Entries in the 'ARI' Category

Egoism Is Taking Us Right Into The Mouth Of The Snake

doNews Report (from GfK): For the international GfK survey on cheating, carried out in 19 countries, the respondents were asked whether cheating was more common today than ten years ago, particularly at school, where taxes were concerned, in sport, in the workplace, in business and in relationships. Almost half of all respondents thought that more cheating goes on now than ten years ago.

My Comment: Indeed, egoism is growing, and there is no way for us to curb it. Even though we admit that our actions are bad, we no longer blush about it; we’re even proud of it.

News Report (translated from Israelinfo.ru):Israelis have become crueler to the weak” Statistics show that over half of those who were killed on the roads of Israel in 2008 were the most unprotected: pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bikers.

My Comment: This is evidence of an increased egoism, neglect for the weak, and the feeling of impunity due to the fact that such egoistic behavior is becoming a norm. The accidents aren’t even mentioned on TV anymore, and people don’t have the right attitude to them. Indeed, egoism doesn’t allow us to take even the basic precautionary measures. Defenseless, our society is heading right into the mouth of the Snake!

News Report (from Times Online): Although there is no definitive list of mortal sins, many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride. …new sins have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization. Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an individual matter, it now has “social resonance.” You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos.

My Comment: So how would we put the sins in a spiritual order?

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Consequences of Egoism’s Growth
Odessa Congress 2005: “The Last Stage of Evolution”
Chaos to Harmony: “Chapter 4. Breaching the Balance”
Shamati #59: “About the Rod and the Serpent”

In The Modern Era, The Psychological Support Of Religion Is No Longer Enough

The Jewish Holidays Are Steps of Spiritual AscentNews Report (from University of Miami News): Self-control is critical for success in life, and a new study by University of Miami professor of Psychology Michael McCullough finds that religious people have more self-control than do their less religious counterparts. Among the most interesting conclusions that the research team drew were the following:

  • Religious rituals such as prayer and meditation affect the parts of the human brain that are most important for self-regulation and self-control;
  • When people view their goals as “sacred,” they put more energy and effort into pursuing those goals, and therefore, are probably more effective at attaining them;
  • Religious lifestyles may contribute to self-control by providing people with clear standards for their behavior, by causing people to monitor their own behavior more closely, and by giving people the sense that God is watching their behavior.

My Comment: In our times, all of this is coming to an end because egoism is growing in every person. People no longer have “naive faith” like they did in previous centuries. Only those who are egoistically underdeveloped still have this kind of faith, to some degree. And whether directly or through their contact with the rest of the world (the other souls), these people will also reach a point where their egoism will develop.

Hence, faith is disappearing, and religion remains in the capacity of a custom, a culture, or a framework for domestic life. Religiosity is gradually disappearing, and the only thing that can help us stand up against the global egoism and mutual hatred emerging in us, is what Kabbalah reveals to us: the vision of our global interdependence and the need to observe the commandment, “Love thy neighbor as thy self.”

This is what we must do in order to survive, instead of any other, egoistic, commandments of any religion! Religion won’t help us cope with the modern uncertainty, suffering, and crises, despite the fact that people are still coming to religion in the hope of being saved from their misfortunes. Everyone has to go through this and become convinced that religion’s psychological effect no longer works to counter our developing global egoism.

The reason for this is that religion pertains to the level of “Domem de Kdusha,” where a person in society is obedient in a natural way, like a good child. This is the level of the still, vegetative, and animate egoism in us. But today, humanity is rising to the “human” (Adam) level of egoism, where egoism compels us to become individual egoists, and then to conquer this individual egoism and unite in order to attain the Creator.

This is why Kabbalah states that religion will be reduced to just the cultural traditions and customs of every nation, but it will no longer be able to provide psychological support for the people. Faith will be replaced by the knowledge of the Creator, as it is written, “For all will know Me, from the smallest to the greatest!” However, Kabbalah is not against religion, but is there to supplement it – to fill the void that is forming inside the growing, modern egoism, and which is impossible to fulfill by religion.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Spiritual Roots of the Three Religions
Laitman.com Post: The Origin and Purpose of Eastern Teachings
Kabbalah Today Article: “Globalization 101”
Baal HaSulam Article: “A Speech in Celebration of the Conclusion of The Zohar”

Don’t Follow Anyone But Your Own Heart

Using the Sixth Sense, One Perceives Like the CreatorA question I received: I am taking the fall Ari Online course, and I have the feeling that Kabbalah is the only method that can explain what is out there. I am Cuban and now live in the USA, where I studied Chemistry and earned a Master of Science degree. I have a better material life than what I had in Cuba, and I can say that I am happy. But I am very concerned about the environment, the wars, terrorism, religious intolerance, drugs, and so on.

I am studying with Ari Online, and also watch the programs on kab.tv with great interest. I want to learn more, but I am worried because I don’t know that to do.

My Answer: You have to find the answer for yourself. I have no right to persuade you. It is precisely by searching for the truth that you will reveal the Creator. But this will only happen on one condition: don’t believe anyone and don’t follow anyone except your own heart, once you cleanse it of what you received in childhood and from those around you (once you cleanse it from all the “garbage”). It’s as if you were just born today and have never heard anything about this world yet. It is written that everyday a person should feel like he was born anew, in order to reexamine and check his attitude to the world and his path: “Let the days be new in your eyes” (Ve Ihiu Be Eineicha Ke Hadashim).

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: You Are the Only One Who Can Find the Truth
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah Is for Those Who Ask About the Meaning of Life
The Zohar: “The Torah and Prayer”
Free online Kabbalah course

Secret Brotherhoods And Red Strings Are Just A Distraction

Dr. Michael LaitmanThree questions I received on various spiritual practices:

Question: These days we hear many things about secret societies and their influence in our society – societies like the Knights Templar, Rosicrucians and the Freemasons. What does Kabbalah say about these brotherhoods? Are their teachings in accordance with Kabbalah? Are they a good thing to join? Or are they agents who only follow their ego ?

My Answer: I think of them as childish games. All of the secrecy is just for blowing up their importance.

There is a possibility to influence the Creator and thus to govern the world, and it is available to everyone – to the degree one becomes corrected so as to be good toward everyone.

Question: Is there only one school of Kabbalah or several?

My Answer: There are other groups that study Kabbalah. You can probably find them on the Internet.

Question: I am interested in the issue about the red strings. Some say that they have no relation to Kabbalah. Others say that they protect people from “the evil eye.” I understand that this could be explained as a psychological effect, but I heard that the red strings give one a connection with protective energy (due to being produced in a special ritual setting).

My Answer: They are no more than a psychological effect. Kabbalah forbids this because it is a deceit and distracts a person from the goal for which he and this world were created.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Illuminati’s Coming to Get You… NOT!
Laitman.com Post: Practical Kabbalah Has No Use for Red Strings
Kabbalah Today Article –  Kabbalah: User Manual
The Kabbalah Experience: Chapter 7 – “Beliefs, Mysticism and The Supernatural”

Faith And Science Are Incompatible

The Reshimot Surfacing Today Demand Spiritual Ascent of All HumanityNews Report (from Science Daily): New research by University of Illinois psychology professor Jesse Preston and her colleague, Nicholas Epley, of the University of Chicago shows that a person’s unconscious attitudes toward science and God may be fundamentally opposed. Those who were asked to use God as an ultimate explanation for various phenomena displayed a more positive association with God and a much more negative association with science than those directed to list other things that can explain God, the researchers found. … The most obvious implication of the research is that “to be compatible, science and religion need to stick to their own territories, their own explanatory space,” Preston said. “However, religion and science have never been able to do that…”

My Comment: Faith is opposite to science, which is based on reliable facts and does not accept unproven data. A belief in God is a belief in something that others said. With respect to its attitude to facts, Kabbalah is science: a person reveals a new reality and then scientifically (experimentally) researches it. He obtains data and then passes it on to others, who also reveal this reality and research it. The results are compared over the course of millennia – and this is what comprises the science of Kabbalah.

The opposition between Kabbalah and religion has been demonstrated for thousands of years. Religious people hate Kabbalah and desire to replace it with their theories, to confuse people by any means possible by offering them their own fabrications under the name of Kabbalah (whether cameos, blessings, healings, or explanations). It’s clear why Kabbalah makes religious people anxious: it’s because Kabbalah comes to replace religion, to reveal the Creator – which is the subject of the science of Kabbalah by definition. Hence Kabbalah annuls religion, reducing it to mundane social and familial cultural traditions.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Foundation of the Wisdom of Kabbalah
Laitman.com Post: What Came First, Religion or Kabbalah?
Laitman.com Post: The Creator Cannot Be Attained Anywhere Besides Kabbalah

Kabbalah In A Georgian Publication

In Georgia (the country), a Jewish publication called Menorah has published an article called “The Tree of Life.” The contents of the article are as follows:

1. A translation of the poem “Tree of Life” by the Ari

2. “The Essence of the Science of Kabbalah:” what is Kabbalah, who is a Kabbalist, the language of Kabbalah, and who can study Kabbalah

3. Questions and answers from the show, “Ask the Kabbalist

4. A link to the Kabbalah.info site and a contact email

menora-header-250

menora-article-200

The material in the Georgian language was prepared by Nino Chirikashvili, Miriam Beren, Meir Hanan, and Tamara Kriheli. The editor of the publication is Guram Batiashvili.

Related Material:
Kabbalah website in Georgian

Pope Decries Self-Interest In Economic Crisis

Article in the Newspaper "Yedioth Aharonot"News Report (from Leadership Nigeria): Pope Benedict XVI yesterday warned that the world was swimming toward ruin if self-interest prevails over solidarity during tough economic times… Benedict said, “If people look only to their own interests, our world will certainly fall apart.”

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Baal HaSulam on Human Nature
Baal HaSulam Article: “The Arvut”

We Must Cure The Crisis By Any Means Possible

A New Year's Wish to the WorldA question I received: In the article, “Building the Future Society,” in item 18 of section 3, “Principles of the Future Society,” Baal HaSulam lists three fundamental principles of disseminating Kabbalah in the world:

1. Satisfaction of Desires; 2. Proof; 3. Circulation.

From your lessons I’ve understood that in our time of an escalating crisis, the method of “Proof” is the most suitable. But what is your opinion about the method of “circulation” (agitation and propaganda)? Is it necessary in order to accelerate the dissemination of Kabbalah?

My Answer: When we’re dealing with a patient who has a deadly illness, we use any means possible to save him. Similarly, if we are in a situation that threatens the world’s existence, we must use any means possible to prevent the suffering, ruin and death. However, in our case, circulation (agitation and propaganda, as you put it) must be a non-coercive explanation of the fact that we won’t survive without using the method of Kabbalah. The dissemination of Kabbalah must be general, directed at everyone rather than at specific individuals. We cannot try to scare people into it, because in order for a person to correct himself, he must gain an awareness of the reality.

The correction of one’s egoism (one’s nature) is the only truly conscious act a person can make in this world, because he does it through understanding and comparing this world with the spiritual world! All other actions are made only from one’s understanding of the egoistic world and false gain, where one is entirely controlled by one’s egoism, like a puppet.

Hence, it is written about people who haven’t yet begun analyzing their nature and comparing it with the Upper Nature: “They are all like beasts.” It’s because “Man” (Adam) means “To be similar to the Creator.” It is also written, “Let us make man in our image and likeness” – from the beginning. After this man’s ruin (the downfall of sin) occurred, and this is what we must correct.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: What Happened?

Singer Arcadi Duchin Interviewed On Israel’s Biggest TV Channel

The news on Channel 2, Israel’s most popular and prestigious TV channel, had an interview with my student Arcadi Duchin, a famous Israeli song writer, singer and performer. The interview was about his first song about the crisis and the story behind its making:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXxTyiUGPgQ]

Arcadi and I met once a week for the last year to discuss the necessity of writing songs about the current events: the proliferation of drugs (“lighting up to pass the time”), the growing divorce rates (man, woman, and the snake between them), the hyperactivity of children (Ritalin), the financial crisis and layoffs, ego-Lego (how to connect together), and so on. These songs haven’t been released yet, but they have become more relevant than ever.

The public release of the first song was a very special event! I hope that this kind of dissemination and explanation will enable people to discover the cause of the evil and the path to goodness.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Drugs and Attainment Are Incompatible
Kabbalah Today Article: The Changing Nature of Humanity
Kabbalah Today Article: Man, Woman, and the Snake Between Them
Article: “Education Without Ritalin”

Everyone Must Know About Kabbalah

Dr. Michael LaitmanThree questions I received on explaining Kabbalah:

Question: We disseminate Kabbalah to people who have a point in the heart. But what do we have to teach to the rest of the world?

My Answer: Everyone must know about Kabbalah. However, every person is free to choose it for himself, to whatever degree he needs it, from 0% to 100%. Everything is in motion, and the question about the meaning of life is rapidly starting to surface in people. This is a question that only Kabbalah can answer.

Question: The language used in Kabbalah is confusing. Why don’t we simplify it? If your objective is dissemination, then in my opinion, the presentation style should be modified and simplified.

My Answer: You are correct, and I hope I will be able to do this. Baal HaSulam writes that we have to write new books, presenting Kabbalah in a simpler and more accessible manner. You should study and try doing this yourself!

Question: Can you please give us a dictionary defining the terms used in Kabbalah classes, like Klipot, Kli, vessel, Lishma, Parsa, Machsom, Ohr, Yechida, Gadlut, Beria, Adam HaRishon, Tzimtzum, Ohr Makif, and etc.? For people who are not familiar with Aramaic or Hebrew, this is difficult to understand.

My Answer: There are already several dictionaries like this, which include the terms’ translation, interpretation, commentary, and so on. (See the links in the Related Material section below.) I think that knowing and repeatedly going over the terminology is a foundation for success when it comes to understanding the system and the structure of the worlds. This is a sure means of attuning oneself to the sensation of spiritual forces.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How Do You Explain Kabbalah to Others?
Kabbalah on Education
Kabbalah for the Student Appendix A: Kabbalah Glossary
A Short Dictionary of Kabbalistic Terms
Kabbalistic Dictionary