Good Environment – 09.08.11

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

Consumption Is Not The Problem

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We have been discussing the fact that excessive consumption has brought humanity to a troubled state. However, some economists surmise that if we start consuming less, this will also have a negative effect….

Answer: Every phase of development has its own spiritual HaVaYaH sequence. It includes phases of bestowal and reception, idleness and a combination of different factors of interconnection. Therefore, we cannot draw a direct interconnection between the level of consumption and the solution to the problem.

Previously we might have been able to improve the situation by distributing goods among everyone because the egoistic desire was developed to a certain level where the gap between the layers of the population could really have been ameliorated in this way. However, today we have risen a level higher, and the methods that were suitable at the previous phase are no longer working. The accent is shifting from the receiving desire to the bestowing one, and you cannot attain real improvement through mere “hand-outs.” You have to understand that by giving out products, you are trying to block the path of the crisis and are thereby depriving yourself of the opportunity to get down to its causes, the bestowing force, the Creator. But in the meantime, our troubles are already acquiring a goal-oriented nature.

Analogously, at the second phase of the expansion of Direct Light, it is impossible to act the same way as at the first phase. That’s because the second phase derived from the first precisely because it was time to realize the primary cause of the Light. Even though it is entirely filled by the Light, this is no longer sufficient.

Likewise, today simple distribution does not solve the problems. The goal of creation is not to satiate our egoistic desires or for us to “stuff our bellies.” That is why we are discovering the second phase of development: by giving out goods to the poor, we will only accelerate the collapse.

So what should we do? After all, this is contrary to all logic. Previously egoism ruled the party: The more we received, the better we felt. But now consumption and restraint, selfishness and concessions in favor of the weak are equally destructive for the economy. Stated differently, we have no more effective methods left to work with the egoistic desire. It has depleted itself both in reception and bestowal.

This is the beginning of the two-sided realization of egoism’s evil—the total recognition of the fact that it cannot be used.

So how can man survive? Several million people in the world will manage to feed themselves with the fruits of the earth that they farm. And what will the others do? We will not be able to maintain the previous connections, and moreover, we will not be able to exchange goods and production the way we once did. The word is starting to reduce its circulation, to “freeze up.”

Under these conditions, the only thing that can really help humanity is a clear attitude to what is happening, the understanding of the need to change the nature of our connections. This is the only thing that will give us good results.

Therefore, first and foremost people need to study. Leave everything else. Provide everyone with the base minimum just above the poverty line, and use the rest of the efforts to improve our interpersonal relationships.

“Fair distribution” and “social justice” are pretty words, for the sake of which tens of millions of people were killed or killed others. Slogans such as these will only help on the condition that we change people’s consciousness. And for that we need upbringing. A person just needs the vital necessities and the willingness to listen, and that’s all.

However, he won’t be learning about “how to consume properly,” but about how to relate properly to others. Everything else will become a natural consequence. When people’s desire changes, they will understand how to manage life of their own accord. By virtue of upbringing, all the practical solutions will become obvious.

First of all, a person has to be educated and changed at least slightly. This is the only way we will avoid Nazi regimes of different kinds, by building an environment that changes people for the better.
[54057]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/8/11, “The Nation”

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Fair Distribution: Nothing For Anyone

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: People are unable to reach any agreement on what is fair distribution. Every person has his own “justice.” So how is it possible to establish it?

Answer: You’re right: How is it possible to understand what is fair distribution when one person needs one pound of bread a day and another person five pounds? This depends on one’s habits and inborn qualities. Some people are so fast and clever that in two hours they can earn as much as another person can’t earn in a week.

One person has such wonderful capabilities that he obtains an excellent profession and earns a lot of money, while another person remains a simple blue-collar worker. Everywhere we look, we see these big differences because we are different by our nature and that is why it is very unclear what should be considered fair distribution.

If we could “scan” a person and create a complete, precise map of him, showing what kind of fulfillment he requires, and then fulfill every person, if we had such a device and capabilities, then what could be better! Then everyone would be sure that they are being fulfilled equally. Even if they aren’t fulfilled in full, but only 50-80%, yet everyone would have the same degree of fulfillment.

However, we do not have this capability! So it turns out that we give one person more than another, but on what basis? Because he earned more? But maybe he was created talented by nature. We do not see or feel this justice.

If we are talking about equality, then we mean equal external conditions for everyone. But that is incorrect! So it turns out that it is impossible to establish equality and social justice. Social justice and equality can only be relative. But in order to assess this proportion, I have to be at the end of correction when I am included in everyone and know the concerns of every soul, experiencing it as my own.

Then I will be able to see all the souls before me, throughout all times and in all states, and give each of them fulfillment in the unique form it needs at this moment. That is, even a moment ago you received one thing, and the next moment—another, and the same happens with everyone else too. Inside of this system, everything constantly changes, like in a boiling pot. So is it possible to reach any fair distribution here?

But look at what the Creator is doing! First of all he closes the faucet and says, “None of you will receive anything! If you want, I will give you a small share, just enough for you to live, so you don’t die. And you will receive everything else only on the condition that you begin to love one another. That is, first of all you have to neutralize the differences that I created in you.”

Love will cover all sins, and then there won’t be any difference between us. If I love others, then I don’t care if they receive something instead of me. Let everyone be filled to infinity—I don’t feel bad about it! I am not checking how much every person has and I do not approach others with an egoistic yardstick, with envy and hatred.
[53935]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/7/11, “The Nation”

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Bringing The Worlds Closer

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe rudiments of Kabbalistic teaching originate from Abraham’s book Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation), where he explained the main principles of the structure of the upper system that governs our world. This system is called the “upper world.” In relation to it, our world is called the “lower world.” We need to know the structure of the upper system because we are under its constant governance.

The upper governance divides into the private and general. Private governance affects each one of us, and general governance influences all of us simultaneously.

We are under the influence of forces that constantly change according to their specific program. Our destiny depends on them. However, we have the ability to influence these forces and, accordingly, affect our destiny.

Kabbalah says that we practically have no affect on anything in our world. Our world is the result of the forces that descend from the upper world. However, our interaction with these forces, our reaction to them, changes their effect on us—we and these forces mutually interact with each other.

If we understand the essence of this interaction, we will be able to consciously control the influence of the upper world upon our world. Basically, this is the purpose of Kabbalah: It is the reason we need it so much in our time when the upper world keeps descending closer and closer to us.

We feel it getting closer quite clearly because we can no longer continue acting egoistically, as we did over the course of thousands of years of our evolution. Today we are no longer able to control our world since the upper world keeps getting closer, and we do not know how to influence it.

Let us hope that ultimately, our studies will give us this ability. Besides improving our life and making it safe, we will be able to add a new and very special parameter: not simply a comfortable existence in our world, but the perception of the upper system, entry into it, and existence on its level.
[53889]
From the Sunday Virtual Lesson Series 9/4/2011

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Urgent Action Needed To Protect Recovery

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Christine Lagarde, the IMF Chief): “The new head of the IMF on Saturday urged global policymakers to pursue urgent coordinated action, including the mandatory recapitalization of European banks, or risk descent into renewed world recession.

“‘Developments this summer have indicated we are in a dangerous new phase,’ International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said on Saturday at an annual gathering of policymakers from around the world hosted by the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank.

“‘The stakes are clear; we risk seeing the fragile recovery derailed. So we must act now,’ she said.

“Two years after the end of the worst of the financial crisis, growth in both the United States and Europe is sputtering, and debt crises and indecision on both sides of the Atlantic have shaken public confidence in a global recovery.”

My Comment: Lately, everyone begins to blame everybody else for negative impacts. Such impacts do take place, but they always have. It’s just that now we reveal that everyone is connected with everybody else in a single network of relationships, and thus, the sensitivity to actions increases. Unless we take measures towards mutual understanding (mutual guarantee), these relationships will quickly lead to war.
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Between The Desired And The Actual

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: While reading The Zohar, should we try to search for the connection between us in the mind or in the sensations?

Answer: We should search for it in our sensations. If we’re unable to find it, the mind should assist us. However, first and foremost we should try to find an emotional connection.

The Zohar describes the already existing connection between us. This connection will reveal itself as Malchut of the world of Infinity, full of the Light of Infinity, the presence and the revelation of the Creator. This is what we must aspire towards.

Hence, when reading The Zohar, we try to imagine the correct connection between us. Today the necessity for this type of connection between all of humanity is becoming apparent. This is why the wisdom of Kabbalah is being revealed to everyone. It demands from those of us who have received an awakening and have begun to study a bit before the rest to disseminate it in the entire world so that everyone could realize that we are in a crisis, that our current connection no longer works, and we must reveal a new connection between us.

This new connection cannot be discerned in the natural, egoistic way, as it was done before because this connection already exists in the global, integral system permeated by mutual guarantee, the system that is somewhat becoming revealed in the world. Therefore, a problem arises: A better type of connection manifests to us, but we still relate to it egoistically. The crisis is the gap between the desired state that is becoming revealed in the world and the actual state we are in. This is a crisis.

The reading of The Book of Zohar, the study of Kabbalah in its entirety, and all our efforts should lead us to a state where we become similar to the connection network that is being revealed between us. After all, it’s being revealed as far more corrected than we are in our broken state. When we analyze the situation, we ourselves say that the world has become interconnected, while we have not.
[53716]
From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/2011, The Zohar

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My Lecture In Ashdod – 09.08.2011

Lecture in Ashdod, Sept 8, 2011Today, I will give a public lecture on “The Security Guarantee”at Matnas Diuna, Kakal 90, Ashdod, Israel. The lecture will start at 7 P.M.; it will be in Russian.

We will talk about the problems Israel as well as each of us face today. It will be an open discussion, where everyone will be able to express their opinion.

Entrance is free. For more information, please call 1-700-707-200 (in Israel).
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Europe’s Shaky Foundations

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Joschka Fischer, Germany’s foreign minister and vice-chancellor from 1998 to 2005): “Slowly, word is getting round—even in Germany—that the financial crisis could destroy the European unification project in its entirety because it demonstrates, quite relentlessly, the weaknesses of the eurozone and its construction. Those weaknesses are less financial or economic than political.

“The Maastricht Treaty established a monetary union, but the political union that is an indispensable precondition for the common currency’s success remained a mere promise. The euro, and the countries that adopted it, are now paying the price. The eurozone now rests on the shaky basis of a confederation of states that are committed both to a monetary union and to retaining their fiscal sovereignty. At a time of crisis, that cannot work.

“Europe has three choices. Muddling through as before would only escalate and prolong the crisis. Ending the monetary union would end the European project itself and wreak unmanageable havoc. Finally, Europe could move forward to real economic and political integration—a step that today’s leaders lack the confidence to take because they don’t believe that they have the necessary public support at home.”

My Comment: Either way you look at the current situation, it’s obvious that without the preliminary education of the population, it will be impossible to make a correct conclusion and action. To enlist the support of the people in promoting unity, we must first explain to them not only a local and individual, but also a general need to unite as it is the challenge from nature, the challenge that we cannot escape and that is higher than us. This in particular obliges us not only to create a united market (bazaar), but to unite truly for the sake of survival.
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Weekly Torah Portion – 09.08.11

The Book of Zohar, Weekly Torah Portion “Ki Tavo,” Selected Excerpts
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Aspire To Reveal Perfection

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Do you or your teacher or any Kabbalist think perhaps it is wiser and easier to wipe out this creation and somehow construct a new and better one that is closer to and can humbly live in nature? One way or the other, this world, as it is, is going to an end through bloodshed and destruction.

Perhaps, Hitler was on the right path of a new human creation, but the benchmark and means to that end were obviously inhumane. Yet when was the breaking of human civilization through the next level ever humane?

Is there really hope for this species to survive, facing uncontrollable natural disasters, famine, financial crisis, mental and physical disease, broken relationships, and the lots of ego maniac manifestations dressing up as “democracy”? It is hell on Earth and no one is giving an inch to love another as himself. Wipe out for new creation—is it not a realistic hope for the next level?

Answer: When you reveal the entire map of creation, you will discover that everything was created perfect and for our good. And meanwhile, aspire to this revelation constantly!
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