Environmental Literacy

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen we listen to environmental news on television and radio, we need to understand that people confuse the cause and the effect and don’t see the purpose. Their objective is to balance everything in order to return to a comfortable state. But Kabbalah’s perspective on this is entirely different.

When we speak about returning the world to a good state, we do not pursue the same objective as the rest of the world. We understand that the external force of Nature specifically created the current situation according to a particular program. Kabbalists foretold this and gave us very precise time frames, even predicting the actual year of occurrences. The Zohar mentions events 1,800 years before they actually took place.

The problem is not the contamination of our environment. How could Kabbalists have such specific knowledge about this? The purpose of the program of Nature is not for us to contaminate or clean something. And this is why it will not help to invest money into anti-pollution measures. It is the same as making new laws against theft and drug use. We know that this does not help. By incarcerating people you separate them from society, but you cannot teach them through this.

And this is why we do not regard natural occurrences as moral warnings, but only as the reason for us to change within in relation to others. We will never be able to do anything good to us or nature by stopping pollution. From the beginning, everything is made this way in order to raise us into the next world, instead of turning us into good egoists in this world.

Here is a serious difference between our attitude towards the occurrences and the attitude of the rest of the world. Even once the world realizes the forthcoming catastrophe, they will only want to go back, “erase the smut” of nature. But we perceive all of this as a reason, a message to correct ourselves, rise above, and create balance between us on the human level, instead of creating balance with the environment.

And this is why a little time is needed to understand what Kabbalah speaks about. We will not be able to explain it to people in a quick and easy manner.
[34006]
From Lesson 2, Berlin Convention 1/28/2011

Related Material:
A Dangerous Tilt
The Creator Will Preserve Both Man And Beast
Where Will We Direct The Force We’ve Been Given?

The Net That Caught Every 12th Person In The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: To date, the Internet communication network Facebook has registered 500 million users. It’s more than the entire population of the United States and signifies that every 12th person in the world is using this system. Do you think that such a system can bring us closer to the spiritual communication that Kabbalah describes? How do you see Facebook’s role in mankind’s evolution?

Answer: I think that all means of communication developed by humanity, specifically the Internet, a global communication network, will do us a lot of good. All of this derives from our desire to be more connected with each other, connected namely not at the corporeal, external level, but through a deeper, inner connection.

We haven’t yet learned to use the opportunities presented to us. As in everything else, we, as egoists, start by using all novelties somewhat to our disadvantage until we find a more appropriate form. But I am very happy to hear how successful the development of such networks between people is, and I have great expectations with regard to them.

Isn’t it evident that nature is pushing us toward a tighter interconnection? Today, we discover that all of us are interconnected and interdependent. These are the laws of nature that are being revealed to us today. And if we go along with them, we will definitely win.

The same goes for any law of nature: If we know and follow it, we benefit from doing so. Therefore, using the social Internet communication networks that help people connect is very useful, although they act like little children there, always fighting and arguing with each other. But later on, they start gradually learning how to communicate correctly and respect each other’s opinion.

I think that mankind will quickly pass through this childhood and come to a state when it will start utilizing all these social networks in a dignified and correct manner and that through them, we will start realizing that essentially we are all as one man, one system.
[33936]
From a TV Program “Ask the Kabbalist” 1/20/2011

Related Material:
The Internet Needs A New Direction
Virtual Communication Is Closer To The Spiritual One
The Internet’s True Purpose

Try Some Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Light that Reforms is the Light used to correct the desires, Kelim (vessels), and it fills the entire reality of a created being. It’s the same very Light, but you utilize it to transform the Kelim.

Suppose I am standing before a beautifully set table filled with fine delicacies, but I don’t have much desire to eat. I am told: “You should still eat something! True, you are sick and have no appetite, but at least try, little by little!” And I eat without any desire, just to give my health a boost. As a result, I recover and start eating the same meal enjoying it immensely.

The recipes haven’t changed, my attitude to them has. Previously, I used them to get better, and it is called “the Light that Reforms,” the Light of Hassadim (Mercy), “repentance from fear,” the degree of Bina. Later, I transformed myself and started to employ these desires by receiving in order to bestow. Then, this Light transformed into the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) for me.

Who made alterations in the Light? I did. Which Light is this? It all depends on how I relate to it: It’s Hassadim for correction of desires, and it’s Hochma for their fulfillment. If I wish to transform my attitude to the others, I need to perform the correction first, and it means that I use the same Light as “Hafetz Hesed” (desiring nothing for self gratification). The Light is bestowal. And then, I can employ the same Light, bestowal, enjoying the fact that I bestow.

Bestowal, the Creator, the Light, fills our reality. We reside within it, and everything depends on our attitude. Our relation to the Light determines where we are: either in this world or in the upper one, at various degrees and different states.
[33654]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Two Points”

Related Material:
Tuning To The Wave Of Bestowal
Make Us Desire!
Yearning For The Light

Berlin Convention 2011 – 01.30.11

Berlin Convention, Lesson 7
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Berlin Convention, Friends Meeting 2
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Berlin Convention Closing Ceremony
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Mythology And Children – Laitman Unplugged

And The Halls Of Wisdom Will Open Wide

Dr. Michael Laitman“Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “The Two Points,” Item 121: Over all the locks, we receive a special degree in His Providence, and they become openings, degrees of attainment of the Creator. And those degrees that we receive on the openings become halls of wisdom.

Thus, the locks, the doors, and the halls are three forms that come upon our substance, the desire to receive in us. Before we turn it into reception in order to bestow upon our Maker, that substance turns the light to darkness and the sweet to bitter, according to our taste, since all the conducts of His Providence remove us from Him.

At that time, locks are made from the desire to receive in us, and after we repent, we are rewarded with receiving in order to bestow, all the locks become doors, and then the doors become halls.

All of our obstacles become transformed into desires filled with the Light, attainment, understanding, and awareness of the force of bestowal.
[33657]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, “Introduction of The Book of Zohar,” Article “Two Points”

Related Material:
The Most Powerful Medicine Is Here – And You Don’t Need A Prescription
How To Keep The Love From Cooling Down
At The Threshold Of The Next Level

Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 28

Dr. Michael LaitmanDear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

What Is a Prayer?

There are three conditions in prayer:

  1. Believing that He can save him, although he has the worst conditions of all his contemporaries, still, “Is the Lord’s hand waxed short” from saving him? If not, then “the Landlord cannot save His vessels.”
  2. He no longer has any counsel, that he has already done all that he could, but saw no cure to his plight.
  3. If He does not help him, he will be better off dead than alive. Prayer is the lost in the heart. The more he is lost, so is the measure of his prayer. Clearly, one who lacks luxuries is not like one who has been sentenced to death, and only the execution is missing, and he is already tied with iron chains, and he stands and begs for his life. He will certainly not rest or sleep or be distracted for even a moment from praying for his life.
    – Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 209, “Three Conditions in Prayer
    [32887]
  4. Related Material:
    Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 27
    Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 26
    Kabbalists On The Torah And Commandments, Part 25

Tuning To The Wave Of Bestowal

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf I truly wish for the Light to come to me, I have to ask for transformation of my entire spiritual vessel (Kli): from Keter to Malchut. In spirituality there cannot be any partial decisions, when I am “almost willing” but not completely. I must demand this correction for all my “10 Sefirot” for all the four levels of desire: the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking.

Once I know my evil at all the four levels, then I can draw the Light that Reforms. My desire for this to occur has to be so intense that I will feel it with every fiber of my being, “to my very bones.”

However, if I awaken on my own right now and start demanding the Surrounding Light, scream, and ask for correction, it’s great, but it won’t help. Desire to which the Light responds must reside between the souls, in their relationships with one another.

In other words, I need to inspire myself to sing with the others, dance, and perform certain actions so that all of this would help me engage in the group: bond with the environment and demand from it to tune me to bestowal. Let it give me the desire to be in bestowal and become one with the others.

In the degree of my eagerness to bond with the environment, I will receive a reaction, a desire from it. And if I use this new desire to appeal to the Surrounding Light, then I have a chance to have it work on me.

Therefore, I must motivate myself to appeal to the group and in return receive inspiration from it, which would impress me. Then I can turn to the Surrounding Light. After all, if I appeal to the group, it is a sign of the following:

  1. I realized that I cannot achieve anything on my own,
  2. I desire to bestow more than to receive,
  3. I value them more than myself.

In other words, it is a correct request; it forms me in the spiritual direction correctly. If I am willing to accept everything they give me by faith above reason and emotion, as if from the most spiritual source, it means I am prepared to be transformed. This means I have risen above my egoism, have become aware that I am a total zero, and now desire correction. And the only correction I want is to be able to bestow.

Such a request will definitely be answered by the Surrounding Light since it corresponds with its nature, “the reforming Light, precisely. And I ask to bring me back to it!
[33677]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
Ask And You Will Receive!
Praying In Order To Change
Making The Creator Happy

There’s No Development Without Women

Dr. Michael LaitmanWith women everything is assessed by the degree to which they desire to be together and support or surround the male part. Women have to put pressure on the men. This is their character. They must only use it truly correctly, without being embarrassed. Women depend on the men’s group and it depends on them. The men’s group will not move forward without women.

The female inclination is primary while the male inclination is secondary. That is how all of nature is built. If it weren’t for women, men would spend their whole lives playing soccer. Yet the female inclination forces them to create a family, to work, to come home, and arrange something. All of this is the female desire, not the male one. A man does not have any of this. He is like a child his whole life.

That is why women have to get organized the right away and put pressure and influence on the men. And the men have to understand this. We are adults and we have to use our nature, both the female and the male, in order to attain the goal. The goal is attained mutually. It is like the birth of a new baby that belongs to both.

Therefore, you should look at this seriously and mutually. It isn’t a coincidence that we were created precisely this way. We look at everything as an accidental occurrence, but in reality we must collect everything inside of us to the maximum and combine it the right way. Then we will acquire a desire in which the Creator will be revealed. Nothing can be done here without the female inclination.

The world consists of 60% women and they are the most stable half in the world. Similarly, the group is absolutely unstable without the female part. A strong women’s group is the guarantee for a stable men’s part. It is more stable. By acting correctly, it softens and cushions all the problems, all of the swaying of our common ship.

Women have to understand this and clearly carry out their function. Men also have to understand this and give women the appropriate opportunities, as well as value them. Without this, they won’t achieve anything. The male part will immediately “go awry” without the female part. The presence of women suppresses all of the glitches.

Even Abraham was told, “Listen to what Sarah will tell you.” The women’s basis in development is initially the most important. The entire desire that we have to correct is the female desire, which is expressed through a woman. Therefore, you should organize yourselves the right way. Wherever there is a strong female part, you are guaranteed great success.
[33988]
From the lesson in Moscow on 1/16/11, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Women’s Participation Is Crucial
The Object Of Correction Is The Woman Within
A Place Deserving Of A Woman

The Internet Needs A New Direction

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Virtual space (the Internet network) is made of people’s desires which populate it. Is there an analogy between the Internet and the spiritual world?

Answer: So far, we can’t analyze spiritual analogs of the Internet because this network lacks any order, even an egoistic one. It is ruled by “egoistic anarchy” where everyone is doing whatever they please.

On one hand, it is good since it helps this system to get organized as quickly as it may. But on the other, in this transitional period, there is no order whatsoever. Yet we should fear a possibility of any restriction on it. The Internet should evolve absolutely freely in this mess until it straightens itself out.

Humanity will get more and deeper engaged in this system in hope to receive fulfillment there. After all, the Internet seems to have it all! We are approaching a state when a person will not want to go anywhere and travel anymore: Why hassle when the Internet has everything I need? Why get out of the house when I have the Internet? Why study and learn something if I can always search the Internet and get all the answers?

The Internet system will respond to all personal needs: We will work, socialize, live, place food orders, and do everything else there. The Internet will give us everything except one thing: We will not get fulfillment in it. This is what it will eventually reveal.

And that’s when we will have to do something with the system itself since this is a system that connects people. Above it, there is nothing else left! This is the last and the highest degree of humanity’s material evolution. Therefore, this system will have to assume a form which will, indeed, respond correctly to all personal needs, that is, will teach how to work for the sake of bestowal.

A person who lost faith in this world withdraws into the virtual one. But when he loses faith in it too, we have to ensure that he or she finds the wisdom of Kabbalah there and from it, through the virtual world, arrives to the spiritual world. Being present in this virtual space ourselves, we have to demonstrate that there is no way out: One can search the entire Internet, but he won’t find happiness there.

The problem is not in lack of connection, but rather that it is a wrong type of connection. Connection has to be based on bestowal. And since a person who lives in the virtual world is a regular Internet user and to a certain degree feels this interconnection between people, then it should be even easier to explain to him or her that it is the type of communication that determines everything for us. All we need to do is to just find simple enough words for such explanations and create a Kabbalistic Internet society which everyone can link to.

It doesn’t obligate a person to anything: He or she may come in whenever they’d like and look at anything they are interested in. The person is not required to disclose their name, go some place, drive somewhere, spend money, or enter a new group – just click a button and he is there.

If we can build such networks that will make a person feel that he bestows to others on the Internet, he or she will gain a special fulfillment. In the virtual space, it can be arranged very fast because it is very flexible. The realization of the evil inclination can occur just as quickly and develop an awareness of what egoism we live in. The Internet is a marvelous instrument for the kind of revolution that we need to make in order to switch a person from the tracks of reception to the tracks of bestowal.
[33692]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/2011, “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
The Net That Caught Every 12th Person In The World
Virtual Communication Is Closer To The Spiritual One
The Internet’s True Purpose