Question: What is the benefit people developing spiritually, if they can, and so to receive maximum pleasure in the physical world?

Answer: If they can get pleasure, let them live the way they are. The Creator gradually develops a person’s egoistic senses until he realizes that his existence is insignificant, temporary, and does not carry any meaning.

The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t appeal to people who are still fulfilled with physical pleasures. On the contrary, the Kabbalists hid it for many years until we reached the “edge” in the framework of the general world crisis, which only now is beginning to develop significantly.

The crisis leads us to a state in which we need to answer the question about the meaning of life. Without it nobody would want to exist: Either give me the answer to this question, or I’ll kill myself.

The person will feel the finiteness, the limitation, the nothingness of all of the passing physical fulfillments, so much so that he will not want anything, even if a tremendous pleasure is “shining” in front of him.

The reason that people are becoming depressed and need drugs is because they don’t want to deal with this state of emptiness and reception of pleasure, reception of pleasure and emptiness. They don’t see any ultimate meaning in this. They prefer to inject themselves with something and shut down.

Our development doesn’t permit us to live like a little child who constantly enjoys various empty things. So we have reached a state in which the wisdom of Kabbalah is beginning to be unfold to humanity.
[181986]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/21/16

Related Material:
Understanding The Goal Of Life
Our Desire Determines Everything
Program Of Life, Part 1

Filed under: Dissemination, Kabbalah Dissemination, Meaning Of Life - No Comments →

In the News (vz.ru): “Four developmental stages are known to mankind: the archaic, traditional, industrial (modern era) and post-industrial (postmodern).

“And, judging by all the trends, these phases follow each other in a closed cycle. That is, the postmodern will follow the new archaic, even with robots, plasma engines and Martian colonies.

“The main feature of the archaic society is its isolation and castes. The current post-modern globalization breaks up into fragments of closed regional systems. Democracy, monarchy, oligarchy, even with formal observance of the rights and freedoms will be replaced despotism.

“And if the despotism of the modern era (beginning with the totalitarian regimes of the XX century) were powerful, they are fragile and will not last forever …

“At the same time the border between the postmodern and new archaic very unsteady. This is not the first manifestation of a new era of the steadfast position of the liberal forces in the world that, in spite of the declaration of rights and freedoms (including the right of free choice), openly spit on the voting results and slowly and persistently grow its roots in the body of society. …

“Despots of modernity kept their identity (Stalin, Mussolini, Roosevelt). Archaic despots are impersonal. … the faceless bankers caste / priests / fathers of the people. In this case, unlike the monarch era traditions, the archaic despot is not bound by any obligations to citizens and the higher powers. He is the supreme power. …

“What is important in the world of the archaic era? The main thing – it’s the law. The Law of Moses or the Code of Hammurabi, the customs of your caste, the word of the despot, officer or supervisor. …

“In this regard, the destruction of Christianity in Europe, the main teachings of the tradition of the era, and its replacement on the postmodern calculations is highly symbolic, but on the surface. But the content of exchanges in Europe, migrants who profess the doctrine of dogmatic (opposed to the traditional) Islamic law, which is indistinguishable from that of ancient times, carries a much larger problem.

If this process is not stopped, then after 30 years, Europe will be divided into 50 Caliphates in which Islam is not only developed, but also sits as indestructible oppressive institutions of power. What we see today in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other countries in the region.

“However, their shape and way of life will be determined not by the will of the peoples and nations, … , but simply by the opportunity and the will of these same faceless rulers.”

My Comment: The boundary between postmodernism and a new archaic is unstable. This is the stage of the proliferation of the wisdom of Kabbalah. Kabbalah calls for this so that history will not repeat all four of its stages. Movement toward the next cycle can be by way of a world war.

Humanity must learn a lesson from the four egoistic phases of development through which it has passed in order not to repeat them on their advanced level, and instead, attract the light of a higher correction to balance its egoism and to begin to exist in a system of the three lines on the next level, not in our world, but in the world of Atzilut, the purpose of creation.
[188156]

Related Material:
Humanity Does Not Become More Sensible Over Time
The Rise Of IQ Has Stopped
The Gradual Nature Of The Educational Process

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization - No Comments →

New Life #588 – The Limits Of Freedom Of Speech
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Why does society abuse the freedom of speech today? How can we learn to use the freedom of speech correctly, and how can we teach effective social criticism?

Summary

There are influential actors, musicians, and artists whose opinions are highly regarded, but there is actually no justification for that. People have lost any sense of good taste and those who express themselves in a more vulgar way are more highly regarded. The media is also becoming more provocative and we can definitely say that we have crossed the line.

Humanity is in retreat: in the past we were eager to know more, and today we have everything but people are like a herd. Today there is no point restricting people artificially and shutting their mouths. We must invest in education and publicity. This cannot be done instantly. It can only be done through an educational process that includes all of society. We have to learn that our negative attitude toward one another is very harmful in every aspect of our life. After all we are connected and integrated.

Everyone wants to feel good, but people don’t know that their well-being depends on the well-being of others. A person who knows how to use his freedom of speech effectively will be a most positive component in society. After all, everyone is special, and no one can contribute to society what others can and so it is vital that everyone cooperates in this system.

Today everything is based solely on power. Those we are stronger, richer, and more cunning can buy themselves a platform. The problem today is not freedom of speech but the fact that we don’t educate the public for tomorrow. There must be some form of control, intelligent control, which stems from knowing the laws of human development.
[161773]
From KabTV’s “New Life #588 – The Limits Of Freedom Of Speech,” 6/21/15

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Israel, Israel Today, Nations of the World, New Life - No Comments →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download: MP3 Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog - No Comments →

Question: If the Creator doesn’t change, how does He develop the changing nature?

Answer: We are the ones who feel that the Creator constantly changes His attitude toward us, but the attitude itself is constant.

In other words, the Creator’s attitude toward us is always the same; He is absolute goodness. At the same time, we feel that His attitude toward us constantly changes in order to change and develop us.
[184145]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/13/16

Related Material:
Questions About The Creator
The Creator Is Always the Absolute Good
Is It Possible To Convince The Absolute?

Filed under: The Creator - No Comments →

Comment: American bio-technologists are studying how to resurrect people who have died. It refers to people who are brain dead but whose internal organs are still functioning. It is possible to revive a person who is a vegetative state and to bring him back to life. Such experiments will now be performed on human beings and substantial funding has been allocated for this research.

Answer: The whole point is that they are working for the funding since otherwise they will have nothing to do. The question is what for?! According to Judaism when a person dies you should call the funeral home to bury the body in the ground as soon as possible. He doesn’t feel anything anymore anyway; he is dead, so why should he be resurrected?! When the brain dies it is actually complete death. After that a person will never be the same but can be like a robot or a zombie.

If the brain is dead nothing can be done, the body will move automatically, but it will not be a human being anymore since the neurons die first. I believe that such resurrection of the dead makes no sense at all. We have recently spoken about the fact that people will live to be 150 or even 200, but what’s the point? Is it only because of the fear of death that we postpone it?! I am for the natural course of events.

Comment: But we still need to maintain the life of a person who is brain dead and who is in coma for a long time.

Answer: I don’t think this is necessary. Everything should happen naturally. What is the point of connecting a person to instruments that keep his organs alive? This isn’t the normal functioning of the body since a person doesn’t connect to the external world this way, so what is the point in that?

Question: Do you mean that it is all done mainly in order to attain funding?

Answer: Of course! Science is holding onto and relying on funding. Otherwise what will scientists do? We should eventually realize that we cannot defeat the natural flow of life. We will only find out that we have to live under natural conditions since this is what our body was created for. No one will gain from extending our life expectancy. It is a finite process in any case, since the future holds different kinds of life for us, which are much better than the worst of all the worlds.
[182786]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 4/25/16

Related Material:
Caring About The Body And The Soul
Eternal Life Is Possible!
Why Is The Hour Of Our Death Not Known?

Filed under: Body and Soul, Health, News - 1 Comment →

In the News (rg-rb.de): “The majority of people in Germany believe the domestic media is controlled: against the background of the crises of recent years, ‘the fourth power’ has become a support tool of the elite to impose the desired opinions on the citizens.

“A representative sociological survey conducted on the eve of World Press Freedom Day (3 May) … makes it clear: the people of Germany do not believe in the independence of the media. Six out of ten respondents believe that the German news media are controlled and supported by the establishment. On the news, you can influence – both in their content and in the form of feed materials, according to respondents. …

“’The dark forces controlling the media—more than half (54%) of Germans believe it is controlled by politicians and big business (the lobbyists and pressure from advertising clients). More than half of respondents believe that the news media in Germany controlled by the state, the government, corporations, and influential stakeholder groups. …Sociologists note dissatisfaction with the political, economic elites and distrust toward them is rooted in German society as a result of crises in recent years.”

My Comment: In the developed egoistic world it cannot be otherwise! If the media are a tool for control over people, then how is it possible to leave them unmanaged?! Unmanaged, unpaid for communications media does not exist. That is how it is in every nation. The dependence of the media will disappear only with the disappearance of egoistic dependence between people, with the transition to a new society.
[183462]

Related Material:
Manipulation Of The Masses Through The Media
News By Our Own Hands
Media Destroys People’s Community

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, News - No Comments →

Question: Mankind has made impressive achievements, they have discovered continents, developed transport by air, sea, and land, and they have reached Antarctica and flown to the moon. What is the benefit of all of this development?

Answer: Nothing has been done in vain. All the achievements of humanity have been necessary so that human beings will understand that their development is not in this.

We have evolved for hundreds of thousands of years, but it has been insignificant relative to spirituality because it is not at all the evolution through which we will later grow but only a negation of physical existence.

We must be within this physical “point.” The sense of our universe and everything that came after the “Big Bang” is basically just a small black dot that exists so that it will be known that within it nothing is found, whereas evolution must go beyond the limitations of that point. And then humanity begins to go out to the upper world.

When a person looks from a different perspective, he sees a small black dot that is finally beginning to evolve in the right direction, precisely by negating its material existence.
[182033]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 2/21/16

Related Material:
Program Of Life, Part 2
Program Of Life, Part 1
The Right To Change One’s Destiny

Filed under: Egoism, Meaning Of Life - 1 Comment →

Question: Religious people believe that we should simply keep the Mitzvot (commandments) and wait for the Messiah. In contrast, you believe that it is up to us to “awaken” and “invite” him to come to us. What is your opinion based on?

Answer: There is contradiction between the view of modern religion, and I emphasize modern, and  the wisdom of Kabbalah; they are diametrically opposed. The religious rightly claim that the differences between us are ideological and therefore are also practical. It is not just a question of whether a mechanical performance (Maase) or intention (Kavana) are more important.

The world evolves through the continuous development of egoism in every natural object on all of its levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. The ego evolves gradually through steps 1, 2, 3, and 4 in which the minimal egoism on level 1 is the still and the maximal egoism on level 4 is human. Likewise, there are sublevels and sub-sublevels for each one of the levels. In fact, according to the value of egoism, all the characteristics of every natural object are determined.

The general egoism of nature evolves on every level in intensity according to that level. The slowest development is on level 1 and the most rapid on level 4. Development under the influence of the obligatory egoistic force is called the way of Beito, in its time. Since in religions there is no possibility for influencing the style of development, the believers accept passive development as if it were given to them by the Creator and they consider obedience to Him as righteous, meaning that it is given from above.

The wisdom of Kabbalah discovered the Creator as nature (Elohim [Creator] in Gematria = HaTeva [nature]) and believes that everything is derived from nature and that there is no other force that determines anyhing in our world besides that. But the entire reason for the creation of Adam (Man) and therefore everything that preceded him, is intended for the development of man to the level of the Creator. So the Adam is called “Adam,” which is derived from the word, “Domeh” (similar), “Domeh LeBore” (similar to the Creator). This is to say, the goal of the evolution of the Adam is to attain the level of the Creator, as is written in the Torah, “Shuvu Bnei Yisrael Hashem Eloheinu” (Hosea 14:2), “Return, O children of Israel, to the Lord Your God, to the level of the Creator.”

It turns out that the views of religion and of Kabbalah about the development of the world and the role of humanity are diametrically opposed. Religion ascribes a passive role to humanity; whereas the wisdom of Kabbalah, on the contrary, an active role, “…know the God of your father, and worship Him…” (Chronicles 1, 28:9). First it says “Know,” and after that you will know how to work for His sake and what this work itself signifies.

But the problem is greater. Religion insists that a person must know and comply with mechanical Mitzvot only and in this way it shackles the person and absolutely limits his development. In contrast to this, the wisdom of Kabbalah claims that everything was created for the development of the person so that he will attain the level of the Creator, so he will attain the uniqueness of the Creator in his personal development. Development is determined in the form of the “adhesion” of the person with the Creator when they become equal in their actions. But this is something religions are afraid to admit, so it teaches, calls for, and permits only the mechanical learning and performance of the Mitzvot.
[188027]

Related Material:
Internal And External Interpertations Of The Torah
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah Is Not A Religion
True Religion And The Religion Of Exile

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Religion - No Comments →

Adam was the first person who discovered the upper force of nature. There were many generations of his students after him, to whom he passed the method of revealing this good force and using it to compensate for the negative force within a person.

Twenty generations after Adam a man called Abraham was born in the ancient Babylon.

A very interesting state developed in Babylon. Previously Babylonians lived happily and peacefully by managing to contain their negative egotistic forces. They were leading a quiet and peaceful village life. And suddenly an evil force of the growing egoism erupted between them and blew up this tranquility.

At that time a wise man, a local priest called Abraham lived in Babylon. He tried to understand what happened to Babylonians and discovered that it is necessary to attract a good force hidden in nature in order to balance with its help a negative force of egoism. Abraham discovered that it is possible when people unite between themselves, despite hatred and enmity for each other. If they sit together and try to reveal a good force between them above all evil forces, they receive it and with its help neutralize egoism.

Abraham improved Adam’s method by adding to it the ability to actively retrieve the positive force from the depths of nature, and began to teach this method to Babylonians. He urged them to correct the situation and stop the hatred. Many responded to his call and began to study. Babylon was divided into two halves: those who were able to hear Abraham and accept his method and those who were not.

Then Abraham took his disciples and led them out of Babylon to the land of Canaan. Thus was formed a large group of his followers who later called themselves Israel, according to their aspiration straight to the Creator (Yashar El). They strove to the good force that they could attract and with it balance their life.

And also, through the connection of these two forces, they began to see a new picture of the world, the way we see with two eyes. They saw what is hidden behind an external picture of the world that is given to us from birth, penetrated into this picture, discovered the mechanism of nature, the forces that affect us, and began to actively work with them.
[187802]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 6/2/16

Related Material:
Union Concluded At Mount Sinai, Part 1
The Perfect Society Of Abraham, Part 1
A Secret Covenant With The Higher Power, Part 2

Filed under: Dissemination, Israel, Spiritual Work - No Comments →