Question: There is a trend today in the world, whether one is in first grade, completing a doctorate, or taking an advanced training course, you need to constantly study. What happened to our world? Why does a person have to study something all the time until he retires? This was not the case before.

Answer: Technology and electronics are constantly changing in the world, programs are changing, and thinking is changing. We are very closely connected with consumers. If in earlier times, products were developed and manufactured within 10 to 20 years; today it happens very quickly. Modern equipment and technology are based on software management.

Question: What is the essence of this phenomenon? Why do these changes occur?

Answer: Because we have moved from developing products in matter, for example: in casting, smelting, forging, to computer development. And this is very dynamic. Therefore, we all need to know program management, program development, etc.

Question: Is it somehow connected with internal changes in man?

Answer: Of course. As we change, the world around us also changes. We see it differently and adapt it to ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/24/20

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Preparation to the Lesson

“Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot, Item 68“

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Histaklut Pnimit, Chapter 1, Item 1″

Selected Highlights

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Question: Baal HaSulam writes in the article “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar: “The proof is that anyone who is drawn to the secrets of the Torah is also drawn to the land of Israel.” It is interesting that many non-Jews by nationality are drawn here. Where does such a strange desire come from?

Answer: They subconsciously feel that this is a special land, a special place with a special atmosphere. In principle, this has always been the case for years. Religions and all kinds of beliefs are connected to the fact that it is a holy land.

In addition, even complete nonbelievers feel some kind of attraction to this place on the geographical map inside themselves, and they rush here.

I know many people from Russia who instead of going on vacation, say to the Maldives, want to visit Israel, Jerusalem, these ancient places. They feel that there is some kind of mystery here, some source of special energy for all mankind.
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From KabTV’s “Systematic Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel” 11/25/19

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Item 5“

Lesson on the Topic of “Bereshit” 

Selected Highlights

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Nature is leading us to a new state. We are obligated to realize what is happening and bring ourselves into alignment with it. Until we do this, nothing will change. We cannot return children to schools and adults to work—we will sit at home until we understand that we have to behave in a new way.

Mutual closeness is able to disinfect the place where the virus lives, inside our hatred of each other. We’re separated by a mandatory distance beyond which we can’t come close to each other; this space is full of complaints and strife. This is a favorable environment for the virus

The coronavirus is a spiritual virus. It reacts to the spirit that dwells between people. It is nourished by hatred that exists between us. It develops and lives inside of it. The more animosity, conflict, and rejection there is between us, the more comfortable the virus feels multiplying in this nutritious environment.
From Twitter, 10/28/20

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The coronavirus pandemic is causing a common complication for all of humanity: fatigue from losing purpose, hope, and reward for effort. A person subconsciously feels that there is nothing to live for and sinks into apathy, depression, and despondency. The whole world seems to be falling asleep.

Previously, all of us were playing in competition, building and destroying, bustling constantly like children. Today it is already impossible to continue these games, and people do not understand what to do and for what. There are so many restrictions. Therefore, everyone is seized by apathy and hopelessness; there is no strength to move, no energy, no goal.

Can it be that the Creator wants to show that there is no point in living for ourselves as we tried before? In fact, that was self-deception because no one really lived for himself, it just seemed that way to him. If we start thinking about each other now out of hopelessness, we will support each other in this, and the Creator will also support us.

In this way we will see that there is life after the death of our egoism! Another, eternal and perfect, beautiful life that can give us fulfillment, motivation to live and great energy.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/25/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot”

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Humanity is represented as a tiny speck of sand in the depths of an infinite universe. This entire universe, in fact, has nothing to do with spirituality at all. There is not a single point in it that belongs to the spiritual world, and therefore it does not occupy any place in the real reality.

This world where we feel ourselves now and the vastness of the universe with stars and galaxies, none of this exists at all. This exists only in our imagination because we are in an unconscious state and see these hallucinations as if in delirium. It is said that when we wake up, we understand that “we were like in a dream.”

In this dream, we were imagining that we live on the planet Earth surrounded by galaxies and an infinite universe. All this is not real, like a dream caused by electrical processes in the brain, which during sleep is 99% switched off. We can say the same about this life of ours. We are disconnected from true life, as if in a dream.

There is nothing real in this life except the opportunity to wake up and rise upward from this perception, from this dream. That is what we need to do.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/19/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Inheritance of the Land”

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My new article on Linkedin “Humanity Teetering between Heaven and Hell”

We’re in a new stage in our “relationship” with the pandemic. We recognize that it’ll stay with us for a long time, perhaps forever, and we’re frustrated. Everyone’s exhausted by the virus; nerves are stretched thin and can snap at any moment. This tension manifests differently in different people, but virtually always negatively—increased violence, depression, intolerance, political and religious extremism, and violent protests.

A society is much stronger than an individual. It can provide us with everything we need and much more: security, sustenance, education, entertainment, leisure, fun and games, support when we are weak, and peace of mind about the future. What should we do in return for these benefits? We should do for others what they do for us. Reciprocity is the key to any successful relationship, and the same goes for our relationship with society.

If matters continue to evolve in this direction, they can easily lead to civil unrest or even civil war. In a state where people see no future, when they are hopeless, they are capable of anything, including the most extreme violence just to break out of the dreary apathy that’s pulling them down. If we let ourselves go down that path, life will be hell on earth.

But there is another way. In such a dire state, under a clear threat to everyone’s lives, perhaps we will realize that our worst and only enemy is our own egoism. Not mine, or his, or hers alone, but of all of us as a collective. We, as a society, are very selfish and idolize selfish individuals who present themselves as happy thanks to their selfishness. When we admire selfish individuals, we are admiring selfishness and, even worse, make everyone else admire it.

By definition, a society is the opposite of selfishness. If we want to be individualistic, we should retire to some secluded place, live by ourselves, and whoever survives, survives. But if we want to live as a society, we have to behave as parts of it, namely not individualistically but socially. If we want to live in a society yet behave as though we’re by ourselves and only we matter, society will explode. This is what we’re doing to ourselves right now. If we agree that humans are social beings, we have to act the part. It is common sense.

A society is much stronger than an individual. It can provide us with everything we need and much more: security, sustenance, education, entertainment, leisure, fun and games, support when we are weak, and peace of mind about the future. What should we do in return for these benefits? We should do for others what they do for us. Reciprocity is the key to any successful relationship, and the same goes for our relationship with society.

If we realize that our egos have blinded us to this obvious truth, we will make our lives heaven on earth. This is where we can go, if we choose to do it together. The simple truth is that there is nothing more senseless and weakening than thinking of ourselves, and nothing smarter and more emboldening than thinking of each other.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “For whom are we responsible?“

There is a saying that “the whole world was created for the person” (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”). It means that we are ultimately responsible for the whole world, i.e., for all humanity.

The question then becomes, why do we lack feeling responsible for the whole world?

It is because our nature acts through a self-serving “maximum fulfillment for minimum effort” filter, which blocks us from feeling such an immense responsibility.

Feeling responsibility for the whole world would add an unbearable weight on our shoulders, so in order to spare ourselves from such a constant burden, our self-serving nature seeks a more comfortable worldview. It eliminates the feeling of responsibility for countless other people, and preoccupies us with our own personal needs, desires and concerns.

We perceive the world as a projection of our inner qualities. Therefore, if we make no motions to rise above our narrow personal interests in order to benefit others, then we perceive the world accordingly: as a world overflowing with individuals who prioritize their own interests, often at the expense of others and nature.

However, the more we can rise above our narrow personal interests and aim to benefit others, then the more we will develop feelings of responsibility and consideration toward them. By applying ourselves to benefit others, we will sense each other as closer and more dear. In other words, the more we develop new altruistic attitudes above our inborn egoistic ones, then the more we will feel responsible for wider and wider circles of human society, until we eventually feel responsible for the entire world.

Moreover, today’s world appears more interlinked and interdependent than ever before. We live in times when our global interconnectedness becomes increasingly obvious through global economies and technologies. The coronavirus is also a key example of our global interdependence, showing how a minuscule particle that emerged in one city became a global pandemic. Therefore, responsibility and concern only for an individual, a select group or a nation will fall short of securing our lasting happiness, peace and safety. Today, we are in a major transitional era where we will need to start taking responsibility for humanity’s well-being, because our benefit or harm depends on the extent of benefit or harm that humanity experiences.

Video: The Matter of Our Responsibility for Others | Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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