66 Is A Special Number

tv_66A question I received: The Book of Zohar states that in the year 66, the Messiah will be revealed in the Land of Galilee. What does that mean? And what will happen then? Will there be war?

My Answer: It means that Channel 66 (our organization’s Kabbalah TV Channel) will give people the strength to correct their egoistic nature, and by doing so they’ll rise from the sensation of our world to the sensation of the Upper World. The Messiah is the force that elevates man out of egoism into the quality of bestowal!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Coming of the Messiah
Laitman.com Post: The Kabbalah Channel, YES 66, Brings Good Changes
Baal HaSulam article: “The Last Generation”

Everyone’s Looking For A Solution To The Financial Crisis

lookingNews Report (from dp.ru): The famous Russian TV reporter, M. Leontiev, believes that the only solution to the crisis is a global war.

My Comment: This is not a solution, but a way to get into another life cycle that will be much worse than this one! Mr. Leontiev should imagine that tomorrow he will be born into a hungry family in Africa, for example…

News Report (translated from utro.ru): The President of the Russian Federation, Medvedev, stated that politicians have to learn to listen to each other and to make decisions. This is the way to minimize the current financial crisis.

My Comment: Mr. Medvedev is right, if what he means is that only the true, altruistic, mutual understanding will soften our fate.

News Report (from The Telegraph and FOX News): Al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said: “This crisis is one of … the series of American economic hemorrhages after the strikes of September 11… The ones shouldering the burden are taxpayers, whose money was spent to rescue senior capitalists and to protect the fraudulent interest-based system from collapse.”

Al-Zawahri called on Americans to convert to Islam: “To the American people and the people of the West in general … God sent his Prophet Muhammad with guidance and the religion of truth… ”

My Comment: One would think that Ayman al-Zawahiri himself sets an excellent example of a virtuous life – an example worthy of imitating… Still, I am sure that his appeal is sincere!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis May Trigger a World War
Laitman.com Post: Is It Realistic for Politicians to Unite?

How To Let The Light Enter You

All the Prophets Wrote About UsAn e-mail I received on December 18, 2008: I am writing to you because I am desperate, even though I feel extremely guilty for taking up your time. I have been deeply depressed for a long time, and the only other thing I ever feel is a lack of desire to live and emptiness. I don’t feel anything else.

I listen to the lessons every day, but even when I suddenly hear and understand something, it instantly disappears before I can even remember or feel it. I participate in the Bnei Baruch dissemination projects, but it doesn’t give me strength. I am rapidly falling. Everyone is thinking about the crisis and how to come out of it, but I can’t even come out of myself. All I can feel is unbearable pain and resentment. I don’t know what to do. Please reply to me on your blog!

My Answer: The two forces acting in creation are the Light and the desire; everything that exists is comprised only out of these two. They interact in such a way that sometimes the Light dominates, and sometimes the desire. We sense this alternation between them as the contrast of joy / fulfillment and bitterness / emptiness.

Since you cannot come out of your depression, my advice to you is to delve into it even more than it really is: artificially push yourself into even greater self-denigration, feelings of anger, resentment and guilt. This way, by pushing yourself down with all your might, you will take control over the depression, and you will then discover just how artificial all your sensations are, how much they depend on your subjective outlook. And then, from the bottom of your descent, you will feel joy and Light!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Only Point of Freedom Is Your Reaction to the Creator
Laitman.com Post: The Path of Light Versus the Path of Suffering
Laitman.com Post: Learning to Understand the Creator Is the Key to Happiness

Regardless of the Internet, The Real Connection Happens “Soul to Soul”

connectThree questions I received on using the internet as a means to connect:

Question: Research indicates that 11 out of 100 global citizens have access to computers and Internet. How can we feel like one society when just a few of us in the world can actually connect virtually?

My Answer: Initially, the connection between people was not created by the Internet, but by the Creator. Our souls are rigidly connected in one system. Thoughts and desires pass directly from soul to soul, and not through the web. Regardless of having the Internet or not, everyone will feel that they belong to the entire world in equal measure.

Question: If the global crisis harms the Internet, what will happen to our dissemination and the virtual groups?

My Answer: We must do everything we can to ensure that our friends all over the world can stay connected to us. If the world will need us, then we will certainly retain the opportunity to connect to the world. Perhaps we will receive even greater opportunities to do so.

Question: I had an idea during the Blackpool Congress: I was thinking about old people, who are unable to use computers. I think it would be great to give them the possibility to feel unity. We could also tell them about reality, freedom of choice, and how to see the world from the point of view of Kabbalah. This could lead to more actions made by this group of “aware old people.” If I try to develop this kind of thing with the “old people group” of my town, do you think it could be useful?

My Answer: One’s age is completely irrelevant when it comes to studying Kabbalah, because the soul has no age. Uniting with the idea already corrects the soul. Try it! I hope that once we reach a certain level of success in our dissemination to the masses, the television channels will become interested in our TV programs.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Internet In a Time of Global Crisis
Laitman.com Post: The Kabbalah Channel, YES 66, Brings Good Changes
Kabbalah Today Article: “The Soul Is Ageless”
Chapter from Book Kabbalah Revealed: “Adam ha Rishon – The Common Soul”

Globalization Is The Unexpected Force Of Development

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe following quote is attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler in 1787, who foresaw the development of the USA as follows (from Financial Sense):

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

  • From bondage to spiritual faith;
  • From spiritual faith to great courage;
  • From courage to liberty;
  • From liberty to abundance;
  • From abundance to complacency;
  • From complacency to apathy;
  • From apathy to dependence;
  • From dependence back into bondage

My Comment: Prof. Tyler was right about the process, but not its outcome. He did not foresee globalization – humanity’s complete interconnection. But it is precisely the need to survive, to exist in an interconnected system, that will compel humanity to seek a method of curbing every person’s individual egoism. And when we search for a method to correct egoism, we will find that Kabbalah is the only adequate method.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis Is for Our Own Good
Laitman.com Post: How to Overcome the Global Crisis
Kabbalah Today Article: Globalization 101
Lesson on Article: “Attaining the Unity of the Universe”

Praying For Your Enemies

How to Have an Easy RamadanTwo questions I received on people who want to harm us:

Question: What is your interpretation of praying for your enemies? Our Rabbi put in two words at the end of our service, “and Ishmael,” and I was extremely upset. Is this part of “love your fellowmen as yourself”? And how can I pray for someone who has vowed our destruction?

My Answer: You should pray for them to stop wishing to conquer or destroy everyone who is “wrong,” because the infinite and eternal Upper World isn’t attained through violence, but through love for everyone.

Question: You said in a previous blog post that “Any person can harm your spiritual path with his thoughts and desires, even unintentionally.” Does that mean only among the points in the hearts in the spiritual world? Or are we talking in the world of “beasts,” in the corporeal world as well?

My Answer: There is one world, but in our consciousness it divides into the part that’s revealed to us and the part that’s concealed from us. We influence both parts as one whole.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Is It Possible To Love Everyone?
Interview With the Future – “The Power of Thought”