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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Why the Russia-China Axis Is Unlikely to Pose a Threat to the West”

The evident warming relationship between Russia and China has been causing some concern in the West. Also, some media outlets relate to the alliance between the two powers as an asset to China in its struggle against the US for world domination.

Additionally, Iran’s surprise status as a major arms provider to the exhausted Russia has added another partner to the alliance, a partner whose animosity toward humanism, and indeed toward anyone who is not a Shiite Muslim, is unsettling for many. Considering also that there is North Korea with its warm relations with China, and warming relations with Russia, the picture becomes even bleaker.

I am not saying that we should not be worried over what might materialize from such a quadrilateral alliance. I think we need to take whatever measures necessary to prevent the axis from taking shape. At the same time, I think that such an axis is unlikely. Even if it does materialize, at the moment, Russia is too exhausted to pose a threat, and its forces have been thinned down by local wars it has been conducting over the past several years. For this reason, I do not believe it is in a position to face the West.

Besides, over the past year, and especially since the start of the war in Ukraine, the United States and Europe have become much stronger. They realized that they had no choice but to boost their military capabilities, and they acted accordingly. In a sense, the war in Ukraine has benefited the Western bloc compared to the Eastern bloc.

There is another tactic that the West is using against Russia: its own pride. Russia could have gained a great deal, economically and otherwise, if it chose to make concessions in Ukraine in return for favors and support from the West. However, its pride will not let it do this, so it will continue to fight until there is nothing left of its military. The only ones who will gain from this extended slaughter is the West.

As for China, it is unlikely to sever its ties with the West. It has too much to lose, and it is too dependent on the West’s purchasing power to risk its ties with Europe and (mainly) with the US. Although it appears robust, China is currently in a precarious situation having suffered economic setbacks following the zero Covid policy, and now the out-of-control outbreak of the virus. China will continue to maintain good connections with Russia, which provides it with cheap gas, but it will not stretch the rope with its Western business partners too tight. In short, it will continue sitting on the fence.

In my view, the most likely scenario is that the tug-of-war between Russia and the US will continue until either the US or Israel move to unseat the Iranian regime. Without Iran, Russia has nothing more to offer in Ukraine; it has exhausted its military options, its manpower, and its firepower. As a result, without Iran, it would have very few options for continuing its assaults in Ukraine.

In such a state, if the Iranian fanatic Shiite regime comes down, Russia’s supply of suicide drones will dry out, and its main assault weapon against Ukrainian infrastructure facilities will no longer be available. Surprisingly, therefore, a move in Iran could signal the end of the war in Ukraine.
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The more uncorrected our vessels of reception, the more we cannot open our mouths to receive His abundance, for fear of disparity of form, as in “One who eats that which is not one’s own, is afraid to look upon one’s face” (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 5, Item 22).

If I do not become similar to the Creator, then eventually, I constantly lose.

Without acting like the Creator, I am immersed in a sense of shame that belittles me, presses me to the ground, and explains how insignificant I am.

I feel ashamed that I am not similar to the Creator, that I am the opposite of Him.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/18/22

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But “The righteous in their land will inherit twofold.” …Not only do they attain the perfection of the pleasures and a variety of possessions, they also acquire the equivalence of form with their Maker. Thus, they come to true adhesion and are also at rest since the abundance comes to them by itself, without any movement or effort (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 4, Item 21).

We are talking about those people who understand how to receive fulfillment. Therefore, Kabbalah is called the wisdom of fulfillment, the wisdom of reception. If we can receive fulfillment correctly, we can receive everything we want, and, having achieved this, we will be at rest.

Baal HaSulam writes that a person learns not only to enjoy correctly, but also receives an equivalence of form with his maker. That is, these are two types of pleasure, when he receives pleasure both from being similar to the Creator and from being filled with what the Creator gives.

Question: What pleasures does the Creator give? What can we enjoy?

Answer: Being like the Creator. This is the highest pleasure. In this case, a person is filled with constant, absolute pleasure and does not feel any need.

Question: If there is such a technology, and it has existed for several thousand years, then why has no one revealed it and advertised it?

Answer: Because it is against our nature. Even when we advertise it, we do not see that people are eager to learn it. Our goal is absolute fulfillment. But it is reached by the fact that a person must rise above his egoism, and we do not agree with this.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/18/22

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Question: Irina writes: “I have not become a mother yet, but I really want to be. I see how mothers bring their children to our classes. I am a dancing teacher myself. I see how the kids are cleanly dressed, how their mothers admire them. And then I see the news, how men, still boys, kill each other. And I do not understand why? Why were there all these classes, clean shirts, matinees, and school? Why? How should one educate, love, and warm a person so that he does not want any wars and would not want to kill anyone?”

Answer: I understand this young girl. But I do not know how to answer her, except for one thing. At the core of human nature is egoism, which brutalizes, kills, and does everything to destroy us. We need to declare war on this egoism. How to do this is the most important thing.

Kabbalah teaches this. Let’s master this science together and destroy egoism. I have nothing more to say except for these compulsory words. But you will learn everything else from our courses, lectures, classes, and books.

Question: Is it possible to do this at the degree of our world with agreements with some kind of economic sanctions?

Answer: That is worthless!

Question: Will humanity be convinced of this?

Answer: Humanity must reveal that its nature, egoism, is evil. And that is why it cannot do anything good, no good will come out of it. So, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”

Question: So those barbaric wars that happened, are they going to be just as barbaric in future?

Answer: Even more barbaric.

Question: And the fact that man becomes more cultured, more knowledgeable?

Answer: All this will only be to his detriment. This is because egoism invents everything: all sciences, arts, techniques, and technologies.

Question: Does no spirituality enter into man?

Answer: No. Spirituality is love for one’s neighbor without any reason.

Question: And we cannot come to this through technical progress?

Answer: No, of course not.

Question: How will humanity understand this?

Answer: It will understand either through light or through suffering. There are two ways. And now they are beginning to open up to us.

Question: But are they both paths that somehow lead to the same path?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So one can be so long, lengthy, and the second is more direct and clearer?

Answer: Yes. Let’s hope that we will see it all somehow. At least the beginning of it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/27/22

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Kabbalah & Women

An insight into women’s inner quest and spiritual development

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The four stages of transition from one level to another are mandatory according to the condition of the ten Sefirot or the four-letter name of the Creator Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey. The Creator is the entire nature, its four levels of development, and the transition from the previous state to the next one. And so it is between all steps and within each step.

If there is a transition, it must necessarily go through these four, even in the smallest stages of development.

Therefore, there are four states of development, moving forward. The first is a partial exit from the absolute animal state to the human level. Man is a movement toward solidarity, connection, the property of bestowal and love, but still in its initial state.

So it was under Abraham when he led 5,000 people out of Babylon and organized his first Kabbalistic society. That is, this was a spiritual society in which people treated each other as equals although all of them were different, and everyone cared only about each other and society but not about themselves. In principle, this was their ideal.

Upon this basis Abraham led those who were ready to advance toward this ideal out of Babylon.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. History of the Jewish People” 5/4/14

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Question: Suppose your student expresses some Kabbalistic thought in words, and someone else says a similar thing. Could it be identical?

Answer: First, my student speaks about Kabbalah based on the connection through the group with the upper source, with the next degree. Second, when he utters those words, those who are under his influence, whether they feel it or not, receive a special influence from him.

The huge difference between people who speak, teach, and perform is that either this is a person who is only within our world, a smart guy, or someone who is a pipe connected to the upper world and carrying through upper energy into our world.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Conductor of Spiritual Energy” 4/12/14

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Preparation to the Lesson

Zohar for All “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “You Are Partners with Me,”  Item 64

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 15

Selected Highlights

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Are there any advantages/ benefits to living under a dictatorship?“

In the Soviet Union, people were made hungry and forced to work, otherwise they would be taken to work in concentration camps in Siberia.

People had nothing to do but struggle to realize their life’s bare essentials to survive. That is, the conditions were set for people to engage in and think only about their essentials.

In other words, such a system lowers human beings to the level of animals so that people become easier to control. There are several examples where rulers generate such conditions in order to make societies live like animals, constantly struggling to meet their basic needs. We then become preoccupied with being safe, secure and comfortable, with no lofty aspirations.

If we are relieved from the pressure just to sustain our physical existence, then we immediately start demanding more. We further develop and can no longer tolerate pressure from the ruling systems.

Then, we encounter another problem: How will we act when we can further develop?

Since we are egoists by nature, where we each prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others and nature, then our further development means becoming more sophisticated egoists. We develop increasingly refined tools of trying to satisfy ourselves with no real consideration of others, failing to pay attention to the accelerated path to self-destruction that we pave. In that regard, dictatorship is preferable because it places clear boundaries around society, relating to people like robots moving around a machine.

Therefore, in order to realize our additional freedom in a way that does not lead us to destruction, but to benefiting us all, we need to couple our increased freedom with an upgrade in our education. In other words, we need a higher level of understanding throughout society on how today’s tightly interdependent world is completely different to the world of the past, and how to balance our attitudes with today’s globally-interdependent conditions in order to bring about a harmonious and peaceful change.

We can then change our behavior from being animals to being human beings, knowing how to grow, and using our additional freedom to grow as human beings.

Based on the video “The Key to Prosperous Human Development: Learning How to Use Freedom for Growth” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Tal Mandelbaum. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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