Audio Version Of The Blog – 11/15/20
Posted on November 15th, 2020
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Question: According to Baal HaSulam, the particularity of recognizing negative feedback is such that the blow is perceived and delivered exactly in accordance to the level of development of humanity and a person himself. Are the impacts felt more today than thousands of years ago?
Answer: No. Thousands of years ago there were other kinds of blows. For example, if it rained, it destroyed the harvest or something else. And today it is wars, enormous suffering in accordance with the forces that a person has.
Question: Do you think that people are suffering more today than a few thousand years ago?
Answer: Physically, maybe less. But nature has another rule: to bring man to awareness, to understanding, to bring him to his senses.
Remark: This means that as mankind develops, nature begins to put more pressure on us. If a thousand years ago it affected us by, say, X kilograms, today it affects us by X+10.
On the other hand, we see that there was much more suffering before. Wars were constantly going on, and one simply could not go out to the street. Today, laws are much more humane.
My Comment: But people felt that suffering on a different level. We are unable to withstand physical suffering today, but we could then. However, now our higher-level suffering is moral. It is very difficult for me to explain this because nature, at different times and at different levels, relates to people from the point of view of integrity.
Nevertheless, nature’s task is to lead man to the realization that he must work integrally, in correct communication between all parts of humanity and with herself.
Question: Baal HaSulam writes that if humanity does not take into account the threat hanging over it and does not draw the right conclusions, then nature will defeat us, and then we will be forced to comply with the laws of bestowal. So it turns out that only punishment and suffering can help us and without them we will not be able to move?
Answer: Exactly. Only the carrot and the stick. But thanks to this, a person grows smarter, begins to properly handle the carrot and the stick, rises above his nature, and he himself becomes a man, he himself controls his nature with the stick and the carrot.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 8/21/20
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Truth, justice, and mercy‚—everyone selects which principle to act according to in this world. It is clear that we cannot be guided by truth because we do not know it; therefore, we choose something else. That is why we create different systems to help those who are weaker: pay benefits, help single mothers and young families, etc.
It is as if we want to compensate for what the Creator did incorrectly and unjustly. The Creator allegedly arranged injustice in the world and we see that the world is initially corrupted, but we do not understand what is involved with the correction. We try to perform a correction outside of a person instead of correcting him inside. This is the whole problem.
If we want to be guided by the truth, we must correct everyone. Instead, we correct the external connections between us, and therefore we do not see success.
It is very difficult to establish the truth because we do not know the internal reserves of a person, but only see his external efforts. However, one is stronger and more energetic by nature and the other is lazy and weak, and it is impossible to assess what efforts this work really takes for everyone.
We must take into account the internal forces of a person in order to demand from everyone equal effort in the work. The strong one can do twice as much work as the weak, but we will be considered as equal.
It is written that “Truth shall spring forth from the earth,” meaning from the desire. If we use our desire correctly, we will find the criterion of truth there and will be able to use it correctly.
It should become clear to everyone how much each person has received from nature, from the Creator, and how much each one has supplemented, and then everyone will be evaluated equally.
We can achieve the criterion of truth only if we all feel each other internally. We need to come to such a connection between us and the Creator and to reveal such a force of connection that everyone is ready to bestow upon the other with all their heart and soul. Then we will reach the degree of truth. We will no longer count who has done more and who has done less—everyone will give one hundred percent and the truth will reign.
This does not mean equalizing everyone, it means that we unite in such a form where everything starts to work out. There are two conditions: everyone gives everything they have and uses all their abilities for a common connection. Then we complement each other like ants in an anthill.
The revelation of truth turns the entire universe into a sphere: everyone is integrated into each other so that the quality of the Creator, the upper force of bestowal, is revealed within them. And in this way, we achieve perfection.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/9/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World”
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Human behavior in our world cannot be explained by clear-cut laws, unlike animals where everything is clear, obey rigid instincts.
A person does not have a clear division between good and evil; there is always something in the middle, which leaves some uncertainty. Therefore, we can never be sure that our decision is correct; we are always in doubt, questions, and ambiguity.
If the result were evident right on the spot you would take a bite of poisoned food and choke, you would do a good deed and immediately become famous. But we cannot distinguish good from evil in advance, and therefore we do not know what to do.
A person does not act like a plant or an animal that knows what to get closer to and what to run away from. Animals do not need laboratories to check the quality of food, they just need to smell it or lick it to understand everything.
Plants know what is harmful to them and what is useful, when to open and when to close. A person, however, does not know anything, he is born helpless and lives without knowing or understanding anything. Therefore, he needs the support of the environment, and even as an adult, he is always tormented by doubts.
An animal never makes mistakes if it is healthy. A person makes mistakes all the time, and even if they learn from them, they make mistakes again at the next step. He constantly falls and rises and makes corrections in this way. How can billions of people, each of whom make mistakes every now and then, connect with each other into a perfect system? It is obvious that this is not within our power.
It is impossible to govern the world by truth because we do not have it. Everyone has their own truth, and it contradicts all other truths. Yet, nature is pressing on us, forcing us to unite and complete each other, and even love each other so that each serves the other.
How can we build such a system? It will not appear by itself from nature; on the contrary, we will become more and more separated, and perceive others as enemies. When we start working on our correction, we realize how great this task is.
Truth is an instinct. Inanimate nature, plants, and animals exist according to their instincts, and therefore they do not make mistakes. A person does not have an instinct, i.e., a clear internal desire that directs one’s actions. That is why he is always asking questions.
For animals, instinct replaces truth by correctly orienting them. But a human has no instinct, and therefore he acts at his own risk or relies on what others say, and therefore constantly makes mistakes.
The country is splitting in two, arguing about who is best suited to be president and receive the reins of the country. But in the future, the people will rule the country because they will feel that only the upper force can rule, which they will attract into the population. In other words, the Creator will rule, but only if the people invite Him to reign.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/8/20, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Peace in the World”
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The Times of Israel published my new article “The Wounded American Democracy”
A turbulent presidential race in the US was supposed to end with the elections, but in fact, the political scenario is far from calm and quiet. While half of America claims victory and vigorously celebrates, the other half feels betrayed, drained, robbed, and questions and challenges the democratic system. What kind of changes are required to recover the credibility of a system that has shown imperfections?
As President Trump’s legal team deals with court challenges and expects ballot recounts in six battleground states, the claims of fraud have overshadowed the American electoral process.
Democratic elections have brought the world human development, freedom of expression—where everyone is allowed to express their opinions and divergences fearlessly, vote, demonstrate—but now we see the system that was conceived as the panacea to listen to people’s voices, all voices, has lead to millions of people in the same country to become radically opposed to each other, split in a near symmetrical half, completely polarized.
So maybe the solution is to officially divide the country in two, a Democratic territory and a Republican land? They may relocate according to their political preference and visit each other once in a while, go sightseeing from one side to the other, even have some trade relationship between both lands, divide industry, the economy, society in general. If it is not possible to coexist, then splitting up the country seems to be the only alternative.
Can you imagine such a scenario? Clearly, tearing the country apart and dividing it in two pieces is not possible, and even if hypothetically it were an alternative, a clear cut division would separate families, dismantle communities, split every atom in every element of creation, and pose enormous disbalances and great danger. Alienation is the cause of social disruption and eventually may lead to war.
We have reached a dead end where democracy is questioned and there is no indisputable majority that determines the nation’s future. Today’s society demands results that consider and represent everyone. Otherwise, the credibility and legitimacy of the country’s leadership will be undermined, and the rift between the two camps will continue to deteriorate. The new reality requires all sides to sit together in a circle like the indigenous people of the country used to gather in a circle around a campfire to find solutions to their most pressing problems, to think and decide together about what should be done.
The solution cannot be to give up to everyone’s stand on any issue. It is not realistic and shouldn’t be. When one side overpowers the other, the outcome eventually will be destruction. Rising up against each other wishing to annihilate those opposing one’s views contradicts nature, acts against the supreme force that created two sides in the world in the first place. Nature’s purpose for creating this division is to lead humanity to strive for connection and build a new reality in common through a sense of mutual guarantee. This goal can be achieved when people elevate themselves from their instinctive egoistic desires and consciously put aside their particular interests for a collective benefit.
How can someone want to think of others if we are naturally inclined to think only about ourselves? Because the alternative is ungovernability, collective chaos, distrust, rivalry—all conditions that are a recipe for disaster. And when there is chaos no one gains but all lose. Therefore, it is in everyone’s best interest to realize that the wounds of US society can be cured when Americans realize how interdependent they are. Nature shows us the perfect electoral system. It chooses connection over dissolution, unity over division, integrality over dispersion. So if we want to live peacefully next to each other and succeed as a society, we only need to learn from this example.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What’s the meaning of life? Is happiness the only purpose of our lives?“
Happiness is not the purpose of our lives, because any happiness we feel dies together with us. What do we ultimately gain from being happy if we eventually die and it disappears?
In relation to finding purpose in our lives through happiness or other lofty sensations in our world, such as freedom, love and success, the wisdom of Kabbalah describes the concept of Pharaoh—an egoistic and materialistic ruler who considered happiness and other worldly pleasures as life’s purpose, and thought that they would follow him to his grave. However, no happiness we achieve in this life continues afterward, and we would thus be wise to set our sights on a purpose that is everlasting and eternal.
What is an everlasting and eternal purpose to life?
It is only existent in our spirit, above our body, beyond everything we currently know and feel through our five senses. If we attain contact with such a higher sphere, we then attain the purpose of our lives. Moreover, we can do so while being alive in our current body.
The attainment of the perception and sensation of this higher sphere—”higher” meaning above what our corporeal mind and feelings can grasp—that governs us gives us a complete perception and understanding of where we come from, where we are headed, what and who we are, what created us, as well as how we were created and why.
Moreover, by attaining this higher sphere, we also discover true and everlasting happiness. However, such happiness is not life’s purpose in and of itself, but rather comes as a byproduct of attaining the purpose of our lives, which is the attainment of the eternal reality.
Question: The word “motivation” comes from the Latin phrase “urge to action.” Motivation is the process of encouraging someone to take action to achieve a specific goal. There are different kinds of motivation from very selfish to caring for the whole world.
What is motivation from the point of view of the science of Kabbalah?
Answer: Motivation is an internal desire that prompts a person to action, leaving one no opportunity to remain indifferent and pushes one to achieve a certain result, which as it were, is already formed in the motivation.
According to Kabbalah, every person should have a life motivation that he or she needs to realize. Otherwise one’s whole life is devoid of any meaning.
Question: Can motivation be called fuel without which it is impossible to take a single step?
Answer: Yes. It also includes fuel. But this is not enough. There must be a direction, there must be a goal fully formed within a person, a clear understanding of it. Then one’s whole life will take on meaning and every movement will be purposefully motivated.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 8/28/20
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Remark: One of the feelings related to spiritual development is pride, self-esteem, self-respect, a sense of satisfaction from the consciousness of the successes achieved, a sense of superiority in something. You write that any quality can be corrected except pride. This is the highest manifestation of egoism. It takes us away from the goal of unity.
My Comment: The point is that pride closes our eyes and ears. It just shuts a person down, he cannot perceive anything, does not feel others. In this case, he is not able to change something in himself.
Question: Is love for oneself also pride?
Answer: Pride is egoism. Self-love is much lower than pride.
Question: How can we overcome pride? Is there a technique?
Answer: No. It comes gradually when you feel that you are completely in the hands of nature.
Remark: On the other hand, there is a kind of positive pride when they say that a person should be proud of belonging to a certain circle, for example, scientists.
My Comment: This is pride in your belonging. Pride in the path, for the goal, is pride in being part of this path.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 8/7/20
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Question: How can one get rid of the fear of public speaking?
Answer: If we really have something to say to people and are able to correctly introduce the information they need into the outline of our conversation under any circumstance, then there is no place for fear.
Question: Nevertheless, what if before going out to the public your heart starts beating fast and you are overwhelmed by fear?
Answer: You need to think in advance how to start your performance.
Question: You have no fear at all? No heart throbbing, no pulse quickening?
Answer: No. This is my science and I am an expert in it. Those who do not want to listen to me can leave, and we will talk to those who do. Or, I invite the public to ask questions. Why should I get confused and think about what they do and do not like? If they say what they want to hear, I will try to tell them everything frankly.
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From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 8/14/20
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When studying the integrality of nature, a person begins to understand that there are no negative phenomena in the world. This is already connected with the understanding of the structure of the world and the universe, when he feels himself existing under the influence of a higher force.
Question: If I can’t justify some phenomenon in nature, it means that I have not yet corrected myself, I am still in the process of development. Can this be an indicator of progress?
Answer: Yes. A sinner is one who cannot justify what is happening to him and to the world.
Question: Is the clear realization that I cannot get rid of the negative force of egoism, but can only balance it with a positive force, a sign of progress?
Answer: Sure.
Question: Does a person begin to feel the world through the environment in which he or she learns?
Answer: Yes. He or she begins to feel that the world affects him or her absolutely through everything: inanimate, plant, animal, and most importantly, human nature.
Question: That is, if a person begins to feel other people more, to live by their desires, is this an indicator of his or her progress?
Answer: Not really. Only if he or she precisely connects it to the highest purpose of existence.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/2/20
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