Audio Version Of The Blog – 05.15.15

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The Real Jerusalem

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Jerusalem is a special city, revered throughout the world. How did it happen that it is considered holy by all the three major religions: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity?

Answer: Kabbalah is not related to religion. For thousands of years it was hidden, but once it lived among the people of Israel, instead of today’s Judaism, as the method of revealing the Creator in this world. Kabbalah allows a person to reveal the Creator, not just to believe in what he had been taught since childhood, not knowing what the upper force is.

Everyone imagines the Creator to the best of his imagination, but the wisdom of Kabbalah does not speak about this blind faith. Kabbalah is the method of revealing the upper force in this world.

This revelation is called “faith” in Kabbalah because faith is bestowal and love of others as of oneself. Due to the human aspiration to get out of oneself and bestow instead of receiving egoistically, one comes closer to the upper force that is good and does good. Then this force is revealed to him.

Everyone should come to this revelation—as it is written, “All shall know Me from the smallest to the greatest among them”—the followers of the three religions and the whole of humanity. This is the program of creation, which we will realize, whether we want to or not.

Meanwhile, we are developing by the path of evolution, and as the wisdom of Kabbalah is hidden, the three religions are preparing humanity to the revelation of the Creator. This preparation happens in the negative form because it reveals the emptiness and helplessness of ordinary faith, lies and lack of understanding, and lack of fulfillment.

In today’s world, religions are mainly used for the separation and division of people. Every religion has many trends within that do not accept each other. The wisdom of Kabbalah is waiting when we discover the emptiness of religion.

Therefore, today’s Jerusalem, which is a holy city for the three world religions, is not a real Jerusalem. Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) represents the “perfect city” (Ira Slemah), in which we all achieve perfection in the relationships between us, complementary to each other.

Connecting with each other, we fulfill the condition under which the Creator is revealed between us according to the law of equivalence of form. If despite all the differences in our religions, faiths, beliefs, and human qualities, we, nevertheless achieve equality and unity, agreeing to ascend above all the differences and cover them all with love, by this we fulfill the condition of the revelation of the Creator within us.

This will be the true Jerusalem.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 5/7/15

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The Force Of Egoism And The Force Of Good

laitman_933Question: This life of survival, where one eats the other, apparently pleases us. Is it possible to correct this situation? After all it only continues to become worse all the time.

Answer: The situation is truly becoming worse and worse because we are advancing. All of humanity is developing within its ego that burns more and more in the next moment. So we are locked around the Earth, completely linked with each other, but on the other hand we are divided by our great egoism.

We see how distant we are from each other. People are no longer able to get along and live in the same home. Children run away from home and couples divorce. We are not able  to talk directly with each other anymore, only through the mobile telephone or emails. It is good that we still have these means of communication; otherwise we would not communicate with each other at all.

Kabbalah explains how it is up to us to correct our nature if we want to continue our existence. Otherwise, we will become completely separated. Correction is possible only through the force of the Light that Reforms, the positive force of nature. The problem is that we live in the world and discover only the negative force of egoism. This egoistic force operates everywhere.

Even if I do something good for others, it is only on condition that I will also get some kind of benefit myself. Otherwise I cannot do any good selfless deed . This means that in every case my intention is to profit at the expense of others.

We are able to make any truly good deeds without self-interest. Such a good force without self-interest exists in nature, but it is concealed from us. We need to awaken it, and then we can balance these two forces: the force of egoism and the force of good. The Book of Zohar and the entire Torah speak only about this: how it is up to us to balance our nature and attain harmony. And then between us we reveal the higher power of nature called the Creator.
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From the Israeli Radio Program 103FM, 3/5/15

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Priests And Levites

laitman_934The Torah, “Numbers” 1:48 – 1:51: The Lord spoke to Moses saying: Only the tribe of Levi you shall not number, and you shall not reckon their sum among the children of Israel. But you shall appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its vessels and over all that belong to it; they shall carry the Tabernacle and they shall minister to it, and they shall encamp around the Tabernacle. When the Tabernacle is set to travel, the Levites shall dismantle it; and when the Tabernacle camps, the Levites shall erect it; any outsider [non Levite] who approaches shall be put to death.

“Levites” is the attribute of Bina in a person that is the true vessel for receiving the Upper Light, the Shechina (the revelation of the Creator). This is the reason that they can approach the Tabernacle. All our other attributes are forbidden to do so since the closer one approaches the Tabernacle, the greater the Light that is revealed and a person will not be able to reveal it for the sake of love and bestowal, just as it happened to the sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, who thought that they were already corrected.

Question: What do the priests (Cohens) and the Levites engage in?

Answer: The Cohens are the embodiment of the spiritual government and they engage mainly in ideological work while the Levites teach the people. They are the teachers and guides who work with the masses. The role of the Cohens is to serve the Levites and the nation for the sake of the Creator. The role of the Levites is to serve the Cohens and the nation for the sake of the Creator. The people should only think about how to ascend to that level. This is the only thing they need to worry about.

The priests are GAR of Bina and the Levites are ZAT of Bina and so the Levites are the part that bestow unto the vessels of receiving (unto the people).
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 12/24/14

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How Will We Feed 10 Billion People?

laitman_435In the News (from bg.ru): “In a few more decades the world could be facing a global food crisis; there will be food shortages around the world. The experts are confident that it is easy to avoid this crisis, and there isn’t even a need for new technologies….

“It will be enough if we throw away less food and help the farmers. Modern production of grain, if we distribute it correctly among the population, will be enough to feed 10 billion people.

“The growth of food must be done at the expense of agricultural land availability, to reduce the damage caused to ecosystems. In the European Union the farmers produce 8.6 tons of produce per one hectare, in the Ukraine they produce 4 tons per hectare, in Nigeria 1.5 tons per hectare. It is possible to have an influence on the amount of food through the reduction of food waste. The average European, in the chain from the farm to the kitchen table, throws away 179 kilograms of food. This is equal to the yearly needs of a poor person.”

My Comment: I think that the problem is not in the lack of food, rather in the lack of desire to adequately distribute it to everyone. Moreover this would not reduce the food consumption by the wealthy, but would only move the food that is thrown away to the tables of the poor. But this is possible only if everyone has a desire to follow the proper usage of food products. None of the policing methods can solve the problem of the correct distribution of waste. A feeling of reciprocity (the whole world is one family), mutual responsibility (Arvut), and an attitude of relationship (we are all a single whole) must be implanted in the hearts of people.
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The Creator’s Spoiled Children

laitman_938_04Question: What should we do if we understand the greatness of the teacher, the greatness of the group, the greatness of the friends, and the greatness of the goal and still cannot overcome our inner resistance?

Answer: No one can overcome his own resistance by himself. It is a natural state and it cannot be otherwise. None of us has the strength; all the power is only in the group. There are a thousand zeros and if they don’t see the greatness of the teacher and the Creator as one whole, if they don’t place them above themselves, if they don’t connect to the idea that comes from Above, they will never change from zeros into one.

Everything depends on where you place your zero:, before or after the one, which means to what extent you value the group and the teacher. It is impossible to advance otherwise because it is all part of the method of connection.

You have been brought to the group and have been told, “Take!” This is your only free choice. If you want to, you can use it and realize yourself. If you don’t want to use it, you will not succeed. If you complain that you cannot overcome, it means that you already understand that you cannot achieve the goal by yourself. No one can do it by himself.

On the American dollar bill, for example, there is a picture of an eagle holding 13 arrows. This is the symbol of the power found in connection. Once the Indians showed the American president how easily a single arrow can be broken, but when they took several arrows and tried to break them they didn’t succeed. This symbol has remained on the dollar bill ever since.

One person cannot fulfill the attribute of bestowal. He doesn’t have the necessary power to do so. We speak about bestowal, but whom do you bestow unto, whom will you help and who will help you? You need at least one more person since the minimum of many is two.

You have received a group and all the necessary conditions that no one ever had in the past. There have never been better conditions than those we have today. The whole world is shattered and there is no goal or ideology as there was fifty or a hundred years ago when ideas of capitalism, socialism, and communism flourished. Humanity has run out of ideas and everyone worries about himself. The separatists want to divide the world into hundreds of states and each one escapes to his corner. This is what the modern world looks like. We, on the other hand, claim the opposite: that the cure, the remedy, the correction is only in connection.

I don’t see any obstacle that can stand in our way of advancing forward. We are surrounded by unprecedented care that comes from Above. Those who have engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah throughout history never had such good conditions as we have today: you have friends; you have a method according to which everything is clear and straight forward.

If you remain idle and cannot commit yourself to work, it is a sign that you are disconnected from the group. We have to examine the place of the work between us together and fill it with our efforts. You have to exert yourself!

You have been given every possible opportunity: a new building [in Israel], dissemination via television and the Internet; so what else is missing for you to make your effort in the connection between us? Why don’t you join us?

Comment: I always had lots of strength and suddenly it is gone…

Answer: If you have no strength, ask for power! There is a prayer before a prayer, but we have to start from something. We have to act even though we have no strength and no desire. We are being treated mercifully from Above; in fact, we could have been afflicted by some Dinim (judgments). Then we would all come to study out of fear looking for advice to escape from the impending trouble.

But we are allowed to develop mercifully, like a spoiled child whose parents allow him to drive them mad and continue to love him and give him everything. What more help do you need? You cannot be given anything from Above if you don’t have a desire and don’t make even the slightest effort.
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From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/14

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Transmitting Light To The World!

Dr. Michael Laitman

Question: In March of 2014,  there was a connection convention called, “Transmitting Light to the World!”. In what way was this convention different from all other conventions?

Answer: This convention was most practical, in that we actively learned how to transmit the dissemination of the method of connection through which a spiritual Kli is built. The Kabbalists write that there is no more useful activity for our spiritual advancement. If we want to grow, we must expand.

So we had to bow our heads and actually participate in this work. It had to be explained to each and every person, heart to heart and to a greater and greater degree, that the progress of the people of Israel is possible only through connection, “As one person with one heart” (Rashi on Exodus 19:2), with mutual Arvut (guarantee) and reciprocity until “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18). Through the connection between us we can solve all of our problems.

Question: What approach to this convention was needed in order to derive the most benefit?

Answer: It was necessary to learn from people who have a great deal experience and understanding of how to disseminate. I am very happy that there was a convention like this because specifically it is work such as this that advances us toward discovery of the Creator. Otherwise we will not merit discovering Him. Whoever participated in preparation for the convention was a winner. Whoever didn’t participate or was there passively, did not feel anything. Even now there are people sitting in the lesson who already have a particular spiritual feeling and there are those who don’t feel anything. Everything depends on the exertion and effort that each one invests.

The convention was held simultaneously in four cities that became our four dissemination centers. Every one of them has their own independent management and group responsibility, which is the mind or the head that organized the dissemination efforts in that area and acts completely independently. The main thing is that they knew precisely what they had to do and they organized everything independently like an independent nation.

We want to develop people who will act independently, with the main thing being that they will work correctly. We want to transmit the entire method together and to summarize, consolidate, and teach everyone so that everyone can go out and disseminate in their area.

Everyone must manage dissemination in their area, on their own and be connected to the local center because it’s their own place. It doesn’t seem to me that all dissemination must go out from one center as this limits and makes work very difficult.

Question: How did every friend go out after this convention?

Answer: It was up to each one to know how to go out to the community, explain why the people of Israel needed to connect as “one person with one heart,” and why we are in such a unique situation with all of humanity in crisis. It was up to each person to have received a simple, short, and clear explanation and understanding of how it is better to speak with the person standing in front of him. We must continue to give everyone the practical tools for working.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/26/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 05.15.15

Writings of Rabash, Rungs of the Ladder,” “Love of Friends”

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, “BeLaila De Kala (Night of the Bride),” Item 138

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Mutual Guarantee” 

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