Comment: Please comment on a verse by the ancient Persian poet Sa’adi. It is written in gold letters and adorns the pediment of the building of the UN headquarters in New York.

Sa’adi writes:

           All human beings are members of one frame,
          Since all, at first, from the same essence came.
          When time afflicts a limb with pain,
          The other limbs cannot at rest remain.
          If thou feel not for other’s misery,
          A human being is no name for thee.

It feels like he was a Kabbalist too.

My Response: Did you and I together visit a Sufi in England?

Comment: He made a serious impression then. Do you mean that he is an Iranian Sufi after all?

My Response: Yes.

Question: “All human beings are members of one frame,” what does this mean?

Answer: One frame is one person.

Question: The entire world?

Answer: The entire world, yes.

Question: Is it all like the organs of one person?

Answer: The Creator created a man, one man, Adam. This is how it is in reality. What we see is our egoism that separates us.

Question: So, is it all, in fact, a lie? Is the truth that we are all connected?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then he writes: “Since all, at first, from the same essence came.” What does this mean? What kind of essence is this?

Answer: All was created from one single egoism. This is the essence.

Comment: That is, our nature is definitely the egoism of everyone.

“When time afflicts a limb with pain, The other limbs cannot at rest remain.”

My Response: Yes. Even if one part of our body is affected by egoism, our whole body, the whole person, is sick. This is like a cancer cell.

Comment: In fact, now the whole body is really affected.

My Response: Now all of humanity is affected. But this is good.

Question: What is good about it?

Answer: The good thing is that this is very close to the complete recognition of egoism. That is, if we recognize that we are all affected by this, let’s say, cancerous tumor, then we will look for a cure for it.

Question: But, in fact, it is written that at least some small part. Does it mean that we are not talking about some kind of cure for one part? It does not seem to be possible.

Answer: No, no, we are talking about the cure of all of humanity.

Question: Does it mean that one part cannot be cured? Should this be the cure for all of humanity?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: Then he writes: “If thou feel not for other’s misery, A human being is no name for thee.”

My Response: Yes. If you do not feel the other’s misery, then you are not human.

Question: Do you perceive this directly?

Answer: Yes. People will see, recognize, and understand that you are like that.

Question: It does not look easy either. Today, the earth is covered with misery by and large.

Answer: Yes, but what is happening now is not the end! I can see by the “holy people,” as they say, how far they are from all this.

Question: But they should carry only one thing, by and large. This is why you call them the “holy people.” What should they carry?

Answer: That the Creator is one.

Question: Is this the message that we need to spread around the world?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/30/23

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For thousands of years nature has always been giving, but we have evolved as egoistic beings, constantly taking. And this is normal, as according to the program of nature, we were supposed to be like that and to develop egotistically.

It is like a growing child that you feed and give everything to, he develops egotistically, and you are pleased with that. And then he grows up, and suddenly you tell him: “That is it! Now go to work, pay for yourself, do everything for yourself, and take responsibility for yourself. And look, if you do something wrong, you will be punished.”

That is where we are today: we developed and developed like little children, and then we reached adulthood, the world has shrunk, become global, and integral, and it forces us to be adults. Being adults means being in the right connection with each other.

Just as an adult at the age of 20 to 25 begins to work, build himself, his home, and connect with the world as a doer, now humanity has similarly reached the age when it has become an adult.

We are being shown our place of work now. We must connect with each other and build a new society that is not like it was before.

Previously, we egoistically grew for thousands of years, and now we must connect with each other according to the law of mutual guarantee, mutual responsibility, and mutual concessions. You do not want to? You will receive blows from nature because you do not conform to it. This is where we are now; we are becoming adults.

I understand that we do not want this. Who does? When I am a child, there are no claims against me. When I misbehaved, broke something, or played around, I was treated like a child. But when I become an adult, it obligates me. But we do not realize this yet.

We are resistant to it and opposed to it; we want to play with some toys. I look at these supposedly strong, great, wise people of the world, and they are like children in a sandbox who do not want to crawl out of it even though they have already outgrown their age.

When you tell them this, they get offended and think you are an unrealistic person: “Look at this world! You can play in it as much as you want: stock market, money, cars, wine, movies! And what are you suggesting here? That is not what we want at all! Be responsible for something—why do we need that? We have enough small toys around us and need nothing more.”

This is a big problem. But still, we will have to get out of the sandbox.
[321428]
From KabTV’s “I got a call. Reasons for Cancer and AIDS” 10/29/11

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Question: The article “The Night of the Bride” talks about King David committing adultery with the wife of his military commander, Uriah. Why exactly did King David, a righteous man, perform such an act?

Answer: King David was truly an absolutely righteous man in everything. What is described in the Torah is interpreted by us from a corporeal point of view.

During the reign of King David, his friend Uriah, who led the regiment, was forced to go to war. After this, David began a relationship with his wife and thereby greatly harmed himself and others.

Many questions arise here. First, you cannot get involved with a married woman especially if you sent her husband to war.

It is further explained that, in fact, she was no longer Uriah’s wife because those who went off to war got divorced beforehand so that if they died, the divorced wives could remarry.

Question: What does “thou shalt not commit adultery” mean in spiritual work?

Answer: Those are very difficult things when a person is left alone with his thoughts, feelings, and decisions.

From a spiritual point of view, a man’s wife is his will to receive, i.e., his intention for his own sake. The prohibition of having a relationship with the wife of another means that you cannot use the desire of your neighbor for your own sake.
[321413]
From KabTV’s “Introduction to The Book of Zohar” 11/12/23

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Question: The spies and the 70 nations of the world are opposed to the spiritual path in different ways. The nations of the world do not want to go in this direction at all. What about the spies?

Answer: The spies seem to want to, but they are afraid, dissuade others, and use all sorts of techniques in order to lead them off the right path.

Question: How can the spies try to lead me away from the goal? Are they foreign thoughts or intentions for my own sake?

Answer: They are not entirely foreign thoughts. Spies use your interest in the spiritual path and try to fit it into actions that lead you away from the goal: “You want to go toward this goal, but go to a different one, and there you will find what you want.”

A person must discover this in himself. It is not that easy to do, but it is not hard either.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah lesson 12/4/23, Writings of Rabash “The Spies“

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The root of all the sins is the will to receive in order to receive, which is what a person receives from the Creator, meaning from His domain, and lets everything into his own domain, which is called “theft.” That is, he extracts from the domain of the Creator, and he takes the pleasures from the Creator’s domain into his own. It follows that he is not regarded as a thief but as a robber, for although the Creator sees him taking, his will to receive is so strong that he cannot resist it, which is why he is considered a robber and not a thief (Rabash. Article No. 20, 1986. Should One Sin and Be Guilty).

Question: How can we resist a thief and a robber? What is the difference?

Answer: We can only catch the thief and take from him what was stolen. How does one do this? We still have to learn this.

However, we have to catch the robber in order to take the loot from him, scare him, and fight with him because he wants to take everything. He already has a clearer understanding of what we are taking from him or what he has stolen from us.

Question: What helps in the war with myself when I realize that I am a robber?

Answer: Only connection with the friends; there is nothing else. From there, you will receive an answer for any state.
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From the Daily Kabbalah lesson 11/30/23, Writings of Rabash “Should One Sin and Be Guilty“

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Question: How beneficial is it for my ten if I feel that my friends have been working in Lishma for a long time and only I am in Lo Lishma?

Answer: This is not right. You should treat them as standing on a higher degree than you but not perceive them as being in Lishma because this will confuse you on the spiritual path.

Question: When a ten is rewarded with raising MAN for the sake of the Creator and receives the force of bestowal, where should it direct this force correctly?

Answer: If you have the force, you should use it only to connect friends and share it with everyone in the ten.

Question: How does the Creator decide who to reward with Lishma and who not?

Answer: Are you asking me? Ask the Creator.

Question: Of all the feelings that we have, what is the most valuable quality to accurately focus on for a gradual transition from Lo Lishma to Lishma?

Answer: Love.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/4/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “From Lo Lishma, We Come to Lishma“

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went Into Exile”

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Preparation to the Lesson

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Audio: Play Now | Download

1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “The Creator and Israel Went into Exile”

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Selected Highlights

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Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “As a Humanity, We Look Like    Playing in a Sandbox with Toys and Dolls”

Throughout human development, nature has always been giving while we have evolved egoistically, taking for ourselves. This is normal, since per nature’s plan, our evolution was meant to be self-centered for a certain period of time.

It is similar to children who grow up by taking what their parents provide. They are content with it. As the children mature, then the parents’ attitude changes toward them: “That’s it, you’re on your own now. Work, take charge of your life and face the consequences for any mistakes you make.”

We have grown up like children over millennia, but today’s world has undergone a significant shift in relation to us. Today’s world has become globally interconnected and interdependent, and it likewise demands adult-like behavior from us, i.e., that our attitudes to each other harmoniously adapt to the global interconnectedness and interdependence. Much like a person aged 20 to 25 starting to work, build a life and engage with the world on a new level, humanity has now entered adulthood.

While our nature is egoistic, prioritizing self-benefit over benefiting others and nature, we have reached a stage where we need to become independent from this nature—to choose to rise above it and construct a new society built on positive connections that we establish above our inborn egoistic ones.

We have selfishly evolved over thousands of years and today we need to connect on a new foundation, by exercising mutual support, responsibility and consideration in our relations. If we remain unwilling to adjust our attitudes according to nature’s new demands for us, then we will face the consequences: myriad forms of suffering entering our lives on personal, social, global and ecological scales.

We have transitioned into adulthood, but we resist this transition. As children, we had no obligations, but as adults, we face the burden of taking responsibility for our lives. However, we still wish to cling to the toys and games of our childhood, and make no progress in upgrading our attitudes to each other. It actually looks quite disturbing, as if we are adults still sitting in a sandbox, playing with toy trucks and dolls.

Also, it is not limited to ordinary folk; the world’s leading and esteemed figures are just as reluctant to outgrow this phase. They claim that there is enough to play with—stocks, money, cars, wine and movies, to name a few: “Why bother with mutual responsibility when we have enough toys to play with?”

This is a major problem. Due to our unwillingness to upgrade our attitudes to each other in order to match today’s new globally interconnected and interdependent conditions, we endure many blows that we would otherwise be able to alleviate. As we continue avoiding this transition, increasing suffering will act as a constant reminder that we will have to eventually get out of the sandbox. It is my hope that we manage to do so sooner rather than later.
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