The Commandment: Love Thy Friend

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt isn’t easy to reach the understanding that the most important thing for us is the deficiency and that day and night and good and bad are measured in comparison to it.

If there is a deficiency, it is good and is called “day.” If there is no deficiency, it is called “night.” This is how you should always check yourself. This is completely opposite from what we are used to because it doesn’t match the feelings in our desire to receive but rather in our tendency for bestowal, for holiness.

You should picture yourself standing in front of the King, trying to please Him, to bestow upon Him. But what can you bestow upon Him, with what can you please Him so that it can be considered our bestowal? We should check what He enjoys.

All the actions the Creator enjoys are called Mitzvot, and they can be performed only with the help of the reforming Light, called the Torah. All the Mitzvot are in the connections among the created beings, and so love thy friend as thyself is a great rule in the Torah. It is called the correction of the general desire by means of the Torah because the Light in it reforms. Then thanks to all the actions in which we connect, one great bestowal is created, called the general vessel, the one soul.

This yearning is called day, and the actions of connection are called Mitzvot. The general attribute that is revealed in that is called the attribute of bestowal, or Masach, the Reforming Light, in which the Host’s pleasure is revealed and the Host Himself. The direct Light is revealed in the returning Light according to the equivalence of form. Thus we advance.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, Shamati #175

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A Storm In The Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We are nearing the convention in the desert.

Answer: It is still doubtful. You are preparing it, but are you preparing yourselves? If there is the right deficiency, there will be a convention. If there is no deficiency, the meals won’t make the convention.

Question: How can we build this deficiency?

Answer: What are you going there for? Do you really lack something or is it just a trip? A most serious intention is required here. We must conquer this level in blood and tears. After all the word “tears” (Dmaot in Hebrew) is related to the world “blood” (Dam).
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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When The Light Is Present But Doesn’t Correct

Dr. Michael LaitmanOn the spiritual path a person discovers terrible egoistic desires which show him how deeply he is in receiving. Then his attitude towards others is described as mistakes. Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “Introduction to the Study of The Ten Sefirot“: With this we understand the words of our sages: that one who repents from fear is rewarded with his sins becoming mistakes.”

First the egoistic desires are revealed to a person as sins, and now he passes them to the level of mistakes, to an easier level. On the whole, the correction is always gradual: First we raise the desire to the level of Bina, and then to the level of Keter. First, in the level of Bina, we neutralize the desire.

We cannot bestow with it yet, but at least we don’t let it cause harm. At the same time, we are in single concealment, while before we were in a double concealment: “that the sins one makes extend to him from the reception of Providence through double concealment.”

If both the face and the posterior of the Light are concealed, I am in a double concealment. Then I have to sin because I am under the control of my egoistic desire, the desire to receive in order to receive, until a Light appears from Above and corrects my desire.

But there are states in which the Light is concealed. It is present, but it doesn’t correct. This is single concealment. The presence of the Light still makes me fear to receive: it is as if it warns me, guards me, and keeps me on the level of mistakes, but not sins.

But if the Light is totally concealed and doesn’t deter me, then I lose control and am under the domination of my egoism, which does whatever it wants with me.

On the whole, I am between the force of bestowal and the force of receiving. The account is very simple: Which of the two forces pressures me more strongly? If the force of the Creator, the force of the Light, influences me more strongly, then I will undoubtedly bestow. But if the force of the Light is weaker, then I will undoubtedly carry out the orders of my egoistic desire and move on to the level of “sins.”

 

 

It is the same with us: If society, the police, or the family hold me and prevent me from doing bad deeds, then I am okay. But if there aren’t such restraining factors, I begin to “go wild.” One way or another, there is no choice: A person is under the influence of one of the forces.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Our Urgent Intervention Is Required

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The idea of the program of development existing in nature is usually associated with a religious worldview.

Answer: That is not true! I do not associate the program of development with the upper force. If you want to move a phenomenon from state 1 to the more advanced state 2, you need to know both states and the method of advancement. So, it happens. Nature does not make mistakes; it knows exactly how to direct every creature in the best way: towards what? to balance with the environment!

At every stage, nature creates from each type of desire its developed form most suitable for the environment. And there is no need for the upper force here. This is the law of development, and it affects us in the same way.

How can we as a human society move from our current state to the next one, to be balanced with the environment so that we feel well? Here the law of development stops because a human must realize his next balanced form and advance towards it on his own.

That means that we are in a particular crisis because it requires human intervention in the development process. A human being should become wiser and understand the law of nature, the trend of development, and then continue his own development due to the environment. That is, I develop myself through the environment, and nature just awakens the need in me: I cannot remain calm; I feel the crisis but do not see how to get out of it.

Why? because I should know the next state, explore it, understand, and feel that it is missing, and with the help of the environment, play creating nature on my own, which forces me to develop correctly.

Is it possible? Yes, it is! Now, we have to act instead of nature, not to wait until it starts to push us according to its program; we need to understand the program, become armed with the mind to build a system of development, and to advance.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #4 , 1/1/12

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Correction Is Only Possible In The Group

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: From the lessons I understand what I should feel, but in reality I don’t feel it. How do I come to this sensation?

Answer: The fact is that one cannot actualize anything within himself on his own. Indeed, every one of us is but a point, and any actions are only possible between us. That’s where all the corrections are made.

You may feel your own individual desire for correction, but you can only actualize it in the connection with your friend. That is the only way to perform all the measurements and tests.

Today all that you see within yourself are violations on an animate degree, both inadvertent and deliberate. Whatever may upset you about yourself, none of these things are real, as they pertain to the still, vegetative, and animate degrees. But have you revealed your blunders and malicious intentions in your connection with the friends, in the aspiration to unite with them?

If you remember how you mistreated someone in your life, this doesn’t apply to the domain of correction. Even if it was someone in your family, it still pertains to the still, vegetative, and animate degrees. This is not yours, but something that’s revealed to you in your desire to receive.

In contrast, we must correct only what becomes revealed as a result of our efforts to unite with the group. I reveal that I’m incapable of it and that I’m filled with hatred for the friends. By trying to weld together Israel, Torah, and the Creator, I reveal the blunders and malicious intentions, and then I correct them. I work exclusively on this “territory,” on the human degree.

Everything else is irrelevant. In all other ways I am simply driven by nature. Nature may drive me through suffering and unpleasant states, but I need not correct them.

Only to the extent of my correction in the group, with the Creator, everything that happened in the past will be corrected as well. And then the still, vegetative, and animate degrees will rise together with man.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/25/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Global Bosses Are Gloomy About The Economic Future

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from BBC News): “Companies around the world are getting gloomier about the economic future again, according to an annual survey of global chief executives.

“For its survey, PricewaterhouseCoopers interviewed 1,258 chief executives in 60 countries during the last three months of 2011.

“Nearly half of bosses interviewed by accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers are forecasting that the global economy will decline this year.

“The number of business leaders that are ‘very confident’ their firms will grow has also fallen, from 48% to 40%.

“The survey was released as the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort Davos got under way.

“With the eurozone crisis still unresolved, it is no surprise that chief executives of Western European companies are most pessimistic.

“But even Asian bosses are feeling economic pressures. Overall, just 42% are very confident, a fall from 52% a year before

“Most surprisingly, even in China – where year-on-year economic growth still runs at 8.9% – only a smidgen over half of the number of bosses surveyed expects to grow this year. That’s down a massive 21 percentage points from last year, when 72% were bullish about their business.

“Indian business confidence has plummeted as well, down from 88% to 55%.”

My Comment: Evidently, they have not fallen completely yet to admit that the new laws of the world are in effect now, which must be studied and obeyed. And therefore, the decisions of the Forum will be based on the old paradigm and will result in the decline of all economies, the growing number of the unemployed, homeless, hungry, and…those who protest. The latter will shake up society and lead to freedom from the control of the rich.
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How Can We Fix The EU?

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Klaus Schwab, Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum in Davos, from ntv.ru): “2012 is extremely important. We must do everything possible to prevent the crisis of the euro.

“It is important to hear the voice of the young generation, but they have big problems today, and the greatest of them is unemployment. We need to create about six million jobs. This is the question of social and political stability.”

My Comment: Unfortunately, they bet on the wrong horse. Who will speak there on behalf of the “young generation” and to whom? What a pathetic show of concern for the unemployed! The leaders have not yet realized that they no longer have time for PR.
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Davos To Seek Solutions For “Global Burnout”

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF)): “‘One can get the impression that we are faced with a global burnout syndrome,’ said Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), held annually in the Swiss mountain resort.

“‘Capitalism, in its current form, no longer fits the world around us’…

“‘We have failed to learn the lessons from the financial crisis of 2009. We have a moral divide, we are overindebted, we have neglected investments in our future, we have undermined social cohesion,’ he warned. ‘And we run the risk of completely losing the trust of future generations.’

The WEF’s 2012 Global Risks Report lists 50 dangers that echo these ideas.

“The authors said the most serious and credible risks included long-term imbalances of national budgets, income disparities, food and water crises, climate change, cybercrime and corruption.

“Many of these problems could lead into a dark future, ‘undoing the progress that globalization has brought,’ they found.

“Heads of state from nearly 40 countries are expected to travel to Davos to discuss these issues under the motto ‘The great transformation: shaping new models.’

“Activists of the global Occupy movement plan to let forum attendees know that they disagree with this argument, based in an igloo village they have set up in Davos.

“Forum participants were ‘incredibly arrogant,’ said David Roth, a young Socialist politician and co-organizer of the Occupy camp.

“‘All those who caused the crisis meet and pretend to be able to solve these problems,’ he said.”

My Comment: Neither the participants nor their opponents know how to solve the problem. However, the opponents of the forum are right: The arrogance—of both the participants and opponents—will not let them pay attention to the solution offered by Kabbalah.
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A 3D Edible Printer

In the News (From CNN Money): “A 3D food printer sounds like something out of Star Trek, but it’s not out of this world. It’s up and running at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan — and in five years, it could be in your home.

“It doesn’t look like a traditional printer; it’s more like an industrial fabrication machine. Users load up the printer’s syringes with raw food — anything with a liquid consistency, like soft chocolate, will work. The ingredient-filled syringes will then ‘print’ icing on a cupcake. Or it’ll print something more novel (i.e., terrifying) — like domes of turkey on a cutting board.

“[Jeff] Lipton [a Cornell grad student working on the project] thinks food printing will be ‘the killer app’ of 3D printing. Just like video games fueled demand for personal computers 30 years ago, he thinks the lure of feeding Grandma’s cookie recipe into a printer will help personal fabricators expand beyond the geek crowd.

“‘It’s really going to be the next phase of the digital revolution,’ he says.

‘”One of the main things I hope this machine will let us do is create new textures that we couldn’t get otherwise,’ … says [David Arnold, director of culinary technology at the French Culinary Institute]. ‘This is the first time I’ve really seen this happen.’

‘”This would be a slam dunk for cookies at holiday time,’ he says. ‘Anything that requires a high level of precision that people don’t usually have with their hands, in terms of making icing or decorations, this thing can perform amazingly well.’”

Objection (Irina Yermakova, an international expert on ecological and food safety): “Absolute pluses include: It’s economically sound, convenient, fast, and humane in regards to animals; the entire mankind can be fed.

But could such mass lead to serious diseases, human deaths, and infertility? We are observing the food involution: from natural products to chemistry. The first step is already done—the use of GMO (genetically modified organism). Second step is completely synthetic food out of a printer since the food mass used in a food composer is completely chemical.

The gastrointestinal tract converts food into chemical elements that the body needs. Here we are observing a reverse process: The food printer uses chemical elements to create a final product, while the stomach separates the product into its composites.

How will the human body react to this unusual way of eating? What might be the consequences? It is clear that a mass introduction of such technology must be preceded by lengthy, precise experiments.

Today bioengineers assert that no genetically modified products will not leave the laboratory until they are one hundred percent certain of its safety and have no valid scientific data regarding these products being harmful.

The results of multiple studies performed by scientists from different countries around the world, where they tested on animals the effect of the most widely spread genetically modifies cultures, such as corn, soy, potatoes, tomatoes, and peas, show that the tested animals had the pathology of inner organs, tumors, infertility, and allergies. Many countries report the death of livestock that was fed modified fodder.

Experiments have proved that foreign genetic additions easily penetrate the cells of various human and animal organs. It became clear that foreign genes not only penetrate cells and organs, but also get passed on to the newer generations.

Genes can change during the process of implantation, and they can also have a negative influence on the genome of the person’s organism. Activity of the implanted genes can lead to the development of unknown toxic proteins, which cause toxicosis or allergies in people and animals.

Thirty percent of scientists have reported that they were forced to change the results of their studies at the request of their sponsors. Seventeen percent have agreed to misrepresent their data to show results preferred by their their clients. Ten percent have reported that they were requested to do this under the threat of termination of further contracts. Three percent have reported that they were forced to make changes, which made it impossible to openly publish the findings.

It is impossible to stop progress, the development of biotechnology, but it is necessary to have to  evaluate of the impact of transgenic organisms on people and animals objectively. This is not happening. I am afraid that the same might happen with the food printer. Those directly interested in quickly implementing the printer in food manufacturing will be the ones to evaluate it. This is a huge commercial project. We can doom ourselves to extinction by striving to simplify and improve our lives.
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Critical Mass For Consumer Electronics

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from NBC): “Thirty years ago, the average American owned 1.3 electronic devices — one TV, and a third of a radio.

“In 2008, that number jumped to 24 devices: cell phones, iPods, computers, digital cake batter mixers, and the like. In 2011, with the iPad, Kindle and competitors, Android phones, and even more technological treasures for the trove, the number is — still 24.

“This is a ‘gadget plateau,’ in which the consumer of consumer goods can consume no more. This means that companies, rather than creating more and more different gadgets and whizbangs for people to purchase, must improve on what’s already out there, and ensure that different extant devices are compatible with one another, according to the newspaper.

“The slowing down or even decline of consumers’ electronics purchases was inevitable, according to some industry experts.… But after a certain point, there are no more goods to replace or acquire.”

My Comment: The only choice is to either make products with planned defects or to reduce production. Alternatively, we can develop a new attitude to production, society, and life. In any case, we will have to sit down and think….
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