The Screen Is A Purely Individual Quality

608.02Question: What elements does the screen consist of?

Answer: The screen consists of two forces: the magnitude of the egoistic desire to attract to yourself and the forces of bestowal, rejection, unwillingness to work with this force of attraction.

Question: Can a person be born with a screen?

Answer: No, never, not at all. We are all born as little egoists and remain so throughout our lives. If a person is engaged in Kabbalah and begins to understand that it can provide him with an altruistic, anti-egoistic quality, and continues to work on it in order to acquire this quality, then gradually a screen is formed in him. This is a cumulative process.

The screen is a purely individual quality. It cannot be adopted from someone, bought, exchanged, or borrowed.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 8/20/21

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“Humanity’s Penitential Days” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “Humanity’s Penitential Days

This week begin the Ten Penitential Days. In those days, traditionally, Jews repent for their misdeeds during the past year and ask for forgiveness from both each other and the Maker of the world. Looking at the past year, however, it seems as though the whole world needs to go through a process of repentance. Instead of praying for the tragedies to stop, we must understand that we brought them on ourselves, so if we stop what we are doing wrong, the tragedies will stop, as well.

Repentance does not mean remorse. It means, first and foremost, a reflection on what we did wrong, and a commitment to change it going forward.

When I was a child, I could get away with almost anything. My parents and everyone around me forgave my naughtiness and attributed it to my age. As I grew up, people gradually changed their attitude toward me; they became stricter and harsher, and sometimes even punished me, and I didn’t understand why. When I asked my mother about it, she explained to me that I was no longer a little boy, and that since I was growing up, I had to behave accordingly. And when I didn’t, they reproved me.

We are all in that state now. We, the human race, are no longer children. We have grown up, become extremely powerful, yet we remain as mischievous as when we were children. As a result, everyone around us, the whole of reality, is telling us off. Just as grownups punished me when I did not meet the level of maturity they had expected of me, nature punishes us when our behavior is infantile compared to how we should behave.

The difference between a child and a grownup is in the relation toward others. A child sees only itself; a grownup sees the collective, and oneself as a contributing and positive part of the collective. A child enjoys getting what it wants; a grownup enjoys contributing to the collective, to the community, and finds reward and satisfaction in the joy of others.

Nature is urging us to go in this direction: to become more considerate and caring. The natural disasters of the past year (and the years before) are not nature’s punishments; they are the consequences of our previous thoughtlessness toward each other and toward nature. If we change our mindset, they will stop, as it is our self-absorbed mindset that causes them.

The Ten Penitential Days are a reminder for all of us to reflect on how we treat each other. It is a chance to acknowledge the harm that we are causing through our narcissism, and make a common effort to reform ourselves, for everyone’s benefit.

“Europe Walling Up Is Too Little Too Late” (Linkedin)

My new article on Linkedin “Europe Walling Up Is Too Little Too Late

All over Europe, walls and fences are springing up on the borders between countries. Between Greece and Bulgaria, Austria and Italy, Hungary and Serbia, Lithuania and Belarus, and between many more countries, walls and fences have emerged. Unlike before, countries are not trying to protect themselves from one another, but from Muslim immigrants invading their territories. Regrettably for Europe, neither walls nor any other barrier will do any good; it is too late to save The Old Continent.

While governments have opened the borders for immigration from Muslim countries, they did not prepare the newcomers for the new culture they were about to encounter, nor check if they were even willing to amalgamate in it. Even now, when the harm of unchecked immigration has become known, European politicians are not attempting to stop it.

The only country attempting to stop the Muslim invasion is Austria, but it is alone. Over time, the pressure from other European countries to open its borders will force it to comply, and it, too, will be lost.

There will not be any fanfare or long and violent clashes; Europe has already surrendered to Islam; the deal is done. It should have stopped it long ago, but once it chose not to, it sealed its fate.

But the Muslim invasion into Europe will not be the end of the story. Following Islam, China will come with its own aspirations, and the two will squabble over the carcass.

The two powers have very different goals. Islam wants to impose itself on the entire world. If people accept it willingly, very well. If not, they will be forced to accept it or they will be executed.

China, on the other hand, wants only to control. Their one and only aspiration is world domination; they do not care about religion. I think that after some time and perhaps some bickering, they will divide the world between them one way or the other.

And in the midst of it all will be the Jews, of course. They always have been, they always are, and they always will be involved in global transformations.

Nevertheless, I think that it’s better if things develop in this way since the other option is a nuclear world war. If the process is more gradual, there is a chance that people will understand in a more peaceful way that we have to change how we think and how we relate to one another.

If people realize that egoism is the sole ruler of the world, there is a chance they will agree to start working on themselves. As power struggles prove that there is no ideology but domination and compulsion, hopefully, people will realize that this is an unsustainable course for humanity. It is better to realize this through political processes than after nuclear and hydrogen bombs demonstrate the consequences of egoism.

When people realize that we have no other choice but to stop being so selfish, we will be able to start developing a new humanity. It will not be any ideology we currently know, but a simple acknowledgment that we invariably influence one another, and that one person’s misery makes all of humanity suffer, even if we do not know this person.

As a result, we will build systems that ensure everyone’s well-being.

The awareness that a narcissistic frame of mind is ultimately destructive to the narcissist will push people out of it. Then, when we become genuinely inclusive in our mindset, we will build a society that is caring and supportive of everyone, and we will relinquish domination in favor of cooperation.

However, it must happen willingly, or it will not work. We have to reach rock-bottom, to realize that we are hopelessly malign, and that only a complete rejection of our nature will lift us out of the quagmire of cruelty. When we finally choose connection over separation, we will lift ourselves from misery to bliss.

“What Is It In Your Life That Calls You To Be Bigger Than What You Think Is Possible?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: What is it in your life that calls you to be bigger than what you think is possible?

I understand that humanity is in the midst of a crisis. This crisis envelops humanity: depression, drug addiction, the disintegration of the family unit, terrorism, and the global ecological threat. Constantly, from one day to the next, this disaster in humanity continues increasing, and the conflict between civilizations also deepens. According to scientists’ opinions, humanity has little time left to somehow stop the crisis’ development in the direction of a third world war.

However, as doctors say, the correct diagnosis of a disease is already half of its cure. This is why we need to reveal this crisis to the world and stop silencing it. By doing so, we only bring ourselves closer to an irreversible state. If we reveal this crisis to humanity and simultaneously, all of us together, try to understand its cause (our ego) and its cure (the ego’s correction)—by doing so, we will discover a peaceful and harmonious life.

Humanity needs to undergo this transformation. Therefore, this vision pushes me even to things that are beyond my abilities, in order to use all opportunities possible so that I can explain this to the world.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Searching For A Reference Point

592.04Comment: A strong politician will say that he always stands up for the weak, the less fortunate. All election campaigns are based on this. And when he comes to power, he quickly forgets about it.

My Response: This is natural. Where have you seen politicians who care about the masses? A politician is also an egoist, only bigger. Until he reaches the top of the pyramid of power, he must destroy and trample over hundreds of people, and only then does he become president or head of government.

Therefore, it is impossible to demand some kind of pity for the masses from them. They do not have a single thought about it. They think only in terms of government strength, power, and money. This is how they are; otherwise, they would not be at the top. It is naive to expect any benefits from them.

Of course, they will do something for the masses but as a populist method, nothing more. They use these techniques to improve their ratings. Politicians will give up everything for power. Neither spending money nor losing one’s good name will stop them, nothing. The main thing is to attain power. Someone wants to achieve some scientific discoveries and only that is important for him. For someone else neither politics nor a good opinion of oneself is important, only money. Everyone has their own goal. And everyone achieves what he wants as much as possible.

But the fact is that our constantly developing egoism leads us to a state where we do not receive fulfillment from our desires and achievements. I strive for money. Why? To feel confident, fulfilled. It does not happen! I strive for knowledge. And what do I need it for? I acquire it and I remain empty. I achieve power and suddenly I find that it does not give me anything but emptiness.

It is obvious today that no matter which desires I realize, I remain empty. What can we do?

And here lies the problem in the social pyramid: the top disappears. People used to strive for this top, but now this striving has disappeared. Today, the elite feels that they have nothing. Today, you do not see rulers who can say: “I know how to steer the future and I must show it to you, I must.” There is no such thing. There are no people or parties who would say: “There is such a party! Let’s go!”

Some key point is lost. Earlier, egoism developed from small to large, from large to even larger and larger, and this built some kind of a line, a reference point. And today, egoism has reached a dead end; it does not show us anything. On the contrary, we find that there is nowhere to go. And we do not find bigger desires than the ones have today. Desire for what? Consume something? And what will I consume, the whole world?

A person discovers the limitation of his egoism and then he begins to fuss: “What to do next?” He has nothing left but antidepressants and drugs.

And at this very last stage, in this feeling of emptiness, a desire arises for the next level of development, a higher one, the realm we have not yet existed in. We must reach the next level of development. And this is a new desire, not our egoistic past, but a new property with which we will live in a dimension above egoism.

This is now beginning to manifest itself in people, and they come to the science of Kabbalah that helps them reveal that part of the world that exists around us but is hidden.

Question: So, suffering is good?

Answer: It is not that suffering is good, but it gives us the opportunity to rise above egoism as the cause of suffering. It allows us to get out of trouble. If I see that something is causing me suffering, I begin to hate it and I try to push myself away from it.

We are at such a stage of development today when we will gradually begin to perceive our egoism as evil. Another state will come when people will realize: “If we do not unite, we will destroy each other.”
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Hope for Peace” 9/9/09″

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“Will Reparations For Slavery Actually Help End Racism?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Will reparations for slavery actually help end racism?

Definitely not. There will be no end to all kinds of people starting to demand what they supposedly deserve. More and more people will start whetting their appetites against one another. It is foolish to rethink history in such a way.

I am in favor of reinterpreting history as the development of our egoistic inclination, i.e. the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature, through various stages. Today, when we realize the ego’s insignificance, perniciousness and inferiority, we start shifting to the next degree of our development where we will need to realize a positive connection to each other, supporting, encouraging and caring about each other with no complaints about the past.

If we start engaging in digging into the past to make reparations, then we enter an endless process of looking backward in order to demand what we supposedly deserve.

Such a revision of history is based on egoism. We cannot buy the past with money, just as the future cannot be built with this money. We should only seek to understand how nature and human nature works, and how we can use this knowledge to start a new process of positively connecting to each other.

The more we discover our tightening interdependence in today’s age, the more we will reveal the faulty and detrimental nature of our egoistic nature, and the need to correct it by developing altruistic connections above it. We will not correct our ego by the approach of “Pay me, and I’ll be nice.” It is simply a defective approach.

Based on “News with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman” on July 8, 2021. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

The World Of Assiya Is The Lowest Of The Worlds

235The Book of Zohar, “Lech Lecha Item 97: The first extension is the light of Nefesh, the force from which the body is built …

A spiritually born person is called Ish, and the spiritual force that animates him, the force of his existence is called the light of the degree of Nefesh.

[It]…extends by the force of the progenitors’ light of Nefesh. This is so because by the force of the great desire of the progenitors, which is a strong agreement from their light of Nefesh, they extend the light of Nefesh of the newborn from the spiritual world of Assiya, and it clothes in the semen that they produce, and the newborn’s body gradually builds out of this spiritual light.

Just as a person is born from the mother and comes out into our world, but before that he was inside her, so we are born into the spiritual world from within. Therefore, the uterus in which we are now is a preliminary place for birth in the upper world.

The world of Assiya is the lowest of the worlds. The first spiritual birth takes place in it when our eyes and feelings open. I am called Ish in it, and my energy, my understanding, everything that animates me is called Nefesh.

Assiya is the world of action because I do not understand anything yet, I do not know, I just develop via my instinctive actions.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #18

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Assertion Of One’s “I”

271Question: How can we unite? For an ambitious, naturally strong person, there is nothing more hateful than social equality.

Answer: He can remain as he is. Nobody takes anything from him. Who forbids him to be rich? Who forbids him to realize himself in politics, in art, in science, in anything? Why should he sink to the middle class? He does not have to do that.

We are talking about social equality. But it is not that everyone will be equal. We are not created equal by nature either. We are equal in that everyone should understand their place in the integral system and interact with the rest.

There are those among us who belong to the head, the hands, the body, or the legs of the common body of our society. Each of us is different. This difference will continue to apply in the future. A cook (an unqualified person) will not run the state. She will not be able to do this, and there is no need to force her to do it.

And people who can lead will lead. And they will be proud of it! The fact is that the one who stands at the top and wants to rule receives pleasure or fulfillment from it.

Give him this opportunity, just teach him how to manage correctly. And then beside this, he will receive fulfillment from everyone else.

A person needs inner fulfillment. Even his millions in the bank just give him the feeling that he is full, a feeling, nothing more! Give him this feeling from his work, from creativity.

Politicians love to create because politics is the same art. However, like science, finance, and everything else, people do this so that they feel like creators in this life.

This interests them. And zeros in the bank or graduate degrees simply speak of what they have done in life. This is an assertion of their “I.”
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Hope for Peace” 9/9/09

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Money Cannot Buy Love

292We cannot conquer nature. Nature has brought us to a special stage of development, and we must fulfill its demand to get closer to each other, to be more united as one nation, and end all disputes. If we do not do that, it will get even worse than it is now. I warned at the very beginning of the pandemic that it will not end quickly,  three years, five years, it will last for years.

Until we fulfill the law of nature that requires us to truly connect as one person with one heart, we will not be able to be healthy and free. The restrictions that we now feel from nature show us that we are not allowed to come close to one another because of our bad attitude toward each other.

The distance between us cannot be less than two meters, which is a reflection of my attitude to others. I do not want to feel them any closer and this feeling is now being broadcast into the distance between us.

Do you want to live without physical restrictions? Then cancel the internal restrictions. Try to be closer to each other, eliminate all quarrels and disputes among the people of Israel, and you will see that the pandemic will immediately subside. It would seem that there is no connection between our relationship and the virus. But this is how it works.

If we do not do this, we will spend millions of shekels and dollars more on medicines and vaccinations, but the problems will grow bigger and we will not be able to get rid of them. We want to be bailed with money just not to change our hearts. But this will not work. Money cannot buy love. And it is a great closeness and love that is required of us.

Of course, love is not given for free. It must be earned. However, this is an eternal acquisition, the most reliable action that guarantees us health, strength, peace, serenity, and lifts us above life and death. There is nothing stronger than love; it is the upper force.

Yet, we are not ready to trouble our hearts with love and instead try to cover it in hope of finding peace. But there is no way out. We will only prolong our suffering for a few more years until we become smarter. The Creator will not abandon his plans. He will persistently and tirelessly force us to love others as ourselves.

It is not enough just to become a little kinder to each other, it is necessary to really come to universal love so that only love will rule in the world.
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From KabTV’s “A Conversation with Journalists” 11/29/20

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 9/6/21

Preparation to the Lesson

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Lesson on the Topic “Faith Above Reason” 

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Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 35 

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Selected Highlights

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