Audio Version Of The Blog – 10/1/21
Posted on October 1st, 2021
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My new article on Linkedin “Volcanic Eruptions Are Corrections, Too”
For several weeks now, there has been a series of seismic events in and around the Mediterranean Sea. First, Mt. Athena in Italy erupted. Next, a series of earthquakes struck Crete; and currently, Mt. Cumbre Vieja has erupted a little farther south, on the Spanish island of La Palma off the coast of Morocco. Nothing happens without a reason. If we know that reality is moving toward balance, then these events are on the way toward it, too. What we need to learn is how to achieve balance without going through upheavals and disasters on the way to peace.
Biologists call it “homeostasis”; physicists call it entropy, or a “state of thermodynamic equilibrium.” Either way, nature’s final, healthy state is balance, harmony. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, massive storms, and other menaces indicate nature’s level of imbalance. These are the valves through which nature releases excess pressure on the various levels of nature. The more intense the pressure, the more intense the natural disaster.
When we look around us for the cause of nature’s growing pressure, we will not find it. It seems to erupt for no reason. In the past, humans thought that to appease the gods, i.e. nature, they must sacrifice other human beings, sometimes even children. When they became more “civilized,” they started sacrificing animals, then plants, until man has abandoned sacrifices altogether. But nature’s wrath is still very much a part of our lives.
The thing is that there is a reason for nature’s apparent fury, which today we know is imbalance, and there is something that we need to sacrifice in order to “appease” nature. However, that something is not outside of us, but within us: It is our own ego, our self-centered nature, which is engraved in us at birth.
Currently, we worship our ego. We cater to its whims and wish nothing but to satisfy it.
Yet, if we keep worshipping it, we will destroy our planet and destroy ourselves in the process. The only way to secure a good life for everyone is to think of everyone rather than only of ourselves.
If we start cultivating more inclusive thought patterns, more caring and mutual responsibility, we will change our lives dramatically. The only element that is out of balance with the rest of nature will disappear, nature’s wrath will subside, and peace will reign supreme.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can anybody destroy his desire?“
Desires cannot be destroyed.
Desires are the matter of creation. However, above every desire, the intention should be changed from a self-serving intention to one that is aimed at the benefit of others and nature.
Likewise, by ceasing to work with intentions aimed at self-benefit, then our egoistic desires die off. Once our egoistic desires are dead, we can then revive our desires to operate altruistically.
While we cannot destroy the desire, we can remove the desire from the self-aimed egoistic intention upon it. The desire then remains in a completely amorphous and suspended form, and its egoistic intention disappears.
It then becomes possible to work with the desire again, however with an altruistic intention.
Based on “Secrets of the Eternal Book 7” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur, on August 2, 2021. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
My new article on Linkedin “Playing in a Nuclear Sandbox”
The AUKUS Nuclear Submarine Deal, in which the US and the UK will sell nuclear submarine building technologies to Australia so it can build its own nuclear subs, has made big waves over the past two weeks. There has been much ado over France taking offense with Australia for walking out of a nearly done deal with it to buy similar technology. A lot of money is involved, but pride is more a factor here than money. The frightening thing here is not the nuclear submarines themselves, but the fact that the parties are behaving like kids in a sandbox squabbling over a toy shovel. But in this case, it is a nuclear toy, and the ramifications of these games will impact all eight billion of us.
The bad news is that you cannot stop this madness. If you don’t have nuclear subs, you are powerless and cannot stop those who have them. If you do have nuclear subs, you are powerful and you don’t want to stop.
If an alien came to Earth and watched what is going on here, it would say that our only interest in life is war-games. Moreover, war defines our life here, and the fact that we could end our existence at the press of a button is no one’s concern as long as we can keep playing.
In the 1950s, Baal HaSulam wrote that if humanity doesn’t understand that we cannot live in such a state indefinitely, that we must shift to a considerate way of life where we are responsible for one another, then more world wars will follow and teach us the hard way. “If the total ruin that [nuclear and hydrogen bombs] are destined to bring upon the world is still not evident to the world, they can wait for a third world war, or a fourth one. The bombs will do their thing, and the relics who remain after the ruin will have no other choice but to take upon themselves this work where both individuals and nations will not work for themselves more than is necessary for their sustenance, while everything else they do will be for the good of others,” he wrote in The Writings of the Last Generation.
In the 1950s, everyone was still in shock by the devastation that Little Boy and Fat Man inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (respectively). But eighty years down the line, the possibility of another nuclear episode seems increasingly plausible. Those two monster bombs may have shocked the world then, but they are nothing compared to the nuclear arsenal that countries have developed since. Moreover, so many countries already possess nuclear weapons that I am not even sure if or how many of us will survive a nuclear world war.
The options are clear and simple: Unite, or the Earth will explode.
If we consider the level of animosity among nations, ethnicities, cultures, religions, or even among regular people, it seems impossible to unite. But this is so only because we are letting our baleful egos drive us to this state. We can decide to let another attitude drive us, a more responsible and considerate one.
If we think only of ourselves, there is no question that a total collapse is just a matter of time. Now that we are approaching it, we can see where we are going and change course. We can determine that we have learned the lesson and start looking at the needs of the entire society as well as our own.
No one says we need to go hungry or deny ourselves the things we need. But if we all strive to take as much as possible rather than as much as we need, we will end up having nothing.
Caring for the well-being of the collective, as well as for our own, is neither an altruistic approach nor an impractical one. It is, in fact, the only realistic and practical approach. This is the only tactic that will allow us to avoid a war that will destroy humanity.
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is the current economic system inherently corrupt? If so, how do we go about dismantling it?“
We need to reveal the egoism present in each of us as the source of evil, to reach a desire to use everything that we have from nature solely in order to reach a positive state, and to understand that a positive state depends on our society.
Through globalization, we see the vast extent to which we depend on each other. Our global interdependence will become increasingly apparent up to a point where every one of us will feel complete dependence on everyone else, down to the fact that if other people who are not under my control will not want to be benevolent toward me, then I will have no right to exist.
If we will all understand the tightness of our interdependence, then we will want to correct ourselves, i.e. to invert our egoism to altruism. If we will each know that we depend on everyone else, then we will want everyone else to be kind to us. Also, we will know that others will express kindness toward us only on condition that we express kindness toward them.
If we succeed in understanding our mutual dependence, the law of mutual guarantee, then we will be able to arrange our lives such that our economic system will also change and start providing everything for us in the best and most effective way possible. Our interactions, including economic ones, will then change to be for humanity’s benefit.
This change depends on one condition: for us to open our eyes and see that in nature there is a law of equality between everyone. Just like the physical and chemical laws of nature’s still level, or the biological and genetic laws of nature’s animate level, there is also a law of life—the law of altruism—in the nature of humanity. Our body’s cells merit life on condition that every cell rejects any excessive benefit beyond its necessities and lives together with the entire body, providing it with everything necessary. Similarly, like a cell, a person in society must provide everything for society.
Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Prophets, Joshua 20:1-20:3: And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,”Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Prepare for you cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses. To which a slayer that kills any person unawares, unwittingly, shall flee and they shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger of blood.
One of the first laws when entering the land of Israel is the condition to build cities of refuge because the sons of Israel work against their egoism. In this work, contradictions will inevitably arise, wars with egoism, its demise.
Therefore, one must know how to work with desires that one cannot manage and correct them even if not from the first attempt, but from the second or third.
Question: Who decides that a murder happened unintentionally, inadvertently?
Answer: A person reveals all this on the background of working with himself and with society. Because the upper light shines on him and forms all the desires in him, it turns out that as he moves forward, desires are sorted within. You can work more with some desires, less with others; you made a mistake here, there you did not even make a mistake, but deliberately used them egoistically.
This all exists in every person and in his work with people around him. Therefore, the Torah foresees all states.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/16/21
Related Material:
The Spiritual World Is Felt Through The Desires Of Others
Egoistic Desires Are Those Not Aimed At Bestowal And Love For Others
In The World Of Desires
Question: Why do you think that anyone who is concerned about the meaning of life can study Kabbalah?
Answer: I base my words on what happened in ancient Babylon where the Babylonian priest Abraham revealed Kabbalah to everyone. He recruited a small group of people that he began to teach Kabbalah to, rallied them into the so-called nation, and later brought them out of Babylon.
But this was not a nation, it was just a group that moved away from ancient Babylonian civilization. As a result, it should present the Kabbalistic methodology to the whole world.
Comment: There are people who would like to study Kabbalah, but while searching they turn to various rabbis, and are dissuaded in every possible way with arguments that only a religious Jew can study Kabbalah and a woman cannot study it at all.
My Response: What can be said about people who do not understand why Kabbalah was given to us? We must take an example from two historical figures Abraham and Sarah who taught everyone without exception. The Torah says so: “And everyone will know Me, young and old. And My house will be called the house of prayer for all nations.”
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Expulsion” 12/11/09
Related Material:
Everyone Wants To Know Why Kabbalah Is Important
Can Anyone Study Kabbalah?
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah Is Open For Everyone
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does God belong to any religion?“
God is the general nature and law of reality. In Gematria, the words for “God” (“Elokim”) and “the nature” (“HaTeva”) have the same numerical value, as they both represent the law of bestowal and love, or altruistic love. It does not mean the egoistic altruism inherent to us, where we perform altruistic acts in order to earn and receive something in return. Rather, it refers to the altruistic law, without any consideration of, or return to, oneself.
Our purpose in life, from God’s or nature’s side, is to bring us to full equivalence of form with Him/it. Such is God’s or nature’s goal in relation to each person. We were created by God/nature solely for this purpose.
God/nature leads us to this goal where we resemble Him/it. That is why we are called “human,” which in Hebrew is “Adam,” from the word “Domeh,” “Lehidamot” (“to become similar”). We need to become similar to God/nature by transforming our ego to altruism, to a form of bestowal. When we complete such a transformation, we complete our role in this world, and we then no longer have to return to this life. We then remain solely in the eternal spiritual life, without dressing into the materialistic body.
We need to use our freedom of choice by means of society’s influence upon us so that we become similar to God/nature. From God’s or nature’s side, He/it pushes us via positive or negative forces—depending on what we choose—pushing us toward the same goal.
It can also be added that God has no religion, because religions are an invention of people who wish to give themselves a psychologically-justified explanation of our existence in this world having a certain goal.
God is our general nature, which advances us to become eternal and perfect like Him.
Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
To serve the Creator means to go along with Him in the process by which He leads me, to accept His plan, His goal for which He created creations, and to be ready to work for the realization of His program.
I agree in advance that this program is the most correct and the best for me, even though it is contrary to my nature. But I want to follow it and fulfill it.
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From the International Kabbalah Convention 9/25/21, “Entering Impregnation – Revealing a New World”, Lesson 1
Related Material:
Chosen To Serve The Creator And The Creatures
Kosher, Suitable To Serve The Creator
Being Impressed By The Creator’s Greatness
Question: You said that the Creator is just a force without matter, and we must somehow create matter for it ourselves. What are these laws that will manifest there?
Answer: Power without matter is the Creator. When this force is clothed in matter, in desire, according to the law of similarity, then it becomes, as it were, material. Although this is not matter, but simply a person’s desire that becomes similar to the property of bestowal. Therefore, Adam consists of these two properties, the desire to receive, which creates out of himself the external form of the desire to bestow.
Adam and Eve are two forces that, by thus interacting with each other, make up the system called Adam. Adam has two parts. The feminine part is included in him as matter, and he shapes this matter under the likeness of the Creator. That is why it is called Adam, which means “like the Creator.” This must be achieved by each of us.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
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Was There Really Adam HaRishon?
Rosh HaShanah Is The Birthday Of Adam
Adam And Eve
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