Audio Version Of The Blog – 04.24.16

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Cleaning The Vessel Of The Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Are we to blame for our suffering?

Answer: No, the Creator who created evil inclination is to blame. This is what He said: “I created the evil inclination, and I gave a method to correct it.” But if we manage to transform evil into good, we will obtain the same level of existence as the Creator Himself.

Everything in our world is arranged so that man himself would unearth all the problems of his nature, his evil inclination, and he himself would discover how to correct it. Moreover, these problems can be easily overcome; all we need is to just systematically and correctly use the method of correction.

If people start asking these questions, it means they are ready to start using this method, and then they will gradually understand why everything is created this way and not otherwise. They will realize that the Creator is a special force of nature that includes in itself the entire world, the entire nature, and all upper levels, which are unreachable to us yet, but which we will reveal.

By correcting our ego, deliberately created by the Creator to be so savage, enormous, universal, we become the masters of the entire nature: both of our world and all other worlds. We rise to the level of eternity and perfection, even without falling into death, but simply by rising to the next degree.

Nowadays humanity has reached such level of development when the question about the meaning of life arises in most people in the world. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, it means that we are ready to discover the upper world.

Question: So why do we suffer when the thought of creation bring contentment to man?

Answer: It’s because we don’t correct ourselves. If we know how to do it and start entering the method of correction, we will immediately feel better and better, climbing the steps of the benevolent ladder.

Comment: In this regard there is a very interesting legend. A man exhausted by thirst is standing beside a stream with clear spring water and trying to fill a dirty glass. The water seems to him unpatable, bitter, he can’t drink it and he curses the dirty stream (in this way we often curse the Creator who sends us suffering).

When he finally understands that the problem is not water, but his glass, everything changes. He cleans the vessel, the taste of the water changes, and he realizes that there always was spring water in his glass while he was suffering.

Answer: Yes, this is our life. If we manage to draw correct forces from it, we will be able to constantly enjoy it. And if not, then vise versa.
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Happiness And The Pursuit Of It – It’s Bad!

laitman_527_03In the News (mignews): “Scientists claim that people who are happy and carefree live less than people who are dismal because a high degree of feeling happiness is crazy and makes a person take unnecessary risk. The researchers found that happiness and even the desire for it – it is bad, it can hurt the psyche, poison life and even reduce its duration. This is according to experts from Yale University in the United States, from the American University of Denver and the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. This is confirmed by the collected factual material. … Books that give advice on how to become happy are also a bad influence. Readers begin to pursue happiness, suffer failure and as a result feel worse. Scientists advise that one should stop being concerned about happiness and this will bring true happiness.”

My Comment: That is how we become aware that it is a justified but unfulfilled desire that is optimal for existence. The Creator created it so specifically for us to attain the goal of creation.

The desire for fulfillment will never be fulfilled. Above it, we aspire for the unlimited greatness of the Creator, His infinite comprehension, and in this yearning we attain happiness! Kabbalah described the conditions for attaining happiness almost 6,000 years ago…
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The Reality Of The Universe

Dr. Michael LaitmanComment: A group of famous American scientists gathered in the American Museum of Natural History in New York in order to discuss topics that sound quite unreal.

In particular, it was noted that our Universe seems real to us, but lately an increasing number of scientists began to wonder whether the world around us is just a result of some complex simulation. And whether we and everything around us are just data points in some space hologram.

Answer: Our world is not a hologram, but a special system of forces that appears to us in this way and is displayed on the screen that exists inside of us.

There is no world outside of me and everything I see around is inside me: you and everybody else. It follows that I play with some images allegedly existing outside of me.

Actually there is only one quality outside of me:the quality of complete love and bestowal called “the Creator.” Kabbalists describe it very simply, like a given. And if you ask: “What about me?”—you feel the same relatively to yourself and so does everyone else.

So do you exist? Relatively to me you exist, relatively to you I do too. It is very difficult for us to understand. We will stay confused about this for a long time. However, nothing will work untill we exit into a correct image of the world and then we will see it all.

It is said in Kabbalah: “Whatever will be revealed to you, is revealed to you and nobody else.” And this is the only way it will be.

Question: Does it mean that science will not discover it?

Answer: It is impossible. We don’t yet have relevant properties in order to correctly determine and imagine to ourselves the real world.

One can say that it is a “matrix” and we live inside it. And this is not a fiction. We live inside the system of forces that draw within us, on our internal screen, different images that in reality don’t exist. Like electric forces draw all kind of images on the television screen, same way it happens inside us.

Scientists will reach a dead end because all their assumptions don’t have a proof and won’t give anything to humanity. In any case, science is limited by the fact that it attains everything within our five earthly, corporeal sense organs.

We have to rise above them and acquire a new sensory organ that allows us to exit “outside of ourselves.” And then we will start feeling the real world, not disturbed by our egoistic properties.
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Titans, Spiritual Giants

laitman_276_02Question: Within various writings in the Bible there is information according to which before the deluge, giants and titans dominated the Earth. Is this true?

Answer: The term “titans” refers to great people, not in size but spiritual giants. There were titans and giants before the deluge. They attained the upper world within the ego, which could imagine the spiritual level on an egoistic level, which is the smallest, negligible level.

They were not great egoists. But specifically thanks to their having negligible ego, they could move with great ease through all the properties and all the strata of the spiritual world. So they were called titans.
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The Huffington Post: “On Consumerism, Terror, and Human Nature”

In my column in the Pulitzer Prize winning online news aggregator The Huffington Post published my article in English and French.

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“On Consumerism, Terror, and Human Nature”

For decades, we have been told that if we only had that coolest, newest car/phone/pair of shoes/you-name-it, we would be happy. But as soon as we get that newest thing that was guaranteed to make us happy, we are told that a new something has just come out and we will never be happy unless we get it… This is how we invented consumerism.

In recent years a new trend has surfaced. It’s called “lowsumerism,” advocating buying only what we really need and being conscious of the impact of our purchases on the planet.

But avoiding over shopping won’t make us any happier. So instead of asking, “How can we stop overconsuming?” we should ask, “Why are we overconsuming in the first place?”

Psychologists, Brickman and Campbell, coined the term “Hedonic Relativism” to roughly describe our propensity to consume perpetually. Nowadays we call it what it is, “Hedonic Treadmill.” But observing a phenomenon and naming it do not explain its cause. To understand why we are so prone to it we have to understand human nature and the course of its development.

Like all other elements in reality, we, humans, consist of positive and negative elements. Inhaling and exhaling allows for breathing, and the heart’s pumping in and pushing out of blood allows for circulation. Without them we would die. Likewise, male and female complement one another so as to allow the continuation of our species, and children’s rest-play cycle allows them to grow up healthy.

On all levels of reality, this balance between the negative and positive is maintained, except for one part of the system—the level of human desires. In my book, Self-Interest vs. Altruism in the Global Era: how society can turn self-interests into mutual benefit, which I published five years ago, I showed how human desires are evolving in such a way that the negative element is taking over and causes us to skid off balance, into a mode that is destroying our planet, our society, and ultimately ourselves. The over-amplification of the negative elements in our desires manifests in excessive self-centeredness, alienation, coupled with a desire to exploit others for personal gain.

The problem is that our natural instinct to stop when we have had enough is overtaken by our need to outdo others—be smarter, stronger, prettier, wealthier, and so on. The more “ers” we can attach to egos, the better we feel about ourselves. Consequently, nothing about us is balanced. And because we are permanently out of balance, we are in constant (though usually unconscious) anxiety, to the point that we confuse relief (from anxiety) with happiness.

But there is a reason why we cannot balance our desires like the rest of nature. We overconsume because we feel disconnected from each other, when in fact we are connected in a web of thoughts and desires that dictates who we are at almost every level. And yet, only if we rise above our self-centeredness we will be able to experience this level of connection positively.

Since we cannot rise above this connectedness, we hate it and resist it in various ways. The more subdued and introvert among us tend to shy away from society and isolate themselves. When they cannot be happy they often sink into depression and escape through drug and alcohol abuse, or even become suicidal. The less inhibited among us take the opposite route, and might express their broken connections to people in violent and aggressive manners.

Take ISIS, for example. There are many devout Muslims who do not become violent. They maintain a strict way of life according their faith, but do not try to force it on others or punish anyone who lives differently.

The Brussels terrorist attacks from March 22 are the opposite example. Beyond the Islamist ideology, it is an outburst of human hatred that has become homicidal misanthropy. Compared to such outbursts, overconsumption seems like a piece of cake to handle. Yet, all these problems stem from the same root: our inability to balance the negative with the positive within us.

We need only watch the news to know that we have reached a tipping point, where we must get a grip on ourselves, on our very nature, and restore the balance. To do that, we must learn to connect in a positive way.

We can educate ourselves into awareness of how our interconnectedness benefits us. Instead of trying to impose lowsumerism on ourselves, we simply learn how to use our desires for the common good. And since we love to be unique, our uniqueness will enrich our communities, societies, and the world we live in. Instead of taking, taking, taking, we will be giving, giving, giving. Yet because it will be the general mode of conduct in society, we will end up receiving infinitely more than we could ever give to ourselves.

In a society where everyone contributes, we will have much more than material abundance. We will enjoy emotional satisfaction from being able to express ourselves creatively, and mental strength and vigor from the constant positive feedback we will get from our social environment.

We have no time to waste. The global society is on the brink of collapse. We, the people, can change it into Heaven, or we can let it become Hell. The choice is ours, and we must make it now.
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New Life 552 – A New Israeli Vision

New Life 552 – A New Israeli Vision
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Why were all the difficult events that have happened to the Jewish people necessary? What is the destiny of the people of Israel, and how is it possible to transform the nation of Israel into a model for the whole world?

In order to understand where Israel is heading, there is a need for our inner Torah, the wisdom of Kabbalah. Our social vision should be adjusted to what is defined in the program of development in nature….

Today, on the one hand, a need for connection has been revealed, and on the other hand, there is a lack of desire for connection. Each one is separate. The wisdom of Kabbalah teaches how to bring a positive energy into our lives and create a balance between the negative and the positive.

An independent Israel is a nation that will lead humanity to true independence and everything that is good.

In the Israel of tomorrow, a person will not feel alone; he will be connected to others. He will love like a mother loves and is concerned about her children. A person will not feel isolated because he will be enveloped by warmth and love. And this will be what is most pleasant in the world.

From a social aspect, we will begin to feel how corners become rounded. Generosity, consideration, and mutuality will be revealed. Different opinions will exist as plus and minus, with mutual acceptance, because above everything there will be love. Israel will be a nation that balances the two forces of good and evil and provides an example for the whole world.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 552 – A New Israeli Vision,” 4/12/15

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 04.24.16

Preparation for the Lesson

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Lesson on the Topic: “Pesach

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The Book of Zohar — Selected Excerpts, Chapter “VaEra

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Exile and Redemption”

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