Audio Version Of The Blog – 2/1/24
Posted on February 1st, 2024
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Are We More or Less in Danger of Nuclear War Now Than During the Cold War?”
Today, there is talk that the risk of using nuclear weapons worldwide is currently at its peak since the Cold War. The nuclear-armed nations are relentlessly increasing and modernizing their weapons, showing no inclination toward negotiations, peace talks or reducing their nuclear arsenal. We used to hear about this topic a lot more in the 1970s and 1980s, but it has since faded away for some time. But the concern is back and the number of nuclear warheads in the world is rising for the first time since the Cold War.
One of the key differences in the nuclear weapon discussion today is that there is no talk about reaching any agreements, which was the case in the past. The unabated growth of egoism—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others—has made negotiating a pointless endeavor because striking a deal with one country still fails to account for 20 or so others that will not bother negotiating.
It is indeed a grim reality and there is no way out. Everyone is simply sitting on their nuclear arsenal in a state of mutual distrust. World powers continue accumulating weapons, and countries that previously had none also enter the picture.
Is there a way out of this nuclear arms race? The bleak scenario is that we will blow up the entire planet. The more hopeful one is that we will start applying connection-enriching learning to our lives, inverting our egoistic nature of self-benefit at the expense of others to its opposite—a desire to use ourselves to benefit others—and by doing so, we will either destroy weapons made to harm and kill, or repurpose them for peaceful purposes, in the process.
It seems unrealistic to think that everyone will positively connect, and that this is the solution to the increasing nuclear anxiety—because it is indeed unrealistic.
When does it become real? All we can do is keep working on ourselves to become more caring, supportive and loving, and also continue spreading the word about how to rise above our egoism to relations of mutual consideration.
I know that this is how I will live until my dying day, and then life will go on. I trust that more and more people will think in such a way, applying increasing efforts to advance a unified human consciousness until it will eventually all click into place.
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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “World Kabbalah Convention, January 2024”
World Kabbalah Convention, January 2024
We have just finished our World Kabbalah Convention with Kabbalah students attending from all around the world. Everything we did—the study, the meals, the social discussions and the songs—was aimed at a heart-to-heart connection to reach a whole prayer.
It was truly the first convention of its kind in its profound internality. It was something indeed very special, and it now serves as an example for the future.
Around the world, students connected virtually from dozens of countries, and in some cases, students traveled long distances to gather physically in mirror conventions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Florida, Toronto, Guadalajara, Sao Paulo, Santiago, Togo, Barcelona, Dordrecht, Vilnius, Minsk, Tbilisi, Kyiv, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Crimea, Vladivostok, Baku, Budišov, Astana and Almaty.
In Israel, over 1,600 students gathered in our center from all over the country, including many evacuees from the north and the south, as well as many with sons and daughters serving in the army. Along with the difficult states we are experiencing in Israel and around the world, the heartfelt connection we established at this convention was sure to bring great contentment and joy to the Creator. I hope that we continue turning to the Creator, and that we will continue supporting and encouraging each other to positively connect and continue bringing the Creator contentment.
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Question: If we perform all the external work, what about the internal work that helps us cling to the degree of a righteous person, and what actions will lead to ascent?
Answer: Clinging to a righteous person can only be achieved by fulfilling his wishes, i.e., studying and coming closer to friends. Everything we learn is the desire of a righteous person. And if, to some extent, it becomes the desire of the student, then the student is considered to be coming close to the righteous person.
Therefore, we can merge with the Creator only by creating closeness between us and the Creator over all the circumstances that He sends us.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/16/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Why We Need to Extend Hochma”
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I have set My bow in the cloud.” Only from that are the upper Mochin extended, as then they appear from the incorporation of the right in the left (Rashbi, Zohar for All “The Flower Buds”).
We are talking about the forces that exist in order to develop a person. Gradually they begin to influence and develop him.
Question: What is usually meant by the word “rainbow”? What is this term?
Answer: The seven colors of the rainbow cover all the lights, starting with Hesed and ending with Malchut, Hesed, Gevurah, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod, and Malchut. This means that all these forces work for a person in order to control him and bring him closer to the equivalence with the Creator.
Question: Is a rainbow a good sign?
Answer: No, in religion it is considered a bad sign. In Kabbalah, the rainbow refers to the successive actions that the Creator performs on his creations.
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From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 1/7/24
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Question: We are in the state of a child who eats bread and does not understand where this bread comes from. What is the similarity to the Creator here?
Answer: By eating bread, we gradually begin to attain its roots. This is called attaining the Creator. This is how we grow.
Question: How can we achieve the state of eating bread?
Answer: This does not depend on us, but only on our spiritual roots, because those who are drawn to the study of Kabbalah have one common spiritual beginning—for men, for women, for everyone. Therefore, we were assembled in one group and given the opportunity to be connected with each other, to get to know each other better, and move toward the goal together.
Question: But a child who eats only receives. What is his bestowal?
Answer: We are also receiving in the meantime.
Question: But how can we bestow?
Answer: We are trying to bestow by the fact that we want to connect and get closer to the Creator. It is as if we are extending our common Kli to Him. And when it becomes similar to what the Creator wants to give us, then we will be able to be in contact with each other and with the Creator and discover the upper world for ourselves. We are already on the way toward it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah lesson 1/12/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Two Discernments in Attainment”
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Question: You say that the whole force of the Creator is peace. At the same time, the left line is created by Him for the development of creation. So why should we fight against it and correct it?
Answer: We need to correct its use. We do not destroy anything but only find the right balance between the right and left lines.
Question: Does it mean that both lines must somehow agree with each other and come to the Creator, to the middle line?
Answer: Exactly when they negotiate and will agree, this will be the appearance of the middle line. It does not exist. It appears only when both lines are connected.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/24, Writings of Rabash “What Does It Mean that the Ladder Is Diagonal, in the Work?”
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Question: What does it mean that I am restrict myself and want to start working in the right line?
Answer: It means that you stop doing something with the desire to receive and develop only intentions and desires to bestow.
Question: How do I begin to reintroduce the left line considering that the desire is still under restriction?
Answer: Gradually the light will come closer and give you more strength to work with your desires. In this way, you can gain control over the left line.
Question: What does it mean that on one hand the desire to receive is under restriction, and on the other hand, I can still use it for something?
Answer: It depends on the purpose. The key is not in using the desire, but in the intention,: for what purpose you want to use it.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/24, Writings of Rabash “What Does It Mean that the Ladder Is Diagonal, in the Work?”
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Malchut has no more than a dot, a black dot that has no white in it.
If one accepts that dot as the core, and not as something superfluous that one wishes to be rid of, but moreover, he accepts it as adornment, it is called “a handsome abode in one’s heart” (Baal HaSulam, Shamati 127, “The Difference between Core, Self, and Added Abundance”).
We must see in the black dot the place of connection with the Creator. We receive it as holy, as white, but we see it as black because we perceive it in our egoistic desires.
Question: Is the state of merging with the Creator always derived from the black dot?
Answer: There cannot be a state completely filled with light. There must always be black dots. But we should not fear them; we must understand how to work with them. Thanks to these black dots, we can illuminate them with light in the group and progress along them until complete correction.
If we relate to the black state as benevolent because it comes from the Creator, everything will be fine.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/9/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Difference between Core, Self, and Added Abundance”
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Question: Does how a person goes through a descent affect the final result?
Answer: Almost not at all. The main thing is to pass through the descent quickly and rush to new ascents.
Question: When there is no feeling of descent, does it mean there are no ascents or that not enough work is being done?
Answer: If a person does not feel descent, this is a sign that he is not investing enough in his studies and connection with his friends.
Question: You once said that when we are in a strong connection, we can ask the Creator for something big. Can we demand precisely such a connection from the Creator?
Answer: You can. You can demand everything from the Creator.
Question: How do we turn a descent into an ascent so that darkness shines like light?
Answer: If we apply a descent to the present state, it increases the light.
Question: When a person is in an ascent, he forgets that there is a descent and it is necessary to preserve this Kli. How do we keep it precisely in the state of ascent?
Answer: While in the ascent, a person can save his state only if he checks himself and sees that there is a state even higher than this.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/20/24, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Time of Descent”
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