Audio Version Of The Blog – 12.22.15

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Living In A Coffin

laitman_547_06Comment: South Korea is the record holder in the rate of suicide caused by depression and stress at a workplace.

Consequently, they have invented a kind of a burial service: at the beginning of the work day the workers read goodbye letters saying how good their life was with their dear ones and then they open a coffin and lie in it, each worker with his photograph, lying in there crying.

One of the Koreans wrote: “After this experiment I realized that I have to try to live differently; to come out of the coffin of my life. I realized that I had made many mistakes and I hope I will be able to love my work and to spend more time with my family.” We should pay attention to what he says, and to the fact that his work still comes first.

Answer: Does the wisdom of Kabbalah say that a person should sit and think about how his life is going to end? It will end in nothing. What is he living for? In order to experience some small pleasures every now and them? What’s the point?

A person should have a strong motivation to live. He should have a meaning in life; he should have a goal. And we have to discover all that.

The managers in plants in South Korea are trying to somehow stimulate and motivate their workers because they want to squeeze more from them. What do they care if the workers die afterward?

Question: But why is depression so prevalent there?

Answer: Because of the nature of that nation. They are mechanical. In addition, competition is high there and they are prepared for it from childhood.

Comment: Do you regard competition negatively?

Answer: Competition should be targeted, not in order to succeed in this life and to reach the level of a director of a company, head of a department, or head of an office, and then take pride in it.

Question: How would you stimulate and motivate workers in a Korean factory?

Answer: I would motivate them differently, but in order to do that they need to be developed, meaning gathering them in teams and giving each team a task so that they will all be responsible for one another and help each other.

The importance of the common goal will help them be incorporated into each other and then having a common corporeal goal will lead them to finding a common spiritual goal. Soon the whole world will operate this way.

Question: Why don’t the Koreans go for it then?

Answer: They are not ripe enough for it yet.

Question: Do you believe that the success of every Korean plant actually depends on unity and not on competition?

Answer: Competition will not hold on much longer, and people will get used to these burial services. Never mind, a person also gets used to dying.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/15/15

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Conquering The Land Of Bashan

laitman_749_02The Torah, “Numbers,” 21:31 – 21:35: “Israel settled in the land of the Amorites. Moses sent [men] to spy out Jaazer and they captured its villages, driving out the Amorites who lived there. Then they turned and headed north toward the Bashan. Og, the king of Bashan, came out toward them with all his people, to wage war at Edrei. 

The Lord said to Moses, “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him, his people, and his land into your hand. You shall do to him as you did to Sihon the king of the Amorites who dwells in Heshbon. They smote him, his sons and all his people, until there was no survivor, and they took possession of his land.”

This is about the correction of a person’s internal egoistic desires called Og King of Bashan into desires of love and bestowal. Bashan is a region in the general spiritual map called the land of Israel. The Israeli nation goes through this land as they destroy all the egoistic intentions, and then refill and rebuild it as they plow it with the intention of in order to receive and turn them into intentions for the sake of the Creator.

Comment: Here the people already advance with the Creator because He tells Moses: “Fear him not.”

Answer: Yes but it doesn’t mean anything because the instructions descend from Above. Of course there is a difference if it is given in advance or not, but in any case, a person has to do the work.

The books that were written by our teachers also include instructions that descend to us from the Creator, and we have to make great efforts in order to reveal them.

The point is that clear instructions oblige you to advance directly and without making mistakes, and then to go through them straight forward toward the attribute of love and bestowal.

The instructions make this path tougher. When we read the Torah it seems that everything is the other way around, when the Creator seems to say, ” you will go through it, there is no problem.” But when I advance with my thoughts and reflections, it is my way: I am allowed to trip, to do something, and to ask for help. Here on the other hand, it says: “go,” and that’s it, you have to obey. There is no room for doubt here. I cannot run anywhere else or ask for anything because I am commanded.

These are incredible states, but a person can overcome them only if he is ready.

Question: Is a person fully confident that it is indeed an instruction?

Answer: Undoubtedly. These aren’t some internal inventions. There is no such thing in the spiritual motion! A person feels a state of clear inner connection with the Creator, a dialog, and what is more, it is totally founded. But this connection still leaves you doubtful; you are still in the middle in the choice you have, in the desire to hide, to escape, to somehow do it your way.

Question: It turns out that Israel conquers cities only because the nations living there come out against them?

Answer: Of course, because this is how the egoistic desires are built; the moment they see you, they awaken. There is no other way. In order to attack the ego you have to spur it. Sometimes the Creator does it by calming the people down: “Don’t worry, I will speak to Pharaoh.” There is no other way, because if a person advances with the attribute of bestowal, his ego grows and erupts but only to a certain extent.

Question: Why does the egoism of Og and Sihon spur Israel?

Answer: Israel have to go through the lands of Og and Sihon to conquer them and the nations living there, which means all the egoistic desires. Moreover, it isn’t only on the levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, but also on the human level. A person has to ascend above the egoistic desires and transform them into the attribute of bestowal.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 7/1/15

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Fulfilling The Spiritual Plan

laitman_238_02Question: Why does king Sihon who symbolizes egoism declare war on Israel? Doesn’t he feel that he is going to die?

Answer: What else can he do? We know that when the egoistic desires are revealed in us they clash and fight within us and we cannot do anything about it.

The ego leads us: it leads part of us to death and part of us to victory. The plan of creation is fulfilled inside us, and the ego carries it out, operating and implementing it. It is processed by the ego.

It is just like when you see that Abraham has to kill Isaac. It is hard to understand that from a corporeal perspective, but in spirituality I have to kill that desire because that’s the way it has to be and there is nothing I can do about it. We perceive such actions as tragic in our world, while in the spiritual life everything is different because it is on a totally different level of decision making.

Here the plan embedded in you is fulfilled so there is no room for feelings. You witness this cosmic plot being acted out inside you.

Question: Does a person feel happy when he approaches spiritual death?

Answer: Yes, he is happy that he is part of the spiritual action that is fulfilled by him. You don’t think about what will happen to you the next moment. There is no such thing in the spiritual world, just as there is no feeling of death. There is only the feeling of fulfilling the plan, and that is the most sublime thing.

It is the joy of the idea, the joy of existing, the joy of the revelation of the upper force, the joy that there is nothing left of my egoistic self.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 7/1/15

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When There Is No Agreement Among Friends…

laitman_547_05Opinion (Recep Tayyip Erdogan): “ANKARA – As France and the world mourn the terrorist slaughter of innocents in Paris, the leaders of the G-20 are meeting in Antalya, Turkey. Terror will now vault to the top of the long list of pressing issues that will be discussed. The G-20, whose members account for about 85% of the world economy, has an important responsibility to respond to challenges that affect the lives and prosperity of millions of people around the world. It cannot risk falling into complacency and inaction, whether regarding terrorism or the fragile state of the world’s economy.

“Since Turkey assumed the presidency of the G-20 in December 2014, our approach toward ensuring inclusive and robust growth through collective action has enjoyed the support of the organization’s members. …

“When it comes to implementation, great strides have been made. … The global financial system is now more resilient than it has ever been. Financial capacities are being rebuilt, and new growth targets are being met.

“But there remains much more to be done. G-20 members should expedite efforts to deliver on their commitments to boost productivity and eliminate structural bottlenecks to investment, competition, trade, and jobs. We must also cement the fundamental reforms to the global financial system that the G-20 has delivered over the past seven years…

“Our focus on investment – a key driver of growth, jobs, and development – is also beginning to pay off. There is a huge investment gap in the global economy, both in advanced and developing countries. …

“Reducing unemployment is central to the fight against inequality. …

“As politics and economics are increasingly intertwined, the G-20 must also work together to confront our era’s geopolitical challenges. This year is an important one in the fight against climate change. …

“Meanwhile, the terror attacks in Paris have brutally reminded us, once again, that global challenges – such as terrorism, the war in Syria, and the refugee crisis – require truly global responses. …

“The Syrian civil war – now well into its fourth year – must be brought to an end, and a fair and sustainable political transition must be ensured. …

“Turkey is currently hosting some 2.2 million Syrian refugees, and we have spent more than $8 billion over the last three years caring for them. The international community must agree on a mechanism that ensures that the burden is fairly shared.

“Finally, it is important to note that Turkey continues to confront the threat of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an organization listed as a terrorist group by both the United States and the European Union. …”

My Comment: I maintain that there is only one global problem: achieving similarity to the natural system, because the balance of our world and its necessary movement toward the goal of creation is derived from this.
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How Does One Read Kabbalistic Texts?

laitman_216_01Question: How do texts like The Book of Zohar and Shamati work and influence me when I read them together with others, and how do they influence me if I read them alone? And which is preferable?

Answer: In both cases the Ohr Makif (Surrounding Light) is awakened; we must read them both alone and together, but it is more effective to read them together.

Question: Which particular prayers are worthwhile for me to read before going to sleep so that sleeping will open me spiritually?

Answer: Any part of an article by Baal HaSulam or Rabash that seems appropriate to you.
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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 12.22.15

Preparation for the Lesson

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Writings of Rabash, “Rungs of the Ladder,” Article 10

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah,” Item 3 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Gatehouse of Intentions”  

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