Audio Version Of The Blog – 08.09.15

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Love Is Paradise

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Many of my friends feel unhappy because they cannot find a suitable partner. What should one do in order to find true love?

Answer: First of all, you need to stop expecting some extraordinary qualities from others and find a person who understands how a relationship of love should be built.

Love is based only on concessions and on the fact that each yields in relation to their partner and enjoys having the opportunity to do so.

I do not demand from my partner special attention and care; on the contrary, all of my pleasure is in the fact that I am canceling myself for his or her sake.

Question: What is the pleasure in yielding to someone?

Answer: This is called love. When you give something to your child, don’t you receive great pleasure? The same can happen with respect to your spouse. You just feel that a child is closer to yourself in a natural, animal way, since you feel him as a part of yourself.

Your wife is also somewhat yours, but nevertheless she exists separately, is next to you, and has an independent opinion. But through the correction of love, this distance is erased, which is difference between my desires and her desires.

Presently, I feel only my own desire and hardly any desires of my partner. My desire is more important to me than his or hers. But it is said, “Make your desire like His, so He would make His desire like yours.” This is the condition of love.

Our desires need to unite into one. This is called adhesion. “Husband and wife, and Shechina between them,” as if we are one body. It is very simple, we only lack proper education.

To be able to love, a person needs to be brought up, educated, and prepared in special courses. There is a lack of such education for all of humanity. Until we learn how to reach such relationships, we will remain unhappy.

Question: Everyone is looking for love, but how do you convince people to attend such courses? I doubt that they will like this condition of sacrificing themselves.

Answer: This is because we are deceiving ourselves. We think that we are winning whenever we insist on taking a stand. But who benefits from this deception? We want to love and fulfill only ourselves by using our loved ones, our families. Ultimately, it brings us neither pleasure nor love.

We need to teach a person how to fulfill himself in the correct form, which is perfect and eternal. And this fulfillment is only possible by loving another, since one can always give to others and fulfill them endlessly, continuously deriving pleasure from it.

It is a continuous cycle that always comes back to me, and in this manner, I reach a feeling of absolute, eternal love, and even more—eternal life.

Since then I am not consuming myself and my environment, but on the contrary, I bring to life everyone around me with my love. Thus, I reach the feeling of unending ascent to a higher dimension, to the Garden of Eden, to eternal life. Love is paradise.

Therefore, there is no need to be searching somewhere for love, you simply need to build it.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/30/15

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Iran Nuclear Deal? Not Our Problem

My weekly column appears in Ynet, the Israeli news and general content website. Here is one of my recently published articles, “Iran Nuclear Deal? Not Our Problem”

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You thought the Iranian nuclear issue is our main problem? Think again. The nuclear problem is actually here. It is in the murky relations between us and not in the relations of Israel and the world. “Our nation is founded on unity and fraternal love,” says Rav Dr. Michael Laitman who finds a deep connection between the current situation and the time before the destruction of the Temple.

We have no time for ego games. The world is directing its boycott arrows at the wall of the Israeli fortress, putting us in a field trial. Very few countries will shed tears after pushing the red button, and there is no Israeli leadership that can tip the scales in our favor by itself.

Instead of leading national unity—and not the government, our politicians focus all their energy squabbling like kids in a sandbox, unaware of the existential threat hovering over our heads.

Bibi and Buji suggest the establishment of a national unity government and at the same time spread mutual slander, and politicians dance on the rising cost of living and in the background gas fumes rise, the only thing left for the ordinary citizen to do is to close his eyes tightly and try to escape thoughts of the fatal consequences of the Iranian nuclear agreement.

However, the facts speak for themselves. The nuclear problem is actually here in the murky relations between us and not in the relations of Israel and the Arabs, the Iranians or the Americans. These are all just symptoms of the central tear. Our nation is founded on unity and fraternal love.

The moment we divert from this path, the negative forces in the world immediately emerge, pushing us to hide in shelters together and remember that we are one nation. This is exactly what happened during the military operation, “Solid Rock,”[Operation Protective Edge] and those that preceded it. However, the moment the threat is gone, we go back to being stubborn, refusing to prepare the remedy for the next blow—to act together willingly and not through being forced to by the Iranians, Hamas or others.

Hate is a powerful force that leads to separation and destruction.

Today is the ninth of Av, and we are used to attributing historic, religious connotations to this day and forget that it is about us, about the Israeli society that was founded on the spirit of togetherness, just as in the time of the destruction of the Second Temple when Israel was divided into two camps accusing each other and fighting one another, thus even intentionally burning the food storages of Jerusalem and causing hunger in the city during the siege. It is the same today; the evil stems from us.

We live in the moment, but in continuous denial of our deteriorating state that leads us to destruction.

The first to stab knives of criticism into Israel in front of the entire world are Jews, and unfortunately, even here at home we cut each other’s flesh on the road, on Facebook, and in line at healthcare clinics, just like the Roman Caesar who waited for the right moment to attack Israel.

The social tear fills our daily life with evil all the way to the level of the individual, and unfounded hatred still dominates us. The pleasure of hurting others motivates us for better or for worse.

We were not taught that negative feelings and hostile relationships between us are actually what affects and formats our reality. The stronger the force is, the more hidden it is. Hate is a powerful force that leads to division and destruction. Our hate crushes the world.

No political move will lead to a solution. No external cover of a national unity government will be able to heal the human afflictions we cause one another. We must lead a cross-national move from the interpersonal to multi-sectors that will put an end to division among us in every aspect of life and will reflect positively on our national security and political situation. Now, just as in the past, it is only by improving the relations between us that we will be able to rebuild the Israeli society from its ruins.
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From the Article on Ynet portal

The “Mixed Multitude” And Manna From Heaven

Laitman_632_4The Torah, “Numbers” 11:1 – 11:6: The people were looking to complain, and it was evil in the ears of the Lord. The Lord heard and His anger flared, and a fire from the Lord burned among them, consuming the extremes of the camp. The people cried out to Moses; Moses prayed to the Lord, and the fire died down He named that place Tab’erah, for the fire of the Lord had burned among them there.

But the multitude among them began to have strong cravings. Then even the children of Israel once again began to cry, and they said, “Who will feed us meat? We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free of charge, the cucumbers, the watermelons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. But now, our bodies are dried out, for there is nothing at all; we have nothing but manna to look at.”

For what reason did the people begin to complain? After all, they had no presumptions prior to this.

It was because there was a “mixed multitude” among them. It means that all of the desires of the people still had not been purified of egosim since there were desires like these among them that are called the mixed multitude. They were afraid of the Creator, but worked for themselves, for their Pharaoh.

Imagine a person who has fear of the Creator and carries out everything that is said in the holy books, in the prayer books, and the Shulchan Aruch. What for? “I am carrying out everything that you told me to do, so you should be carrying out what you promised me!” This is called the mixed multitude.

The person apparently is living near to the Creator, and supposedly is providing himself with a future paradise. He could even die, knowing that nirvana (complete rest) is waiting for him. There are known cases when they stopped terrorists at the last minute, and they shouted that they wanted to die. This is because they already were ready to enter paradise in the next minute.

The mixed multitude tempts the people—meaning, desires that exist in every person—and they begin to complain. It didn’t get what it needs. The entire movement in the wilderness is a movement within nothing. The person doesn’t get anything, he must move forward, and that is all. They only give him a small sign, a small imaginary cloud that he is going toward something.

When will he be able to feel the presence of the Creator more clearly? It is when he violates something and gets it in his head, “Oh! I now am convinced that this is forbidden.” So, it follows that it is necessary to do something. These egoistic desires say, “We don’t want to be satisfied with a request to the Creator.”

For what was the intention of the MAN in the wilderness? It is specifically thanks to my being in the wilderness and having nothing. From a state of complete hopelessness, I can find the one and only way, the way to the Creator. I have no one else to whom to turn, and when I turn to Him, this is called MAN.

This means that MAN is the raising of my prayer, my request specifically to the Creator and only in the wilderness! Only when I am completely empty and I have nothing—not for the sake of the body, not for the sake of what is coming, and not even for the sake of the world to come—then I can turn to Him and I am filled with this. This turning to the Creator fills me.

In fact, I don’t get anything other than a unilateral connection with the Creator. If I act like this, then manna comes to me from Heaven. I am nourished by this, and I begin to fill my soul.

However, it is filled only through my turning to the Creator! So, this is not talking about MAD, about fulfillment from above (the answer of the Creator), but specifically about the imaginary, unilateral turning, without an answer that is not based on anything for the Creator, from a state of hopelessness.

If I don’t want any favors and pleasures from the world, if I don’t want anything other than a wilderness that makes it possible for me to turn to Him unilaterally (when, in general, I don’t know if I am turning or not), this is enough for me. This fills my soul. If I can move forward in this manner, then I enter the wilderness and pass through it.

It is said that there were all kinds of tastes in the manna. So, everything that I feel in the manna depends on how much I can join my egoistic desires to my relationship with the Creator. Then, according to this, I will feel that I am filled with all kinds of things.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/11/15

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Take Off Your Glasses And The World Becomes Different

laitman_219_04Comment: In one of your lectures you said, “I take off my glasses and the world becomes different.” For some, this expression would seem blasphemous.

Answer: What this expression is saying is that we perceive the world through our senses. Certainly if without glasses I see one thing, when I put them on, I see everything differently.

This world is felt within us, and according to how I set myself, like a musical instrument, I perceive, classify, and evaluate it. And this determines my attitude towards it. So I look at the world through my personal glasses, and if they are changed for me, this means that my internal orientation is changed, so I see another world.

The wisdom of Kabbalah directs a person towards a perception of the entire nature in which we exist, not only for this brief present time, but beyond it. It reveals to us the entire process through which we are passing, not only within a physical body but also in other emanations.
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From an Interview on RTN, New York, 7/21/15

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Humanity Is Becoming Less And Less Intelligent

laitman_543_01In the News (news.bcm.ru):  “In a study that was done recently, it seems that there is a limit to the development of intelligence and understanding in a person, after which it gradually decreases, so that humanity is becoming more and more stupid. This is reflected in a decline in the measurement of IQ in the world from year to year.

“The study detailed the reasons for this:

  1. The intellectual level of a person is limited by some kind of genetic barrier, humanity has already reached this, and now it is found in withdrawal.
  2. Smart people are less active regarding reproduction than the stupid.
  3. Women who have received good intelligence reproduce less than women who are not intellectually developed, and in this way the ‘smart’ genes are gradually disappearing.
  4. The law of natural selection has stopped working, people don’t need to struggle about survival, progress has released humanity from the need to adapt the brain to obtain nourishment, clothing and shelter from animals and enemies.
  5. People have begun to vacation frequently. Two weeks of idleness by the sea in luxurious idleness is capable of lowering the IQ by 20 points, because of partial degeneration of brain cells in the frontal lobes. Numerous holidays worsen the situation because these are additional vacations.”

My Comment: Egoism as the basis and and the force of our development has reached its “earthly” maximum; it has stopped providing us with positive results. The reason for this is that according to the plan of creation, we need to begin to correct it, to build our next level of development not within it but above it, meaning in contrast to it. In this manner, we will use it only negatively, to rise above it with good actions for others, and not for it.  And we receive the power to do this from the Upper Light, the Surrounding Light (Ohr Makif).

The need for such development will reveal our egoism to us; it will show us the suffering that it brings, which will force us to rise above it. Work above egoism is called spirituality, rising above it is called going to the Upper World; the method for adaptation to this development is called the wisdom of Kabbalah. This is where we have arrived!
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Right-Wing Extremism In Europe, Part 7

laitman_430

A Disastrous Direction for Europe

Question: Meanwhile, the European conflicts only become sharper. How is it possible to move the process onto the right track for union?

Answer: The problem is that when the aspiration for union is accompanied by competitiveness and hatred, it leads to chauvinism.

Good trends towards the consolidation of people by being mixed with rivalry and xenophobia have been made more difficult through political games, producing Nazism. And in modern language, this is right-wing extremism, extremist union for the sake of the annihilation of everything that is “not with us,” “not like us.” Instead of educating people and providing information for them, they want to annihilate them.

And without a doubt, everything is advancing towards this.

In order to change the direction, we must conduct Integral Education in Europe. We must explain to people that the present direction will ultimately bring them to World War III, which for this continent will be an immense disaster, for the more that nations are developed, they are more “delicate,” “fragile,” and weak. For example, the difference that would result from disconnecting electricity or disconnecting the water supply in Africa and in Europe would be awesome.

Today we are dependent upon a multitude of factors that are most essential for our lives. Moreover, in order to put them on the threshold of survival, we don’t have to cause physical damage to these systems or others at all; it is enough to disrupt the operation of the computers that manage them.

Question: So how is it possible to halt the deterioration towards war?

Answer: This would be only through the dissemination of the method of Integral Education. It is this which is specifically accommodated to the union of the modern world.

This method says that the center doesn’t need to promote the interests of one nation or faction but the common interests of co-existence. We must stretch connections between people and really connect them, and not just for show.

It is possible to begin by talking about small, separate, and localized initiatives in any country or society. But in general, union must become the province of everyone. And if in the framework of the correction of the entire world, the Jewish people in Israel will provide a good example, then everyone will accept it.

Let’s go back to Europe where competition and hatred undermine union. The time has come to explain to the Europeans that the world is “round” and mutually connected, that it is impossible to correct one thing without the other. And this means that all of our efforts must be long-range and directed towards helping the entire world, towards concern for humanity as a whole, until the entire Earth will become one united family.

It is already clear to everyone today that the world is integral and is becoming a single global “village.” And this means that all the inhabitants of this village must live in balance and harmony with each other. How? Let’s begin with our European nations where the problem of conflicts and quarrels has already become quite tangible.

The problem is derived from a continuing and gathering lack of balance. So let’s begin by introducing the method of balance into communities and cities, provinces and cantons. Each country will receive the mechanism appropriate for its “balance,” and after that, these European examples will be used by us in other continents as well.

That every nation will reach balance on the basis of its national outlook is normal. In any case, the integration process will continue with an international standard. This also cannot be otherwise in a world in which everyone depends upon each other.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/9/14

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 08.09.15

Writings of Rabash “Rungs of the Ladder,” Article 6

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Writings of Baal HaSulam “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar

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