The Last Convulsions Of The Old Civilization

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Yuriy Yakovets, a professor at the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences; Alexander Ageev, President of the International Futures Research Academy, russiannews.ru): “The crisis was predictable, inevitable, and, indeed, necessary for clearing out the obsolete. This is the birth of a new world; this is not the apocalypse, but the momentum for a global revolution, which will result in the formation of the integral civilization.”

“We have been studying the general law of compression of historical time, described by Vladimir Vernadsky as being particularly felt during the change of generations. We expected the current crisis; however, before the potential of the old system has not been “spent,” it cannot be replaced with another system. Only by forming the image of the future, for which we want to live for, we will be able to respond to the challenges we face.”

My comment: I’m burning with the desire to offer them the knowledge of Kabbalah, but they are in crisis and will not be able to hear and pay attention to it until the crisis forces them to open their eyes and ears and to grasp the higher objectives, goals, and implementation strategy.
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Not Enough Efforts

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should I do if “I made efforts and did not find”?

Answer: It’s impossible for someone to “make efforts and not find.” If you have made efforts and have not found to this day, that means there are not enough efforts yet. It’s impossible otherwise.

But everything is in front of you! It’s as if your eyes have been blindfolded and you have been placed in a room that has a table with different exquisite dishes. And you are hungry and have to look for it!

But this table is here! You can walk around this room anyway you like, there’s no one getting in your way, and no one will take away the table with the food. Meaning, everything depends on your efforts!

Therefore, it is impossible for you to “make efforts and not find it”! This means that there are still places left in the room that you did not reach. And it’s possible that you are spinning round and round in the same place until you finally get smarter and understand that you have to look systematically and check every direction.

Then you try finding the solution to this problem in every which way. But there’s no doubt that everything is already in front of you.
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/11, Shamati

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The Wisdom Will Not Be Forgotten From The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” Item 422: But I am perplexed about the sages of the generation—how they let even one moment be without standing before Rabbi Shimon and studying Torah while Rabbi Shimon is in the world. But in this generation the wisdom will not be forgotten from the world. Woe unto the world when he departs, the sages grow fewer, and the wisdom is forgotten from the world.

This is not a reference to history. The generation of Rabbi Shimon is an exalted spiritual degree that one can connect to and consequently can receive from this great degree called “Rabbi Shimon.” “Rabbi Shimon” is not the name of an individual, but that of the source of Light of a particular degree (Arich Anpin of the world of Atzilut).

Therefore, one must take care not to lose one’s internal, constant aspiration to be connected to The Zohar—the very Light that exists at the degree called “Rabbi Shimon.” Then, to the extent of one’s approaching or distancing from this degree, one can gauge one’s advancement in or distancing from the spiritual work.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/2011, The Zohar

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The Last Disappointment Before A Joyous Encounter

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen the Creator sends us suffering, it is His way of giving us clues that we will be unable to receive pleasure directly. After all, the purpose of creation was to make man equal to the Creator, as perfect as Him, and not just be a simple receiver!

Only those who pertain to the still, vegetative, and the animate levels simply receive from Him nothing more than what they need “for life.” But man, Adam, means “similar to the Creator” (Dome). Hence, the still, vegetative, and animal levels simply live their lives, and all the suffering they sometimes experience is the fault of man who does not carry out his purpose.

As to man, he always suffers…. He is unable to fulfill himself, and his entire development is the constant growth of the desire to receive pleasure, which keeps becoming bigger and clearer, forcing man to constantly pursue new types of fulfillment.

He constantly hopes that he is about to receive fulfillment, but every time he is left with nothing. And at the end he becomes completely disappointed and suddenly understands that he is no longer able to continue the same way! He stops believing that he is able to achieve anything in this life with its egoistic approach and constant pursuit of pleasure.

All of this was arranged ahead of time, with the intention to have man turn around and, instead of searching for a way to fulfill his desire, to start looking for a way to acquire the form of the Light, the form of the Host, that is, instead of wanting to receive Light itself, for him to want to acquire its qualities—the qualities of the Creator.

But the form of the Host, the form of the giver, must clothe in the desire of the creature. And for this reason, the aspiration to bestow, this bestowing form which dresses itself in the desire to receive pleasure, is called the “screen” and the “Reflected Light.” This is the new, non-egoistic approach man must come to once he completely becomes disappointed in his ability to fulfill himself egoistically.

For this he needs to change his entire approach to life, and instead of pursuing pleasure, to start pursuing the Creator’s image, which would dress into him. In this case, the desire to receive pleasure, which has restricted its egoism and armed itself with a screen and the Reflected Light, will acquire the same form as the Creator, the desire to bestow. And then the upper Light will robe itself in the egoistic desire in the form of bestowal on man’s part, directed back to the Creator.

There, inside this desire to receive pleasure, inside man himself, their encounter will take place—the encounter of man and the Creator. And this is why the Creator is named “Boreh” (“come and see”). After all, you reveal Him within you and nowhere else.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/2011, Writings of Rabash

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Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 20

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

Remoteness from the Creator is the Reason for All Suffering

If a person from Israel degrades the virtue of the internality of the Torah, which deals with the correction of the souls, with regard to the advantage of the externality of the Torah, which deals only with the mechanical observance of rituals, by that one degrades the children of Israel and enhances the Nations of the World over them, which will regard Israel as superfluous, as though the world has no need for them. Furthermore, one evokes the strengthening of the destructors of the world, which leads to pogroms and wars.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 69

The Light of love will not awaken in the world before Israel starts engaging in the Torah for the sake of correction and not reward. Thus, the length of the exile and afflictions depends on our decision to correct ourselves. Then the Light of love will immediately awaken, and we will be granted complete redemption [from egoism].
Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 36
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 07.12.11

Shamati #117 You Labored and Did Not Find, Do Not Believe
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The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” “You Shall Make A Table,” Item 519, Lesson 21
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 Table of Answers for Topics,” Item 59, Lesson 37
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Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 23, Lesson 16
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Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 17, Lesson 12
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Are We On The Verge Of Collapse Or At The Threshold Of A New Stage?

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Billionaire investor George Soros): “There’s no arrangement for any countries leaving the euro, which in current circumstances is probably inevitable.” The eurozone should develop an escape mechanism for the debts of its most indebted members. “We are on the verge of an economic collapse which starts, let’s say, in Greece, but it could easily spread…The financial system remains extremely vulnerable.”

“I think most of us actually agree that Europe’s crisis is actually centered around the euro… It’s a kind of financial crisis that is really developing. It’s foreseen.”

“We are on the edge of collapse and that is the time to recognize the need for change.” Soros called the survival of the European Union a “vital interest to all” and said the EU needed structural changes to ward off disintegration. The euro had a basic flaw from the start in that the currency was not backed by political union or a joint treasury. “The euro had no provision for correction.”

Comment: That was precisely the miscalculation. No one thought about it in the beginning, and no one is thinking about it now. Egoism has to develop to its full exhaustion as the driving force of human society, civilization, and life in general—until the realization of evil.

Then due to the realization of evil and to the extent of our sensing it, we will be able to turn to its correction because we will feel that the only vital goal is precisely the transformation of egoism into altruism. In other words, we have to experience the rule of “I created the evil inclination, and I created the Torah as a spice” to its full measure.

However, the realization of evil can be accelerated and softened by wisdom because knowledge helps us to predict far-off consequences, to avoid the unnecessary and harmful, and to choose the correct path.

That is why we have been given Kabbalah: It enables us to alleviate and accelerate the achievement of the goal: the transition from egoism to altruism. Then, fundamentally correct alliances will be formed, which will consider common political and economic objectives, meaning that they will be based on the full cooperation of the entire humanity.
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Life Under Hypnosis

Dr. Michael LaitmanSuffering brings us to the question: What are we living for? I do not want to live in order to suffer while serving my egoism. It is better to die than live like this. Many people in the world are ready to die, and many actually commit suicide.

So how can I change the situation so that instead of me serving my desire, my desire would serve me? This is only possible if the Light that Reforms acts upon me. I need this hidden force, even though I do not know where it comes from. Only it will change the order of priorities in me, raising the importance of spiritual life, bestowal, exiting myself, and rising above egoistic concerns about my existence here and now.

At a certain stage, man realizes his enslavement and understands the meaning of the words: “I have created the evil inclination.” The ego takes you towards death—this is why you refer to it as “evil.” Life seems to be death to you because you work for a cruel master who does not pay you anything and leaves you without pleasure, until eventually you die. There is no harder slavery.

But for the time being, I do not yet see my evil inclination; it blinds me, appears to be me. But in reality it is as if someone has hypnotized me, programmed me, and I do what he wants. His power is so strong that he controls me in an unnoticeable and tyrannical manner.

We are born hypnotized, and we do not even understand that we are under someone else’s influence. It happens in life that we fall under someone’s influence, and only afterward are surprised to discover this. It is the same story regarding the evil inclination. The problem here is with the means: What will help us break free from its oppression?

The answer is suffering. Suffering is like Pharaoh who has brought the sons of Israel closer to the Creator. This angel of death constantly forces you to strain yourself for him, and finally you discover that you are suffering through his commands and your servitude. Then you begin to search for the cause of your suffering, and you discover that they actually help you reject evil. This way Pharaoh, who strained the sons of Israel with heavy work, brought them closer to their redemption.

So are we, together with the entire world, standing in the beginning of the same process. Purer souls awaken first, asking themselves about the meaning of what is happening: “Where is the villain who orders me around? I do not want to suffer.”

At first one tries to figure out his suffering egoistically. Then he raises his eyes and begins to examine the situation as a whole: “What is actually happening here?” This way we direct ourselves towards a different goal—essentially, a different authority. We go from one angel to another: from Pharaoh to the Creator. There are only two options, and no one else between them. Ultimately, you choose who will rule over you.

Purer souls are going through this now, and others will come after them.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/8/2011, “The Freedom”

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To Not Regret The Lost Time…

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can I keep the constant intention that The Zohar talks only about the connection between us?

Answer: The main thing is intention. If you can listen to the text of The Zohar and keep the right intention, then listen. If you cannot listen since listening diverts you from the intention, then stay in the intention.

The same condition of keeping the constant intention to be corrected by the Light applies to the study of all other Kabbalistic materials, and in general, to each moment of life. If a person cannot stay in intention, it is a pity to waste effort and lose time.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/2011, The Zohar

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Who Colored The White Light?

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe Book of Zohar, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” Item 431: Black is very dark. Its color is not seen out of the darkness. Where was this color black and darkness dyed? When this red melted into the azure and the colors red and azure mingled, the fusion of filth from Midat ha Din melted into the deeps, Malchut de Malchut, and mire and sludge were made from there, as it is written, “And its waters toss up mire and sludge.”

The Zohar explains which quality, which Sefira each color corresponds to. Naturally, everything originates from Malchut and is perceived in it: We observe all the qualities from within Malchut. There are 9 Sefirot before Malchut, which are the Creator’s qualities, the qualities of bestowal. But when Malchut receives them and begins to work with them, they take on various shades in her to the extent of her ability to be on the degree of bestowal, from Keter to Yesod.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/2011, The Zohar

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