Audio Version Of The Blog – 02.26.12

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Common Trophies From The Military Operation In The Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe have come back from the convention in the Arava desert, where we rose to a very high level and began to feel the real essence of the group. From now on, we can look at the whole world, all of reality, all of life through this group, so everything taking place in this world will be a result, an imprint of our connection with one another.

In reality, Kabbalah says that first there was a single reality, one spiritual system. Then it broke into many parts, which feel that they are separated and do not belong to one another, that they are unconnected.

Next, this sensation of a lack of connection disappears as well and is replaced by the opposite feeling: the desire to use others in every way possible, since they seem completely alien to me, and to mercilessly exploit them for one’s own benefit. Because of this, our desire started being called egoistic.

Accordingly, I began seeing a different reality: Instead of the spiritual one, where everything within my field of vision was connected together and was mine, the world became disconnected, partitioned, fragmented, and threatening to one another. And it was so to such an extent that I began perceiving all these parts as not living in my heart, but as external, felt through vision, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. It’s as if they are living their own life, separate from me, and therefore I can use them. There is me and there is them. That is how we start relating to one another.

We have to return from this broken state to the sensation that everything assembles together again, connects, grows closer, depends on one another, and connects one with the other. Reality becomes closer to me and enters my feelings, uniting into one whole. Then I begin to see that there is a group of people in it who are close to me in spirit, and in connection to this, are called my friends. Together, we make joint efforts, trying to unite and to really become the image of one man with one heart.

This kind of unity is called mutual guarantee. Like in a human body where all organs are connected together and work in total harmony, we too want to unite our thoughts, hearts, and all our actions so all of this would exist as a single organism, one system.

We see that the whole world is also moving closer to this opinion and understanding, even though it is doing so under the influence of material blows, which are far from the spiritual goal. But we want to help everyone else come closer and turn into our partners in seeing the causes of what is happening, so we would all unite together.

Then we will understand that all of human history is a goal-oriented process, leading us only to unity. As we advance toward unity, we will begin to see that the world was not created of iron and stone, the way it appears today in our five senses, but that it submits to one goal, one process. Everything else is just matter that carries out actions according to one program, which aspires to bring everything back to a single form.

The more we yearn for this program ourselves and desire to become active, involved, sensitive, and useful participants in it, the more we bring our consciousness and involvement to a higher level, thus bringing ourselves and the whole world to unity.
[71037]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/26/12, “Purpose of Society”

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Constructing The Lego Of The Soul’s Shards

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Our goal is adhesion with the Creator; it is the top priority for all of us. According to the law of equivalence of form, the goal itself already unites us. But we see that this is not enough in order to advance, and that we should make greater efforts in connecting. Are these efforts the only means we have to advance towards the goal, or are there other means?

Answer: First of all, the end of the action is in the initial thought. The final result is adhesion with the Creator. That means that we have to be in equivalence of form with Him, because adhesion is achieved only according to the equivalence of form.

Equivalence of form means to be like Him. Like Him is pure bestowal. That means that I have to go through the phases of correction in which I gradually advance towards the state of “like Him.” For Him it is 100% bestowal and for me it is expressed in receiving in order to bestow, which is the highest level. Below that there is to bestow in order to bestow. But now, I am even further below, in bestowal in order to receive and even in receiving in order to receive.

On my present level, instead of discovering unity, the connection, the one system of souls called “Adam,” in which I feel the Creator and all His bestowal, His whole appearance, I discover a shattered, confused, and destroyed world. But I should understand that it was given to me like a Lego to construct, like a puzzle to put together. After all, “one sees through his own flaws”: I see before me this shattered world; because I am broken, so it seems to me that the world is broken.

So I have to view everything before me as a copy of my internal system, my feeling and mind—to the extent I am broken, I see this world as broken—instead of seeing in it only the upper divine system that operates and exists in it.

This means that all our work should be aimed from the inside out because everything that seems to be existing on the outside is the imprint of my internal attributes. I need to correct myself, and then the world will be corrected. It isn’t as “world reformers” claim that we should carry out this or that reform. There is nothing to do in the world except for disseminating the method of correction and integral education.

Actually, when I disseminate and deal with education, I also take care of the parts of my soul, which at the moment I feel as detached from me. Therefore, I should take care of them this way, as if they are on the outside, and bring them the knowledge, and the method of education. But then, I discover that everyone is like my group, inseparable parts of the one, unified system, together with me.

Therefore, we should try to see the whole world internally. After all, it is all one, one whole; there is no this world and the spiritual world, but rather one system that in the meantime seems to me to be out of order. So what should I do in order to see it as one vessel? This is what our actions are aimed at. If we approach our work plans this way, our dissemination, our internal work, and the different connections among us—we will succeed.
[70997]
From  the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/26/12, “The Purpose of Society”

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Make Maximum Use Of What Is Given From Above

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 6, “Inner Reflection,” Chapter 7: The thinning of the screen does not effect the desires nor create any changes in them. The desires remain with the same depth as they were before the weakening of the screen.

Therefore, we never attempt to correct the desire itself: its depth (Aviut) doesn’t change, only the screen changes. Our inherent qualities will never change. The qualities you were born with, both good and bad, will remain with you always.

The personality you had as a child will remain unchanged until old age. A person simply learns through out his life which qualities to implement and to what degree. However, all of his inherent qualities are forever embedded in him.

We only correct the implementation of our qualities, desires, and inclinations. We have to bring each quality to its maximum use while preserving the natural balance between all of our qualities and desires. After all, there is “no coercion in spirituality.” The only thing is that we have to use all of them to bestowal to our fellow man and through that to bestow to the Creator.
[70809]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/16/12, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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The Unbearable Equality

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must balance the two forces: the force of reason and the evil inclination. Our desires are divided into several layers. On the bottom there are the desires on the level of the “inanimate,” (the matter our body is made of), the level of the “vegetative,” (the hair, nails and bones) and the level of the “animate,” (all the other physiological components). In addition I also have a brain that is above the “animate” level and the evil inclination that is my ego. These are the parts of which man is made.

There is nothing to correct on the levels of the inanimate, vegetative, and animate. The only problem is we destroy our relationships with other people because of the evil inclination, the ego. On the whole, everyone agrees with that. In the worst cases a person doesn’t recognize his evil inclination but blames others, humanity.

In any case, a person has unlimited options and he can manage very well on this planet. So why doesn’t he do so? What stands in his way? His egoistic nature stands in his way. He wants to use all his powers and resources in order to rise above others. Eventually everyone takes part in this competition, trying to raise themselves, to destroy others or both simultaneously. The evil inclination really stands in our way of building a good life.

Can I imagine living under the control of the good inclination? After all, this means that everyone would have the same form. Is it possible that I would be like everyone else? What would I enjoy then? When everyone is equal, there are no great or small, and this denies the essence of my existence.

Today our lives are active; we constantly strive for something. I constantly calculate and check in what way I am better than others, and this gives my life flavor, pushes me to achieve things, and keeps me moving. Everywhere is competition; we compete against one another; when I compare myself to others, I essentially measure my vitality. If everyone is equal I don’t feel that I am alive.

The question is how will we fill ourselves? Does nature want to turn us into marionettes? After all if we are all brothers, then everyone has the same things and we are all equal. Then I don’t feel what I am living for. Is there another goal? In my present state, I don’t recognize it. Everyone always tries to fulfill himself in his own way: I, for example, as a scientist, you as a journalist, and he in education. However, eventually everyone wants to separate, to differentiate himself from others. This is the exact necessity that drives us to develop.

Suppose the hardships of the crisis help us understand how to balance society as a whole. Well, we will all be balanced, all equal. How will I be able to fill the great void in me that demands to be above others? How will I be able to feel better than others? The way things in the world are today requires only two hours of daily work and we would not lack anything if we only stop trying to be better than others. Everyone lives in a normal standard of living more or less. So how can I fill myself? What will I do in the spare time that I have? After all, one can go mad with all this freedom. Is it possible that this is exactly what nature is bringing us to?

Here we reach the other side, which is cooperation against the ego. We use our ego but in an opposite manner, not in order to rise above others, but so that everyone will rise above his self-love and reach a balance with others. On the way, the ego constantly grows and I use it in order to be equal to the environment. Then I feel satisfied from being more strongly connected with others. My ego grows, which means that I can bestow more upon them, and bring them to greater unity and balance, and then to enjoy the fact that I have a stronger connection with them.

The more I am connected with them through my corrected ego, the better I feel. I have a vessel in which I receive this pleasure, the collective vessel that I connect to myself. From this, I receive the pleasure called “mutual love.” So I reach a much greater pleasure than the one I feel today if I manage to rise above the ego to some extent. Only the correct use of all my desires will enable me to succeed.
[70705]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 10, 1/8/12

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Difficult Maturation

Dr. Michael LaitmanLooking at ourselves, we see that we are spoiled. We don’t have a very good life. Our qualities, habits, and character traits are not very comfortable. We are not satisfied with each other, and we are not very satisfied with ourselves.

This situation can be compared to an unripe apple on a branch, small, wrinkled, sour and having an unpleasant smell. However, gradually, it grows and ripens.

Someone who does not know would not have seen the benefit of this whole process. Really, why does a worthless fruit absorb minerals, vitamins, water, and oxygen?

It is only at the very end that the apple suddenly fills with color, exudes a pleasant aroma and sparkles so with its juicy plumpness. Now, having ripened, it looks opposite to its intermediate states of ripening.

So, perhaps we also are developing in an analogous way? Perhaps, we simply cannot see it because we end our lives without waiting for “maturity” when each one will become wise, wonderful, and noble, in other words, a good person.

Perhaps, in contrast to an apple or an animal, we develop from generation to generation. Each generation is higher and more progressive than the previous one. This would mean that it is impossible to inscribe this process into the framework of one particular life.

Evidently, all of our development throughout thousands of years is similar to the life of one person who develops ever more and more. It seems that, in the end, we will arrive at a wonderful, ripened state.

Apparently, our development moves according to such a scheme. As the saying goes, “Do not show a fool unfinished work.” Since a smart person differs from a fool in that he sees the “newborn” and in advance he knows what the ending will be, and so he can justify the process that we are going through.

However, we do not see the ending, and that is why it is difficult for us to justify our current states. Indeed, our path is very sorrowful and difficult. We are moving forward only by unfortunate blows, problems, and personal mistakes.
[70629]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 10, 1/8/12

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Dr. Michael LaitmanUntil now, humanity has moved forward somehow. However, today, it seems to be at a crossroad, if not an impasse. We are lost in the desert and do not know where to go.

Here, we have to learn from nature of which we are a part. Nature strives for balance, but, for us, balance with nature means the similarity of properties. Since we are developing, let us see what the general force of nature is, where it goes, what it wants, and what it changes in us.

Here, we can say that our development might be good. We are aware of our evil, our egoism. Becoming greater egoists, we understand with more clarity how bad it is, how much we poison life for ourselves and for others.

I try to succeed at the expense of others, to use them, get ahead of them in power and wealth, and rule over them. Perhaps, all this hits me like a boomerang because eventually we see what kind of society we have built and how humanity appears with its wisdom, greatness, wealth, and splendor. Look at where we have arrived; this is not where we wanted to come.

What is the cause of all this evil? Why do we repeatedly make mistakes and end up with nothing? We are always pursuing some goal, believing that it will bring us good fortune. Then, we switch to the next target with the same hopes, but, in the end, we always meet with a bad ending, frustration, and even a dramatic development of events in the form of wars, epidemics and other disasters.

The problem is the following: If we compare ourselves with other levels of nature, the still, vegetative, and animate, we see that they develop, if they develop at all, very slowly. In reality, they nearly stand still and live according to instincts, the orders of nature that are inherent in them and which they perform.

Studying a cow, ape, horse, dog, or cat, we see that they act in strict accordance with their nature, deviating neither to the right nor the left, and they never make mistakes. An animal has its inner laws, and it is designed to comply with them. On the other hand, a human being constantly makes mistakes, which obviously should initiate a rational development because our advantage above the animate world is the ability to reason.

From generation to generation, we were developing our intellect, education, knowledge of the world, nature, and ourselves. This means that we perhaps are not using our intellect correctly, and that is our problem. If we turn to more ancient times, we would understand why the subject of the human mind was raised by the ancient sages, such as Aristotle and Plato who founded modern science.

They advised not to reveal science to anyone, and to trust it only to decent people who would use it correctly, exclusively for the benefit of human life, for the sake of good relations between people, so that they would live better and more comfortably. If you give science to whoever wants it, then, in essence, you do a disservice to humanity.

An average person, driven by his egoism, uses science to the detriment of others as well as to his own because it will hit him like a boomerang. Those people eventually destroy the environment, driving all of humanity to produce weapons and other things that are not necessary. Today, we see that the great opportunities offered by science can provide us with everything; however, we use it for evil.

As a result, we face a comprehensive crisis that covers all areas and levels of our life. It covers science, education, the institution of the family, relationships between spouses, between parents and children, and in general among all people, our health, future, and culture.

In what are we interested? With what do we fill ourselves? It is with the fruits of the media. This position does not correspond to what we are capable of theoretically. We use our abilities incorrectly.

Thus, we have continued for generations, for the thousands of years that have passed since Plato and Aristotle who warned against the transfer of scientific knowledge to anyone without discrimination. They urged us to trust only those people who knew how to apply knowledge correctly and would invent only necessary and useful things.

Possessed by the evil inclination, people always want to use science to gain power over others, for the development of weapons and medications that are not necessary but are for personal enrichment, and, generally, for all kinds of things that are seemingly necessary, but in reality are absolutely needless. These scientists sell science and their inventions only to make money.

Honest scientists are motivated by love for science and nothing more, as it is written, “Buy truth and do not sell wisdom, instruction or understanding.” As a result, we see that we have completely lost our way in the desert for thousands of years of our development, and thus we have come to this.
[70624]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 10, 1/8/12

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The Benefits Of Evil

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhen we look around, we see the evil in our development. We can assume that we also had a chance to develop in a better way, to walk on two legs, meaning to expose a bit of the evil and then get back on the right track, and then back again, over and over. All we need is to fulfill the recognition of evil and its hidden parts correctly, to advance step by step, to realize our mistakes and to immediately correct them. Like a child who is allowed to break apart a toy so that he will learn to put the broken toy back together. We allow him to do something wrong so that he will understand what is right.

It’s exactly the same here. We must change our attitude and understand that our life is organized in such a way that evil is necessary. But let’s start learning its essence, getting to know our ego, learning the wrong use that we make with the options that we have especially in technology, science, in the potential that is above the animate level, on the human level.

If we use all our treasures correctly while constantly checking what is right and wrong, we’ll be able, based on this test, to switch from evil to good every time. We’ll develop in alternating phases of shrinking and expanding, like the organs in our body: the respiratory system, the heart, etc. It is also like a bicycle wheel that has one part moving forward while the other moves backward. In every development there are two forces that operate in harmony and complete one another.

There is no need to destroy anything in our world. Until now our development was forced and essential. From now on we should have a more critical approach to what is happening. We should analyze everything that happens now wisely and draw conclusions about the future and, time after time, follow that way of corrections. Then all the evil turns into an important assistance. We use both forces in order to advance. Actually there is no good or bad. These two forces are like reins that help us move forward.

Suddenly we begin to understand that all our egoistic nature is actually good because, thanks to it, we’ve developed the ability to analyze and correct ourselves. From now on, by our correct mutual actions, we will move fast forward, like a locomotive towards the goal, until we become a “ripe apple,” a prosperous flourishing society in which there are good relations.
[70620]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 10, 1/8/12

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TV Program “Foundation Of The Integral Society” – 02.26.12

TV Program “Foundations of the Integral Society”
Download: WMV Video|MP3 Audio

Assembling The World From Its Shattered Parts

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe do not need to correct our inner nature; I will remain like this no matter what I do with myself. There is no commandment to correct animate qualities; they do not interfere. Instead of the force of repulsion, I need to get the force of connection; that is all. I have to work only on the connecting glue between us, not on myself.

That is why all our work is concentrated in the group, and the direction can be only at connecting our breaking. Any calculations with respect to the person are prohibited. There are plenty of those who sit and eat themselves up: “Who am I, what am I, and why am I like this?” In spiritual work, nobody is interested why you are like that, and the Creator is not interested either!

We all are different parts of one mechanism: one is a cogwheel, the other is an axis, the third is a filter, the fourth is a pump, the fifth is a generator, etc. Everyone remains internally the way he was; we just need to put it all together into one system. And you are sitting there and crying about what is going on inside of your pump; do not worry, it is in perfect order. The whole problem is just that you do not connect it properly with others.

This is exactly the opposite direction of the way the world thinks. That is why all the work lies in achieving love of your neighbor as yourself, the great rule;  you must include everyone into one mechanism, one system.
[70811]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/17/12, Writings of Rabash

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