A question I received: Why does our further development have to take place on a new level and cannot occur using existing methods?

My answer: This is because all previous periods of development followed a singular direction that was increasingly ego-driven at the individual and societal levels. This development did not depend on an altruistic connection between us.

With each period, we would build yet another connection between us depending upon the level of our egoism which resulted in new laws, interconnections and agreements. This is how we made adjustments in our development.

But today, Nature is forcing us to establish a new level of global, interconnected human society, and whether we like it or not, we will have to obey this law of Nature.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We Will Evolve To Acquire Power Over All Of Nature
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Kabbalah Today Article: “Globalization 101”

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In the News (from Science Daily): “People By Nature Are Universally Optimistic, Study Shows”  Despite calamities from economic recessions, wars and famine to a flu epidemic afflicting the Earth, a new study from the University of Kansas and Gallup indicates that humans are by nature optimistic…

Eighty-nine percent of individuals worldwide expect the next five years to be as good or better than their current life, and 95 percent of individuals expected their life in five years to be as good or better than their life was five years ago…

As for countries, optimism is highest in Ireland, Brazil, Denmark, and New Zealand and lowest in Zimbabwe, Egypt, Haiti and Bulgaria. The United States ranks as number 10 on the list of optimistic countries.

My comment: Because of our egoistic nature, we are constantly forced to justify our existence. The tendency toward optimism is necessary in order to help us reach our full development in life (not detract us from it) and then, to change course. Therefore, things will only get worse until a person recognizes that everything must change. Even up to the very last moment, he will continue to think that everything will get better.

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A Guide to the Hidden Wisdom of Kabbalah:  Chapter 16 -“Discovering the Unified Structure”

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In the News (from Energy Bulletin): “IEA report to the G8” The International Energy Agency reports that energy investment worldwide is plunging in the face of a tougher financing environment, weakening final demand for energy and falling cash flows – which is primarily the result of the global financial crisis and the worst recession since the Second World War.

…There is clear evidence that energy investment in most regions and sectors will drop sharply in 2009. Preliminary data points to sharp falls in the demand for energy, especially in the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) member countries, contributing to the recent sharp decline in the international prices of oil, natural gas and coal…

Falling energy investment will have far-reaching and, depending on how governments respond, potentially grave effects on energy security, climate change and energy poverty.

My Comment: At the same time, we are being told that we have hit  bottom and are on the rise! The lack of solution forces leaders to hide the actual picture. However, the solution can be found only with the revelation of Kabbalah as a method of correction.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Recognizing The Good In What Appears To Be Bad
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Two questions I received on our roles in life:

Question: You said that we have to follow the rule, “love your neighbor as yourself,” but you are not answering my questions! What’s more, ever since I began studying Kabbalah, everyone has turned away from me and I feel completely alone.

My Answer: I receive hundreds of questions, but I only answer those that are new (that don’t repeat something that was already answered) and that adhere to my topic.

As for the feeling that you are alone, it naturally emerges in the process of studying Kabbalah, and it is meant to help you search for the Creator. After all, doesn’t this feeling come from Him?

Question: Recently I was wondering whether all people are different or the same.  Since everyone has the same essence – egoism, is it correct to say that the roles we play in life are just clothes we wear over our egoism?

My Answer: Egoism forces us to play these roles, which are all manifestations of our egoism. Our task is to follow the Creator’s example and adopt His role.

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Shamati #25: “Things that Come from the Heart”

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In the News (translated from Finiz.ru): The outcomes of a study looking at the causes of global warming reveal that humanity has no more than a 10% effect on it, and that there is absolutely no relationship between greenhouse emissions and environmental warming.  Is it possible that even here, someone’s huge business and political agenda is getting involved?

My Comment: Absolutely! Climactic fluctuations are normal phenomena but the changes that are now endangering humanity are the result of egoistic relationships between people.

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According to statistical data, suicide is the third leading cause of death for teenagers in Russia, after accidents and homicide. If a child with depression or suicidal tendencies feels the support from his family, he thinks about suicide much less often. 62% of all teenage suicides are connected to problems in the family or the indifference of loved ones.

My Comment: The growth of everyone’s egoism leads to a natural increase in child mortality. The solution lies in correcting our egoism in favor of a greater connection between people in general and between children and parents in particular.

Related Material:
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Dr. A. Angelov from Boston, USA (a physician and member of Bnei Baruch) shares his views of the history of medicine: The first doctor in the history of humankind was a mother. Driven by her instinct to care for her family, she would find the remedies to whatever maladies plagued them. Then came the scientists, the observers of nature – Paracelsus, Hippocrates, Avicenna, and others. One thing united them – the desire to heal. A doctor was evaluated by the results of his treatment.

The last century has brought forth more discoveries than in all previous human history combined. We have access to innovative technology for diagnostics and treatment, and yet the number of sick people keeps growing and the mortality rate is not decreasing. Medicine is in crisis and is in the Intensive Care Unit on life support.

Health insurance is so expensive that people either cannot afford it or use it as little as possible. Doctors pay enormous sums of money for malpractice insurance, medication is very expensive, and one third of health care budgets go towards administrative expenses. Doctors care not about the patient’s health, but about their own profitability.

In evaluating the results of the current state of medical treatment, where’s that original intention of a mother caring for her family?

We must change our values and begin to care for everyone as we would for our own family.

Related Material:
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From Chaos to Harmony: Chapter 9. A Reality of Wholeness and Infinity.”Nature Plan”

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A letter I received: Thank you for answering my question and for your proposal to help with the development of Latvia’s objectives. I would be very pleased to receive your assistance with this.

Submissions are being accepted until November 18th, 2009. We have time to develop the objectives and a plan. I believe that a “plan aimed at goodness ” will receive the support of other people as well.

How do you think we can proceed with this?

My Answer: I have been receiving many requests for advice from people all over the world on how to come out of the crisis. I have also been discussing this topic with well-known politicians, economists, scientists and cultural leaders. Over the last few weeks, I had many meetings in the United States on this topic, and I have other meetings planned in the near future.

We at Bnei Baruch are currently working on a short statement that will outline our recommendations on the development of a harmonious society that will be in line with Nature’s laws of development, and on the resolution of problems arising from the crisis which will also follow these same guidelines.

In the meantime, I recommend reviewing the following materials listed below.

Related Material:
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Kabbalah Today Article: Navigating Through The Financial Storm
Interview: “A Conversation between the Kabbalist M. Laitman and the Russian economist, publicist, and political scientist M. Khazin”

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While I was in New York recently, I had a meeting with Kabir Helminski, Shaikh of the Mevlevi Order of Sufism.

From Wikipedia: Kabir Helminski is the Co-Director of the Threshold Society, a non-profit educational foundation that has developed programs that provide a structure for practice and study within Sufism and spiritual psychology. He has translated many volumes of Sufi literature, including many works of Rumi, and is the author of two books on Sufism: Living Presence and The Knowing Heart.

For more than twenty years, Mr. Helminski’s focus has been developing and sharing a contemporary approach to Islamic concepts and practice, both within the Islamic community and outside of it. In 2001 he was the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Harold M. Wit Lectures on Spirituality in Contemporary Life at Harvard Divinity School. His lectures are to be published as a book by The Paulist Press.

He is one of the signatories of A Common Word between Us and You, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.

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Two questions I received about the purpose of the blows we receive from the Creator:

Question: Why do we need all these blows if it is entirely not obvious that they have to do with the connection between people and love for one’s neighbor?

My Answer: This is not obvious only for those who have not yet discovered the connection between everyone and between all the parts of the world in general. Only 0.1% of the people on the planet are saying that the current economic crisis is meant to reveal the connection between people. Everyone else is still unaware of the fact that people’s relationships in particular influence the economy, the outbreaks of epidemics, and of the  tsunamis, earthquakes, and other calamities of Nature.

However, if the connection between our relationships and our suffering becomes evident, people will have no choice but to reject their egoistic relationships.

Question: So then why doesn’t the Creator deal the finishing blows of suffering on us, so that we could realize His plan?

My Answer: There is no doubt that if the cause of tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and the collapse of financial institutions was revealed to us as being clearly dependent on our behavior, we would change out of necessity. Even so, this change would not come willingly, but rather under duress. We would make the necessary changes merely to save ourselves from destruction and not for the purpose of coming to the realization of the greatness of bestowal and love for our neighbor.

It would be an animalistic escape from death, rather than a free choice that is made to rise above one’s nature to become similar to the Creator, even though the Creator could have created us this way right from the start.

In order to fulfill the Creator’s plan for us, we must undergo the gradual development that will bring us to the realization of the greatness of bestowal and love for our neighbor.

Related Material:
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Baal Hasulam Article: “The Freedom”

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