Innovation In The U.A.E: You Can Read At Work
In the News (Arabian Business): “New legislation will grant employees dedicated time to read during working hours, obliges coffee shops to provide reading materials…
“The UAE [United Arab Emirates]on Monday issued the first law of its kind which aims to cement the importance of reading in the country.
“Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, has issued the legislation saying that reading and knowledge are key for the progress of the UAE. …
“’Our objective is to prepare generations that work for a brighter future of the UAE,’ the President said in a statement. …
“Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, praised the newly passed law, and hailed it as an unprecedented cultural and legislative initiative. …
“’Our objective is to make reading a daily habit in our people, where relevant entities will be required to translate this law into reality,’ he said.”
My Comment: Advancements in the high-tech world and religion require reading and still support the generation’s interest in reading. But in the end, we gradually withdraw from egoistic development. Literature and music are measures of society’s egoistic development since they are created by pure egoism. I don’t think they will remain except for only a few individual groups, but nothing more.
But great musical works, especially operas and literary masterpieces, will remain because they express the depth of human emotions, even though they are egoistic. Classical novels describe a phase in human development and so they will remain part of our culture.
Question: What kind of literature do you think people will prefer to read in the next decades?
Answer: Only manuals for operating computer programs.
Question: So people will abandon romance novels?
Answer: They are already withdrawing from them. The decline in reading novels has already begun. The fact is, the gap between generations is great.
If we want to keep in touch with the young generation, older people will need to get closer to them and not expect the young to do so. When my grandson, for example, plays computer games, I try to play with him. And if I offer to read him a book, he refuses and says: “Grandpa leave me alone.” We have no choice; the older people should follow the young.
Question: What about literature that deals with the meaning of life. Will people still be attracted to it?
Answer: Yes, but it will also change. The meaning of life that the wisdom of Kabbalah tells us about is above time so it should be presented to people in modern language.
If we take Rambam’s collection of philosophical writings for example, Ramhal’s dialogues, Rav Kook’s poetic writings, Baal HaSulam’s writings that are in a scientific style, or Rabash’s emotional writings, they are all very hard to perceive today.
Comment: You simplify the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash for us.
Answer: We can still read the writings of Baal HaSulam and Rabash, but the writings of Ramhal and the ARI cannot be understood by our generation.
The wisdom of Kabbalah will be rewritten in a lighter easier language in the future, but this will not be my lot.
It has to be done for the sake of humanity even now, and not only for those who are attracted to the goal of creation, but for all of humanity, so that they will understand what the great Kabbalists say about the upper system of nature, including the method and the science, and everyone should advance in this direction.
I hope that such talents will emerge among my students.
[197133]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 11/2/16
Related Material:
Reading, This Is No Longer Our Method
Literature And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah
The Writing Man
Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question