Audio Version Of The Blog – 3/13/22
Posted on March 13th, 2022
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “America and World’s Interest to Calm the War’s Turbulent Waters”
The war in Ukraine unfolds miles away, but Americans follow it very closely. Concerned with rising gas prices, among other repercussions of this conflict, 86% of US adults considered the situation with Russia and Ukraine either very or somewhat important, according to a recent YouGov/Yahoo News poll.
The war on the ground is also reflected as a war of words. Speaking in a Republican National Committee podcast, former US President Donald Trump recently said that the war in Ukraine “Would never have happened” on his watch.
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden insists that he tried to prevent the war in Ukraine in every possible way. The tendency for presidents to become more popular in times of war does not apply now. Multiple polls reveal that on average 51.4% of Americans disapprove of Biden’s presidency, which is one of the lowest approval ratings since he took office.
Could the war have been avoided? Most likely it was inevitable. The forces operating in the world are changing very fast and the global scenario looks like a stormy sea. Heavy winds blow in all directions causing huge tides of conflict flooding the world on various levels.
I do not want to predict in what form the current war will end for the Russians or for the Ukrainians, but there is no doubt that the world is not getting better. Both the US and Europe see some benefit in the current conflict as it changes the balance of forces and strengthens their hegemony.
In fact, the current state of affairs exposes the true root cause of wars. It is human nature, the egoistic desire to benefit at the expense of others, which is already overblown and growing constantly. We cannot fix the war with the same egoistic powers at our disposal that incited the way or in the way where one side prevails by overpowering the other. In a global village that we all live in no one will succeed as a result of wars, everyone will lose.
World peace seems like a far-fetched utopian concept when we look at today’s situation, but we have no choice but to aspire to that ideal. We need to exert the utmost efforts to calm the rough waters of war by rising above our divisive nature that drives a wedge between people and nations and tears them apart. We will get closer to peace only when we recognize that nature is an interconnected and interdependent system and that we humans are the only disrupters of the sensitive balance in nature. As a consequence we inflict harm on ourselves and reach an unsustainable state.
Increasing the importance of solidarity and the necessity to unite the hearts of the nations in conflict above mutual hatred should be of everyone’s interest. Rav Yehuda Ashlag explained this critical goal as a means to achieve world peace as WWII erupted: “Do not be surprised if I mix together the well-being of a particular collective with the well-being of the whole world, because indeed, we have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society.”
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “If all wars end eventually, what event could end all wars in the world?“
The end of all wars will come about when we all aim at mutually complementing each other.
It cannot be a state where one ego will overpower another ego, but rather one where we mutually concede to the upper force of connection, love and mutual bestowal for the benefit of all people in the world.
In such a state, everyone will be directed at positively connecting above all egoistic and divisive drives.
Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on March 8, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Medium published my new article “On the Merit of Disputes”
At a time of deep chasms and violent disputes, we naturally seek to put out the fire. Yet, after the fire is extinguished, we tend to neglect the further work we need to do. The war we see today, therefore, is the result of our past negligence. If we want not only to de-escalate the war, but prevent its recurrence, we need to cut out its root. To do so, we must agree to two basic principles: 1) We look beyond right and wrong, since we will never convince one another that we are right and they are wrong. 2) We build a bond above the disagreement. We nurture ties that strengthen our connection to the point that they engender a new bond above the mountain of hatred that still lives, and will continue to live underneath.
The same goes for disputes. They are here so we will rise to the challenge and build stronger bonds atop them. Like all obstacles, they will bury us if we choose inaction. However, if we use them for their intended purpose — to build a bond and tighten our connection — we will rise to new levels and reach unprecedented heights.
If we take these two steps, we will discover an amazing truth: The disputes themselves catalyze the emergence of the bond.
Without a dispute, there might be calm, or complacency, or indifference, but there will never be a bond, a closeness of hearts.
Disputes force us to do two things: 1) Decide whether we want to keep our connection. 2) If so, we must reinforce it so that the bond between us will always be stronger than the disagreements that emerge.
If disagreements stop emerging, there will be no reason to strengthen the bond. Then, like an unused tool, it will rust and break down.
Conversely, if new disagreements arise, they force us to mend the new rifts that have surfaced. As a result, the bond between us grows even stronger than before.
Think, for example, of a house. If you want to build a house in a country where the wind never blows too strong, and the rain never falls too hard, and the temperature is always moderate, you do not need to build it very strong, with good insulation, and a roof that can withstand a blizzard. However, if you live in a country whose climate is inhospitable and turbulent, you need to build a very solid house to keep you safe and warm under extreme conditions. Simply put, it is the hardships that make you build a strong and solid house. Were it not for them, you would not make the effort.
The same is true of technology. Everything we have ever developed was in order to overcome difficulties and obstacles. The result is modern technology. Would we rather do without the obstacles and go back to living in caves? I am sure we wouldn’t. In retrospect, we appreciate the obstacles and difficulties, and often affectionately call them “challenges,” for they have made us who we are.
The same goes for disputes. They are here so we will rise to the challenge and build stronger bonds atop them. Like all obstacles, they will bury us if we choose inaction. However, if we use them for their intended purpose — to build a bond and tighten our connection — we will rise to new levels and reach unprecedented heights.
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Question: Is the impact through witchcraft and magic on other people due to the fact that we are initially connected with each other?
Answer: No. These days these things no longer work. And the fact that there are such psychological phenomena as the influence of a crowd, a group of people on an individual, these are consequences emanating from our original source of complete interconnection, Adam.
Question: By studying the science of Kabbalah, a person invokes the surrounding light, which changes his nature, thoughts, and intentions. Can this be called witchcraft?
Answer: No! It is a physical law; it is when many people come together and with a certain intention think about how to achieve the right states among themselves.
Question: How long do you think it will take humanity to move from superstition to the true knowledge of nature?
Answer: It does not depend on time, but on when we start doing the right things. If we want to rise above our egoism and achieve interconnection, love, and interaction, then we will really begin to approach the state that is called “Adam” in Kabbalah. This is what we need to achieve.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/1/22
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Question: Every day, every minute we invest different efforts. How does the light react to this and how does it affect the entire work of the world group?
Answer: We just need to feel it. I cannot express this in words, just like I cannot accurately convey to you the taste of something you have not tasted. Let’s come to this and taste it.
Question: Why does corporeal egoism and ambition decrease as spiritual egoism grows? I do not want anything at all.
Answer: This is just for now. As you continue to develop spiritually, you will see how much your corporeal needs grow. In the meantime, there is no reason to cry that you do not want anything. On the contrary, this is help given to you to take the first few steps in the correct direction.
Question: How can we always remember that we are addressing the Creator and first of all to begin with a request for connection?
Answer: The group should think about this. When everyone thinks about this together, no one will escape this thought. This is the mutual guarantee.
Question: What does it mean that the corporeality of the friend is my spirituality?
Answer: If you accept their desires and want to implement them, then these desires become the structure of your spiritual Kli.
Question: You said that spirituality should not mix with corporeality. How can we reach this?
Answer: I meant that you cannot ask for your family, for your children, or someone else. You can only ask for what is inside the circle of the group.
Question: How can I determine whether my actions are for the benefit of the Creator or for my good?
Answer: If the group agrees with you and you raise this issue together to the Creator, then this is an action for His benefit.
Question: What should we do to get out of the descent that will follow the congress? Or maybe we have already reached such a stage that we will not have descents but will only be in ascents and rise?
Answer: Absolutely not! There must be descents, otherwise there will be no ascents. They should alternate with each other: ups and downs, downs and ups. But we have nothing to fear from either of them. On the contrary, it is from the falls that we rise and earn spiritual degrees.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Asking the Creator to Fill the Place Between Us” Lesson 7
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Question: Would it be correct to pray to the Creator for a new heart that desires nothing for itself but only for the friends?
Answer: Yes, but you need to understand what a new heart means. You must feel it. Mechanical words in prayer simply kill! Better not to say them. You must feel! You must feel everything you say on a sensory level and not just use the words that you read in a book.
Question: But we do not know and do not understand what exactly we need and what we should ask for. In this case, should the request be only for connection?
Answer: Well, for now, let it be only a request for connection. And then you can ask the Creator to teach you the most elementary requests so that you understand how to address Him.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Asking the Creator to Fill the Place Between Us” Lesson 7
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Question: What should a person do if he agrees with his egoism that says: “Do whatever you want, just do not raise a real prayer”? After all, the ego knows that he will get an answer.
Answer: This is how the Creator plays with us. But a person must go forward with his eyes shut.
There are several such points on our way when we suddenly stop and do not want to move forward. We are even ready to go backward, to give up everything. Moreover, we decide this very soberly, not under the influence of any special circumstances.
Therefore, we need to know how to overcome such situations and together, with the group, regardless of anything, still move forward. What will be, will be.
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From the International Convention “Rising Above Ourselves” 1/9/22, “Asking the Creator to Fill the Place Between Us” Lesson 7
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A Divine Idea
The Creator is everything. There is none else besides Him. He has no name, title, image, form. He is not limited by time or space, absolutely by nothing. He is above all limitations and worlds. It is just everything there is.
But although the Creator fills everything in infinite measure with infinite number of sounds and forms, we must prepare to perceive Him. For the sake of connecting with us, He wants to develop us so that we gradually grow, expand our sensory organs, and are able to feel and understand Him in all His might.
To do this, we need to infinitely develop our organs of perception, which means to exit the egoism that restricts us and drives us into a narrow framework and forces us to evaluate everything only from the standpoint of our own benefit or harm. And with such an approach, it is impossible to get closer to the Creator because He is above such a calculation.
It is only man, intentionally created as an egoist, who, when he comes out of these limitations, can correct himself with the help of the Creator and understand and feel what the Creator has done for him.
Without this, it is impossible to attain the concept of the upper force because we are not in the dimension where it operates: beyond the desire to receive, beyond egoism, beyond our perception.
We perceive reality with five senses, and that is why we see such a world. But the Creator is not limited by anything, and He cannot be felt by these material organs we feel the world and the universe with because all this is perceived due to limitations.
The Creator is the force of bestowal. He wants to give, to grant, to love, and to fill. This is how His desire is revealed to us. But outside of us, we cannot say a single word about the Creator. We do not know if He has thoughts and desires. Most likely not because He is above all this. The perfect one cannot be subject to emotions—bad or good—because He is not limited by anything.
Therefore, He cannot have bad or good feelings. All our feelings are caused either by a lack of something or by filling. But all this is not inherent to the Creator. The Creator is absolute kindness and He only wants to fill everyone with goodness.
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From KabTV’s “Basic concepts in the science of Kabbalah” 2/20/22
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Question: Why is it said in the primary sources in the “covenant of eyes” that one should beware of looking at women?
Answer: In our world, we have a set of very simple and clear desires for food, sex, and family. These are the three basic human desires, which, in principle, animals also have. This is what we must, first of all, direct to correction.
The strongest and most vital of them is food. And after it, the most necessary for existence is sex. It proceeds from the fact that we must connect the opposite elements of creation so that we again get a whole closed system.
And the woman personifies, as it were, a person’s desire for physical union. And so, there is a special condition here that we should beware of even looking at them.
Speaking about spiritual states, a woman symbolizes the egoistic desire to receive, to bring closer to herself, to be filled directly from the source of pleasure.
Question: If I have thoughts like, “Why is the Creator not revealed to me directly?”, then are these all egoistic thoughts that should be guarded against?
Answer: Yes, that is the point. Basically, we need to beware that all the properties that are in us in a natural animal form (food, sex, and family) are aimed at attaining the Creator and to use them for one’s own sake only in the intention to achieve this goal, to attain the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 12/28/21
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