Audio Version Of The Blog – 12.21.15

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Corporeal And Spiritual Development

laitman_765_1Question: Is our corporeal development a result of our spiritual development?

Answer: No. Our corporeal development is meant to bring a person to a state in which he realizes that corporeality doesn’t bring him pleasure, truth, or the meaning of life. Corporeality shows a person that eventually he has to direct his energy in a totally different direction, toward attaining the internal meaning of nature and not its application to satisfy his body. Currently we are serving our body (as an animal) by creating the most comfortable situation for it at any given moment.

Question: I envy my friends who engage in volunteer work, for example, in helping people survive in the hot spots on the globe, or participating in helping survivors after earthquakes or floods. Can this kind of work give me a real meaning in life?

Answer: No, because you are saving bodies from death, and a person’s body is a beastly entity. Saving a soul is more meaningful because the soul is eternal and exists above time.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 10/25/15

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Transforming Into Part Of The Land Of Israel

laitman_747_01The Torah, “Numbers,” 21: 21 – 21:24: And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, saying: “Let me pass through thy land; we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells; we will go by the king’s highway, until we have passed thy border.”

And Sihon would not suffer Israel to pass through his border; but Sihon gathered all his people together, and went out against Israel into the wilderness, and came to Jahaz; and he fought against Israel.

And Israel smote him with the edge of the sword, and possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jabbok, even unto the children of Ammon; for the border of the children of Ammon was strong.

Many images in the Torah, among them King Sihon, embody the egoistic forces in a person, which by correcting them are transformed into characteristics of bestowal and love.

The seven nations in the land of Israel, which didn’t allow anyone to enter there, belong to these egoistic forces. In other words, our egoistic characteristics are placed before us, and it is necessary to conquer them, to kill them, meaning to correct them, to change their foundation, to put them under an intention for the sake of bestowal.

These are the strongest egoistic desires, including the children of Ammon, who exist in every person and in human desires in general.

Through their correction, the intention for the Creator appears, and then they transform into being a part of the land of Israel. Eretz (Land) is derived from the word “Ratzon” (Desire), and Israel symbolizes the direction “Straight to the Creator” (Yashar-Kel), meaning these are the desires with which the person transforms to become like the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 7/1/15

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Death Or Ascent?

Laitman_509The Torah, “Numbers,” 21:6: And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

On the one hand, a person who corrects himself when he discovers the egoism inside him is considered to be dead, but on the other hand, it is an ascent, a release from the ego.

The fact that the people died from the serpent’s venom, means they were released from egoism, and so they continued to advance. We should see that everything the Torah tells us about is one body (one desire), in one person and not in many different people, since it is about one ego that has to reach the level of resembling the Creator.

“Much people of Israel died” means that the egoism on the current spiritual level is gone. On the next level it will ascend once more and the same thing will repeat itself on a new level. In fact, there is no other way because the general system is round and totally closed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 1/7/15

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Is Religion Important To You?

laitman_567_04Opinion (Steven Reiss, The Ohio State University): “Religion is not just about fear of death. Religion couldn’t achieve mass acceptance if it only fulfilled one or two basic desires. …)

“People are attracted to religion because it provides believers the opportunity to satisfy all their basic desires over and over again. You can’t boil religion down to one essence….

“We all share the same 16 goals, but what makes us different is how much we value each one …

“How much an individual values each of those 16 desires corresponds closely to what he or she likes and dislikes about religion. …

“Religion has to appeal to both introverts and extroverts. For extroverts, religion offers festivals and teaches that God blesses fellowship. For introverts, religion encourages meditation and private retreats and teaches that God blesses solitude. …

“Religion attracts all kinds, including peacemakers and those who want a vengeful God. …

“Religion competes with secular society to meet those 16 needs and can gain or lose popularity based on how well people believe it does compared to secular society. …

“In 16 Strivings for God, I discuss a mystical personality type – the kind of person who would likely find value and meaning in mystical experiences and would be attracted to religion for that reason.  …

“We can test that and find out if there really is a mystical personality type. …

“I’m not trying to answer theological questions about the existence or nature of God. What I’m trying to answer is the nature of why people embrace religion and God.”

My Comment: As I always keep on saying, the foundation of human nature is egoism, the desire to fulfill oneself, to come to material and psychological satisfaction. Its demands become greater than normal existence can offer to a person.

There must be a versatile psychological wholeness that religion always provides. But material and psychological desires grow, both quantitatively and qualitatively, towards the discovery of the meaning of life.

In the past, this was partially satisfied by the sciences; today the demand and the need to attain the meaning of life has moved beyond science, and science recognizes the inconsistency in this.

Suffering forces us to search for a solution to the question about the meaning of life, about the meaning of enduring suffering, and, here, against all the sciences, religions, methods, philosophies, only the wisdom of Kabbalah appears in the final run towards the finish line, not just providing the answer for a person, but revealing the upper world and introducing him to a new existence.
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The Murderer Is The Man Of The Year

Laitman_632_4Comment: In the December issue of Time magazine, their “Person of the Year” was announced. This year Chancellor Angela Merkel won the title. Runner up was awarded to the leader of the terrorist organization ISIS Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi.

Answer: The “Person of the Year” is chosen according to his influence on the world, according to how many speak about him, and not according to the quality of his policies, if they are useful or good or not, rather it is how much he advertises himself. While Angela Merkel is a soft and gentle woman, Baghdadi is a man who is ready to slaughter everyone, so should he be the “Person of the Year.” It is typical in our world that such characters are accepted as heroes. I would even say epochal.

The idea is that he should be in first place. Who is setting the world revolution, driving it? It is him. Who is Angela Merkel in comparison to him? He has founded a very strong worldwide nation. If this goes even further, and we ignore the wisdom of Kabbalah, that tells us the way the world must reach its completion of correction, he will build a worldwide caliphate. On the background of modern democracy, which is to say chaos, anarchy, and all the rest, he is perceived as prominent, clear, and predictable. If we take the model of Time it appears that he is the man around whom the entire world has turned this year.

Comment: You said that the main thing is not to let him set up a state.

Answer: Yes, but he has already set it up and that is the problem. So it is not necessary to fight somewhere, but there, where he is building this nation, cut them out at the root, so that a totally clear place will be left. It is possible to do this through very large common efforts. And meanwhile the world is playing with democracy, each one involved only with gathering his political capital at the expense of others. They constantly gather for G20 or G8 forums, while he alone goes out and appears against them saying, “I will slaughter all of you.” And they cannot decide on anything.

Very serious forces of connection and unity are required here. There is no second Al-Baghdadi who would unite them all and say: “to hell with your democracy; death is approaching you in the form of Baghdadi and his associates; you must stand against them seriously. They are already found with you in your home. What can you do? What is left for you? You need to annihilate them, if this is still possible at all. Through your policies and all kinds of calculations you are trying to undermine each other, and that is how you are making it possible for the enemy to plant a stake in your territory, and today it has already become very difficult to overcome this.”
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/11/15

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 12.21.15

Preparation for the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” Article 22

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Gatehouse of Intentions”  

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