Audio Version Of The Blog – 4/28/23
Posted on April 28th, 2023
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Michael Laitman, on The Times of Israel: “What Are Some Noteworthy Quotes About Education?”
“Teach a child according to the child’s way.” – Proverbs 22:6.
There is also a noteworthy quote by Swiss teacher and publicist Adolphe Ferrière that explains how we fail to follow this principle, i.e.
“And they created the school as the devil commanded.
The child loves nature, so he was locked in four walls.
He can not sit without moving, so he was forced into immobility.
He likes to work with his hands, and he began to teach theories and ideas.
He likes to talk – he was told to remain silent.
He seeks to understand – he was commanded to learn by heart.
He would like to explore and search for knowledge himself, but he was given them in ready form.
And then the children learned what they would never have learned in other conditions. They learned to lie and pretend.”
This quote dates back to the beginning of the previous century, but it is just as accurate today. It shows how children have natures to be like free birds, but we place them into cages.
Why? It is simply easier and clearer for us to coercively make children stay within our four corners. And by doing so, we rob them of their soul’s, mind’s and heart’s free development, and even disrupt their bodily development.
The principle “teach a child according to the child’s way” means that children should be raised in ways that let them freely develop. In practice, it means that they should listen to adults, but adults should adjust themselves to be as interesting and as relevant as possible to the children. Also, children need a lot of time outdoors with their friends, and to be simultaneously with their friends and their teachers. That is, they should engage in several activities that involve creating, inventing and fixing things together, as well as in ongoing discussions with their peers and with adults where they need to debate certain topics and reach conclusions.
Such an approach develops children in the natural course of their activities. It liberates them and gives them the freedom to think and to develop new ideas. We have yet to see an educational system that develops children to their fullest potential in such a way. Instead, we pack them into cubes that constrain their thinking and optimal development.
In order to upgrade education to “teach a child according to the child’s way,” we need different teachers, or more specifically, teachers themselves need to initially undergo a different course of education over several years, and only then will they accordingly become ready to cater to children. We will then start seeing completely different results to the current ones.
I think that the move to this kind of education will come when we become completely disillusioned with the ways we currently raise children, when we see that our current systems serve to create a world of increasing depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, and other problematic phenomena across the board on personal, social, economic and ecological scales.
Michael Laitman on The Times of Israel: “How to End War”
In 1914, during World War I, an amazing event happened. At a time when half a million people were killed near the Belgian city of Ypres, on December 24, before Christmas, suddenly soldiers began to decorate the German trenches with garlands and various lights. Later, they moved onto neutral territory. Both the French and the British also came out to the neutral territory from the enemy trenches, making a gathering of about 100,000 people. They had been killing each other up until that point, but on that day, they got together and connected: they exchanged souvenirs, sang songs, traded buttons, tobacco, wine and sweets, and played football with cans. In 2014, a football monument was built to commemorate the event.
It was an incredible spectacle. Those who fought to the death and hated each other suddenly started bonding. Naturally, the generals were instantly alarmed. Under threat of death, the soldiers were forced back into the trenches, and war continued. It lasted four years and 20 million people got killed.
A key question that arises from this example is indeed, could it be possible to stop war from the level of the soldiers themselves? We see that the soldiers could end the war if they wanted to, but since they follow their generals’ commands, then it would require the generals to also wish to stop the war, which in turn requires each successive higher level, which makes it impossible.
However, the example is etched in history: People who were killing each other in cold blood, with bayonets, fighting hand-to-hand, where everyone was faced with so much blood and it was not just distant firing of guns and missiles. They literally faced their enemies, felt hatred for them, and in a single moment, it all shifted to a state of bonding.
It shows that even the strongest hatred can be inverted in a moment. A fight could continue for a long time, and then all of a sudden, poof—the hatred dissipates. The reason behind the hatred suddenly disappears.
It is no miracle. It is simply how a program that runs our desires plays out. There is no point in our hatred, nor in our love. We can see similar examples of people who were once seemingly in love, and all of a sudden, they stop loving each other. That love that held them together instantly disappears. It is common to hear divorcees say about their partners, “What did I ever love in them?”
The fact that our emotions can suddenly shift from one moment to the next shows us that any unity we establish should be based not on our feelings, but on an idea. That is, if we circulated an idea of the need to unite in order to reach a complete merging among each other as the most desirable state we could possibly achieve, then we would have a strong basis for uniting.
The foundation of this idea is in a higher root, that humanity was originally created as a single unified consciousness that underwent a process of shattering and dispersion until we found ourselves in a reality where we perceive ourselves separated from each other. While we are in this state of separation, we undergo a certain development until we reach a point where we start waking up to our unified state once again. That is, at a certain point, we start feeling that we are opposite to our most desirable state, that we have suffered enough in our divisiveness, and we develop a new desire to undergo a major shift back to complete unification.
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Michael Laitman, on The Times of Israel: “The Secret to Living Beyond 100 – A Kabbalist’s Response”
In Australia, a 100-year-old woman shared what she considered the secret to her long life, that longevity stems from a calm attitude to any tumultuous life events. She recommends not holding onto grudges and to live in the here and now. Her credo is, “Don’t worry about things that may never even happen.”
While it might seem like good life advice, a Kabbalist views it as lifeless to not worry about yesterday or tomorrow, and only to live in the here and now. It is how the animate degree of existence lives, but not the human.
Take any animal: it lives in the here and now. It is another matter if they have premonitions, but if they do not receive that sensation, then they live with what they have. An animal’s movements are quite simple, whereas humans burden themselves with all kinds of cosmic problems. For instance, stars might be exploding in another galaxy, and there would be people worrying about it.
Our worries with where we are gives us a feeling of life. On the contrary, a calm bodily existence, where we live with only what we have, is an animalistic life.
A Kabbalist is a person who opens himself to the world by coming out of himself and participating in it. He absorbs the world’s desires and problems and then processes them in order to activate his correction, in order to seek the optimal response and intention to everything that he absorbs. He thus feeds back into the world a corrected response to what he absorbs.
Such a life is far from being free of problems. Yet, it gives the Kabbalist a feeling of happiness because he feels that he carries out a necessary duty. Otherwise, it is not a human life. A Kabbalist can live in no other way.
However, in relation to the lady’s statement about not holding onto grudges, it is indeed important. It also comes naturally to a Kabbalist because if we accept everything as coming from a single force—nature’s force of love and bestowal—then everything that plays out among us is a picture of the world that nature directs. If we hold onto such a picture, then our attitude to it becomes correct and practical.
We can then no longer hold onto any grudges because we involve ourselves in the world’s correction, in the absorption and manifestation of the world, and we engage in the system together with nature. In other words, we not only observe and absorb what is around us, but we understand that it is being done for us, and that it is processed in our perception of reality.
We then need to act in a way that justifies this picture that projects within us. Living in the here and now is thus correct, but in the sense that the “here and now” is the reality that we create. We receive our impressions from nature’s output toward us, which we process as our input. We then constantly correct our impressions and reflections of the world, and we do so in order to justify nature on all degrees of our perception.
Michael Laitman, on The Times of Israel: “Abundant milk, meat, and fish, but no animals in sight”
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stood by a sleek tablet-like touchscreen of a big meat-producing machine, chose the percentage of fat he wanted in his steak, and pressed “Print.” A few minutes later, his order was ready. Printing a fish took only one minute. Soon, cultured meat and fish will be available in Israeli supermarkets. Even sooner, cultured milk will be on the shelves. The machines are ready, distribution agreements have been signed, the medical tests were successful, and the regulatory procedures have been completed. The dream of consuming animal protein without breeding or killing animals is months-to-a-few-years from becoming a reality. Has Israel solved the world’s food problems?
Especially when it comes to food and drugs, caution and prudence are critical. But with all the due caution, we may indeed be able to solve the world’s food problems. However, as with every breakthrough, we should not jump to conclusions before commercial distribution is underway, and the general public begins to consume these products. Especially for deprived areas such as parts of Africa and Asia, mass machine-production of meat, fish, and milk can be a life-saver in the full sense of the word.
But will it be a life-saver? Regrettably, human nature will stand in the way. Man’s evil inclination will run ahead and cease the opportunity to make another buck, to exploit, humiliate, demean, and abuse more people and in new ways. In all likelihood, humanity will waste yet another great opportunity to end its misery, and the rich and powerful will only become more so, while the indigent become even more deprived.
Theoretically, one of the ways in which society can mitigate the potential exploitation of such potentially life-changing innovations is by creating social wealth funds such as the one Norway has established, which uses some of the profits from its oil industry for the common good. Another way to balance the expected gargantuan profits is to modify the royalties that the state collects from manufacturers of cultured proteins. The State of Israel did this when natural gas was discovered off its shores, and everyone seems to be content with the agreement.
However, in practice, I think that such arrangements will not hold for long. In the end, humanity will follow the way of the ego, as it always does, and the abuse of knowledge and technology in service of the rich will continue.
A side note regarding the breakthroughs in food-tech in Israel is that many believe that these technologies will improve Israel’s international status. Over the past ten years or so, Israel has become a world leader in some of humanity’s most pressing issues: It is the world leader when it comes to water conservation and desalination, and a world leader in agriculture. It has become an exporter of gas, and from a country that was dependent on oil for its survival, Israel has become almost energy independent. Its military industry has leaped forward and today, Israel manufactures and exports almost everything except for fighter jets. And now with the advances in food-tech, it is jumping to the head of the bandwagon in food production, too.
However, all these boons have not made Israel any more popular among the nations, nor will they make it popular. Some nations may want its knowledge and technology, so they are willing to put on a friendly face to get a discount, but this is where Israel’s “favor” in the eyes of the nations ends. The only way Israel can truly be accepted by the nations is if it “exports” unity and social cohesion. For all the glitz and glory of sophisticated weapon systems and advanced food-tech, the only thing that the world needs from Israel is an example of unity. Social cohesion is the only “product” that all the nations want, that no one knows how to form, and that Israel can, must, and is expected to provide. If Israel delivers this, it will not need weapons, hacking tools, or any other protection to secure its place among the nations.
Additionally, if it delivers unity to the world, humanity will know how to use technological innovations for humanity’s sake, and not solely for the rich, powerful, and abusive few.
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Question: Let’s say a person does not want to study, and the whole group suffers by it. How can I take away his free choice to join or not join the group?
Answer: You do not have any free choice! By joining a group, you accept the condition of complete connection with others in order to reveal the Creator. How can it be that you want, do not want, one way today, the other way tomorrow?
In which groups would you be allowed to do this? There is no such thing in the army or even in any enterprise where they unite in collectives to create something, to do something! How is it possible?
This way today and that way tomorrow?
Everyone makes a commitment. If you do not do this, then the others will not commit to you either. So, you have nothing to do in the group, you will not advance.
[311541]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Harm the group” 1/2/11
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Comment: You said that we could feel final correction (Gmar Tikkun) now if we perceived ascents and descents as the same, correct state.
My Response: But we are not able to achieve that yet.
What does final correction mean? Final correction is when you feel the current state as absolutely perfect. You are in it even now, but you have to correct your feelings.
Question: Kabbalists say that later we will even envy the overcoming that we carried out earlier. Why exactly envy?
Answer: Because in overcoming these sorrowful, difficult states, you give the Creator special pleasure by your yearning for Him. Like a little child who is puffing, trying to build something with his cubes and cannot. This is the most rewarding job for parents who see how he wants to become smart.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How to See the Future World” 12/29/12
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Comment: You said you cannot convey a full picture of the entire system to external people who are not engaged in Kabbalah because it is against the plan of creation.
Answer: They will not understand anything! How can they understand what I am telling them given their current qualities? Or how can they even somewhat agree with it, even purely theoretically? And then what? It would destroy their egoism, destroy everything they know, everything they do.
In their eyes Einstein will suddenly turn into a little boy, as would other scientists across multiple disciplines look completely superficial and shallow. And what is next?
Why humiliate people? I respect them for their serious contribution, for their commitment. They realize their healthy egoism and strive to know and attain as much as possible. This still develops various paths to the Creator. Science is increasingly approaching a premonition of the upper force.
Therefore, I do not want to interfere in any way. Because if they learn about Kabbalah, they will not be able to do anything! They will instantly forget it! The system of egoistic self-defense will instantly kick in, and that is it: “I’m back to my scientific niche, I do not want to know anything!”
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Kabbalah, Science, Middle Class” 12/29/12
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Question: How does your mutual activity with students occur: contact, symbiosis, or connection?
Answer: When students ask me questions and convey their desire to me, I start to dig into myself and find the answer. I myself do not have these questions. It is like a child who asks: “Dad, how does it work?” Then the father starts thinking about it and explaining it to him, but otherwise, the father would not have thought about it.
But there is no problem for me. Let’s say that the father needs to know a certain device, instrument, or story, and if he did not know it, then he could not give an answer to the child. I do not have such a problem because I am in the general system of the universe. Therefore, when students ask me something, they highlight this system to me with their questions, and I explain it to them. The only problem is how to present everything so that it is clear to them.
Comment: But everyone understands that this is literally just one second of insight that disappears from a person.
My Response: It does not matter! If the desire of people connected to mine, to my capabilities, and made disclosure, then it remains in the world and makes it easier for everyone to further disclose and use it.
By doing this, I am potentially revealing the next degrees, which will then be very easy to reveal. In other words, the degrees already exist, and you will climb them. I am preparing this for the future.
[311029]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How does Laitman use students?” 12/15/12
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Question: Igor asks: “I am an empath; I am physically shaken by the troubles that are happening around. How can I learn not to empathize?”
Answer: No, it is necessary to empathize. This is how we were created. We just need to create a parallel system in ourselves that will understand why everything negative is happening. In order for us to complement this with a positive to extinguish this negative.
Comment: Igor writes that he is deeply shaken by what is happening, he empathizes with it.
My Response: Nothing of this is needed. Absolutely! It is necessary to relate to this very simply.
Everything in the world is in an exceptional form. It depends only on us as to how these opposing forces and phenomena will complement each other to absolute, complete perfection. That is what we need to desire.
Question: Reveal the secret; how do you see it all? We see it quite differently. Look at what is happening: wars are being prepared there; weapons are being accumulated over there; people are dying and close to death from hunger in other places. So, he says it shakes him deeply. How can you say, everything is in a state of perfection?
Answer: First, it is necessary to try to reach the feeling of the Creator, who manages all this, and manages it absolutely calmly, methodically, and with love. And He already sees the beginning, the middle, and the end in one absolute state. This is the first.
Second, everything that happens in the world happens inside of us. Inside of us, only inside of us, and not somewhere outside where stars explode, something falls down, something is being done. This is how it seems to a person. For this, we just need to read a little bit of Kabbalistic materials regarding the impression about the world, the universe, about what is happening. It is all inside of us and only inside of us. And if we change our qualities, then accordingly we will change our perception of the world, and we will see a completely different world.
How could it be? After all, I can see who is killing whom, who is doing something with someone. Look at what is going on in the world! Just evil, only evil. It is because that is how I look at it, at this world.
Comment: So you say in a simple way: inside me is war, I see war; inside me is evil, I see evil; inside me is hate, I see hate.
My Response: Yes. This is called an “egoistic, individualistic perception of the world.”
Question: So, this is my correction?
Answer: Change yourself and you will see a different world. And what is it like in general? It is nothing! A simple light flooding the entire universe.
Question: Am I in front of this light?
Answer: To the extent that I can imagine it. And not further. But I think we are getting closer to it.
Question: Do you have such a feeling?
Answer: Yes, I hope that it is getting closer and closer and more tangible
Question: And a person will be able to understand that if he changes, the world will change?
Answer: It is very easy. It will suddenly be simply as usual for people, why didn’t we see this before?
Question: It will not be like a discovery of America?
Answer: No. People will just talk about it as if it was also so yesterday. So, it was not there yesterday, you didn’t see it. You say “yesterday”?
Who?! We?! How could it be?
Question: Are you talking about what a person would possibly say: “I’ve changed, the world has changed”?
Answer: He will not even realize that he has changed; it will be so natural.
Question: Just the world will change, that’s all?
Answer: Yes. He’ll live in a different world.
Question: But is it going to happen because of his internal efforts that have been going on all the time?
Answer: But not everyone made internal efforts. But in general, it will happen anyway.
Question: Who does it, a person, or is it done by the light, the Creator?
Answer: The light of course! But we need to ask very hard for the light to do this with us.
[311120]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 2/14/22
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