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My new article on Linkedin “America’s Vote for Unity – NEWSMAX”

On the eve of a critical presidential election in the U.S., the world holds its breath and watches carefully any possible outcome as it will influence every inch of the planet. America, as a global superpower, has the potential to lead the way in social cohesion and positively influence the world. In order to do that, whoever wins will need to prioritize unity of American society over divisiveness.

The U.S. presidential race, as in all political campaigns, is vicious, and becoming more so every day. The air in America is so thick with animosity that it manifests in all areas of America’s daily life. Exacerbated emotions manifested as outbursts prevail in the streets, the media, workplaces, households and basically in every sphere of the U.S. society. Polarization dominates the general atmosphere.

Six of seven Americans think that news coverage in general is politically biased to a certain degree, according to a recent Gallup study. Interestingly, 69% of those surveyed said “they are more concerned about bias in the news others consume than its presence in their own news.” In other words, based on this survey, Americans lean towards sources that confirm their beliefs and do not look with open minds at alternative information sources that express opposite views.

Rising above suspicion between one another is what will steer America’s path to a positive future. Failure to do so will lead the U.S. down a course of self-destruction and chaos. Therefore, if I were asked what should be the main criterion to decide which candidate to vote for, I would say that one should analyze who offers a comprehensive plan to run the country efficiently covering its basic needs.

But above any other consideration, the million-dollar question should be what candidate for the next U.S. presidency has an inclination — not only slogans or nice words — to unite above the rampant divisions and plans to build America’s cohesion above the soaring hostility in society. The answer to this question, above all others, will illustrate what route America will take heading into the future.

Nations don’t need long and painful paths to reach a good state. By starting to think and act toward uniting all people, a society can pioneer a remarkable positive transformation. If an educational campaign is launched to raise public awareness and teach people how to organize and build a society based on mutual responsibility, the transition from hatred to peaceful coexistence above different views and beliefs will be successful and smooth.

This goal consists of a different collective consciousness that reconfigures people’s relationships toward mutual benefit, from exploitative to considerate, from polarization to inclusive cooperation. As it happens with different organs in the body when they work together to complement each other for the overall correct functioning, the different factions of U.S. society must learn to rise above their differences for harmonious relationships and a healthy nation.

It is precisely at this time of profound distress and friction that America is presented with the opportunity to realize the imperative need to create a model for a future society where people make all the possible efforts to strengthen the connection between them, understanding that from within good human relations, the essence of life — happiness, warmth, and confidence — is discovered.

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My new article on Linkedin “A Time of Hate, a Time for Love”

Our sages wrote about our time in many places, such as in Masechet Sanhedrin, Masechet Sotah, and Tikkuney Zohar. They wrote that in our time, “Insolence shall soar … the face of the generation is as the face of the dog, righteous shall be cast away, authors’ wisdom shall go astray, and righteous shall be castaway.” Indeed, we are living in a time of insolence, conceit, mutual cancellation, but mainly hate.

But we are not living in a bad time. The hatred between us has been hiding within us all along, but circumstances have exposed it. Now that it’s been revealed, it is calling on us to mend it, to patch up our aversion with care and compassion, and build bridges of love above our hatred for each other. And since the whole world is going through this process, it is a sign that the whole world is ready to mend all hatred into love.

The human race is unique. We have a vocation—to consciously build a society whose members feel as one, united whole. That oneness will lead us to a new, expansive level of awareness: awareness of the entire universe, and beyond. This is why humanity has been growing increasingly connected.

So far, this process has been happening “on its own,” without our conscious participation. In order to launch the final stage, where all of humanity becomes connected, we must all participate. This is why today’s blows, such as the coronavirus outbreak, are global in nature, to impel us to act as one on a global level and develop global consciousness.

Nature cannot do the work for us, or we will not become conscious. It can expose the shattering, the hatred among us, but it cannot build the bridge of love. This is our task, the task of our generation. The manifestation of hatred is nature’s calling on us to manifest love. If we delay our response, it will only call on us more forcefully by revealing more hatred. If we embrace the calling and join the process, then love will cover the hatred and fill us with such joy that we never knew existed.

But it will not be the end of the process. To develop us even further, nature will reveal to us even deeper and more vicious hatred within us that we currently can’t see or feel. It, too, will emerge only so we may cover it with love. As the process continues, we will rise to ever higher levels of connection, care, and love, until we are all truly as one.

This is why a time of hate is always a time for love, to build love above the hate.

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My new article on Linkedin “Time to Move Beyond the Masks”

It is time for countries to move beyond routine measures such as wearing masks and keeping social distancing in tackling the Covid-19 outbreak. These measures were good first aid steps, but they are losing their effectiveness. It’s time to treat the virus on a deeper level, the social level.

Indeed, the social level is precisely where it’s hitting us the hardest. Although the virus has killed more than a million people worldwide since the beginning of the outbreak, this toll pales compared to the social, mental, and emotional toll it’s had on people.

The social distancing imposed on us heightens the isolation many of us already feel, and exposes how far we really are from each other in our hearts. If we felt close to one another, we wouldn’t feel the distance and we wouldn’t feel apart. In that sense, Covid-19 is the first social pandemic in the history of humankind. If we heal our ill society, we will cure the pandemic.

Until now, we have approached other people only when it suited our interests. We didn’t take other people’s benefit into account and manipulated them for our own needs. The coronavirus outbreak prevents us from doing this. From now on, if we want to approach other people, we will have to think of what is best for them first, and then we will be able to decide whether or not we should approach them. We will not be able to approach people as before—to use and exploit them for self-interest.

Bit by bit, we will create a dynamic balance where each of us is like an atom in a giant molecule which is all of humanity. We will move around, but not in disarray, according to our own whims, colliding and clashing with other atoms on our path. Instead, coordinate our movements in complete harmony and balance with all the atoms in the molecule. We will become keenly aware of the state of the molecule as a whole, and we will naturally coordinate our position with that of all other atoms in the system.

We will not need complicated calculations; it will come natural for us since our care for all of humanity and all of existence will guide us. It will be as though the molecule itself is telling us what it wants us to do, and we will do it in harmony with all of reality. We will be living in a never ending dance with all parts of creation, and that dance will give us delight and vitality.

This is the lesson that the coronavirus is teaching us. If we stop resisting it and listen to its message, we will find that behind the mask and social distancing lie great wisdom and happiness that wait for us to find them.

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The problem of coronavirus is not limited to one country because we live in the last generation when the Creator extends the same attitude to all of humanity, without exception, at all levels, at all degrees, and in all states.

Even on some small island lost in the Pacific Ocean, the coronavirus suddenly appears. It would seem, how did it manage to get there if the people live in isolation from the rest of the world? Nevertheless, the virus is transmitted there too.

Today, doctors and researchers are beginning to say that the virus is airborne. Does this mean that the virus is spreading thousands of kilometers in all directions? It appears simply from nature, from within it.

Due to the fact that there is no connection between us at a time when we were already obliged to unite, due to this lack of connection between inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, the coronavirus appears. We will still discover its manifestations in plants, animals, and even in inanimate matter.

First of all, we will find that the virus has reached the most remote parts of the globe, without any human factor, and even affects animals and plants. Where does it come from? From the absence of connection that must exist between all parts of reality. People are responsible for this! Therefore, we should learn about it and think about it.

All that is required of us is the awareness of mutual guarantee, the feeling that we are in the last generation. Apart from this, nothing more is needed. If we understand that we are dependent on each other and are cooking in the same pot, this will be enough to begin gradually getting out of the crisis. We will already begin to see where the cure is.

With the help of mutual guarantee, we can save ourselves from the coronavirus. It all depends on the right connection between us. The coronavirus is a consequence of the lack of unity among us. For this reason alone, it manifests itself.

All problems and all kinds of viruses appear because there is no correspondence between the parts of nature, and therefore they cannot connect with each other starting from the level of atoms, molecules, and up to larger and more complex particles. Parts of nature cannot come together into one system, and this gives rise to all problems—like a cancerous tumor, a malignant formation that lacks the right connections with tissues.

Therefore, the fight against coronavirus can only be at the human level, if we think well of each other. After all, by our unity, we will attract the force of good that will unite everyone. This power is higher and stronger than all our adversity, and it will heal everything for us.

Our association is a cure for all problems, physical and mental, personal, and social. When it passes through all layers of connections between people, animals, plants, and inanimate nature, then the whole world will become one and connected with only one force, in mutual guarantee.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/20, “Concerning Above Reason”

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you think the Biden-Trump debate will go on Tuesday night?“

First of all, it will definitely be a nerve-racking display, and we can expect an outburst or two. The US presidential race is vicious, and becoming all the more so every day. The air in America is so thick with animosity that the debate will likely—and unfortunately—only further exacerbate America’s divisiveness.

If you were to ask me who I’d give my vote to, if it were possible, then I’d say that we’d first need to analyze who has an inclination to unite Americans above the rampant divisions currently spreading like wildfire throughout the country. After all, what government could run when its society is full of hatred?

Ultimately, America’s path to a positive future rests in the American people’s inclination to unite above divisions and differences. Failure to do so will lead America down a course of self-destruction and chaos. Therefore, the next president needs to prioritize unity of American society above all else, literally in order to save Americans from the potentially devastating outcomes of intensifying hatred.

While the topics are already set for tonight’s debate, I would nonetheless raise the question about how each candidate for the next US presidency plans to unite Americans above the soaring hatred and division in US society. I trust that the answer to this question, above all others, will illustrate what route America will take heading into the future.

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Question: Recent research conducted by recruiting companies suggests that waiters, chefs, security guards, and cleaning personnel have been the most unused jobs during the pandemic.

Many people, literally hundreds of millions, felt that they could lose their profession overnight. Yesterday they had a professional job, but not today. What would you suggest? What profession should a person choose today?

Answer: I think that a person just needs to find him or herself. Finding yourself means constantly creating a more correct image of yourself, of what a person is. And professions will be needed, if at all, only for a small part of humanity.

We will come to a state when people will work a minimum number of hours a day, and they will engage in self-education for the rest of the time. They will take part in all kinds of educational programs and change themselves and society. This is the real work of a person.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 9/1/20

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can planet Earth sustain a human population of 100 billion?“

The Earth has no problem to provide 100 billion of us with all of our life’s essentials, including all the food and housing we need and that we are used to, as well as a system of education and upbringing for our children, and so on.

The experience of such a state as happy, pleasant and safe versus one of great stress and suffering depends solely on whether we can improve our attitudes and connections to each other.

What stands in our way to improve our attitudes to each other?

It is none other than human nature, i.e., the egoistic desire to enjoy for personal benefit alone.

Our egoistic nature pits us up against each other, blocking us from sustaining kind and caring relationships, and we thus feel an accumulation of problems and crises the more we develop and the more the population rises.

How, then, can we improve our attitudes and connections to each other?

To start with, we need to dispel myths about the need to reduce the human population, as well as those of trying to be satisfied with less.

Population reduction is no solution because we fail to see just how much each and every person in the world plays a role in absorbing a certain amount of burden that befalls humanity at any given moment. In other words, if humanity needs to endure X amount of suffering, then is it better that 2 billion people accept upon themselves that amount of suffering, or that it becomes dispersed among 8 billion people or more? Of course, if we saw what we were really dealing with, then we would treat each person in the world with a lot more importance than we currently do in our narrow egoistic vision.

Also, the idea of trying to be satisfied with less is no solution simply because our desires continuously grow, and at a certain stage, we will be unable to fulfill our growing desires by trying to be satisfied with less. Such an approach will backfire on us severely, as it runs contrary to human nature.

In order to improve our attitudes and connections to each other, and adapt ourselves to conditions that become all the more interdependent and interconnected from one day to the next, we need to apply ourselves to a completely different kind of education than we were raised with—an education that emphasizes how to connect to each other positively above our divisive drives, and how reaching positive connection among each other means balancing ourselves with the laws of nature.

That is the key to shifting our lives from our current divisive and tense course to one where we harmoniously connect as an interdependent and interconnected humanity.

Photo by ActionVance on Unsplash.

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Question: A boss must be able to control subordinates and the process and results of activities. A leader must also think systematically, see the full picture, not its details. How can you cultivate systems thinking? Is it possible to develop it or is it given by nature?

Answer: Naturally, this is given by nature. There are people who understand and are able to perceive the world as an organic common whole. They want to know how everything is connected.

And there are people for whom this is completely alien because it is not included in their general perception. They like to solve specific tasks. They are more attracted to small but clear things that consist of a certain sequence. They understand it better.

For example, someone manages a project and someone manages their own company or even the state. But that doesn’t make them leaders.

Question: Is being a leader a personal choice?

Answer: No. A person is born with it. Sometimes you can see it even in children in their behavior. A person does not necessarily do well at school, in an institution, or at work, but gradually, over the course of certain circumstances, he becomes a leader.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 6/11/20

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Comment: If today you meet a simple man on the street and talk to him, he, in principle, does not know the names of the sages, or even, perhaps, King Solomon. But the name “Steve Jobs” is familiar to him. He is the founder of Apple, a man who has contributed a lot to our world.

There are some of his quotes that I would like you to explain from the point of view of a Kabbalist. ”I used to be way over on the nurture side, but I’ve swung way over to the nature side.”

Question: Does it mean that the environment can change my heredity?

Answer: I do not see anything negative about heredity, even if it is bad. The environment shapes a person. It as if puts a person in a vice and processes him as it wants, like on a lathe. The result is a completely new product.

Question: Do I have no freedom here at all?

Answer: No. Not at all! There are initial qualities, but the environment knows how to work with them and makes from a person what is required.

Question: Do I look for an environment or does the environment find me?

Answer: In principle, neither you nor the environment, but this is already from above, the upper purpose.

Quotation: Steve Jobs, “Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

My Response: In principle, our whole life consists only of mistakes. It is when we recognize these mistakes at every step of the way that we are going the right way.

Question: Do we always make some adjustments after each step, and still make mistakes?

Answer: Of course. We only make mistakes! However, initially, in every step we reveal our evil nature, and in every step we try to correct it.

Question: Is it due to the fact that our nature is egoism that every step we take is a mistake?

Answer: Our every step is in advance a mistake, but it depends on us how to make it a proper mistake. That is, to make mistakes in order to learn.

Quotation: Steve Jobs, “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”

My Response: This is right. To find one’s own thing, own line, oneself and move only in this, and never give in to other people’s opinions, philosophies, and ideas, this is a very important task for a person. I think that this certainly is only for a few. One needs to experience a lot in order not to be receptive to other people’s ideas and follow them.

To experience means to analyze, process within yourself, decide, be afraid, get up, rise, and fall. In other words, it must be a person who always demands an inner meaning from life.

Quotation: This purportedly was Steve Jobs’ guidance in everything: “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

My Response: Yes. That’s for sure. Only when you find it will you really understand what you were looking for. If we knew in advance what to look for, we would not have to look for it. That would be clear to me.

Question: Is a Kabbalist searching? Does a Kabbalist have such a search?

Answer: The Kabbalist is searching for only one thing—a leap to the Creator. It does not matter what will happen at that. The main thing is to be closer. And this is his only task.

Comment: When it happens, does it turn out that he understood everything in a completely different way?

My Response: Of course! It does not matter, he does not ask this question at all! He does not order the future for himself —what he wants to be and how to feel. No! Only to be closer.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/25/20

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