Audio Version Of The Blog – 1/23/24
Posted on January 23rd, 2024
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Is It Better Not to Have Expectations at All?”
Tis but a day we sojourn here below,
And all the gain we get is grief and woe,
Then, leaving our life’s riddles all unsolved,
And burdened with regrets, we have to go. …
O unenlightened race of humankind,
Ye are a nothing, built on empty wind!
Yea, a mere nothing, hovering in the abyss,
A void before you, and a void behind!
– Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat, #3 and #424
Omar Khayyam, a man who delved deep into the pursuit of meaning, concluded that everything he once cherished and lived for amounted to nothing. His realization echoes throughout his body of work, and it highlights the futility of his endeavors.
When we expand this perspective to encompass any person, it could be argued that recognizing life’s inherent nothingness is a significant tragedy. However, it also gives us mental readiness, understanding that every journey has a beginning and an end, and ultimately, everything is indeed nothing.
So, what then is “something”? It boils down to living in positive connection among each other, collectively acknowledging that the true meaning of life lies in acceptance. If we accept the given circumstances, we become satisfied with our lives.
But what if the desire for more persists? Wanting more is no virtuous pursuit. The essence of human life lies in understanding its limitations, reconciling with them, and not demanding more for ourselves. It is about trying to help others, accepting help in return, and thereby, existing.
Joy and happiness emerge as byproducts of this kind of existence. Ultimately, we come to realize that it is fruitless to expect anything more out of life.
Where does the Creator, i.e., the upper force of love and bestowal, fit into this picture? We find the Creator in the satisfaction we derive from the comforts we acquire in their measured and limited existence. Acknowledging and agreeing with the Creator’s design, without demanding more, then becomes our source of joy.
When we recognize life’s limitations, embrace them, and find contentment in the simplicity of existence, we discover true fulfillment. The Creator, then, is present in the agreement with the given circumstances and the rejection of surplus demands.
Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “What Are Your Thoughts on Elon Musk’s Concern About the AI Threat?”
Elon Musk’s warning about the potential dangers of AI has sparked discussions about its risks and the need for regulation. Musk, deeply involved in AI through various companies, highlighted the significant threat that it poses, that it holds the potential to bring civilization to destruction. He emphasized the importance of government regulation before it might be too late.
Musk’s concerns echo broader anxieties about the future of AI and its unabated progress. The more we advance, the more a dystopian fear of machines turning against humans shifts from fantasy to a potential reality. We can see throughout history that human inventions, even seemingly positive ones, have had negative consequences.
Since human nature is egoistic, where we prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others, then our inventions, including AI, reflect our self-centeredness. While there might be positive outcomes from various human creations, since we are prone to exploit, manipulate and abuse each other for self-interest motives, such as gaining wealth and power, we then see how our technology likewise fuels these negative motions toward each other.
Our narrow egoistic perception greatly limits our understanding of reality, and this is why any kind of positive transformation of ourselves requires connecting to the forces dwelling in nature, beyond our minds and hearts, in order to let the laws of nature navigate our lives.
In addition to the threat of machines causing physical destruction in the world is also the known threat of technological unemployment and the idea that much of today’s workforce will find itself unemployed due to AI developments. I have already written and spoken extensively on that topic, that a post-work era has the potential to give rise to a new kind of work: to treat connection-enriching learning as work through which we gain a stipend that covers our life’s essentials. However, that too requires a paradigm shift in how we think about work: that work no longer defines our lives as it currently does for much of society, but rather work takes on a more necessary form, and positive human connection becomes our central engagement.
Regardless of changes in technology and work, we should nonetheless seek how to adjust our attitudes to each other, to again and again choose a motion of uniting above our divisive drives, and develop our systems of learning and social influence in order to do so. The more we do, the more we will transcend our narrow egoistic limitations and activate a broader movement toward a harmonious and peaceful world.
Question: How can we attract the light of Hochma, clothe it with Hassadim, and receive it in a good way and not through suffering? Does it depend on us or on the readiness of the world?
Answer: It is written: “Thanks to righteous women, the children of Israel came out of Egypt.” So if not everything, then a lot depends on women. Therefore, I appeal to women so that we think about and strengthen this part of our Kli.
Naturally, as is customary in our organization, we have absolute and complete equality. We do everything that is necessary with the same effort, both women and men.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/17/24, “Preparation to the Convention”
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A person was created with the egoistic desire to receive for oneself so that everything would be only for one’s own benefit. He considers only this. That is the purpose of his life.
But the purpose of creation is for a person to reach the highest level of creation, that is, to acquire the property of bestowal and love for the whole world. In this way, one reaches one’s full, absolute development.
Thus, two opposing currents meet here. The first is egoistic, when a person takes everything to himself; the second is altruistic when he must give everything from himself.
These two opposing forces exist in nature and determine everything that happens to us.
It is on this basis that we study the wisdom of Kabbalah, which helps us make the transition from egotistic desires for our sake to altruistic desires for the sake of the whole world.
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From KabTV’s “Practical Kabbalah” 1/2/24
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Advice to a person who has begun to study the wisdom of Kabbalah: “Do anything you want, just do not leave!” Do not leave the group, this society, this place where the Creator brought you from the very beginning and said: “This is your destiny! Here you can advance. You have been given this place, and I will wait for you at the end of the road.”
This is how you need to treat this opportunity given by the Creator, and it is very important to stick to this path and hold on to this environment as much as possible. I know from my own experience that sometimes a student has a burning desire to run away, to give up everything, but there is no choice, one must try to hold on.
Moving to another group or another ten is a big problem. After all, the environment has already made room for this person, and now one is obliged to fill it. The ten must work on him and connect him with itself, like an organ with a body.
We know how complex and dangerous an organ transplantation is, and what complex preparatory work and subsequent rehabilitation it requires until the foreign organ takes root and starts working like a native one. The same thing happens to a person when changing tens.
The Creator organizes the ten and the best conditions for advancement for us. But we think that we can change it as we want. Of course, in our egoistic perception of reality, we see it in this way. But in fact, this is wrong. We must take this very seriously.
I do not know now whether this will be a strict condition until the very end of the correction because before us there are stages that no group in this world has ever gone through. But for now, we must try to tie ourselves to the ten in such a way that the departure of any friend feels like the cutting off of an organ from the body.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/10/23, Writings of Rabash “What Does It Mean that Moses Was Perplexed about the Birth of the Moon in the Work?”
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Question: How or through what action do we accustom ourselves to prayer so that our hearts agree?
Answer: We explore our thoughts and desires and try to bring them closer to each other.
Question: Are there any example of how to do this?
Answer: When you hear what your friends say, try to be with them in your heart.
Question: The best state for my friends is when they are in faith above reason. Then they have no claims against the Creator. How can I help them have faith above reason? Or is this still a group action? What means are there besides prayer?
Answer: Nothing exists except prayer. You and each of us must listen to the friends and be with them with all our hearts because connection happens precisely in the heart.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Understanding What Is Written in Shulchan Aruch”
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Question: The Creator demands us only to unite. How can we check in the ten whether we have achieved unity?
Answer: Checking for this happens when you feel the same opinions, desires, and aspirations when communicating with each other.
Then it follows that you work as if out of one common heart.
Question: In order for our prayer to be accepted, do we all have to realize in the mind of the heart that we cannot unite?
Answer: The Creator shows us this. We should strive to unite, as if we are speaking from a common heart, from a common desire, from a common intention, but at the same time, we will feel some difference between us. The Creator does this to bring us closer and closer together.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/7/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Understanding What Is Written in Shulchan Aruch”
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Question: When we rise above evil, do we not just cover it up because we need to ascend to the point of love. What is this feeling?
Answer: Do you want me to convey feelings to you?! How is that possible?!
Question: But what kind of love is this?
Answer: It is impossible to convey. It is a feeling that arises from the inner unity of hearts.
Question: Then, how do we rise above evil, overcome it, and transform it into love?
Answer: Unite the hearts.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Spirituality Is Called That Which Will Never Be Lost”
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Question: It is said: “Do not believe in yourself until the day you die.” How can a person be sure that he has attained this or that degree?
Answer: When a person attains spirituality, one does not doubt that it is the truth and that only it has the right to exist.
Attainment speaks about the revelation of the truth, that this is exactly what exists.
Question: How does confidence in attaining a degree differ from our usual opinions and feelings, which change rapidly under the influence of the environment?
Answer: Any spiritual realization is true and unchangeable Even when it is replaced by other attainments, in itself it has the right to exist, and it remains.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/8/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Spirituality Is Called That Which Will Never Be Lost”
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