Opinion (Alfonso Morales, chief archaeologist for the Pre-Columbian Art Research Institute at Palenque, a specialist in the Maya world): The sensation about the end of the world in 2012, as predicted by the Mayan calendar, lacks a scientific basis. The Maya adhered to the theory of the cyclical, rather than linear, historical process.

The Mayan civilization did not predict the apocalypses in 2012. The Mayas were predicting a “strictly cyclical phenomenon,” not a planetary catastrophe. In the books “Chilam Balam,” which relate the history of the Maya people, prophecies concerning the end of the first era of humanity are mentioned, and it is from those references that certain scholars have drawn their conclusions about “seven alleged predictions.”

These scholars insist that the Mayas were prophesying a series of natural catastrophes that will cause the complete destruction of the planet and the human species along with it.

The predictions, supposed derived from the “Chilam Balam,” claim that “the world of hate and materialism will end and… humanity will have to choose between disappearing as a sentient species that threatens to destroy the planet or evolving toward harmonious integration with the entire universe.”

My comment: Everyone is waiting for change, but there will be no change to the better if man does not begin to change himself to the similarity with the Creator. All other changes are for the worse because they reveal the discrepancy between us and the Creator and do so only in order to compel people to come to the properties of the Creator.
[47292]

Related Material:
48 Hours Until The End Of The World
It Is Not the End Of The World, But The Beginning
A Way Out Of The Dead End Of This World
From The End Of The World To Its End

Filed under: Crisis - 1 Comment →

Opinion (Lester R. Brown, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental & Economic Collapse): Can we change direction before we go over the edge? The world is in trouble. Plan A, or business as usual, is not working. Changes must be implemented at wartime speed to avert multiple catastrophes that feed on each other as each one tips the next one over onto a path of no return.

My comment: He wrote about it a few years ago, but in the meantime nobody is listening to him, although he is a famous publicist. Evidently, only shocks will force people to pay attention to it, but will it not be too late—not for the total destruction of civilization, but for reaching complete correction in a peaceful way?
[47231]

Related Material:
We Do Not Have Another Planet
The Planet On The Edge
The Lessons Of Natural Disasters

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, World - No Comments →

The problem is that we constantly forget about the Creator! It is clear that we work in the group. After all, it is written that everything depends upon it, and only there do we have freedom of will. Only in the group can I do what depends on me.

Dissemination is another way. We understand that if we disseminate widely, we will absorb the aspirations of everyone else and pass desires to one another. But behind all these actions of study, dissemination, and the group, we forget that we only do them to please the Creator. We lose this notion. We do not perceive Him and therefore, it’s as if He doesn’t exist for us.

Sometimes we remember Him and think: “Fine, I will get to this sometime later.” But this is not right as I am no longer aiming straight at the target like an arrow! Even the smallest personal effort must be accompanied by an intention, when “the end result is in its initial thought.” I do everything solely in order to please the Creator, even though I neither know who He is nor feel Him at first.

But as it is written in Psalms, I am always “by night on my bed,” which means that I lie flat in the state when the “head” and the “feet” (all the Sefirot) are on the same level, and there is nothing, neither mind nor sensations; I’m in absolute darkness. And still, I “seek him whom my soul loves.”

And even though I do not know where to look and what this is, I still artificially tune myself into this search over and over again, and I gradually begin to receive some kind of impressions. It begins to work.

We need to attract the Surrounding Light specifically by directing all the actions to giving contentment to the Creator. Otherwise it will be considered that you have started an action but have not completed it. It will not give you the necessary result.
[47208]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/2011, Shamati #5

Related Material:
My Objective Is To Desire
I Want To See Myself In Bestowal
Make The Creator Important

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - No Comments →

The Zohar describes a state at the level of 125 degrees, the world of Infinity, the world of adhesion, the world of our absolute correction, when we achieve similarity in qualities with the Creator. For this reason, regardless of how distant and opposite we are from this perfect state, lacking any point of contact with it even to the slightest degree, the strength of our pressure turns out to be the greatest specifically in this opposite state to the extent of our efforts to attain perfection. Here the distance actually works to our advantage.

I did not create this opposite state; the One I desire to attain did. For this reason, one gram of effort I exert in order to be with the Creator despite this greatest possible distance is multiplied by 125 degrees. In other words, these degrees benefit me in my efforts.

It’s the same way that everything is done for a baby when she cries. But when a two or three year old cries, the grownups no longer pay as much attention to her.

The maximum distance specifically works in such a way that it multiplies the strength of one’s effort on the other end of the ladder of the degrees. This is why we need to appreciate our state and wish to attain the final state as much as possible. Then our efforts will truly be great.
[47218]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/5/2011, The Zohar

Related Material:
Instruction For Spiritual Revival
A Mystical Force Or A Catalyst Of Progress?
A Wonderful Infusion

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work, Zohar - No Comments →

Opinion: (Billionaire investor George Soros, Ekathimerini.com): “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.” Europe is in a crisis, centered around the euro and that the authorities are only engaged in buying time, but that time was working against them.

Europe faces a choice to look for solutions at a national or European level. The survival of the euro is “vital for all.” There must be a European solution.

Over the long term the euro was bound to fail unless a political union was also established. While the eurozone had a common central bank, it had failed to set up a central treasury and had no common fiscal policy. “The euro had created divergence, where it had been expected to create convergence,” he said comparing the levels of competitiveness in Spain and Germany.

My comment: The great financier continues to solve problems using the old methods, but they no longer work. Nothing can be rebuilt without changing social relations; adjustments are not going to work.

For some reason, financiers do not see people behind papers, do not realize that the economy is a copy of social relations and that an economic crisis erupts specifically because they need to be changed. Therefore, financial crisis can be solved by social changes only.
[46694]

Related Material:
Waking Up In A New Dimension
An Overly Complicated System Requires A Solution
Five Global Shocks Of The World Economy

Filed under: Crisis, Economy - 1 Comment →

The world is gradually being submerged into the global crisis; however, a simple person, the so-called law-abiding citizen, does not feel it. He does not see more than he is being shown at the given time. So, how do we reach them?

The wisdom of Kabbalah delivers results on two levels:

First of all, it is the attainment of the Creator, in the process of which we discover the eternal and perfect force. We merge with it as we reveal it, and in doing so, we save ourselves from the angel of death; we become like the Creator.

As I acquire this similarity, I no longer feel like I pertain to something finite and imperfect. Now, I belong to Him, even if it is only in the way that semen attaches itself to the wall of the womb. Now, I am in Him. Now, I am on a higher degree than this world. I have attained eternity, perfection, harmony, and freedom.

Second of all, in this corporeal life, I receive a method that allows me to escape misfortunes that gradually come closer and manifest in the world. In reality, I greatly depend on others on the level of this world. For this reason, I cannot guarantee that studying Kabbalah will make me feel comfortable. This is because here I exist in a common network that connects everyone.

However, I benefit a great deal on the corporeal level in things like childhood education and my personal attitude toward life. Kabbalah really helps me in the areas where I can personally influence my life, almost independently from others.

In this way, I am provided with advantages that I can feel even during the first years of studying. I can educate my children better, and I understand life better than others. Yet, the key element is my attainment of the Creator. This is “freedom from the angel of death.”

Naturally, it is easier to remain “Shimon from the market,” to sell watermelons, watch soccer at night while drinking beer, and be absolutely blind to anything else. What are the plans, demands, and dreams of such a person? Heaven for him is an infinite number of hamburgers on the grill in front of a huge plasma screen where his team always wins: His eyes on the screen, the hand automatically kindles the flame. We cannot explain anything to a person like this. He is tuned to a different wave length.

Kabbalah “broadcasts” in two ranges: One for those who strive toward the meaning of life and are able to take a new understanding of life from it. The second is also a treasure because a person begins to see the world more deeply and discover the mechanisms that drive it, the connections stretching through it. He sees people’s customs and manners, the nature of the universe, the flow of evolution, and the scale of priorities. You reveal to him our world, the global system, and he begins to understand the principles according to which it operates.

This is a very valuable gift. A person off the street is unable to understand what is happening, but here, he suddenly begins to connect one thing with another, and separate pieces come together into a nice image before him. He reveals the world where he lives and the journey that has brought humanity to the current state.

He did not understand these things until now. He was living behind a curtain: “This is my house, this is my job, my food, and my bedroom.” Now, the person opens his eyes even before he really begins to think about the purpose and the Creator. This is how he becomes a human on the level of this world.
[47092]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/13/2011, Ramchal’s “The Wisdom Article”

Related Material:
The World Is Ready To Hear
Every Person Is Important For Perfection
The Path To The Group

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Dissemination - 2 Comments →

Question: Lately it’s felt that the world Kli is working in a single desire. At one time Rabash advised you to make an attack from this state. What exactly are we attacking?

Answer: Ourselves, our heart, our laziness, our pride, our past habits. I have to ascend above all of these calculations.

The most important thing is to dissolve among the friends, to intentionally push yourself into the group. I want to be there all the time. I want to lose my personal mind and feeling and to acquire the mind and feeling of all the friends. It’s as if I lose myself in them by my own desire.

This means acquiring the vessel of the mutual guarantee.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/6/11, Matan Torah

Related Material:
My Objective Is To Desire
An Electronic Circuit Of The Collective Soul
The Simple Law Of Mutual Guarantee

Filed under: Collective Soul, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work, Mutual Guarantee, Prayer and Intention, Q&A, Spiritual Teacher, Spirituality, Unity - No Comments →

In “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah” Baal HaSulam presents his famous parable about the guest and the Host, the example that reflects a person’s relationship with the Creator. The Host greets His guest as His closest friend and, driven solely by the power of His love, wants to give him everything without any intention of receiving anything in return.

He gets pleasure from serving the guest, is happy about it, and expects no compensation because the law of love obliges Him to act in this way. On the contrary, if the guest refuses to receive, this will upset the Host very much because He has a great desire to fill the guest, His friend, completely with all the abundance.

If the guest feels some discomfort, this feeling does not come directly from the Host but surfaces involuntarily as he used to be empty and now somebody gave him fulfillment. And within this fulfillment, there is something shameful, undeserved; there is the lack of his own participation and effort, which raises a feeling of shame in the guest.

In this sense of shame, the guest discovers what he is missing. He thinks: “The Host gives, and I receive. As a receiver, I feel ashamed, but there is no shame in the giver. This is the difference between the giver and the receiver! He is not ashamed because He gives, but I am not capable of this action of bestowal. If I could give as He does, I would not feel shame; moreover, I would be honored!

The Host does not feel any honor in His bestowal to me because bestowal is natural for Him; He loves according to His nature. And thus, He is not proud that He gives; on the contrary, thus He fulfills His desire.

If I give, it will bring me honor instead of shame. That is why the shame that I am feeling now is useful; it will help me feel the opposite state: honor and self-respect in addition to the high position of the giver.”

The receiver obtains all this understanding as a result of shame: Why and how he should perform the necessary steps in order to not only extinguish shame, but also to reach the level of the giver. Here, it is not merely to achieve bestowal—one has to come to love! Let this shame rise hatred in me, which I will transform into love, and then I will actually attain the state of the Creator.

All the love that He has naturally will become a great acquisition for me that I myself attained and earned. And that is why now I begin to love and appreciate this shame! It is through it, through the depth of this shame that I am starting to feel hatred, and from this hatred, I come to love.

The creature comes to this conclusion as a result of a series of internal clarifications.
[47118]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Related Material:
Shame Is The Opposite Of Perfection
Man Is The Only Animal That Blushes
Shame Turns An Ape Into A Human

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Inner Work - No Comments →

Dear 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

The reason for our distance from the Creator and our ability to transgress His will is none other than the “lack of our understanding in His Providence over His creations.” We do not understand the Creator! It is the source of all the torment that we suffer and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow and pain and be granted adhesion with Him.
– Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Item 42

The basis of all evil is self-love called “egoism.” It is opposite in form from the Creator who hasn’t any will to receive for Himself, but only to bestow.
– Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”
[46743]

Related Material:
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 16
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 15
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 14

Filed under: Egoism, Kabbalistic Sources - No Comments →

Shamati #15, “What Is Other Gods in the Work”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected, Chapter “Truma (Donation),” “Gold and Silver and Bronze,” Item 408, Lesson 17
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 1 “Table of Answers for the Meaning of the Words,” Item 47, Lesson 34
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah, Item 18, Lesson 13
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

“Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 14, Lesson 9
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Zohar - 1 Comment →