of Asia’s Quest for Wealth):“Asia in the latter decades of the 20th century witnessed perhaps the most remarkable record of poverty alleviation in human history — all thanks to the very capitalist tools of trade, entrepreneurship and foreign investment. … Marx theorized that the capitalist system would inevitably impoverish the masses as the world’s wealth became concentrated in the hands of a greedy few, causing economic crises and heightened conflict between the rich and working classes.

“A growing dossier of evidence suggests that he may have been right. It is sadly all too easy to find statistics that show the rich are getting richer while the middle class and poor are not. … But the consequence of this widening inequality is just what Marx had predicted: class struggle is back. Workers of the world are growing angrier and demanding their fair share of the global economy. From the floor of the U.S. Congress to the streets of Athens to the assembly lines of southern China, political and economic events are being shaped by escalating tensions between capital and labor to a degree unseen since the communist revolutions of the 20th century. …

“So far, though, Marx’s revolution has yet to materialize. Workers may have common problems, but they aren’t banding together to resolve them. … Protesters, says Jacques Rancière, an expert in Marxism at the University of Paris, aren’t aiming to replace capitalism, as Marx had forecast, but merely to reform it. ‘We’re not seeing protesting classes call for an overthrow or destruction of socioeconomic systems in place,’ he explains. ‘What class conflict is producing today are calls to fix systems so they become more viable and sustainable for the long run by redistributing the wealth created.’

“Despite such calls, however, current economic policy continues to fuel class tensions. … That leaves open a scary possibility: that Marx not only diagnosed capitalism’s flaws but also the outcome of those flaws.”

My Comment: Egoism will grow to such a size that the force to rise above it —people will feel themselves in it, like in the Egyptian bondage, and will be obliged to get out of it —to switch to a life in the property of mutual bestowal, care, equality, and then to “love thy neighbor as yourself.” Nature leaves us nothing else! The question is only in the transition to a new level of existence—through awareness (integral education and upbringing) or through hard struggles.
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A Brief Overview Of The Course On Integral Education: Economics of Responsible Consumption

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is common knowledge that valuable raw materials are not renewable and eventually will run out. If oil resources are depleted or the price for oil skyrockets even more, it will trigger an immediate and complete collapse because the majority of goods that we use are made from  oil products.

Even the food we eat is comprised of oil, 90% contains petroleum products. Machines, manufacturing, the delivery of goods, etc. run on oil. In other words, a deficiency of oil will lead us to hunger and misery.

That’s why we must transition to a model of responsible consumption and cease producing and consuming only in order to generate sales of products for short-lived use, quickly throw them away, and buy new things. This kind of consumption contaminates oceans, pollutes land, and depletes the Earth of its finite resources. Eventually, we will arrive at complete devastation.

We have no other choice but to turn to a very rigorous economic model of responsible consumption. In fact, we need much less than we have at this time. We have no need for constructing huge buildings, producing excess food, possessing extra clothes, and so forth. Neither do we need endless plane flights.

We must begin acting rationally; otherwise, we will deprive our children and grandchildren of the hope of leading normal lives. We simply will run out of energy sources. It’s our duty to restructure our modern-day economy. Changes can be achieved only through correct integral upbringing.
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From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/22/12

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A Million Dollars Or The Upper Light?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The goal of our dissemination is to supply people with what they want. What are we giving them? Is this the million dollars that they want to make, some gifts, or something else?

Answer: Our relationship in regard to the people in the world is like a relationship with little children, we give them what they need and not what they are asking for because they ask for something that is liable to harm them, and we are trying to protect them and keep them far from these things.

If we were to go out to the world and say “Ask for what you want and we will give it to you,” then your question would be correct. But we come to the world and say, “You want money, knowledge, wealth, happiness, health, and security? All of this is available with just a little effort to unite.” We don’t just offer their getting what they want; rather, we establish the conditions necessary for connection.

It is specifically their effort to connect that awakens the Surrounding Light that reaches them through us, and with its influence, their desires begin to be changed, are made more spiritual. Certainly, they still want the regular earthly fulfillments like food, sex, a normal family, various entertainments, but together with this, their desires are fundamentally changed. Therefore our appeal is called Integral Education. They begin to ask other questions.

Essentially we present them with ordinary actions that are accepted in the world. We know that if people gather and do something together most of the time they will succeed. But together with this, we do the opposite. We gather them not in order to carry out work together for the public good, but so that with the shared discussion that they do before the cooperative work, they will feel some kind of new power; a new society is created within them, a “raspberry sphere” is created within them.

Ultimately they will begin to understand that the connection brings them not only a solution to all their day-to-day problems, but also gives a feeling of warmth, elevation in life, and a little energy. They don’t know where it is coming from, but it exists.

We make roundtables around which gather people from various camps that really hate each other, Arabs and Jews, Druze and Bedouins. And suddenly after 40-50 minutes, they are ready to embrace and sing together. The aggression disappears, for the Upper Light passes through us to them. They don’t feel this. The Light works on them and they suddenly begin to understand that they need to rise above their antagonism and, specifically thanks to the hatred, in spite of the hatred, they need to feel mutual attraction and even love.

For the ego was created in order to rise above it and to reach an opposite characteristic. From the characteristic of reception, we reach the characteristic of bestowal, from hatred we reach love. So we justify the Creator who created the ego. It is said: “I created the evil inclination, I created the Torah as a spice”—take it, correct it, and receive a characteristic that is the complete opposite of evil, goodness and love.

Therefore your question, “What do we give them?” is the right question. Through us we convey the Upper Light.

When I work with the public, I begin to need the Creator. For I invest, I promise, I work with people. If nothing succeeds, this will be a disaster. I am like some kind of robber or con man, I get myself into a dangerous situation and wait to see if I will succeed or not. If I don’t succeed, then I will get blows or worse, they will shame and curse me.

Therefore I am compelled (and this is the best situation) to turn to the Creator, for ultimately I feel a need for Him. For the first time in my life I truly need Him. This is because I feel that my ego, my pride, the terrible shame that I am liable to feel if I won’t succeed, simply burns me. This is the worst feeling. And without a choice, with the friends we are ready to do everything in order to succeed.

We are really lucky that in our time there is an opportunity like this. Otherwise we would not build this chain, we would not be ready to turn to the Creator, for our appeal would be egoistic.

A Million Dollars Or The Upper Light?
And since we begin to think about the people, our appeal to the Creator is true MAN. In fact, everything is very simple. We only need to begin and you will see how the Creator puts the conditions before you that insert you into this system: lower, upper, and you in the middle.

A Million Dollars Or The Upper Light?
Specifically you are the middle; therefore, without a choice, both from above to below and also from below to above, you don’t act for your own sake. Ultimately you merit receiving the anti-egoistic parts, first zero, after that the first, the second, the third. This is to say, you begin to feel the spiritual worlds: Assiya, Yetzira, Beria, and so forth.
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From the Stockholm Convention “Joy In Unity” 8/31/13, Lesson 4

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What Shall I Bring To The Creator?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Man’s nature is such that he doesn’t wish to recognize his inner evil. Only when cornered does a person feel forced to admit the need for correction. What is this evil that hides within me?

Answer: Unfounded hatred; it destroyed Rabbi Akiva’s disciples. There is no other evil. Everything else is evil from the view of my ego. Only unfounded hatred represents the very evil that resists the good: loving others as we love ourselves. This is the only criterion that I measure myself and my corruption by. All other “vices” are not viewed as flaws by the Creator. They are not considered a good cause to appeal to Him. He expects an authentic plea. The entire system of correction is designed for the broken Kelim, or the desires that are unable to unify.

Question: So, we must constantly feel this evil and not sugarcoat or hide it from ourselves, correct?

Answer: From Psalms: “I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me” (Psalm 51:3). Otherwise, what will I point out to the Creator? What will I require Him to correct? It is really very simple. I wish to participate in the life of the group; I am attracted to it, and at the same time I see that I am unable to do so. This is exactly what we experienced during a Kabbalah congress. Having gathered together, we immediately realized that we don’t want to and cannot unite. This is what is called discovering one’s own evil. It is great! Now we must keep this evil as our target and demand to be reformed.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/16/10, Introduction to The Book of Zohar

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 09.29.13

Preparation to the Lesson

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Writings of Baal HaSulam Introduction to the Study of Ten Sefirot

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The Book of Zohar — Introduction

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 3, Part 9

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Writings of Baal HaSulam One Commandment,” Lesson 5

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