Audio Version Of The Blog – 8/24/21
Posted on August 24th, 2021
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My new article on Linkedin “The Legacy of Angela Merkel”
This coming September, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will step down after serving in the top office since November 2005. During Merkel’s time, Germany has become more open and less composed, more demographically and politically diverse, but less affluent.
For many years, Merkel was regarded as one of the strongest women in the world. Critics accused her of ruining her party, the Christian Democratic Union, by relinquishing the social-democrat ideology in favor of a left-wing stance, flooding Germany with illegal immigrants, dividing Europe, and as of late, mishandling the Covid-19 crisis.
Nevertheless, in my opinion, there are some good things to say about her. She brought America and Russia closer. Also, she did not fall into harsh conflicts with France or the UK despite the fact that during her time, the UK withdrew from the European Union. Her good ties with Russia’s KGB from the time when Germany was still split between West and East helped her skillfully maneuver her connections with Moscow, and in general, I think she did many good things for Europe.
We can always find reasons for criticism, but I do not think it is helpful. I think it will be good if her successor takes the same direction she has set forth.
Angela Merkel has also been criticized for the rise in antisemitism during her time in office. While it is true that since 2005, when she took office, antisemitism has intensified tremendously in Germany, I don’t think it is her fault that this has happened.
Antisemitism has been rising all over Europe and the US for many years, and there is nothing any head of state can do about it. It is simply the call of the hour for antisemitism to grow. However, if we insist on pointing to a culprit in this perilous development, we, the Jews, should point to ourselves and our behavior toward each other.
As I have elaborated in both my books, Like a Bundle of Reeds and The Jewish Choice, Jew hatred grows when hatred of Jews by Jews grows, and not of its own accord. There are profound reasons that explain how this happens and why, but they are beyond the scope of this piece. You are welcome to read my books and get a better understanding of this process.
Another issue that “awarded” Merkel with extensive backlash, including from me, is the refugee crisis. However, here, too, I don’t think it is a personal thing, but simply the zeitgeist, if you will. One person cannot change the spirit of the time; it is rather the time that brings the person and “speaks” through that person. This is why it is written, “The king’s heart is like streams of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1).
Now it seems He is turning it in a new direction. Judging by the climatic, political, military, and international events of this summer, a volatile future awaits humanity. We will navigate it successfully only if we learn to cooperate. If we maintain the individualistic attitude and shun the need for mutual responsibility, a grim future awaits us.
In order to become more responsible for one another, we will need new leaders and new perspectives—more inclusive than our current approach. If such leaders arise, they will lead humanity to a blissful future. If no such leaders come, we will still arrive at this blissful future, but we will have to go through hell to get there.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the best way to protect oneself from the evil eye?“
First, what is the evil eye? In principle, the evil eye is the negative effect of negative thoughts from other people. Our thoughts indeed play a major role in our lives, and we are influenced by negative thoughts that others have about us.
The question then becomes how can we protect ourselves from such negative thoughts about us, the evil eye?
On this point, several people believe that they can protect themselves by wearing or using various amulets. But no objects protect us. They can provide psychological comfort, but they do not change reality. They fail to stop people’s negative projections onto us.
The way to truly protect ourselves from evil eye, negative thoughts from others, is by projecting positive thoughts onto them. By thinking favorably about others and doing good to them, we project positive forces toward them, and our projection of positive energy protects us.
We can thus rid ourselves of negative influences and find better luck, blessing and success in our lives by thinking favorably about others. Doing so enables us to rise above negative influences, including the evil eye.
In short, think positively about others and you will find a very powerful, exalted and trustworthy form of spiritual protection.
Based on a talk, “An Inside Look,” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
My new article on Linkedin “If Animals Behaved Like People”
Human beings stand at the top of the pyramid on Earth. Nevertheless, we are quickly drifting toward utter helplessness in the face of extreme climatic events, an irrepressible virus, fading political dexterity, and escalating social divisions. Not only civilization, but the entire world seems to be coming apart at the seams.
If we search for the culprit, none will be found, except for us. We are the wrong-doers. We are not only the worst; we are the only negative element on the planet. Were it not for us, everything would be thriving and peaceful.
Imagine what would happen if animals behaved like people. Carnivores would kill their prey for fun and to boast until none was left to feed on. Alternatively, herbivores would eat up all the grass until they, too, would starve or their stomachs would explode.
If animals behaved like people, species would deny other species access to grazing or hunting territories simply in order to maintain power and control. Animals would fight against each other not in order to feed themselves, but in order to humiliate other species or simply for sports.
Once in power, dominant species would fight among themselves not just over authority, but they would kill each other in order to prevent their rivals’ offspring from posing future threats. In the war over supremacy, they would also kill their young in order to commemorate themselves as the greatest of all time.
These atrocities, fabricated about the animal kingdom, are the reality of our daily lives. This is why we have no one to blame for the collapse of our world but ourselves.
If we want to save ourselves and our home planet, we need to dig much deeper than changing our energy sources and restraining the use of plastics. We need to dig into our own nature and reform the evildoer that lies within each and every one of us. This is our only chance of survival.
The amendments we need to perform are not behavioral changes; they are corrections on our egos, on our very selves. In its current, insatiable mindset, our nature is poised to devour anything and everything until there is nothing left. The desolation it will leave behind will destroy us and our posterity.
We think we are the smartest being but animals know that the environment sustains them while we exploit it as if there is endless abundance. We are cutting the branch we are sitting on yet define our behavior as “progress.”
Even when we can see our folly, we lack the resolve to change course. Because we are so powerless, our only option is to derive strength and encouragement from one another.
If we launch a collective effort to change our values from exploitative to considerate and from abusive to caring, we will change our social environment, which will change our mindset. This, and only this, will make us change our behavior toward each other and toward animals, plants, the soil, and the air. This is why changing our relations, our approach to one another, is the only way to save our planet and ourselves, and give our children hope for the future.
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Question: You often say in your lectures that the process of intrauterine development is a miracle. Explain why is it a miracle?
Answer: Because it is a combination of two absolutely impossible parameters: the property of reception and the property of bestowal. Moreover, bestowal and love prevail over reception and a new life emerges.
This process in nature is very complex, special, and one might even say unnatural. The development itself is natural, but here we do not have a development, but a combination of opposites one inside the other. Therefore, it is a miracle.
Question: In corporeality, I understand why it is a miracle: a foreign body develops in the mother’s body and it is not rejected. And what is a spiritual miracle?
Answer: It is the same in spirituality. In principle, the emergence of one organism in another occurs against the background of rejection. A person must go through this, must want to accept the property of bestowal in spite of his egoism and nullify himself.
Altruistic properties arise in him when he does not think about himself, does not make any calculations about himself. This is called a miracle.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 8/6/21
Related Material:
A Great Miracle Happened Here
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The Eternal Flame Of Unity
Question: It is said that the embryo sees the whole world from one end to the other. What does it mean?
Answer: This means that the embryo has no restrictions. He is in full compliance with the upper force, with the mother’s organism or with the qualities of the Creator.
It does not include any egoistic desires and everything in it that is opposite to the upper, the Creator or the mother, is suppressed by the general system. This is how it develops inside the mother.
And although there are some moments when the opposition to the mother may seem to contribute to the miscarriage of the embryo, her body takes it all on itself, suppresses the difference between the embryo and her, and the embryo continues to develop.
The embryo practically does not use egoism. It is automatically fed, its waste is automatically removed. It has nothing of its own.
The spiritual embryo must work on annulling itself before what arises in it. And the physical embryo does this under the influence of the mother’s body.
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From KabTV “Spiritual States” 8/6/21
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How The Spiritual Embryo Grows
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New Life 1315 – Relations With Grownup Kids Who Have Left Home
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz
A long time before kids leave home, we need to get them used to calling their parents once a day and visiting them weekly. It is important for the parents to share what they go through, to show that they care, to ask questions, and to set an example. The parents should prepare their children for the phase of leaving home and raise them to be independent.
Kids who have not received the right preparation for life will feel weak, and will find it hard to build themselves and establish a connection with a life partner. Parents should give their children a sense of security, guidance, and a feeling that we are always there for them.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1315 – Relations With Grownup Kids Who Have Left Home,” 8/8/21
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Comment: The first stage of a person’s spiritual development, like in the material world, begins with fertilization, when millions of sperms must enter the uterus in order for conception to occur.
My Response: True. In the spiritual, as in the earthly, a person must go through many states and choose the most correct one from them. This is similar to how a drop of semen makes its way through the birth canal into the uterus and reaches a place in it where it can connect to the uterine wall and begin development.
This is really similar to how a person in competition with himself, with his egoism, and not with other people, moves stubbornly and persistently forward, not allowing himself to get away from the goal. Even if he falls and loses strength, he still pursues his goal and realizes he is obliged to advance to it. It doesn’t matter at what speed, it doesn’t matter how smart and talented he is. The road will be mastered by the one who walks.
Question: So a person has to go through a thousand different states and only at one beautiful moment does conception occur?
Answer: Yes. Conception is an exit to the spiritual world, the first connection of a person, his soul, with the Creator. A person seems to be torn away from his egoism, from his personal benefit, and feels that a new quality appears in him, the quality of bestowal and love, which is higher than the egoism of our world.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 8/6/21
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And the Lord said to Joshua, “Be not afraid of them, for tomorrow at this time, I will deliver them up all slain before Israel. You shall cripple their horses, and burn their chariots with fire.” (Prophets, Joshua 11:6)
This means: do not give the egoistic desires the opportunity to approach you. If you cannot deal with them, take up the defensive and do everything to deprive them of the means to fight you.
A big problem arises because these desires are so powerful that you can hardly resist fulfilling them. And the Creator is weak here. The problem is that we ourselves understand that we have to resist them.
Comment: But in this case, the Israelis were strong. They broke the chariots, i.e., hit egoism.
My Response: Yes, but egoism works in many directions and with great cunningness. Victory after victory, it is good. But why later are people suffering defeat, and moreover, a huge, general defeat? Because egoism is our nature.
And although it seems to us that we are winning, the victory, in general, is purely external. And in order to really lead the people to unity with each other and with the Creator, it is necessary to fight with the Creator Himself, who arranges all this, both weakens and strengthens. As it is said about Jacob: “You fought with the kings and fought with the Creator and won.”
To conquer means to force the Creator to help you recreate yourself. After constant effort, when you realize that you have no strength, this is a natural move.
Question: It turns out that neither kings nor Israel have any freewill? Those are heated up and these are heated up.
Answer: No, Israel has freewill so that it constantly strengthens its unity against egoism and understands that it cannot do anything—only to ask the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/2/21
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the best way to stop immigration to Europe?“
Solutions come after problems. We see the extent to which the European immigration problem is covered, as if it is nonexistent. Although we see countless amounts of immigrants, it is not raised to any kind of public dialogue.
There are statistics of all kinds of problems connected to immigrants in European countries, but next to nothing is done about it. It is all silenced. Therefore, it is as if there is no problem.
However, it is a problem, mainly in terms of the future of Europe. Immigrants coming to Europe are coming in such large quantities that they will overtake the continent in the future.
Muslims will take over Europe, and Europe’s politically correct atmosphere will disallow resistance. Europe has become old, and Islam is the youthful adolescent appearing to take over.
Therefore, I see no other way now but that Europe will gradually accept Islam more and more.
This is no problem, though. The moment you demarcate it as a problem, you create a mess. It is a phenomenon that has passed its critical point that could have once been battled.
Immigration to Europe thus becomes similar to several other natural phenomena that unfold in the world. Also, in The Book of Zohar, it is written about how Islam will conquer Europe.
Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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