Audio Version Of The Blog – 1/12/24
Posted on January 12th, 2024
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Question: What are your wishes for people in 2024?
Answer: To strive for peace. That is all. It is most important.
Question: What is needed for this?
Answer: To do this, you just need to strive for peace.
Question: Does everyone need to do it?
Answer: Everyone and in all its manifestations. That is, try to consider where some anti-peaceful actions are visible and look for how we can extinguish them. Today we do not yet have a single methodology, theory, or desire to do that.
Comment: There is not even a single call for peace.
My Response: Yes. So the world is in a confused state.
Question: So is this your wish for each person?
Answer: Yes, for each individually.
Question: And if you see that there is no peace, how should you live?
Answer: We must still strive for unification. There is nothing else. And I hope that our internal movement toward this, toward uniting everyone, will win and change the world.
In general, of course, the state of the world is very, very shaky.
Question: Between what and what?
Answer: Between the possibility of a huge, huge, everyday, all-around war of everyone against everyone.
Question: And will this grief really be for everyone?
Answer: Yes, of course.
Comment: Someone is thinking of sitting out.
My Response: No, I think that in general it will not be possible to sit out. Here we need to make some categorical decisions.
Question: But is this your main and only wish?
Answer: Yes. Only the desire for peace in the world.
[323497]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/1/24
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Question: We constantly ask the Creator for the whole society to become one big family. But judging by the fact that we must go by faith above reason, we cannot do it within reason in order for it to be realized.
Let’s say we asked the Creator, “Please make sure that everyone lives together in peace,” but this does not happen. Should I just annul and assume that everything is fine, because otherwise next time I will not be able to ask for it to be realized?
Answer: You must ask for connection with your friends and with the Creator in one state, in the same bundle.
But if you made a request once and left it, then your desire was not real, not serious.
Question: And if I go above reason, will I be able to see the result?
Answer: You will see the result, but after the action is over. By connecting to your source, you will begin to receive filling from it.
[323229]
From the Daily Kabbalah lesson 1/1/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Embrace of the Right, Embrace of the Left”
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Question: In Baal HaSulam’s article “She Is Like Merchant-Ships” (Shamati 121), it is written that Moses is modest and patient because a person needs to accept his lowliness, i.e., at each stage, he must strengthen in the realization of his lowliness. What does that mean?
Answer: Everyone should lower themselves before the friends and, naturally, before the Creator, and hold on to them. One’s existence is hinged only on holding on to the Creator through his friends.
He should feel himself the lowest, the weakest, the most lagging behind, and if he holds on to his friends, through them, he will hold on to the Creator. Being lowered actually brings one closer to the Creator because his pride and ego are suppressed.
Comment: Further in the article it is written that the moment a person loses his lowliness, he instantly loses the degree of “Moses.”
My Response: Yes. As it is said about Moses, he always felt below others, which is why he was the greatest. He believed everyone else was above him; therefore, he just served them.
It was precisely because he cared about the people that he led them forward and was their leader. After all, on the spiritual path, one who puts himself below others is the most advanced.
If you feel all the friends are above you and more deserving in your eyes, you can be their leader. Such a perspective is a consequence of spiritual revelation.
[322613]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/19/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “She Is Like Merchant-Ships”
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Question: What does it mean to be fruitful and multiply in spirituality?
Answer: It means to increase good actions.
Question: It is said that in order to be rewarded with adhesion, a person must cancel his existence. What does it mean?
Answer: This means that a person wants to live only for the sake of the friends, and in connection with them he strives to find the root of his spiritual life.
Question: How should we behave in this world?
Answer: Like ordinary people: honest, intelligent, and so on. We should not tell or show anything of our inner work.
Question: How can we balance the feeling of shame and modesty?
Answer: You should constantly raise faith above reason.
Question: How do we check if our faith is complete?
Answer: The indicator is how long your faith lasts, is it for a day, a week, a month, etc.
Question: The Creator gives me fear for children; is it as an example that I should be afraid for the ten for not being able to do anything for it, for not being able to bring it to the Creator? It is scary.
Answer: You should hold on to the Creator more, and you will not be afraid. And if you feel that you have even greater fear, then the Creator calls you to hold on to Him even more tightly.
[323094]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Concerning the Staff and the Serpent”
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Question: What is the spiritual work on oneself for an ordinary person?
Answer: A person in whom the question of the meaning of life awakens begins to connect himself with those who want to expand the scope of their knowledge to find out “What am I for? Why me? What is the purpose of existence?”
All these questions push him to expand his feelings: “What kind of world am I in? Is there anything above it? What controls it? Where is the mechanism that sets it in motion? What is the cause and effect of all this? The goal?” When we ask these questions and can’t find the answer, we start looking.
I remember when this question first arose in me, I was only five to six years old, and I felt old, internally dissatisfied, detached from everyone. All the children were running around in the yard doing something, and I was thinking: “Why all this?” And I don’t really want to live, there’s no point.
Of course, life talks to you, you are a little interested in sports (tennis, cycling, running), interested in girls a little, hormonal development is still taking place. But somewhere deep down, this question still sits and does not let you go. You behave as if mechanically and realize the meaninglessness of this.
You go to the symphony, to exhibitions, to museums. You try to somehow cling to this world, to know it, to taste what people consider high, special. But why? You look at a painting and think: “Someone took a couple of months to paint it, painted it beautifully, and then what? What’s the point?” There’s no point.
I remember a teacher at school saying, “The meaning of life is to eat delicious food, relax, go to the cinema, read an interesting book,” and so on. It turned out, as the sages say, “you live involuntarily,” get a little pleasure, relax, and forget about a higher meaning; otherwise, all of life will seem like hell.
And what if you can’t calm down? There are already millions of such people nowadays! These questions oblige a person to begin to expand the field of his feelings.
[322259]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Eternal and Perfect” 12/1/11
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There is a discernment of Zahav [gold], and there is a discernment of Kesef (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 175 “And If the Way Be Too Far for You”).
The article “And If the Way Be Too Far for You” is very special. It says that we should not pay attention to how far we seem to be from the Creator, and that we can make our distance from Him turn into drawing close.
Silver Kelim symbolize vessels for receiving the light of Hassadim, and gold vessels symbolize receiving the light of Hochma.
If we clearly understand that everything that the Creator does is for our sake, then all those silver and gold Kelim (vessels) that are in us, must be put through fire and melt, meaning their external form be removed. In this way, we will be able to create new Kelim from them in accordance with our new desires.
After all, “to put through the fire” means that with my desire I want to burn everything, leaving nothing of the past. And then I can make a new shape from the same material, which has again turned into a piece of metal.
[323240]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “And If the Way Be Too Far for You”
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In the News (CNN.com): “Elon Musk warned in a new interview that artificial intelligence could lead to ‘civilization destruction,’ even as he remains deeply involved in the growth of AI through his many companies, including a rumored new venture.
“’AI is more dangerous than, say, mismanaged aircraft design or production maintenance or bad car production, in the sense that it is, it has the potential — however small one may regard that probability, but it is non-trivial — it has the potential of civilization destruction,’ …
“Musk said Monday night he supports government regulation into AI… . Once AI ‘may be in control,’ it could be too late to place regulations, Musk said.
“’A regulatory agency needs to start with a group that initially seeks insight into AI, then solicits opinion from industry, and then has proposed rule-making,’ Musk said.”
Question: What do you think about it?
Answer: He deals with it. Obviously, we should at least listen to him.
Question: Do you think it is possible that a machine would suddenly turn against a human?
Answer: Of course. We may not even feel it, but it will be perhaps directed against us.
Question: So, do you think there could be a conspiracy of machines?
Answer: Not in such a crude form as a “conspiracy of machines.” It is hard to point to anything that we invented that was only positive.
Question: Because we invented it?
Answer: Yes, we did. And we always turn it to the negative side.
Question: You do not find much positive in a human, do you?
Answer: Man is an egoist. I do not find anything positive in it at all. We see in ourselves how uncontrollable we are. And artificial intelligence will also eventually be uncontrollable. Whatever man invents, it is still for his harm.
Question: What can be done and how can we make man invent something for good? In order to squeeze something positive out of us, what needs to be done?
Answer: There will always be something negative about it. Always. Look at what humanity is doing to itself.
Comment: Yes. It goes little by little…
My Response: To self-destruction.
Question: But it will not come to it, right? It will not happen?
Answer: I don’t know if it will come to it. It seems to me that there is a possibility of it, and a big possibility that we can begin to self-destruct.
Question: Yes, but can we rely on the upper force to somehow bring us to our senses? You always talk about upper management.
Answer: The upper force is not ultimately the higher intelligence that we mean. The higher power is something that may be above our egoism, and we have absolutely no contact with it. We have no connection with what is higher than our egoism.
Question: And before this abyss that is right in front of it, can we suddenly slow down and realize that we must rise above egoism, that it was it that brought us to this?
Answer: How can we know this?
Comment: It will come from above somehow. There is no other way, you say.
My Response: I have no idea.
Comment: You don’t want to give us a small chance.
My Response: I would not give man a chance.
Comment: After all, it is God’s creation.
My Response: No, no, we are not God’s creatures, and we cannot hope that the Creator will always protect us and always somehow separate us. I personally do not hope so.
Of course, He is ultimately good that does good. But maybe we achieve this good through huge, huge failures, suffering, and wars.
Comment: We see that this is indeed the case.
My Response: But that is not all. What the Bible says and so on could be much worse.
Question: But the reason that things could be worse, maybe it will still somehow enter us?
Answer: No, we see that this does not calm the human.
Question: I am always trying to find some way out of this situation from you. And you say that a human is still a negative system?
Answer: Yes, of course. Man is a negative system, and is constantly moving toward self-destruction, and before that, practically nothing can stop him.
Question: Can we attract positive things? We can at some point, right?
Answer: We hope so.
Comment: Another idea about artificial intelligence is that it will lead to humanity not having to work. Then the main question will be the search for the meaning of life. That is, we will come to the meaning of life from boredom, from the fact that we will not have a job.
My Response: Is the meaning of life now to work?
Comment: Yes, it looks like it, correct. 🙂
My Response: It is not clear: now the meaning of life is to work, and then the meaning of life will be not to work.
Question: So you do not accept this logical connection?
Answer: No.
Question: Are you saying that we need to look for the meaning of life now?
Answer: We must develop in such a way as to understand that work itself also has meaning. And we definitely need to make our work as high as possible, that is, one that would raise man, turn him into a reasonable human. It is true.
Comment: In principle, work to earn money, work to support the family…
My Response: No, no. It is all going to go away soon.
Question: And if, let’s say, the work in which I had the meaning of life ends. How do I not lose the meaning of life with this job ending?
Answer: When you feel that you do not need to work in order to live, then you have the opportunity for another goal in order to live.
Question: So if I grasp the goal, then any changes taking place at a lower level are no longer important. I do not work or I do work, it does not matter. The main thing is to grasp the goal. What is it about?
Answer: I think that this work will be so that we rise all the time and get closer to the Creator in our unity.
Our job will be in how much each of us will refine ourselves every day to rise above ourselves.
[322371]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/9/23
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Question: When a lack of confidence and hope appears in the ten, can such properties as envy, vanity, and honor return it to the state of the spirit of life?
Answer: Of course. If you think about the state you want to experience in the ten, try to create it, and you will see it is possible. By imagining a good future, you will thus attract it to yourself.
Question: What should we focus on when we are envious or jealous? Do negative qualities ensure spiritual growth?
Answer: No, it does not increase spiritual growth. Envy with good envy and it will help you rise. And when you rise with your friends, then you will help them.
In any case, try to live with those positive feelings that you want to use. Start feeling them more, and then you will understand what you can use and cannot.
[323043]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “What Are Three Things that Broaden One’s Mind in the Work?”
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Preparation to the Lesson
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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “When Should One Use Pride in the Work?”
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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Last Generation”
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Selected Highlights
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