In general, the greater the understanding, the greater the delusion; the more intelligent, the less sane (George Orwell, 1984).

Question: In principle, intelligent, mentally developed people who have achieved certain heights in the human hierarchy are at the helm of human development. What do smart people lack to make everything good?

Answer: Love. The mind can only be balanced by love. If there is no love for other people, then this mind brings destruction.

Question: How can I add love? Where to snatch it?

Answer: This is an enormous task. This is the only thing we lack in our life. Everyone needs to work on this. The most important task is for people to start approaching each other with a smile, with love. It is very difficult.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/24/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Where do dreams come from?“

Dreams are impressions of the material world or other various wandering currents in our subconscious that we see in our mind.

The wandering streams or currents of information, and the cell restructuring of the brain that takes place, bring about dreams. It is important to mention here that dreams relate solely to the physiology of our animal body, and have nothing to do with spirituality.

The dreams described in Kabbalistic sources, such as those of Pharaoh or Jacob, refer to a partial attainment of the spiritual world. Moreover, these dreams have nothing to do with showing us signs of the future. The wisdom of Kabbalah does not deal with such concepts. Likewise, dreams cannot be used for spiritual development, which requires clarity and absoluteness of efforts to connect with other people in a way that is balanced with nature.

Based on the video “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on June 28, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Wolf Zimmermann on Unsplash.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “The Ruin as an Opportunity for Correction”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3,” “Inner Observtion,” Chapter 9, Item 1

Selected Highlights

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Medium published my new article “Ill Will Is Scorching the Earth — Literally”

Flames of the forest fire of Ponto de Vilomara, on July 17, 2022, seen from Sant Fruitós del Bages, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

The current heatwave in Europe is scorching the land and killing its residents. So far, according to ABC News and other sources, “There have also been more than 1,000 heat-related deaths in Spain and Portugal” alone, not counting the death toll in France, Italy, and more is coming as the heatwave moves toward the UK. Worse yet, we are only in the middle of July; there is plenty of time for more heatwaves to come. According to scientists, unless we curb emission of greenhouse gases, heatwaves will grow even hotter and more frequent. They may, or they may not, but either way, we are the ones who determine what happens.

We need to understand that being at the top of the pyramid of creation means that everything we do trickles down the structure, from top to bottom. When it reaches the bottom, the inanimate level of reality, from which everything grows, it changes it. If we ooze ill-will, it creates negative changes throughout the system, which manifest in increasingly extreme climatic and geological events.

In other words, when human relationships go out of balance, everything goes out of balance. When our relations become extreme, everything becomes extreme; when we become violent, everything becomes violent. Each summer, the ramifications of the linkage between our relations and our world become more extreme, until we acknowledge that everything that exists, exists in a connected, hierarchical system and that whoever is at the top determines the state of the rest of the system.

It is not as if previously, we were better people than we are today. It is simply that there were fewer people, and therefore fewer elements that exude ill will.

Also, relationships between people in the past were less toxic than they are today. While there are fewer wars today than ever, the levels of suspicion and alienation between people are skyrocketing, to the point where people can no longer trust their own family members. As a result, wars between countries are rarer than ever, but divorce rates, domestic violence, and violence in the community, are at an all-time high.

Even the internet, which we invented purportedly in order to connect people, is being used to abuse, deceive, and exploit people. The world-wide-web proves that everything we create, we use against others. When there is such a negative element in a system, and that element is at the top of the system, how can the entire system not go awry?

Therefore, if we want the weather to cool, the sea-level to drop, and the storms to subside, we must cool the fire and calm the storms between us. Mutual concern, mutual responsibility, or at least the knowledge that we are dependent on each other, are necessary in order to restore balance in our world at all levels, from the ground we walk on to the hatred in our hearts.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “To Treat Drug Addicts, Build a Society that Heals Them”

Over the past five years, there has been a fifty percent increase in the number of homeless people in Israel. One of the surprising problems with homeless people is that even when they have a place to stay and adequate living conditions, they often prefer the street to housing because only there can they find drugs and alcohol. It is as though their addiction is pulling them out of the homes, into the street, and away from hope of a decent life.

Once someone is addicted to drugs, it is nearly impossible to reverse his or her situation. Drugs are so tempting to addicts that there is virtually nothing that can stand against them.

The solution to the problems of addicts is not on the personal level, but on the social one. If a society has a strong anchor that can lift such people and turn them into a constructive part of society, they might stand a chance. Regrettably, I do not see such an anchor in the current Israeli society; it has nothing to offer the addicts.

Worse yet, at the moment, I do not see a society in Israel. Once we build a society, we can build a society for homeless people and drug addicts, prostitutes, and all the other disadvantaged people in the country.

By society, I do not mean institutions or regulations. Society means people who feel connected to each other, who feel a bond and support one another. A society means people who get up from their seats to meet one another. If we had such people, we could build something.

When you bring a drug addict into such a society, he or she sees how people live, what they want, what are their goals, their future, and what satisfies them. Then, instead of focusing on their personal situation, drug addicts can see hope, and this will vitalize them and calm their incessant need to get away from reality through drugs.

In a sense, it will make addicts “hooked” on social life rather than on drugs. A society where people care for one another has such a magnetic power that people who come near it will not be able to disconnect from it. Drug addicts who come to such a society reject the drugs that they use to disconnect themselves from reality because it disconnects them from the “potion of life” they feel all around them.

Therefore, if we want to solve such problems as homelessness, drug addiction, and prostitution, we should not focus not on the victims, but on the society around them. That society will determine whether they are healed or remain afflicted.
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Medium published my new article “Confidence in US Institutions Down — but US Is Not”

A recent survey released by Gallup analytics firm has found that the average level of confidence in US institutions among Americans is “at a new low,” and getting even lower. The alarming results show that 62 percent have little or no confidence in the medical system, 69 percent have little or no confidence in the Church, more than 70 percent have little to no confidence in public schools, 75 percent mistrust the US Supreme Court, even more mistrust the presidency, nearly 90 percent mistrust the media, and at the very bottom: Congress, garnering the mistrust of no less than 93 percent of the American people. A similar survey, by the way, conducted by the prestigious Pew Research Center, has found similar results, as well as emphasized President Biden’s low, and dropping approval rate.

When someone feels this way about one’s country, there is little you can say to that person. I believe in the accuracy of the findings, and I can only accept that this is how Americans truly feel.

However, I would say that we need to look beyond America and see what is going on elsewhere. I do not deny the problems that American society and American institutions face, but compared to where many other countries stand, America is in a good position.

I see other countries in freefall. In fact, the whole world is on a downward trend, and so the US is only part of a global slump. Nevertheless, compared to the rest of the world, it is better off than most. Even with the high inflation, I do not think that America is worse off economically than even the countries that are regarded as the strongest, such as China and other East Asian countries.

People like to ridicule America and point the finger at it, but they forget that it is precisely its diversity and democratic tradition that keep it out of danger. As I see it, it is too soon to wish America to RIP.

Another point in favor of America is its flexibility. It is not Russia or China, where it is difficult to change things. Its judicial system, with the relative independence given to the different states, allows the US to adapt and adjust itself to changing circumstances. Therefore, despite the confusion currently engulfing much of American society, I have faith that it will come out of it, and come out strong.

From my perspective, America’s strongest point is its democratic vigor. While politics is very far from me, I do think that we can look at how America absorbs and tolerates so much, yet builds itself and changes itself according to the changing events around the world. It can do this precisely because it is a democracy, because it senses the will of the people and builds itself accordingly.

In conclusion, despite the current slump, I think America’s resilience will help it through the decline. Those who cry out “Wolf!” cry out because they know there is no wolf, and when the dust settles on the upheavals and the false alarms, America will still be standing strong.
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While the embryo is in the mother’s womb, it is completely dependent on her and receives nutrition from her. But after birth, the umbilical cord connecting him with his mother is cut off, and he is forced to become independent. This is a sign that the child is moving to a new state, to a new degree, and can communicate not only with the mother, but also with forces alien to him.

Our whole world is based on interdependence, and the baby will still have to learn that he depends on someone. First, from his mother, then from his father, other relatives, a teacher at school, etc. , we become more and more aware of how dependent we are on the people around us.

When we become adults, we go into the army, work, meaning, we go out into life and begin to explore the world. And then we find out that there are strangers who can harm us, and we learn how to behave.

The correct upbringing consists of making sure that in any place, wherever I find myself, I feel as comfortable and safe as in my mother’s womb, so that there is always an environment around me that takes care of me, and I try to take care of everyone in the same way. I have to learn how to build a proper, kind connection with the environment.

Nature always teaches us how to be an independent individual, but at the same time actively work to unite the whole society.

During its thousand-year history, man has already developed to a state where it is necessary to begin to unite into one community, so that everyone feels that he belongs to all of humanity, and a good future is impossible without a proper connection with everyone else. Any person in the world is obliged to realize this and thus connect with others.

This is not easy to do in the modern world that seems very hostile and frightening to us, that threatens us with a nuclear world war. We need to understand that the state of the world is critical and can suddenly explode so that not even a memory of us will remain on this planet.

And at the same time, as we reveal the vital need to live in peace, we are seized with mortal fear of what may happen as a result of our antagonism. The situation is very dangerous, but at the same time significant because it clarifies to us where we have come to and that there is no other way out but to ensure global security for everyone around the globe. Otherwise, we will simply wipe ourselves off the face of the earth.

We live in a special time when everyone is obliged to understand this and start talking openly in order to find out what needs to be done to achieve common security and mutual guarantee around the globe.
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From KabTV’s “World” 7/12/22

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Time is motionless, it is we who are moving in the wrong direction in it (Stanisław Jerzy Lec).

Question: What does this mean to you?

Answer: If we want to cancel our egoism, we will immediately feel how time uncurls like crumpled paper. Suddenly it is straightened up, and becomes smooth again. All crumpled surfaces and corners straighten out and become one common whole, and we are on it. This is the plane of time.

Question: Is it a harmonious state? Is it harmony?

Answer: Harmony is when I merge with this plane and feel that there is no vector of movement in anything. There is only me and this plane with which I have to align myself. That’s it.

I go into this plane, and I exist in it. This gives a person a sense of simplicity and singularity of the world.

Question: So does all this running around, all this complexity of everything suddenly disappear, and only this simplicity remains? What is this simplicity?

Answer: The fact that there is only one force that exists and operates, which I need to get to know, discover it for myself, and become like it. This is the force of bestowal, of melting into everything.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/7/22

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Arizal (Ari), the greatest Kabbalist of the 16th century, wrote the book The Tree of Life in which he fully outlined the beginning of beginnings, the creation of the worlds.

He described what he himself felt while studying the wisdom of Kabbalah. In principle, the concept of The Tree of Life existed before him. But he unfolded it in such fullness with a beginning and an end and with roots and branches that everyone really saw what The Tree of Life is.

Question: What is this book about? After all, it was published only in Hebrew and has not been translated into other languages.

Answer: I translated only its first paragraph to Russian. I had to add a few words to make the translation sound more literary.

The book The Tree of Life speaks about the creation of the system for governing the created beings from the Creator’s side.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/5/22

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