After we rise from the dust, making a diamond out of sand, we again fall into the dust, even deeper than before, in order to rise from it to an even greater height. And so every time; the deeper we fall, the higher we rise. The amplitude grows more and more, and this is a sign of advancement, as it is said: “He who is greater, has the greatest egoism.”

As soon as we turn the dust into a diamond, the next descent to an even worse state begins immediately. Indeed, thanks to our compression, we gained strength, got in touch with the spiritual state, and now we have the opportunity to work with this power below, to dig in our selfish desire even deeper like an excavator bucket, and to make an even stronger and more valuable diamond from the deeper dust.

The main thing is to feel even more connected with the others, and then we will be ready for the next descent and new work. All the work consists of raising a prayer to the Creator, from below, with a request to lift us up.

The Creator lowers us together with our friends down to the ground, like miners in a mine, and we feel that we are in the depths of our desire for pleasure. All our relationships to each other are selfish; selfishness stands between us and keeps us in a dungeon. And then we squeeze back into the elevator and ask the Creator to lift us up, above the surface of the earth, back in the light, in the fresh air, under the sun, in freedom.

Now we know what it means to be inside our desire for pleasure and what it means to rise above it. It looks like a butterfly that emerges from a chrysalis. The child also goes through a difficult path through the birth canal until it is born into the world. All our work goes day and night, in the dust, in an effort to ascend from it.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/22/20, “Concerning Above Reason”

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Question: On one hand, we need to reduce the ego and annul it. And on the other hand, it is said that the ego is not destroyed and even grows. What does it mean?

Answer: The fact is that we do not destroy the ego but its use for our own sake.

Desires for our own sake are called selfish desires. Desires for the sake of the Creator are altruistic desires. We must shift our intentions from for our sake to for the sake of the Creator.

So do not worry, nothing disappears or is destroyed. Understand that the ego is specially created from above to be a minus against a plus. Therefore, when minus and plus work together, we can receive the energy between them, some kind of productive effort.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/16/20

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Did God give the Torah to Moses in public? If so, is there solid proof?“

It is only an allegorical statement. Do we really think that God or the Creator descended from heaven holding the Torah in His hands?

The Creator is a force of nature that connects harmoniously between all elements of reality.

Some people have more of an inclination to reveal this force, feeling questions about life’s meaning and purpose more succinctly than others, and also feeling attracted to a deeper connection with reality.

Those who feel such an attraction, and who find a method to develop it into a new revelation of reality become Kabbalists. They engage in its attainment and revelation, and it gradually becomes a science of how to discover the Creator.

The Creator is immaterial, and thus unattainable using physical and corporeal devices.

However, if we develop a force opposite to our egoistic nature, an altruistic force, then we will start feeling the Creator completely surrounding us.

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Question: Does the suppression of egoism bring us closer to the Creator? How does one work with the ego?

Answer: There is no need to fight egoism. First of all, if you do this, the ego will defeat you. Second of all, while breaking the ego, you will get several egos within yourself. It is better not to do this.

Only the upper light can work with egoism. It created the ego, not you. Egoism is above you. It is a property of nature that the Creator created. Do you think we are able to resist it or do something with this property? Not at all. Try and convince yourself that you are weak, that you do not understand what to do with it. Nothing will work.

You only need one thing: with the help of the friends, with the help of the group, attract the upper light. This is our effort. The light already knows what to do with the ego because the light created it. So, let the light work with the ego.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/16/20

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Question: Suppose a person in this incarnation has revealed the point in the heart and the growth of the soul has begun. Then the body dies. In the next incarnation, this person does not remember a thing. Does one need to go through the process of revealing the point in the heart and growing again?

Answer: No. Nothing like this. Our animal body only accompanies us so that we enter the spiritual world, we can be independent in its attainment. But, in principle, it does not give us anything.

You can be healthy, handsome, an athlete, or a decrepit old man, you can be a man or a woman, it does not matter. It is important that you have a point in the heart. By connecting your point with strangers, you can create a common Kli, a vessel. This is how it works.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/16/20

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Lesson Preparation

Lesson on the Topic “Concerning Above Reason” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 4

Selected Highlights

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From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 4/28/20

As if someone switched off the lights, country by country shut off its gates. Incoming flights were revoked, ships were denied docking, and tourists were told to leave. Everyone went home and was told to shelter in place.

Then the animals appeared. Fish appeared in the canals of Venice, Italy; wallabies hopped in Adelaide, Australia; alligators strolled in South Carolina, USA; elephants marched in Chachoengsao, Thailand; sea lions barked at dogs in Mar Del Plata, Argentina, and sheep ran on the carousel in Raglan, UK. The list of animal sightings in places normally reserved to humans is endless but the trend is clear. Nature whipped us into our homes using the novel coronavirus, then conquered civilization and told us who’s boss.

But we don’t listen. All we want is to go back to our same ole same ole, the very same ole that got us locked down in the first place. Since we aren’t getting the message, we’re coming out of the COVID-19 crisis with the same spirit we had when we went into it—the spirit of unabashed entitlement and alienation from each other. So the next time nature strikes, it will have to lock us down more decisively and painfully until we say, “Enough! We’re willing to change.”

Nature is an encompassing network of forces that is guided by a single principle: balance. These forces act like a stern teacher: When we are stubborn and insist on pulling the wrong way, it forcibly pulls us back. The more obstinate we are, the more that pull hurts. When it hurts enough, we listen and learn, balance is restored, and joy sets in.

Regrettably, today we have become so self-centered and obstinate that we’ve stopped listening altogether, not only to nature, but to anyone or anything. As a society, we are narcissistic, immersed in self-entitlement to the point where we simply cannot see when we are harming others. In fact, even if we did, we would not care enough to stop.

This approach is so opposite from nature’s principle of balance that it is bound to pull it out of us by force. And the more we resist, the harder it will pull.

To change our attitude to nature, we have to start with one another. If we cannot be compassionate to our own species, we will not be compassionate to any species, plant, or land. We will simply not know what compassion means.

Luckily, we have each other to “practice” on; we can “exercise” compassion in our families, communities, and with our friends. We do not need to look far if we want to make a real change; we only need to look at one another.

There is nothing selfish or ill-meaning in the whole of reality; every animal acts according to its nature. The only exception is mankind. So let’s practice with each other how to become considerate, compassionate, perhaps even caring.

The change will not come from governments. In an egoistic society, policy makers are the top of the heap, the “crème de la crème” of egoism. We will not find refuge from self-centeredness if we wait for them to act. The shift must come from regular people who want to change themselves, who feel that human nature needs to be better, and who say, “The change begins with me!”

Then, when we have changed ourselves, we will change how we relate to everything—to all of nature and to one another. Only then will we be cured.

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#Coronavirus is a consequence of us not being corrected which is already manifested on the biological level. Many problems are befalling mankind in order to convince it to leave the #ego—“Egypt.” We will either leave forcibly or in joy, as we left 49 impure (egoistic) levels.

We need a global plan for recovering human society from #egoism. We cannot close down businesses without support. For the first time in history humanity realizes that it is global, and that it needs to care about the general wellbeing. Common quarantine—common home! #COVID19

#Coronavirus changes the world, most importantly, human #consciousness. We will refer to events as “before and after Coronavirus.” Followed by relating to it as “before and after” as in “before connection with the Creator, and after our change to become similar to Him.” But, perhaps, this is for the next virus.
From Twitter, 4/28/20

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Medium published my new article “I Am Genuinely Afraid”

The economy may be reopening but not as it should be. Irresponsible ignition of economic and commercial activities will bear such consequences that will make us regret not waiting a little longer in the first round.

We are living in an integral reality that has a natural balance. When the balance is breached, the system pushes itself back to balance much like a pendulum that returns to the middle with greater force the more you pull it to one side.

Humans have pushed the global ecosystem so far off balance that now it has to strike back a painful blow in order to resume the balance. As long as we refuse to understand this mechanism, we will continue to suffer blows every time nature balances itself. At the moment, we are far from understanding this and far from balance. We were waiting for the moment when we came out of the lockdown so we could keep pushing nature. But the result will be that nature’s next push back will be much stronger and much more painful.

Eventually, we will learn. The only question is how much we will have to suffer until we realize that we will not win by thinking only me-me-me.

The more we developed technology, the more we behaved like senseless children in a toy shop with no one to tell us what we are allowed to buy and what’s too expensive. But you can’t leave the shop without going through the cashier, and the cashier will make us pay for everything we took.

Sure, we have to reignite commerce and provide people with what they need. But we are not thinking only about getting what we need. We want to compete once more in who’s got more, who is richer, and who is more successful. But competition didn’t make us happy the first time, so why go back to it? Worse yet, this is exactly what caused the outburst of the virus — our self-centered behavior — so what sense is there in re-embracing the conduct that inflicted a disaster on us. Can we doubt that another disaster, probably much worse, will follow?

If we reignite only those parts of the economy that sustain us, that guarantee our livelihood, while dedicating the rest of our time, resources, and efforts to establishing better connections among us, we will all be happy. We won’t need any accessories to brag about, and we won’t need to compete with anyone because we will feel worthy just being who we are! We will be appreciated for contributing our skills to the common good, and the gratitude and warmth from people will fill us to the brim with happiness.

Have you ever walked into a room where everyone liked you and thought well of you? Do a little thought exercise and try to imagine this. Now do another exercise and imagine that as soon as you walk out to the street, everyone treats you with that kind of warmth and care.

In such a society, the most required profession will be instructors and teachers to guide people into that type of mindset. With such a mindset, the cohesion and solidarity in society will make welfare services redundant. People will take care of each other, just as it should be!

Think of army elite units. They know that in battle, their lives depend on their unity. We are in a battle now. We have already realized that we are all dependent on each other’s responsibility. If we forego the mutual responsibility we have acquired in this battle and return to our dog-eat-dog mindset, we stand no chance against the next virus, or whatever blow nature will send us next. I am genuinely afraid for humanity. The virus was a mild lesson; the next one could be devastating.
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