Audio Version Of The Blog – 11/6/22
Posted on November 6th, 2022
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Time for the UN to Live Up to Its Charter”
Last week was the 77th United Nations Day, marking the anniversary of the entry into force of the UN Charter in 1945. The day’s official web page states, “There is no other global organization with the legitimacy [and] impact of the United Nations. No other global organization gives hope to so many people for a better world and can deliver the future we want. Today, the urgency for all countries to come together, to fulfil (sic) the promise of the nations united, has rarely been greater.” The Secretary General also offered a message, stating that “The United Nations is the product of hope,” but today the UN “is being tested like never before.”
I would say that indeed it is time for the UN to live up to its charter. It is time for the UN to really bring countries together, not simply hope that they will “come together.” Hopes do not become a reality unless we exert to make them a reality. We should not only dare to dream; we must also dare to do!
I agree with the Secretary General’s words that today, the UN is being tested. It is requested to act, to bring people and nations together, and not settle for empty talk as though the UN is some café where people come to chat.
Humanity has a serious problem that it cannot ignore. The world around us operates according to one set of principles, while humanity insists on operating according to a different set of principles that collide with the world around us. As a result, everything around us is becoming inhospitable and dangerous. The climate is becoming erratic and extreme, the air, ground, and water are becoming toxic, animals are dying, the crops we live on are drying up, and people are becoming increasingly violent toward each other. It is as if we’re hanging on to dear life by a string that keeps us from falling off a precipice, but the string is getting tighter and tighter as humanity and reality move in opposite directions, and it is nearly at the point of snapping.
Reality will keep moving in its own direction. Things will become increasingly entangled; the systems that sustain our lives, the societies where we live, and our bodies, too, are complex systems whose complexity increases over time in the process of evolution. This process is irreversible, just as we cannot devolve life on Earth from humans back to unicellular creatures.
Therefore, the only way to stop the string from snapping is by changing our direction. If we stop seeking more and more isolation from others and begin to look for more connection with others, we will feel that nature and all of life are no longer hostile. We will find that they support us rather than struggle against us in a fight for the survival of the fittest.
“Giving peace a chance” and “safeguarding our planet,” as per the Secretary General’s statement, cannot succeed without a worldwide campaign to foster solidarity and mutual concern among all nations. Since today’s problems are global, solutions must be global, too.
My organization and I were involved in a UN initiative to promote education for connection and solidarity around the world back in 2012. The effort never materialized into concrete steps, but the need to carry out such endeavors has only increased since then.
We can wait passively and let nature take its course, but nature knows no mercy. If we insist on serving our narcissistic selves, while nature continues in its holistic trajectory, we will suffer the consequences of our incongruence with it. The current wars and climate crises are somewhat of a prelude to what is coming, but they pale in comparison to the upheaval ahead if we stall in our initiative.
I believe we should not wait. We should initiate the change; we must realize that the only way to make life on Earth safe and pleasant is by living according to the all-inclusive nature around us. I believe we have very little time left, and no choice whatsoever.t-align: center;”
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My new article on Linkedin “Can Corrupting Art Save Earth?”
Since the beginning of the year, there has been a growing trend among climate activists to corrupt art history’s greatest treasures in an effort to raise awareness of climate change. So far, twelve incidents have occurred this year, six of which took place last month. The incidents included throwing mashed potatoes (on Monet’s Haystacks), tomato soup (on Vincent van Gogh’s Fifteen Sunflowers), and fake blood (on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s Clown), as well as activists gluing themselves to a dinosaur display at Berlin’s Natural History Museum, and to Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. For the most part, museum visitors verbally attack activists during their action, and altogether wonder how their actions actually connect with the greater good.
I completely agree with the visitors’ ire. No one is impressed by these antics, and nothing will change, not in the environment or in the awareness of society.
Worse yet, even if we did become more aware of climate change, we would not be able to do anything about it because despite all the media hype about greenhouse gas emissions, we do not really know what causes climate change, and the little we do know does not help much. Every volcanic eruption, for example, spews so many pollutants into the atmosphere that it would take humanity months, if not years, to match the amount. Yet, even though there are volcanic eruptions happening all over the world at any given moment, they are not regarded as accelerating climate change.
The same goes for emissions of methane gas. Humanity is accused of polluting the atmosphere with this toxic greenhouse gas, but swamps and thawing permafrost in Siberia, Canada, and Alaska emit so much more than we do that our “contribution” to it is miniscule.
If all this is not enough, the Gulf Stream continues to slow down, adversely affecting the weather in both Europe and North America. A story published in Severe Weather Europe back in April warned that “the Gulf Stream and the overall Atlantic circulation are nearing a critical point of collapse.” Is there anything we can do to stop this?
In short, the global ecosystem is too big and (mainly) too complex to comprehend. We do not know what exactly we should do, if anything, to reverse or even slow down climate change.
However, our problem is not that Earth’s climate is too complex to understand, but that we are focusing on trying to understand it instead of on the real culprit, the one that is causing all our problems and not only climate change: human nature. There are countless other problems besides climate change, and they, too, stem from the same reason—that human nature is corrupt, rotten to the core. The corruption of priceless paintings draws ire not because people are angry that there is climate change. They are angry because the activists are displaying their own corrupt nature, their carelessness and inconsideration of the feelings of others, and their willingness to destroy some of humanity’s most prized assets to satisfy their own whims.
If we focused on adapting human nature to the world we live in, we would not be facing the myriad problems that we ourselves are causing. Who is polluting the ground, water, and air? Who is murdering millions of people every year for the sheer satisfaction of the ego? Who is impoverishing nations and exploiting women and children? Who is trafficking slaves for hard labor and sex abuse? Who is profiteering on medicines that everyone needs, for diseases that could be prevented? Who is getting millions of young people addicted to drugs each year? And worst of all, who is blaming everyone else for the problems he himself is causing? The same one is doing all the above: our own ego. Until we set it straight, we will not fix anything.
As long as we refuse to admit that we are the problem, and not what we do, but we ourselves, matters will continue to go downhill. We could be looking at nuclear world wars, natural disasters of unprecedented magnitude that will devastate humanity, extreme climatic events that will scorch or freeze such vast swaths of land that there will be too many climate refugees to handle, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and tsunamis at intensities that will dwarf our efforts to protect against them, plagues where people will drop like flies, and many other afflictions that nature can inflict on us. Nature is very imaginative when it comes to punishment, and it will not let up until we realize that it is not what we do, but who we are that is the problem.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Following the Israeli General Election”
Perfect timing: on the day of the Israeli parliamentary elections, we began studying Baal HaSulam’s article, “Peace in the World.” Among other things, the article speaks about the interdependence of all people and how the positive or negative actions of each of us affect the lives of all of us. This means, concludes Baal HaSulam, that if we do not know that the world operates according to the law of mutual consideration, adjust our behavior, and build our society accordingly, we will end up hurting others and ourselves.
If we look at the world today, it is clear that we are oblivious to our interdependence and indifferent to the necessity to be considerate of others. As a result, we are heading toward a global social breakdown.
Physics. Chemistry, biology, zoology, astronomy, and every other field of science follows strict laws. It is impossible to understand any science without first studying its laws. We, on the other hand, believe that we can invent social laws according to our whims. Not surprisingly, the results are wars and chaos.
Take, for example, yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Israel. In our democratic country, everyone votes according to their own opinion. How did people formulate their opinions? Through what they heard from the media, from friends, and from family. However, without knowing the laws by which the world operates, how can any view be correct?
Instead of learning the law of mutual dependence that governs the world and building society according to this law, we insist on thinking that our selfish opinion is the only one that is valid. Somehow, we fail to grasp that in a world whose elements are all connected, selfishness is inherently wrong, detrimental by default.
It is like trying to study the physical world without first learning the laws of physics. If we tried to do this, we would make mistakes at every step. Since we do not know the rules for living in an interdependent society and try to impose our egocentric attitude on it, our society is fragmented and unsafe to live in.
The truth is that we need not change anything in the world. If we looked at nature, we would see that it is perfectly balanced, and everything works smoothly as long as we do not interfere with it. The only thing that needs to change, therefore, is humankind. If everything in nature is interdependent and mutually supportive, we should do the same.
To change the world we live in, we do not need to change the government; we need to change ourselves. Any government that acts selfishly harms its constituency. The right “vote” is to “elect” unity; this is how everything around us works, and unless we adjust ourselves to our surroundings, there will not be peace, prosperity, or well-being.
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Comment: You have created an international community with a large number of people from different countries, in addition, a dissemination enterprise popularizing the Kabbalah of Rabash and Baal HaSulam.
My Response: No, I think it is impossible to popularize Kabbalah. Maybe that is how it seems. But that is not my job. I am not a promoter, but an implementer.
What is the point that the world would know the word “Kabbalah” or its laws like popular physics?
I am fulfilling my mission in setting an example of future humanity in our world, when completely different people with different inclinations unite within certain boundaries. And starting from scratch, without any aspiration to spirituality, to the program of creation, to the Creator, they gradually begin to transform into people of the upper world, that is, united, and complementing each other into one single spiritual structure in which the Creator will gradually be felt, manifested, and revealed.
This is the implementation of Kabbalah! Because Kabbalah is the wisdom of revealing the Creator in our world. This is what Baal HaSulam writes in the article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah.”
Kabbalah is a method of revealing the Creator to a person in our world. This is what I do; I implement Kabbalah and not popularize it. I want this to happen. This is what I am guiding toward.
I have a very clear program, a clear plan to be realized not only in a certain place but simultaneously in circles around the world where our groups exist.
The development of this method and how to approach a modern person and explain in understandable words that are not repulsive but attractive that connection is the solution to all problems up to common salvation is my task.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Kabbalists of the Last Generation” 9/7/13
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I think it’s important to have a future that is inspiring and appealing. I mean, I just think that there have to be reasons that you get up in the morning and you want to live. Like why do you want to live? What’s the point? What inspires you? What do you love about the future? (Elon Musk)
My Response: Elon Musk is practically a fan of designing.
Question: So he gets up in the morning and starts designing. Once you said that it is important for a person to have a hobby, to do something. It will be his meaning of life. Would it be enough for you to say that this person is happy? Or should we still look for the meaning of life?
Answer: We should look for the meaning of life in the fact that we create it; we create the very meaning of life and life itself, not this animalistic substrate of life at which we are now. It is necessary in order to exist, but we must create a superstructure above it, a real superstructure that we can call life. Otherwise this is not life.
Comment: You say the paradoxical phrase all the time: “The meaning of life is in the search for the meaning of life.”
My Response: Yes.
Comment: And you fall silent.
My Response: What can I add? And then—everything, then comes the search.
Question: But still, what is the meaning of life?
Answer: The meaning of life is, in fact, to reveal its meaning.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 2/17/22
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There is a special force in our unity. When we unite above self from the state “me” to “we,” we reveal a new force in nature; it is called the “wisdom of the crowd.” The integrality is the one who gives it to us.
Even more, this force is above all other forces. We can correct all problems of our world with its help in our life, health, family relations, and security, and can calm down people and nations, and correct the ecology.
This force exists in nature; there is nothing supernatural about it. It is above our ordinary, egoistic nature, but generally speaking it is not supernatural. We approach it realistically.
Let’s begin to connect with one another, help one another to rise, and we will sense how it hovers above us. If we begin to act this way, we will suddenly see that we can correct everything.
In today’s world there is a huge number of “ticking bombs.” What is happening with oil in the Atlantic? What is happening inside the ocean with pollution? What is happening in the atmosphere around us? We live while sitting on “ticking bombs” not knowing when they will explode.
Let’s begin to gradually balance it all out, calm down, and decrease this pace and this tension. We do not have any other choice. After all, it is possible to balance it. See how simple it is. When we connect with one another, we reveal the force that is above us.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Making Good Use of Others” 9/3/13
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The state of Lo Lishma is not ordinary earthly egoism. To be in Lo Lishma means to try to be in Lishma, to perform actions of bestowal, and to reveal that for now you are doing them for yourself.
The time when I make efforts to rise above my egoism and achieve bestowal but I am not yet capable of it is called the period of Lo Lishma.
Question: It is probably not enough to turn your nature from Lo Lishma to Lishma only once?
Answer: Of course, this does not happen all at once. There are 125 degrees each of which is divided into many more states. Baal HaSulam said that we do not understand how high the state of Lo Lishma is. It is even higher than our idea of the state of Lishma.
After all, the true Lo Lishma means that I am trying with all my might to make a bestowing act, and in the end, it is revealed to me that I still acted for the sake of my desire to receive, my egoistic benefit.
Question: Is there such a structure or environment where one could enter in order to make such a turn in a compulsory way?
Answer: Yes, this is the role of the group.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/23/14, Shamati #8 “What Is the Difference Between a Side of Kedusha and a Shade of Sitra Achra”
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Comment: You talk about the unity of all mankind and love for one’s neighbor all the time.
My Response: This is the most important thing.
Question: But who feels it and understands it in the correct form?
Answer: It is useful for everyone to strive for this.
And the souls are absolutely not felt by us. There are so many misconceptions, and therefore it is impossible to talk much about it. This will confuse people and give them the wrong understanding of where they exist, for what, in the name of what.
But if these people become Kabbalists themselves, then, to the degree they reach, they will see, feel, and understand all this. Good luck to them.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 10/9/22
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Question: Why is a person’s life so short from the point of view of spiritual development? He can go through all the corrections in one lifetime, right?
Answer: No, he can’t. He has to change himself. And to die in a relatively uncomfortable state, even with torment. This is necessary for his correction
Question: Are you talking about any person?
Answer: Yes, about anyone.
We don’t understand this system at all. We think that if a person is a Kabbalist, then he has patronage in the spiritual world, he himself makes orders. No. This is the system in which you exist, the scheme where you are a small element. And even if you generate and define a lot, you are still an element of the system.
Question: Why is this change necessary? Why do I need to restart in a new body?
Answer: A person needs rebirth in order to start working under new initial conditions, at a new level. You cannot, even as a Kabbalist, move from one level to another without changing the external adapter. You have to return to another reified animal state.
But how can one return, is it necessary to return? This is a very complex system. We are not talking about the return of the animal body, it can absolutely completely rot. All this worship of the dead, respect for the dead, these are all anachronisms. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with the spiritual.
We don’t understand what it means to live in this world and in another parallel world at the same time. We don’t understand what it means to see the system of governance of our world.
We have no idea what it means to exist in the form of thought, energy, and spirit not clothed in a body, that is, in some huge system where you and the system are one common whole. And you don’t have one separate thing, you merge with this system, as if you don’t exist. We don’t have the words to explain it.
But we don’t need that. What for? It won’t help us, it will only confuse us. A person is told only what can help him realize himself quickly. Whoever wants to do this seriously, let him engage in it and attain it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. See How to Die” 9/7/13
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