Indifferent Compassion

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday, I do not like the life that I see before my eyes. What can change this impression?

Comment: The Light.

Answer: But if the Light fills me, then a pleasant feeling will hide everyone else’s problems, “Why should I care about them? Let the whole world burn. Yes, it is suffering. Yes, it is in agony; it doesn’t matter; so what?”

In fact, I am indifferent and do not see the connection between the suffering of the world and my own state. If I am well, then the Creator is good and does good in my eyes. As for the pain of others, its significance depends on how much I am able to feel the world.

For example, if my haters suffer, then the Creator is the peak of perfection for me. In other words, I evaluate His kindness not by their feelings but by mine. Then, it turns out that my enemies’ troubles delight me, “It serves them right! Do some more!” This is my criterion of the Creator’s good, not the absolute one, but the one that passes through my feelings created by the picture that appears in me.

But why does the average person suffer seeing the pain of others?

Comment: Because he is afraid that their pain will spread to him.

Answer: True. He is afraid for himself.

If I did not have an egoistic desire, then I would not feel compassion for others because I would not fear a similar fate. Thus, the egoistic desire helps me share the pain of others; it acts against its own nature. I have nothing to do with them, but their misfortunes threaten to affect me, then I feel sorry for them.

On the other hand, it is clear that if I get rid of my relationship with them, if I rise above humanity, then I will be indifferent to its suffering. “In the end, the Creator is my father, so let me rise to Him. There, we will be together with Him, and why should I care about the rest?” Having lost the egoistic desire, I will have lost the threat of possible suffering.

So, it may be possible to make an agreement with the Creator, “I perform all Your commandments, everything that You say, and we are constantly connected.” In this case, the suffering of the world will not touch me at all.

It turns out that the stronger my desire and relationship with the Creator is, the further I am away from the world. I just do not feel what happens to people. They suffer, and I am like a stone, indifferent, that’s it.

What can be done, if on the contrary, I empathize with the suffering of others? To do this I need to feel distant from the Creator, cut off from Him, and like others, dependent on various circumstances over which I have no control.

That is why we plunge into the crisis, to feel our dependence on some unknown force. There is a departure from religion for the same reason. Otherwise, a person cannot feel compassion for others, does not feel dependent on them. The egoistic attitude towards the Creator that did not pass through love of the others as oneself is not aimed at love for the created beings to love for Him, this is what maintains the confidence in me that everything is all right, that I am doing everything correctly, and others are not my concern.

If I lose my feeling of connection with the Creator, then I find myself more and more dependent on others, I am forced to establish a connection with them and through them a connection with Him. Indeed we are all in danger and experience threats wherever they come from, whether it’s the environment, the financial system, or spiritual shortcomings. A person discovers the instability of his current state, his relationship, but not his personal dependence on the Creator, but his lack of the collective whole.

That is why the current state of affairs encourages us to be corrected.
[119208]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
Looking At The World And Empathizing With The Suffering
Feeling The Suffering Of The Whole World
Working With Our Desires Independently

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