Wander In The Fog Or Go With The Flow?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why is the law of mutual guarantee concealed from us? Why can’t scientists discover it?

Answer: You would like to place a person before irrefutable facts: Think badly of your neighbor, and a boulder falls on you from the sky; cause harm to someone, and you receive a threatening notice from the bank. You want to have an immediate response to your every action: reward or punishment. It would be a law of nature, an indisputable fact for you.

However, a person must be given freedom of choice. If we acted instinctively, there would be no problem. Nature would pressure us into becoming one whole. It is very simple: If you show me that I lose by disconnection with others, I will smile and be nice to everyone. I will build friendly relationships, take care of others, and make sure no one is treated unfairly. If we were programmed with mutual responsibility from Above, we’d gladly implement this program.

But the truth of the matter is that we must arrive at mutual guarantee by our free choice; we have to build within the human degree on our own. That is why the message of unity is hidden in the fog and we are lost in it, deprived of a sense of direction. The moment we begin to realize and feel it, it vanishes. Otherwise, we won’t be able to develop the human within ourselves.

The fog is not important. It doesn’t matter if we are slow or clever, clumsy or graceful. We must do only one thing: build an environment. Like a child building a house out of blocks, we should construct an artificial environment as an example of who we would like to be if we desired it.

If a person sits idle, Nature will oblige him indirectly, through blows and sufferings. But blows, too, will never force man to surrender his own nature because by this a person descends to the “animate” degree and builds the environment instinctively in order to survive. It would be a Soviet model of socialism with the Creator instead of the KGB behind your back. And you would become an animal living in unity with other animals in the herd. What kind of created being is that? Can we reach the level of the Creator like that?
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/2011, “Peace in the World”

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A Solution That Is Hard To Discern

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: During the social protests in Israel, people experienced a sensation of togetherness for the first time. They understood what it means to be united. Now they lack this sensation. They don’t know what to do next. Some say that they want to become social activists and do volunteer work.

Answer: We need to rid them of all their illusions. Possibly, they will go and hand out presents in hospitals or distribute donations for the needy. We can’t stop them from doing this, but the most important thing is that they understand that correction comes from within. It’s not their external actions that need to change, but their inner state that must be altered. We discover the evil in the world not in order to correct it, but in order to transform ourselves. Then, the evil will disappear. The evil serves as an indicator of our inner change.

That’s a very different approach. It’s like switching your perception to a new level. You have to invert yourself from front to back. I always looked for ways to change the world, how to build more support systems and expand charity, how to create better aid systems, and how to improve our society. I wanted my kids to be able to walk at night without being attacked and help the elderly since I will be in that state one day. However, all of these things aren’t meant to correct our nature, but they serve to improve the picture of the external world, which I wanted to sweeten.

Now, we see an opposite situation. All those protests in numerous countries are totally useless, although we do understand why they are happening. The true reason for the protests is not what the oligarchs did, but that the external conditions of the world have changed. The world has become global, and that’s the essence of the crisis. Financial bubbles were created in the past as well; moreover, governments do this today because they don’t have any other solution. What else can they do? They are in a trap.

The real solution that they do not see yet is the inner change of a person. It is very difficult to discern this solution, and it’s even more difficult to believe that it’s realistic. It’s true that if we were better, if we stayed more connected and thought jointly, then, of course, we wouldn’t pollute the land and the air, and we would do everything right. That’s all true, but we are unable to do so. Nature is not pushing us hard enough yet, although according to recent data, we are finishing off the Earth. Yet, it doesn’t seem to be making an impression on us. We know that it’s still not happening today.

We use international organizations only for egoistic purposes. In general, if the United Nations makes a decision regarding any country, it is pretty easy to make this country comply. In this global world, you just close up their import and export “taps,” stop the financial flows, and here we go, the “patient” starts suffocating.

So why are we incapable of organizing the world properly? We have the ability, and we possess such forces. However, we haven’t suffered enough yet, and after each affliction, we go back to our old behavioral pattern.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/12/2011, “Peace in the World”

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The Economy Of Balance

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What changes do we have to implement at this point?

Answer: The most important task is to change man’s outlook on the world, his approach to it. In truth, we don’t need to do anything else. It is impossible to take any practical steps without this.

Indeed, people haven’t figured out what’s happening yet. They first must agree with the idea that we have to change internally in the direction of unity. It is enough to merely agree with it out of despair caused by the total extinction of the sources of fulfillment. People will reach a new understanding, will be imbued with a new feeling, and start to implement excellent ideas even before you think of them. As a result of the strong global connection, people will acquire wisdom.

Question: What does it mean “to agree to unite”?

Answer: People will agree internally that the world’s new and better future lies in the connection between everyone. This is already a different outlook on the world. I don’t object any more, I agree to learn about this, I become part of this plan, and I accept this message. I already understand that the crisis is caused by big egoism that has totally separated us and drawn us apart, while a single, whole system is being revealed to us.

This is what constitutes the agreement: Instead of following the price of the US dollar and interest rates, people will begin to change their way of thinking. “We will be better off if we unite more because this is the condition for success today, which Nature has posed to us.” A factory owner or a doctor at the clinic—no matter where a person is and what he or she does—will know that he can only succeed by way of unity, connection. A person will understand that it won’t help if he steals from someone, profits at someone’s expense, deceives someone, and so on. His entire attitude to life will change.

The present financial system is based on the principle of success at the expense of others. At first everything was fine: People saved money and invested it in industry. But then the speculative games started and prices soared. A fight starts over a glass that costs five dollars: One is ready to pay 20 dollars, and another 30, and we build an entire industry on these prices, as if it is based on real money. As a result, the dollar which was initially made of gold is now made of paper. We’ve lost control over the economy. It isn’t the economy anymore, but one big lie, and this is why it is being destroyed today.

We have to shift to a totally different system and most importantly, determine what we are doing this for. The global financial system has to help us balance the general system. We will operate not with inflated but real financial resources, which correspond to a real capacity of the world’s economy. Through this we will bring the world to balance. We will all discuss how to better invest the available means in order to reach maximum balance.

This is the new economic approach: to profit not from money in a bank account, but rather from strengthening the connection and balance betwen all the systems.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/11/2011, “Peace in the World”

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Kabbalists About The Soul And Commandments, Part 3

Each commandment entails another commandment. A commandment (Mitzvah) means merger and union, and derives from the words “single joining, togetherness” (Tzavta Hada). And this is the essence of commandment, that is, adhesion with the Creator on one occasion brings about another commandment, meaning an even greater adhesion. [The entire correction amounts to an increasingly greater unity of the entire humanity.]
– Moshe Chaim Ephraim, Degel Machaneh Efraim, Chapter “Korach

The 613 commandments and seven commandments of the sages constitute 620 sparks of the Light. Baal Shem Tov said that a commandment (Mitzvah) derives from the word “joining” (Tzavta). It means that when we fulfill a commandment (unify), we merge with the Light of the Creator.
Tzror HaChaim, 38
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IMF lacks The Resources To Tackle The Crisis

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from BBC News): “The IMF says it will take decisive action to tackle the eurozone debt crisis and support the global economy.

“However, the communique, issued during a meeting between G20 finance ministers, the IMF and the World Bank, did not give specifics on whether extra funds would be available to the global fund.

“’Advanced economies will ensure that banks have strong capital positions and access to adequate funding,’ said the communique.”

My Comment: If financiers and economists understood that nature prepared the only option—the economy of reasonable consumption, they would only have to bring their economic and financial systems in compliance with this requirement of our evolution. However, since they do not know and do not wish to know that yet, their attempts to act using old methods will cost us a lot of unnecessary suffering.
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Daily Kabblah Lesson – 10.26.11

Writings of Rabash “You Stand Today, All of You”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Pekudei (Accounts),” “When They Went, They Went,” Start with:  “Below the pillars and the bases,” Item 407, Lesson 17
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Talmud Eser Sefirot Part 8, (Start with: “This matter began in the first ascent,”) Item 5, Lesson 3
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Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”
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Good Environment – 10.25.11

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

A Transparent Calculation

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the article “Peace in the World” Baal HaSulam examines the essence of the forthcoming transition that will raise humanity to a new level:

At first glance, the plan seems imaginary… But when we delve deeply into it, we will find that the contradiction from reception for oneself to bestowal upon others is nothing but a psychological matter… although self-reception manifests itself in us in various ways…all those are defined by one name, “pleasure.”

This is already clear today. Our essence, mind, feeling, and every cell of our bodies aspires to fulfillment. It can be felt simply as a rush of energy, or it can take on other forms until it reaches the psychological level, where we define it as pleasure. If my hand rests on the table, then it’s not my hand that enjoys it, but me. One way or another, fulfillment for us is always pleasure. It is what we all desire.

A question arises: If my matter only wishes to fulfill itself in order to experience pleasure, then am I able to maintain a connection with others? Am I able to participate in the life of the common system as nature dictates and enjoy it at the same time? If this is possible, if Baal HaSulam says that this is a psychological aspect, then maybe I will be able to confuse or trick myself into doing this? After all, psychology is an everyday affair, so to say. As a result, by carrying out nature’s demand, I will enjoy myself and will make others happy on a new, global level of being.

…what does one receive during one’s life? If we assume that one obtains twenty percent of pleasure during his lifetime and eighty percent of pain, then if we put them one opposite the other, there would still remain sixty percent of suffering unrewarded.

If a person made the right calculation, he would not be able to bear this life. In the most natural manner, he would immediately decide to end his life. The math is simple: “pleasure minus suffering is equal to….” Which is followed by a decision and its instant realization. However, we do not make an accurate calculation and therefore, we continue to live.

But this is all a private calculation, as when one works for oneself. But in a global calculation, the individual produces more than he takes for his own pleasure and sustenance. Thus, if the direction were to change from self-reception to bestowal, the individual would enjoy the entire production of what he produces without much pain.

If we make a calculation—how much can we receive from the whole world in return for what we give to it—then it really is worthwhile to live.

Thus, everything depends on a clear, precise, and transparent calculation: What do I have from reception and bestowal? And Baal HaSulam talks only about the material calculation here, leaving the spiritual calculation between the lines. In our world, one way or another everyone suffers and accepts it. However, if we clearly show a person all of his “income” and “expenses,” he will understand that he is being robbed to the bone. On the other hand, in the spiritual sense, he can record eternal life in his account, which is incomparable to the petty animate existence.

Thus, we are facing a psychological problem, and we have to view the world’s correction in this vein. All of these calculations, as well as the opportunities that become revealed by virtue of the Kabbalistic method, come down to upbringing. That means we have to create a system of education and upbringing, and then the world, which is in a desperate situation, will understand that it is actually at the starting point, at the threshold of a new beginning.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/11, “Peace in the World”

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Will We Follow In Dinosaurs’ Footsteps?

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: …the whole difficulty lies in changing our nature from a desire to receive for ourselves, to a desire to bestow upon others, since those two things deny one another. At first glance, the plan seems imaginary….

We aren’t really aware of this difficulty yet. Ask people on the street and they will tell you, “What’s so difficult about it? We know how to help others.” Some admit that egoism is inherent to human nature in some sense, but no more than that. None of us yet feel the need, the necessity to go from reception to bestowal.

However, eventually the crisis will show us that we simply have to do this since otherwise we won’t survive. We will even lose what we now have and will finish ourselves off. Out of having no other choice, we are nevertheless starting to analyze the situation: Do we or don’t we have a chance to unite into a common system as Nature demands of us? Maybe we are incapable of meeting this condition and are doomed to die?

After all, this is a possibility. Once upon a time the dinosaurs were unable to adapt to the new conditions, and now we too have found ourselves in a similar situation. Right before our very eyes many species of plants and animals are disappearing. So maybe the human species is also destined to disappear? Reasoning objectively, we inhabit a small planet at the outskirts of the galaxy and possibly, by nature’s plan we have to make way for another species with greater potential and importance that will suit the large-scale picture better.

Thus, we are beginning to figure out the situation: Our nature is egoistic, while nature is setting a condition of mutual bestowal for us and requiring us to unite into one single whole. This demand of the common system will be expressed more and more clearly. Jammed between the desired and the reality, we are experience great pressure upon us.

That’s when the science of Kabbalah comes to our rescue, as if coming down on us “from above.” If we did not have this method enabling us to evoke the force of correction and ascend to a new level, then we really would die out like the dinosaurs because we would not have the slightest idea of what is happening and what nature’s program really is like.

Its condition does not seem realistic at first. We cannot unite. Then what should we do? The only course of action left is to wage wars and conflicts. When man has no choice, he is capable of anything. His only wish is to put an end to the doubts. We cannot tolerate uncertainty. It’s better to start a war or even die. Then we are at least moving somewhere, and that’s the most important thing. Since we made this decision, then it doesn’t even matter whether we will survive or not—the process has begun. This is much easier than wandering aimlessly in a fog. Uncertainty tears us apart and we cannot bear that.

That is why in our time the science of Kabbalah is being revealed to the world. It is being revealed “artificially,” from above, through a lineage of Kabbalists, by means of a certain parallel program. On the path of the natural development, we would not have been able to discover it and carry out the correction. After all, in the current situation, the transition from reception to bestowal really does appear unrealistic.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/11, “Peace in the World”

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“Shalit, If I Only Had A State Like Yours!”

In the News (from Ynetnews): The Arab world shows a rare appreciation of Israel’s readiness to pay such a price for one soldier.

The Syrian publicist Chalas Galbi wrote in the Syrian paper El Ailaf: In our country the government shoots you, in Israel they do everything they can to bring back rotten bones. Perhaps it is us who have a problem? Concerning the issue of the soldier, the soul, Shalit, all the politicians and the military officials in our enemy state were involved and made efforts to free him.’

Galbi contrasts this with the brutal repression of the uprising in Syria… Who is the enemy and who is a friend? Can we understand that the problem is internal and that the Israeli issue is minor? Can we understand that we conquer each other more cruelly than Israel does?’ He adds: In every prisoner exchange we cheer that we’ve smashed Israel and that it is the mother of all battles,” the exchange of the decade. We are a nation that loves to laugh, aren’t we? October 11 (the day the exchange was announced) should be accepted with condolences, crying and mourning because of the state of the Arab nation.’

The Kuwaiti reporter Akabal El-Achmed dared to express an unconventional opinion in the local newspaper El-Kabas: Shalit, you are lucky to have such a homeland… I wish we could all be like you Shalit… May Allah bless you in your homeland, Shalit… Do you know why I envy Shalit… why I wished to be in his place and why I blessed him for his homeland? It is because of the human value and its meaning in his homeland… In our Arab world the government is the one who kills, who arrests, and who makes its citizens, both men and women, disappear from under the sun…’

I pray day and night that I could be like Shalit in my country… that the media would be interested in me… that I would be like Shalit and there would be different kinds of pressures so that I would return to my family if I were missing because I did something for my country. Good for you, Shalit, that you are a citizen in your homeland, good for you that you are important and valuable. Good for you that the whole world and not only your homeland are following your whereabouts since the first day you were kidnapped… Shalit, your are lucky to have such a homeland.'”
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