Why Now Is The Time To Implement The Principle, “Love Your Neighbor”

connectA letter I received from my student, Michael Chernikovsky, about the present state of humanity:

I finally got Kabbalah’s general idea:

1. The difference between man and animals is man’s ability to absorb desires from the society around him. These desires become his, and he in turn transfers his desires to the society.

2. This creates a system with positive feedback, which is initially unstable. In lower-level systems, such as biological ones, this kind of mutual influence does not exist, which is why these systems are stable.

3. Until today, human society was “open.” Therefore, disturbances exited out to the external environment and faded out in it.

4. We have reached a stage where society has become “closed.” Closed systems with positive feedback become chaotic. This is what we see today.

5. However, along with the disease, Nature has given us the medicine. If we begin to exhibit love and care for each other, instead of unrestrained consumption, then the same positive feedback mechanism will stabilize the system, bringing it from chaos to harmony. This is, in fact, the only solution, because any external regulator will become ineffective since desires grow mutually.

6. “Love your neighbor” is not a new idea. From time to time, humanity had tried to build societies based on this principle. But due to the “openness” of society, it was always possible to escape the positive example. Today, however, we have reached a point where we have no place to run. Therefore, this is the time to implement the principle, “love your neighbor.”

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We Have Gone Through Thousands Of Years Of Suffering To Reach Just One Conclusion

aboveHumanity has existed in this world for many thousands of years, and all the reincarnations we have gone through were necessary in order for us to finally realize just one thing – that the egoistic desire we always strive to satisfy, to which we devote every moment of our lives, reincarnating over and over, can never be fulfilled.

Human beings have been coming closer and closer to this discovery over the course of their lives, from one generation to the next, just to be disappointed every time, to realize, “Every time I pursue something, I enjoy it for a mere second, and then the pleasure fades.” This experience builds up in every person, and in our generation we have reached the conclusion that there is nothing left for us to pursue! This is why people are depressed, there is terrorism, divorce, and general disillusionment. All of this comes from people’s inability to fulfill themselves.

And today we are discovering something else in addition – that we cannot be fulfilled through our connections with each other. The improper connections between us do not allow us to engage in trade or business. In fact, they make it impossible for us to satisfy even our basic material needs. Today the problem is not even a lack of pleasure, but a lack of the essentials necessary for survival, for life. This is where our development has brought us.

All of this forces us to conclude that it is not worthwhile for us to work for the sake of our egoism. It only leads a person to disappointment, in order to make him ask, “What is the meaning of my life?” And if this doesn’t do the job, then greater suffering, such as famine, will help people reach the right conclusion.

In any case, the emptiness a person feels inside his desire to receive pleasure is the initial point from which he can begin his spiritual development.

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The Death Of The Firstborns Is Symbolic Of The Last Step To Freedom

dont-fighy-egoism-aloneTwo questions I received about the spiritual meaning of the exodus from Egypt:

Question: Why was the last Egyptian plague – the death of the firstborns?

My Answer: The firstborn is the head of the previous degree. By going through this plague, we disconnect from the previous, egoistic degree of our life in Egypt. This plague afflicts all the firstborns, which means that we destroy everything that connects us to Egypt – all of our egoistic desires, intentions, decisions and plans, including President Obama’s, President Putin’s, the World Bank’s and anyone else’s new economic programs. This is called the death of the firstborns – when, on the highest level, I reject everything I did and thought before and admit that these were all silly actions, incapable of doing any good. That is when a person is ready to come out of Egypt.

Question: What are the vessels that the Jews stole from the Egyptians?

My Answer: The vessels that we carry out from Egypt are despair and emptiness – we recognize that we are unable to fulfill them. What do we come out of Egypt with? We come out with our desire to receive pleasure.

However, we know that the former egoistic method cannot fulfill that desire. And using the same old Kelim, we come to the intention for the sake of bestowal. We only change the method of the desire’s fulfillment. We begin to understand that by bestowing, we can fulfill our desire to receive pleasure, while by receiving, we leave it empty.

When a person crosses the Machsom, this is called the exodus from Egypt. This is when the old method through which he tried to be fulfilled, dies. And the person desires its death – he wants to kill his egoistic desire, because he recognizes that this method of fulfillment is completely inadequate, and he does not wish to use it any longer.

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If Your Husband Doesn’t Want To Study Kabbalah, Leave Him Alone

love-is-providing-others-with-the-means-to-fulfill-their-point-in-the-heart1Three questions I received from women:

Question: In your post, “The Surrounding Light’s Influence Depends On Your Aspiration to the Future State,” you wrote that the biggest influence of the Surrounding Light occurs during the morning lesson. Does it work the same way for the women studying Kabbalah?

My Answer: The Light comes to a woman from the men’s part of the group and through her participation in dissemination, rather than from knowledge, studying, and the group.

Question: Does Kabbalah deem it acceptable for a woman to make a living by singing, and can she sing about the purpose, the goal in Kabbalah?

My Answer: Yes to both questions.

Question: I began to study Kabbalah, and I would like my husband to study as well, but his interests are completely different. What can I do?

My Answer: Leave him alone.

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Yes, Kabbalah Can Save The World From Catastrophe

is-correction-possible-without-a-man2Three questions I received on how Kabbalah can change the world:

Question: I do not see how changing the political direction toward a unified world is at all realistic. I just don’t see how we can influence the course of the world’s development with our limited resources. Can the unification of all those who study Kabbalah really save the world from catastrophe?

My Answer: Yes, because they are a tremendous spiritual force, as compared to the spiritually inanimate masses.

Question: If I were a great Kabbalist, what would I have to do to help others like me?

My Answer: Give them an explanation of the reason for our current state and how to correct it.

Question: I have read a myriad of your articles in French on your site, and I think I have understood the purpose of Kabbalah. Essentially, it answers my inner metaphysical questions – how and why we exist, as well as the purpose of our existence. But how do I go from theory to practice?

My Answer: Through study in the group: you must use the group to create the conditions of a corrected humanity.

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The Real Meaning Of Prayer And The Commandments

new-theoriesQuestions I received on the commandments, the Hassidut, prayer and the Creator:

Question: Why do you teach that the 613 commandments are actually 613 desires?
My Answer: Because the only thing that was created is the desire, which was then separated into 613 parts. Our task is to correct the aim of this desire from “for one’s own sake” to “for the sake of others.” It is written, “I created evil (egoism) and created the Torah for its correction, because its Light returns one to the Source, to Goodness.”

Question: While you omit some commandments, you don’t reject others: you and your students wear Kippahs (skullcaps) and some of you have beards. Incidentally, wearing the Kippah is a relatively late commandment – given in approximately 1700.

My Answer: One’s appearance bears absolutely no relation to the commandments or the correction of one’s desire from egoistic to “love your neighbor as yourself” (the general commandment of the whole Torah).

Question: Why don’t you view the point in the heart in the same way as the Hassidut, which defines it as an awakening of the intelligent soul, which exists in the right part of the heart?

My Answer: The point in the heart is an aspiration to the Creator, which pertains to the quality of bestowal – “the right portion of the desires,” and the “heart” refers to the collection of all of a person’s desires. However, the physical heart lacks any desires whatsoever. What if a heart transplant was performed and a righteous man received the heart of a wicked person? Is this forbidden by the Torah?

Hassidut (the authentic one) comes from the word Hesed – goodness, which develops only in a person who studies Kabbalah. That’s because the study of Kabbalah is the only way to draw the Light of Correction to yourself.

Today the only thing remaining of Hasidut is the externality. It consists of rituals and the literal interpretation of the texts. This is why they interpret the statement, “Goodness lies in the right part of the heart,” literally. Kabbalah, on the other hand, explains the true meaning of these words.

Question: Why don’t you view a group of students as a Minian (traditional group of at least ten men) of those who pray?

My Answer: Prayer occurs during the studies, when a student asks the Creator for correction, and to help him attain the degree that he is learning about. Then, over the course of the day, he aspires for this transformation to take place, as it is written, “And he prays the entire day.”

Question: Some of the people who pray reach Lishma, even though they start out in Lo Lishma. This is exactly the same as your students! I am convinced that “all roads lead to Rome,” but apparently, you don’t think so?

My Answer: I don’t think, but I know, that no one reaches Lishma without studying Kabbalah thoroughly and correctly. And in order to understand my answers, you have to study it as well.

Question: If the Creator or the Upper Light is constant and does not change, then how could He have restricted Himself? And how is it possible that the Creator created anything?

My Answer: Constant and unchanging means that He does not change His intentions and actions – He is always “Good and does Goodness,” despite the fact that His actions seem contradictory to us.

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Is War Just Around The Corner?

longerIn the News (translated from politjournal.ru): Konstantin Simonov, Director General of the National Energy Security Fund stated: There are two occurrences that indicate the possibility of a world war: a shortage of resources and an arms race.

The powerful countries that will experience a shortage of resources will begin to take them away from the countries that have extra reserves. Thus, the territories that are rich in resources are at risk of becoming a combat field, which can provoke a new world war.

My Comment: This is true, unless we realize that this is also a lose-lose situation and restrain ourselves for the sake of general security.

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New Study Finds Power Of Imagination Changes Reality

our-imaginary-reality-is-created-by-two-mechanismsIn the News (from Washington University):Imagine this: study suggests power of imagination is more than just a metaphor” A new study from psychologists at Washington University in St. Louis suggests imagination may be more effective than we think in helping us reach our goals. “The imagination has the extraordinary capacity to shape reality,” suggests the study’s co-authors, psychology professor Richard Abrams and doctoral student Christopher Davoli.

My Comment: Baal HaSulam praises materialistic psychology for being based on practice and experiments, unlike philosophy which studies abstract notions. Like the natural sciences, psychology leads us to the recognition that there may be another reality.

Kabbalah gives us the opportunity to enter this spiritual reality, and to then see that our world is unreal, merely rendered to us by our limited, earthly imagination.

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Ecologists’ Debate: Is Man Any Different From Yeast And Rabbits?

munichThe renowned ecologist, Prof. Victor Dolnik writes the following about the transition from egoism to altruism:

The public consciousness has made an amazingly quick transition from a blasphemous, sacrilegious attitude to Nature to one of superstitious worship. The latter is now called “ecologism.” But ecologism is not very beneficial, as it’s founded on the same anthropocentrism as before – “The general good is the good of man.”

If ecological thinking is to be authentic, rather than “ecologistical,” it must become biosphere-centric: “The only thing that can be good for man is whatever is good for the biosphere.”

And here is what he said about the two possible ways of managing the creation (the path of Kabbalah and the path of suffering):

I would really like to know the answer to the question: what kind of species do we belong to? Is it really a species that’s regulated by nothing but primary factors? Are we no different than yeast and rabbits, which procreate until obstructed by the primary factors? Or are we a species that can change its strategy upon receiving warning signals from the biosphere?

Most ecologists attribute man to the former. Their main argument is: man may have lost the necessary genetic programs completely. And even if these programs are not lost, they are not functioning in the present conditions, which are completely different from the primal ones.

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The Market Rise Is Like The Calm Before The Storm

calmA question I received: Over the past two weeks the NASDAQ has risen by 20%, which seems to suggest that the crisis is over. What do you think?

My Answer: The stock market is a game. It can jump up without any realistic basis or cause. Did the pyramid schemers stop building up their schemes? While everyone’s thinking that they are going bankrupt, they’re actually devouring the billions of dollars that the governments are giving them, and they continue building up their pyramids, only in a more subtle way.

For the time being, the ego celebrates victory. But there’s been no real cure, no correction of any kind. The ego continues on like before, cooking up the next disaster. So, if you think that everything is fixed and back to normal, you’re in the worst possible state. It’s like failing to see an enemy that’s surrounding you, getting ready to attack.

You can be sure that in the end, the ego will emerge on top and the situation will be even worse than before. But for now, it seems like everything is fine. In the end, everyone made a profit and no one lost anything.

The fact is, there is no regulator for people’s growing egoism. Economics is not a science – it merely follows man’s egoism. Thus, the whole economy is based on me giving you the least I can while getting the most I can, and if possible, I’ll charge you without paying you. So, the economy is more like legalized thievery. Just think: what is the agreement that exists between us? You and I exchange goods only because I can’t take them from you by force. I have to give you something in return because I have no choice.

The economy is a reflection of our egoism, and our egoism is always growing. It is unwilling to unite with anyone, and it spurns us to exploit everyone. So what regulator can there possibly be?

The way to create a regulator for egoism, for human relationships is to observe two rules: “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want done unto you,” followed by, “love your neighbor as yourself.” But this is certainly not the direction economists are currently taking when seeking a regulator, which is why they won’t find it. Meanwhile, the next disaster will be far more qualitative. It won’t necessarily come from the financial system, the stock market or the banks; it may come by way of epidemics, climate anomalies and so on.

The fact that we’re experiencing a respite, even though we haven’t corrected anything, indicates that the next disaster is approaching. This isn’t a break or the end of the problem, but it testifies to the speed of the process, which means that the second wave of the crisis is not far away.

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