Good Environment – 03.20.11

My Good Environment – Dr. Laitman’s Daily Advice for the Week

Recent Meetings At UNESCO And The UN

Dr. Michael LaitmanRecently, we established an active relationship with the United Nations, particularly, UNESCO, through activities in Paris, Moscow, and New York.

A few days ago, I had a face-to-face meeting in France with the Director General of UNESCO, Mrs. Irina Bokova. In my capacity as president and founder of the Ashlag Research Institute (ARI), together with our delegation, I presented her with a proposal of a new global and integral education method that implements the rules of an interdependent and integrated electronic world. Joining me were Rachel Laitman, Norma Livne, Leonid Makaron and Seth Bogner, as ARI’s board members.

Mrs. Bokova was very receptive to our principles of a new global education system to prepare today’s children and youth for a fulfilling life in a highly dynamic global world.

After the encounter, we received a special invitation to participate at the presentation of the UNESCO’s annual evaluation “Education for All Global Monitoring Report.” The event took place in March, 2011 at Columbia University in NY.

Our delegates, Seth Bogner, Rachel Laitman, and Norma Livne had the opportunity to express our views for a better education together with the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Mr. Meron Reuben and also strengthen the contacts with UNESCO’s Director General, Mrs. Irina Bokova.

The event was also led by Under Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, Mrs. Michelle Bachelete.

In Moscow, Eli Vinokur, Leonid Makaron, Anatoly Ulianov, and Leonid Elizarov, as representatives of the ARI, had an active role at the UNESCO’s conference “Youth Participation in Social Transformations: Initiatives and Participation.” Our materials will be published in the summary of the event and future activities have been discussed.

On March 11, our ARI delegates, Leonid Makaron and Seth Bogner participated at the conference “Building Peace: Reconciliation through Education, the Sciences, Culture and Communication,” held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The Forum was opened by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon and UNESCO’s Director General. The High Panel on Peace and Dialogue among Cultures also includes: Prince Turki Al Faisal of Saudi Arabia, Nobel Laureate in Physiology, Günter Blobel, and other international personalities.

The successful results of all these activities mark the start of a continuing process of mutual collaborations in the field of education for the sake of a better humanity.
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Kabbalah Moments: Past – Present – Future

Intention: What’s Important Is The Result

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is intention?

Answer: Intention is what you desire from your state. The important thing isn’t what you say or do, but precisely where you aim, what result you expect from the present state, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s yours or ours.

Stated differently, how do you want to see your following state? How do you envision it now? What will you do: bestow to the Creator, receive for yourself, earn, steal, pass on, give out? How do you envision yourself in the next state? This is your intention.

That is why only the human has intentions. He is the only one in all of creation that is outside of time. The intention does not operate in the material time, but in spiritual time, which lies above our desire.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/20/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Don’t Believe The Sweet Promises Of Haman

Dr. Michael LaitmanDuring the expansion of the Light from above downwards from Keter, to Hochma, and to Bina, a stop should have happened because Bina is already the quality of bestowal that does not need anything for itself. So how is it possible to develop any further?

That is when Bina feels the desire of the Creator that is in Keter, the desire to unite. Thus, Bina divides into GAR and ZAT, which feels a connection with Keter and therefore develops reception within itself in order to bestow to the lower ones. Otherwise further development would not take place.

In the same way, when we ascend upwards and attain Bina, first we acquire Galgalta Eynaim, the quality of bestowal for the sake of bestowal, Hafetz Hesed, which is called Mordechai. That is when we have to decide how to use our desire to enjoy. For us, this is ZAT de Bina, connected to our Malchut of the Reflected Light, the highest Sefira that attains Keter of the Direct Light.

This is the point where a decision has to be made. This makes the difference of how the desires of Haman are to be used—egoistically or for the sake of bestowal. If we begin to bestow egoistically, then we return back down. And if we choose bestowal, then we use the desires of Haman with the intention of Mordechai, meaning we receive for the sake of bestowal.

This is the “fatal point” of Purim. Pur means “lot” or “fate,” when we decide: What to do next? That is, we have to decide: In which direction will we incline? But this is impossible to understand for now. We do not see all of our qualities from aside, besides Mordechai. In all other directions besides him, only total darkness awaits us. This is the true point of a person’s choice and it is very thin. After all, how can I understand that bestowal for my own sake was not part of the Creator’s program?

That is why we have to reach the very end until we see that Haman buries all of the bestowal we have attained. Otherwise we won’t feel that this quality disappears. We have to feel that if we give power to Haman, then nothing will remain of our bestowal!

The same thing happens to us now as well. Sometimes we become so confused that we think that by making some sort of actions we will be able to reach the goal. We still don’t feel that this completely separates us from our foundation, from bestowal, and nothing remains here besides egoism, and all of our bestowal is also done for our own sake. Only if we verify this until the very end will we be able to decide that we have to annihilate Haman and come out of his power.

At first it seems that this was useful for our progress toward the goal, but now you reveal that everything is completely opposite and it can bury your entire advancement, goal, and your entire path. But you only discover this at the very end, when you are walking along together with egoism, Haman, and it slightly steals little portions from you, taking away everything you have, until you are left with nothing. That’s when you see that there is no choice: You have to run away from his rule.

We are yet to go through such suffering on this path where Haman can clothe into real people or just ideas….
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/20/11, Shamati

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It Is Impossible To Feel Joy Alone

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why do people experience more joy when they are together? Is there a spiritual root in this?

Answer: Certainly! It is impossible to enjoy alone. We are gradually coming to this conclusion as a result of our development. After all, one Kli is incapable of receiving pleasure; it can only do so if it passes the Light through itself to others.

It is possible to feel pleasure if one passes the Light to another and the Light does not remain in any of them. This is similar to Mother-Bina who receives the Light in her upper part (GE) and passes it through her lower part (AHP) to others. This is the only reason the Light of Hochma (Wisdom) exists in her.

If she only has GE, she has no Light of Hochma, but only the Light of Hassadim (Mercy). However, if she has AHP, the “uterus” which allows her to beget and pass the Light to others, only then does she have the Light of Hochma.

It Is Impossible To Feel Joy Alone

Therefore, it is impossible to reveal the Creator if you are not connected with others and do not bestow to them! In this case you do not have the Kli for the revelation of the Creator. He becomes revealed precisely in AHP, in the Light of Hochma, while GE is only the Light of Hassadim.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/2011, Writings of Rabash

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No More Strokes

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We are made to receive the good, the enjoyment. Why then must we feel the pain of others? After all, if I suffer the pain of all mankind, I’ll have a stroke.

Answer: Do you think that a mother doesn’t wish to know her child’s pain in order to learn what’s wrong with him or her? Love makes her feel what her child lacks.

And any lack is pain, after all. I can feel pain because I don’t have a life or just because I crave some sweets. One way or the other, if you love, you wish to feel what someone you love is lacking so that you can give him or her what they need and enjoy doing so.

Obviously, we are not talking about catastrophes, the co-experiencing of which would certainly earn a stroke. Imagine this: Thousands of your offspring are dead, and hundreds of thousands are destitute. You won’t be able to bear it. And hence, this kind of empathy is revealed to us gradually.

In truth, although it’s impossible to explain it at the moment, if you could really love them right now, you would be able to see that they are all fine. Having found the love, you would reform the perception of reality according to your new, spiritual desires.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/2011 on The Principles of Global Education

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Purposeful Development Of Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanTrue egoism develops within us when we wish to unite. It begins after the “usual” egoism. We naturally hate others, are eager to take advantage of them, and want to rise above them. This doesn’t exist on the animate level since it characterizes only the speaking level: We need to feel superior to others at least in some way.

But when a person still wants to become one with the others above his egoism, he discovers resentment of an unprecedented magnitude. It turns out that a force that opposes unification is instilled in his nature, and hence, even while willing to unite, a person cannot accomplish it. His desire to receive cares and thinks about itself, while hating and rejecting another.

Despite all my effort to bond with the others, I detect this force, that very egoism which we define as purposeful. It is not merely hurting the others, but the property which resists oneness. Only this kind of egoism leads me to transformation. I feel that it is exactly what I need to reform. It is a kind of supplement to the final, fourth stage of the development of desire.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/18/2011 on The Principles of Global Education

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The Origin Of Freedom

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Most people are appalled by the thought of having no free will in our world. How should we approach them?

Answer: That’s true since if there is no free will, there is no person either. He is not a person but a mechanical toy, a puppet controlled by strings. And it doesn’t matter that it includes you as well: A person sees in it your attitude toward him. You, sort of, discuss your own non-existence. After all, I only exist if I have free will, a personal opinion, and perform autonomous actions.

But we are talking about the omnipotent system of nature where everything is governed by absolute laws. Even if we don’t bring the wisdom of Kabbalah into it and just think logically, from where can freedom appear in this world? From a global perspective, what is freedom? Is it seemingly spontaneous actions, even though it’s not the case? Or is it some sudden desires that in fact are conditioned by the life giving force?

Where do my actions begin? As to me, I don’t see what triggers the events of my life, my thoughts and desires. What inner depths give rise to different urges in me? Out of the blue, I crave something. Where did this impulse come from?

If I found its source, it would be clear to me that it isn’t I who chooses, but that these kind of impulses are triggered in me by nature. But man has no access to what lies below the level at which nature makes decisions. He receives ready-made thoughts, desires, and actions deriving from nature’s acts.

At this level, we assign a certain degree of independence to man since it is he who had a desire or a thought. Based on this shaky premise, we view a person as an autonomous being.

Obviously, it is totally wrong. If we saw the integral picture, we wouldn’t find the slightest reason to judge a person or, on the contrary, to show him mercy. We would all feel as cogwheels controlled by the general force. The same is described in the wisdom of Kabbalah.

Where then is free will? It lies in my ability to take over the management from the upper force that sets the entire system in motion. I can govern in its place, in alliance with it. In the degree of my agreement with it, I overtake management functions and begin to activate the system myself.

What’s in it for me? By doing so, I obtain freedom and autonomy. I take example from the upper force, demand assistance from it, and thereby take part in the plea. This opportunity is available to me due to the breaking: It presented me with free will in the middle third of Tifferet, in the middle point, a very delicate intermediate state. It is from that point in particular that I can ask to take the Creator’s place.

Thus I acquire autonomy. And there is nothing else that I can call my own.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/2011 on The Principles of Global Education

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Thoughts Of Freedom Are Lies Over Lies

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom “The Principles of Global Education”: Even when we begin independent, adult life, our perception of the world is a finished product composed of three components: our “matter”(individual genetic traits and inclinations) and two factors that form this matter in their own way: the upbringing we received and the influence of the environment. None of us has free will, neither in decision making nor in evaluating anything in life.

The question is to what extent we are aware of it. Do we realize that we are trapped in the net of forces? We are not free in thought or intention. We have no freedom even in understanding of this very fact.

We begin to acknowledge the lack of free will out of hopelessness. It is neither good nor bad since we are talking about nature. But what exactly can we discover outside of it?

First of all, why are we brought to the realization of our entrapment? It is most likely so that we would still want to get out of it. Perhaps, we do have such a chance.

Here the main factor is how strongly a person reacts to freedom, how well he understands that he is controlled by various impulses, and how eager he is to break free from them, gain a certain new power, objectively look at himself from aside, and rise above his nature. But again, to rise to what? To another nature that will control him?

These questions are not for everybody. Not so many people in the world ask and seek answers to them, are receptive to them. That is why we can use this criterion to cut a clear line between a “human” and an “animal.” “Animal” isn’t a label but a level of development: A person lives as the society dictates for him or her to do, which in its turn, isn’t free either. A kindergarten and school teachers, parents, and media, who mold our opinion, do not possess free will just as well. All the systems, be it internal or external, don’t act autonomously but are triggered. Hence, it’s not worth talking about them.

If I am looking for my individual mission that is above this enforced flow of life, it is pointless to seek logic in its loops and whirls. They are meaningless, and I won’t find anything in it but nature’s forces which govern the entire humanity and the whole of creation, including all of its parts, over the course of the entire human history. It doesn’t offer any free will to anyone.

It’s a waste to spend time on studying something that is totally useless. In general, this is how the wisdom of Kabbalah views our world. It isn’t arrogance. Indeed, we think that we activate some forces and laws, enforce rules of behavior so that life could be more comforting. We assume that making new laws or building new machines will make the world a better place.

We do it unaware of being controlled. The desire to be free and better our life is not an expression of freedom, but rather mere internal urges that are caused by the process conducted Above. Thus, lies are built over lies. Even admitting to our own entrapment, we are forced to perform certain actions that seem to be autonomous but are, actually, not.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/17/2011 on The Principles of Global Education

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