Audio Version Of The Blog – 03.20.16

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“Does Happiness Make Us Selfish?”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (PSYCHOLOGIES.RU): “Happiness and positive emotions appear to us an absolute boon. But the paradox of the human person – that being happy, we are better prepared to offend others. …

“Scientists came to the conclusion that the nature of positive emotions is not as straightforward as it might seem at first glance. This power has its dark side, one of which is selfishness. …

“Why can private happiness blunt the capacity for empathy? It is usually a positive attitude is good for socializing. Scientists came to the conclusion that a lot depends on how our emotions coincide with the experiences of our opponents. When we are in a good mood, we are much closer and understandable to people in a similar position. At the same time, positive person has much more difficulty understanding suffering, taking the place of one experiencing negative emotions. The concept of happiness for Western civilization is closely linked to personal well-being. Therefore, social networks can suffer in achieving higher levels of happiness and positive emotions.”

My Comment: Kabbalah, realizing that our nature is egoistic, explains that only by developing an aspiration for the goal will we be able to attain happiness; this is without attaining the goal, but actually in yearning for it. After all, the moment a person attains something and fills himself, this state immediately loses its value. Therefore the attainment of absolute happiness is in yearning for it and not in attaining it.
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Related Material:
If You Want To Be Happy, Then Just Let It Be!
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What Is Happiness?

In Court For Asserting “There Is No God”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (news.ru.co.il): “On Wednesday, 2 March in Stavropol, began the trial of blogger Viktor Krasnov following the complaint filed against him by the social network VKontakte for insulting the feelings of the faithful. Krasnov wrote in his blog that ‘there is no God,’ and called the Bible ‘a collection of Jewish fairy tales.’ …

“At the end of 2015, the Investigative Committee charged Krasnov under the article on insulting the feelings of believers. by which Krasnov could face imprisonment of up to three years. …

“After the complaint was filed against Krasnov, the blogger had to spend a month in a psychiatric hospital so experts could establish ‘the extent of his sanity.'”

My Comment: It is clear that there is no proof of the phrases: “there is no God” or “there is a God.” Likewise, according to the Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen that was adopted by the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation November 22, 1991 (and still current) section 14 reads as follows: “Everyone is guaranteed freedom of conscience, faith, religious or atheistic activity. Anyone is allowed to adhere to any religion or not to adhere to any religion, to choose, hold and disseminate views and act on them provided that he abides by the law.”.

So the matter is not about whether God exists, but about insulting people with these statements.

It is said that “in the end of days”, meaning before the general correction of our ego, the ego will exceed its course and will be expressed in distorted ways, pushing people toward completely illogical statements and manifestations. We will see this all over the world and especially in Israel.
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Is Infidelity A Reason For Divorce?

laitman_622_01Question: Suppose that infidelity happens in a family, no matter who it is. How does the wisdom of Kabbalah relate to this? Is it necessary to save the family?

Answer: Certainly, the husband and wife should try to understand each other, even though this is difficult and very painful. In spite of that, the family should be maintained.

Both men and women have a tendency toward adventure. It is more egoistic to divorce and leave the children without a united family.

A child suffers more than anyone else from the divorce. So it is worthwhile for both to have patience, go to psychological therapy, understand and agree that all of these situations are part of life.

Question: Among students of the wisdom of Kabbalah, are there immoral people like these?

Answer: There are no immoral people; they are simply egoists in need of correction. The wisdom of Kabbalah is involved with this, but it is slow and gradual. Therefore these days a person is given 70-90 years to live so that he can correct himself.
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From the Webinar on zahav.ru 2/10/16

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About Loyalty And Unfaithfulness In The Spiritual World

Answers To Your Questions, Part 129

laitman_604_04Question: How can we feel happy when we receive disturbances that the Creator sends us?

Answer: It is possible only according to the level of your ascent above the ego, when your intentions are truly in order to bestow and not in order to receive, which means only after the effect of the Surrounding Light and the appearance of the Masach (screen).

Question: How can one be your student and part of the system successfully without torturing himself by getting up early for the morning lessons?

Answer: You can watch them some other time during the day and do your best to participate in our events in a group near you.
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Related Material:
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Answers To Your Questions, Part 126
Answers To Your Questions, Part 124   

Stupidity Is The Effect Of The Majority

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (BBC): The ‘wisdom of crowds’ doesn’t always apply – sometimes group-think nudges people to make wrong-headed decisions.

“The decisions people make as a group tend to be more prejudiced and less intelligent than the ones they make individually. ‘When people interact, they end up agreeing, and they make worse decisions,’ he [Daniel Richardson] says. ‘They don’t share information, they share biases. We’re trying to figure out why that is, and how we can make collective decisions better.’

“Richardson’s work on conformity follows a tradition in experimental psychology that goes back more than six decades. In the 1950s, the Harvard psychologist Solomon Asch demonstrated that people frequently adopt the view of the majority even when it is obviously wrong, and even when they have to deny their own senses. …

“Group conformity stands in marked contrast to the “wisdom of crowds” effect, whereby aggregating the opinions of large numbers of people gives answers or predictions more accurate than those of any individual. This happens only when members of a crowd make their judgements independently of each other, and it is most effective when a crowd is diverse. In cohesive groups, on the other hand, where members share an identity, the urge for unity overrides all. ..

“’We think of the internet as an information superhighway. It’s not, it’s a bias superhighway. Twitter and Facebook are wonderful ways of sharing information, but it may be that because we’re sharing our prejudices, they’re making us dumber.’”

My Comment: The connection between opinions, which brings capability and not stupidity, is realized only in the connection of the ten principles. It is not the addition of opinions; on the contrary, there is a connection of denial of independent opinions. The members of the group aspire to annul their personal opinions and to unite efforts in creating one desire that is capable of receiving the idea from a higher level of nature.  Only in this manner can we rise about ourselves, and grasp the plan of nature, our goal, and follow it, remaining in a reasonable and comfortable condition.
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Herding Behavior Affects Your Judgment Online
How Does The Group Change Us?
The Internet As A Power Network

New Life #610 – The Messiah: Myth or Truth?

New Life #610 – The Messiah: Myth or Truth?
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

 

Summary

All people have their own legends about what once was and what will be in the future and in between, a difficult daily life. The problem is that we are not familiar with the world we live in, its processes and purpose.

Contrary to what the world thinks about us, we don’t understand anything about the process of development that the world is going through. On the one hand, the people of Israel are close to the Upper Light, on the other hand, they lack any real grasp of it.

I have been involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah for 45 years and only through this wisdom have I understood what the Messiah, the redemption, and more truly are. I lived among the people of the world for 30 years; I felt in my being their special attitude regarding Jews.

We have a connection with the upper force that manages all of reality, but we don’t feel this connection. The resurrection of the dead doesn’t mean that physical body will come back to life; it is a particular stage in the development of the soul. The soul doesn’t belong to our beastly bodies; it is the development of a feeling and intelligence for perceiving divinity. The power that develops us spiritually is called the “Messiah” (Moshiach), it attracts (Moshech) us upward, the Light that Reforms.

Physicality means distance from, rejection, and hatred of others. Spirituality is love and bestowal. The power that helps me advance from physicality to spirituality, from myself to others, is called the Messiah. There is a private Messiah that has the power to develop Kabbalists in every generation, and there is a collective force of Messiah that is for all people. Is the Messiah already here? It is possible to declare that the Creator is also already here. Only someone who feels….

The establishment of Israel was the beginning of the redemption, but we have not yet realized the opportunity that we have been given. To accommodate ourselves to the concept of the Messiah, Israel must direct everything toward, “All Israel are friends.” Difficult or easy days are ahead for us; it all depends on us. The difference between exile (Galut) and redemption (Geulah) is in the letter “Aleph,” meaning, the revelation (Gilui) of the Creator. There is no need to wait for the Messiah; if this force approaches us without proper preparation from our side, it will be bad.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #610 – The Messiah: Myth or Truth?” 8/13/15

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 03.20.16

Preparation for the Lesson

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 1, Item 4

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Lesson on the Topic of “Purim

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