Entries in the 'Dissemination' Category

If We Only Knew How Much We Gain

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What benefits do I get when I contribute to the dissemination of knowledge of Kabbalah in the world? What rewards do I get from the Creator when I tell the whole world that we need to achieve adhesion with the Creator?

Answer: There is only one soul that broke and fell into many pieces. And now each part, each of us, restores its part of the whole vessel of the soul. I put together the entire vessel according to my properties, you organize and put it together according to your properties, she does it according to hers, etc.

So, it’s important to bring a lot of people in this world to study and to correction. For instance, I was able to bring 50 people to study Kabbalah with Rabash.

We are one integral soul where everyone is included in each other and every one contains parts of all the others. Obviously, what is good for me is awakening some fragments of the soul lifelessly lying on the floor.

I wake them, ignite them, revive them, and convince them that it is worth studying and striving towards the goal, and they then start to do something. Thus, I awaken others, and they make a correction for me!

It’s not that I’m doing them a favor by pushing them to the correction, to the purpose of creation and the Creator. On the contrary, by prompting others, I persuade them to perform work for me, since they correct my soul.

Suppose I come to a convention and teach you. Believe me, I gain a lot, more than all of you, to the extent that I pass knowledge on to you and an awakening. I awake you and you begin to correct yourselves, but, in fact, you are correcting my soul.

We do not understand this and therefore neglect dissemination. It seems to us that no matter how many people know about Kabbalah, we aren’t personally affected. Internally, I possess such properties that I can never correct directly, but only through someone in a roundabout way.

If the group is awake and affects me by inspiring me with the greatness of the Creator and the spiritual goal, then I awake and start working while being fueled by friends.

I take a student and begin to teach him, and while studying, he corrects my soul. If we had only known how much a person benefits from dissemination, everyone would have rushed excitedly to the group to disseminate. It’s like opening a factory where your employees work for you. Students correct the teacher’s soul.
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From the Congress In Verona “Day Two” 11.22.14, Lesson 4

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Time To Justify What Was Received In Advance

laitman_750_03Question: All countries are mainly blaming Israel for its attitude toward the Palestinians. In the last years, all anti-Semitism concentrates around this subject. So what can be the answer to all these accusations?

Answer: The Palestinians are only the exterior reason for anti-Semitism. In the past years, the reasons change, but the hatred towards the Jewish nation remains and even widens. But in order to justify it, different reasons are found.

Therefore, on all the claims of the anti-Semites I simply answer, that they are definitely right! That I agree with them and am willing to repeat all of it, word by word.

Question: Is it possible that first of all we should change our policy toward the Palestinians?

Answer: It will not change anything. We are already doing for them everything possible. But is anyone paying attention to it?

Comment: The Palestinians are blaming us that we conquered their land?

Answer: Do you think that they will calm down after we would return their land? Until we will not disappear from the area, they will not leave us. Never! And also if you will want to leave, don’t think that you will find anyplace in the big world.

Question: So what, we simply have to ignore their demands?

Answer: We simply need to know the laws of the world and work according to these laws. The law in the world says, that we must bring the Reforming Light to the world, the world has already arrived at the state of the “days of the Messiah,” and we need to transfer to them the Light that will pull them to the Creator.

Question: But the whole world has claims against the state of Israel.

Answer: Actually, the world demands that we will realize the role that was given to us. And if we supply them with the corporeal demands, we will not satisfy anyone. Maybe only if all the people would leave the territories, the Palestinians would be satisfied.  But this is impossible, because the disappearing of the nation of Israel is against the plan of creation.

This hatred will not disappear; we will not be able to arrange anything if we will not perform our mission. We see that it is impossible to come to compromise with the Arabs through concessions. Once Israel gave them approval to return from Libya to an area of Palestinian autonomy, gave them an additional area, and another one. But nothing helps, because all the concessions do not bring us close to peace and do not improve our situation on this land.

Only one thing can help—to tell the whole world the truth, to explain that we returned to our land in order to bring Light to all the nations. We have no right to be here, because in the meantime, this place is not called “the land of Israel.” And also the people that live here are not considered, in the meantime, the nation of Israel, but rather, a “collection of the exiles.”

The nation of Israel and the land of Israel are spiritual concepts. In a genetic aspect, the nation of Israel does not exist in nature. Otherwise, how is it possible to explain that every Frenchmen can willingly convert and become a Jew, (Yechudi from the word “Yichud” – Unity), to be Israel, which means to be Yasher El, directed straight to the Creator. And this will not be a lie, or forgery, but it is truly like that, because “Israel,” “the nation of Israel,” and the “land of Israel” are spiritual concepts. But, as of today, the people of Israel do not fit this concept; therefore, Baal HaSulam writes that we received an opportunity to return to the land of Israel as before.

Therefore, the Palestinians are right, this land and this place do not belong to us. But we purposely came here in order to establish a nation of Israel in the land of Israel. Because only in this form can we bring Light to the world. This is exactly what the Palestinians and the rest of the nation demand from us. And we can provide this Light only while we live here, while we live here in Israel and not somewhere else.

Precisely for this reason we are here! Therefore we request everyone to take time out in order to finish this work. We will attract the Reforming Light and everyone will feel better. The world will rise to a state of adhesion with the Creator, and He will be revealed.

We have to explain all that, and then we will see how it acts on the people.

Question: It seems that the main thing is to attract the Light, and it is possible to continue to keep the territories and build settlements on it?

Answer: There will be no territories and no settlers, because this place will belong to everyone. And you will see that the Arabs will let us do everything we want in the territories because we will provide them the Light of life, the fulfillment.

It is written that in the end of days the nations of the world will carry the nation of Israel on their shoulders and will bring them to Jerusalem. They will bring us directly to the Temple Mount and will say: “Take everything!”
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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The Cost Of A Kilogram Of Pleasure

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the Talmud Babyli Berachot, it is written: Go and make a living from one another. And as human beings we make a living from one another. Yet very rapidly our profit will be in discovering the unique pleasure of the connection between us.

Warmth, concern, and admiration give us a feeling of going outside of ourselves to such a level of connection that is independent of the body. We create a place where we feel tranquillity and pleasure, a dimension in which everyone is found in a general atmosphere of warmth and goodness. A person will feel that he is living with desire and fulfillments that are disconnected from the body.

The tendency towards drugs, the attraction to rioting and revolution, the attempts to relax through medicines to silence the emptiness inside, all testify that we must find a new tool, a new desire and new senses for true pleasure.

Nature pushes us relentlessly towards a kind of global connection. We see what impressions are created with people in discussion circles and connection games and how they love to play together like children, to sing and dance. Adults, educated and level-headed, are ready to behave like little children. And the need for these simple pleasures continues until the end of life.

There is an additional step to this that is still hidden, and a person yearns for it subconsciously. This is to break away from living only on the level of an animal. We have already reached a state where we are ready to provide ourselves with the necessary standard of living required for our corporeal lives.

But our ego, our distortion, prevents us from doing this. And in the meantime, the need for the next level of development, the level of Adam, is becoming clearer in people. The central role in this belongs to the media.

The means of communication today have already reached dimensions that make it possible to be closely involved with the analysis and study of the paths of future development in humanity. It is not enough to provide facts about them, nor is it enough to just stay in one place like today; rather, people must be attracted to a new form of pleasure.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/10/13

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We Have Branded You, And We’ll Help You

Laitman_079_02Question: How could a sense of discrimination, disadvantage, which nations experience in connection with the Jews, be dealt with?

Answer: If we, the Jewish people, begin to unite for the benefit of the world, none of them will feel slighted.

It is said in the Prophets that the nations of the world would carry the sons of Israel on their shoulders and take them to the Temple, i.e., to the ideal state. How can we understand this? Are we going to sit proudly on someone’s shoulders?

Of course not. We are talking about a special partnership. The essence is that only they are able to give us strength, and we have to give them a purpose. We ourselves, in terms of the wisdom of Kabbalah, are a vessel of bestowal, Galgalta ve Eynaim, and are lacking strength. The people of Israel are small and weak. However, it has the idea, message, vision of the goal, in other words, the properties of the head, the force of the discerning mind, but not the implementation. To implement the body: arms, legs, muscles, etc. are required.

This is the “division of labor” between the people of Israel and the nations of the world. These two parts cannot function without each other, and the head really should be on the shoulders. Receiving commands from the head, the body goes towards the correct goal, to the Temple, and carries the head.

Thus, there are no “white-collar” and “laborers,” but there is one whole, two parts, working together, each in its place. As we know, in the integral system, in a single body with interconnected pieces, all the cells are equally important, no matter where they are located.

After all, perfection cannot be flawed one iota, and thus, any piece, any fragment, plays a crucial role; and the final result is shown only in community, rather than individually.

Only during the correction, the elements vary according to the importance with respect to the current moment; however, having completed an integral system, everyone becomes equal. Thus, no one feels slighted.

We can bring an example of several of our friends from different countries, who once were members of anti-Semitic organizations, but now adhere to us.

In other words, everything depends on us. In all the claims and slanders, the same message is “hidden:” “The Jewish people are guilty of what is happening!” In fact, they urge us to restore order.

This is the way their collective force from the level of integral perfection makes them act, so that they pressure us from all sides, all the way to the end. There is nothing superfluous; everything is calculated within the system. And if we properly respond to the attacks, then, first of all, we will immediately turn accusers into helpers.

For example, no matter how ardent an anti-Semite Henry Ford was, at the same time, he wrote that Israel had to lead the world towards perfection. He was aware of the potential inherent in us. The greatest anti-Semites understood our purpose, which we are not really conscious of.

Once we get to work, with all our heart strive for perfection in order to give it to the nations of the world, their attitude will change. Moreover, precisely their perfection will bring the general system to the final correction.

Therefore, we will immediately feel their support. Suddenly, it will turn out that they are dedicated to us with their heart and soul, to the extent that we ourselves are not able to. In fact, it is the “head,” the mind, that prevents us, which constantly identifies and clarifies new paths for the system. On the contrary, they will cling to us strongly, based on “feeling.”

It turns out that the real work we need to do is not among Israeli Arabs, but in our own environment.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 11/13/14

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Transitioning To An Altruistic World Order

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do you see the transition to an altruistic new world order?

Answer: On its own, the world cannot smoothly reach a state in which it would begin to reduce the production of commodities, consumption, and services to reasonable limits, for then the economy would simply die. People would not know what to do and they would rebel.

So, capitalism will need to artificially maintain the employment of people and find something to keep them busy with. In spite of it all, this would be a big problem. There would be rebellions, demonstrations, civil wars, and even world wars, until humanity came to the decision that it must be educated anew to reach a new world order in which we would manufacture only what is necessary, and people who are freed from work would be involved in integral education. Or, it is possible to say it this way: All the rest will be involved with spiritual work according to the general rule, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah recommends not waiting until suffering forces a person to think and reach an understanding that he needs a new education and to do something about himself. The wisdom of Kabbalah offers a scientific way to reach this state now, meaning to understand that the future of humanity is still only in the moderate, rational consumption of everything that a person needs for a normal existence.

All the rest of his resources and possibilities must be directed toward creating a single society in which the Creator will be revealed because, from the start, he exists in this world only for this purpose.

We must be able to show and tell everyone that there is no other way and this is what the wisdom of Kabbalah offers. We are now faced with a choice of which way: in the natural way, in the way of in its time, which is the way of terrible blows until we become smarter, or to go in the right and intelligent way, consciously, which is what the wisdom of Kabbalah offers. With this, we re-educate ourselves not by force but by beginning to change our world, meaning by gradually reducing its consumption and production accordingly and by arranging for equal distribution to everyone accordingly, and so on.

There is no smooth, egoistic way toward this state since the egoistic way is directed toward excessive manufacturing. In this manner, it contradicts our call to provide rational quantities of food, products, and services.
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According To The Order Of The Day

laitman_214Question: We have given all of our power and invested all of our soul in correction of the world, but it is clear that it is impossible to do anything as long as the Upper Light doesn’t come and help us. We have done such great work in Israel, but until now we haven’t succeeded in making even a pinhole in opening channels of communication between us. What else can help if not prayer?

Answer: First of all, we must feel responsible for everything that is happening, meaning to recognize that the state and correction of the world depend upon us. Then things will move. The problem is that we are impermeable to everything that is happening; we don’t understand and don’t feel that we are at the center of all the problems.

These are not just nice words and self-criticism. Really, we only must declare this: We are the ones who have the method for correction, the explanations, an organization, and a system.

If we don’t realize this in ourselves, we will not be prepared to begin a returning wave to extinguish the pressure and the hatred, and then we will have no right to exist. In such a case, we are wasting our powers and resources for nothing. If we cannot activate ourselves correctly, there is no justice in this.

Question: Where is it better to conduct dissemination so that our efforts will be most useful: among Israeli Jews or Arabs?

Answer: Since there is no time to waste, we must work only among the Israeli public, with those who have free choice to join us, the desires of the Galgalta ve Eynaim (Keter and Hochma).

Question: We are talking about the people of Israel, but all of our friends in our great, world Kabbalistic group also belong to “Israel” in the spiritual sense. How can we work together, in partnership?

Answer: Try to raise a common prayer, organize workshops, and widespread dissemination activities as much as possible in all the nations of the world, especially among the Jews. We are obliged to carry out actions to raise awareness with full force.

If we disseminate with all our strength, then all the rest will come from Above. This is the order of the day. We are already ready for it. How many times is it possible to read the same articles? The time has arrived to begin to turn the negative trend into a positive and correct one.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Bring Light To The World

laitman_568_01Question: We have a problem in phrasing the role of the Israeli nation correctly. It says that we should be “light unto the nations,” but what does that mean?

Answer: “Light unto the nations” doesn’t refer to scientific achievements. Baal HaSulam says that in that sense we are the students of the nations, they developed science and we have only joined in the process.

This isn’t what is expected of us. Has anyone ever thanked us for our Nobel Prizes or for our scientific discoveries? No one will thank us or really appreciate it, but will only attribute malicious intentions to us. The nations of the world don’t appreciate anything that we have contributed to humanity, except for the Light that Reforms. They don’t relate to anything but it.

You want recognition: “Look at what we have given the world, what medicines we have developed or what technologies we have invented…” “So what? Very nice. We will come to your hospitals for treatment.” They don’t respond internally to the fact that we seem to be doing them a favor, helping and caring for them. We even treat our enemies, but no one feels that he owes us anything. We expect a positive attitude in return, but the nations don’t feel any need for it.

It isn’t because they are ungrateful. The point is that we have to give them something that is totally different. In everything else that we give them it is as if we are repaying a debt instead of actually giving them something.

We can lower taxes to the Arab sector, or buy off our “cousins” in different bonuses and pave all of East Jerusalem with gold, but it wouldn’t be gifts for them. This is the mistake the government is making, thinking that this is how we will enlists the support of the Arabs. It is wrong.

The Arabs demand from us something that is totally different, and they don’t need anything but it. This is how a person feels according to the root of his soul: He has to receive the Light that Reforms from us, and we, on the other hand, turn off the tap and suffocate him.

For everything else, for their good life in the raging Middle East, they will never thank us. I repeat, we cannot blame them for being ungrateful. Our gifts are simply not what we really should give them. They receive it as something that we owe them as if repaying a debt.

We have to really clarify this matter. Many have offered to give them more, so that they would appreciate the benefits in the connection with us…no way!! Unless we give them the Light that Reforms their attitude towards us will not change at all.

The same goes for the whole world. It makes no difference what excuses we have and what we say about our contribution, the world doesn’t need it. People don’t see it as a good thing at all. We have to provide the world with something that is totally different and so we have to worry about that and do it: give the world the Light that Reforms.

When I read the papers and see the general approach of our domestic policy, I see that it is totally distorted from the top down. It is all a lie and people don’t understand what is going on.

Don’t give the Arabs anything but the Light that Reforms and you will see the results. Then they will not deceive or cheat us and will not play a dirty game. It is because we will oblige them by the Light, and there will be nothing to fear anymore. Give them the Light and they are yours, not only as “cousins” but as actual brothers. Open the borders, bring down the barriers, feel free, and you will see how they look up to you. But we are doing the exact opposite…

Baal HaSulam writes about this in the “The Last Generation“: Jews should present before the gentiles a novelty in the wisdom of religion, in justice and in peace. In that most gentiles are our disciples and this wisdom is attributed to us alone.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Gathering The Roses Among Thorns

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is said that the people of Israel went into exile in order to attach the souls of the world to itself. This means that there are many spiritual sparks that we need to find and attach to ourselves. This happens at the time when Israel is among the other nations.

Being in exile does not refer to a physical presence in a foreign place, but a fall from the degree of bestowal and love. However, illumination passes through Israel to the souls of the nations of the world, which begins to awaken the sparks, the souls for whom it is time to join the desires of Galgalta ve Eynaim and become Israel (aspiring to straight to the Creator).

They join Israel not from the very beginning, nor from the time when Abraham began to gather this people in Babylon, but later, and in other generations. But during this process, there is scrutiny and choice of suitable desires, for the sake of which the people of Israel went into exile.

The exile did not happen because the people of Israel needed to be corrected. On the contrary, Israel so corrected itself, that at the time of exile, it was capable of connecting additional desires, the spiritual genes that are between egoistic forces (Klipot).

It is necessary to treat all the representatives of other nations who today join Israel accordingly. This is our work-in-exile, and it could finish quickly. Everything depends on our work with the awakening souls. Therefore, special respect, love, and the desire to get closer to them is required.

Night, darkness, and exile is the time of work. At this time, there are certain concealments by which we can make contact with the sparks inside the egoistic forces. And by connecting them to us, we demand our collective ascent. But we want to rise just for them and not for ourselves.

If the people of Israel thus gives itself for the correction of the world, then the exile is over. Indeed, by this we realize our true destiny. We are merely the means that is designed to draw all the desires suitable for correction from the depths of egoism. Israel is an adapter, a guide, ready to descend into the sea of the impure forces to pull out spiritual sparks.

Thus, it is so important to disseminate and work with all of our groups around the world, all the friends. It is called the work in darkness, in exile.

Rabbi Chaim Vital writes concerning this in his book The Eight Gates of Kitvei HaAri. What is the reason for the exile of the people of Israel among the nations? The fact is that Adam HaRishon included all the souls and all the worlds. And after his transgressions, these souls fell into the egoistic forces and divided into 70 nations. Therefore, Israel is needed to reveal these forces within each nation and gather all the roses of holy souls scattered among the thorns. The sages said that Israel went into exile only to connect the souls of the peoples of the world to itself.

This proves that the work we do in dissemination is the most correct, and we need to invest even more strength of effort into it. We must treat every person who wants to join us, such as those who are now at the European Convention in Verona, as strong participants, which are very necessary to do the work of the Creator.

Indeed, for the sake of these souls, Israel goes through a long and terrible exile. All this is in order to spread a little Light among these souls, get closer to them, and to be able to rise from the darkness together.

Israel plunges into egoistic desires (Klipot) and pulls out the spiritual sparks. But at the same time, Israel is only an intermediary, and in reality, the Creator needs the souls of other nations. After all, they are the real vessels in which then the Light of Hochma clothes.

Israel belongs only to Galgalta ve Eynaim, the desires to bestow. Our function is bestowal for the sake of bestowal, providing other nations with the strength by which they will be able to receive the Light in order to bestow.

Therefore, night and day, exile and liberation, are relative concepts. It all depends on how a person perceives them, since night and exile are not necessarily bad times. It is such periods that were originally planned in the process we are going through and we must use them for our work.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/13/14, Shamati #16

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Reaching Heaven

Dr. Michael LaitmanAt the time the people of Israel left Babylon, there were two tendencies. Since then these two tendencies, two worlds, have existed one within the other. The Jewish people were mixed with humanity, and at the same time, they did not dissolve into it. They were scattered, yet they couldn’t disappear; for at their source, they are a completely different society that is connected and linked with each other in another way.

These two tendencies cannot intermingle. The Jewish people and the other peoples have such different natural, spiritual sources that a very clear and tangible separation has existed and still exists between them. This is impossible to describe and understand.

There was a time that Babylon, the cradle of humanity, was like a family. Then a great eruption of ego occurred and King Nimrod came into power. Babylon, in a fundamental way, became the capital for all the advancement of those times: mysticism, the occult, and so on.

Babylon was really at the center of humanity. And in this center a small point was created. This was a Babylonian priest by the name of Abraham, his father Terah, and his grandfather Nahor. They were great masters of wisdom, were learned men, astrologers, and scientists. They were a very educated family for those times.

And so suddenly in Babylon problems and differences of opinion suddenly broke out. The eruption of ego separated people and caused fights, conflicts, struggles between brothers, and other problems that hadn’t existed in the past. A need was discovered for courts, lawyers, guards, police, etc.. In fact, capitalist principles suddenly began to materialize.

The family of Abraham actively participated in this because it was essentially involved in ideological work with the population.

And so the Babylonians reached a situation where they decided to build the Tower of Babel, meaning that allegorically, it reached the heavens. Their arrogance grew in such dimensions that their power, I would say, their audacity and boldness exploded so much that they wanted to reach the stars.

Abraham began to investigate the subject because this subject touched him directly. I think that he began his investigation for absolutely egoistic reasons. After all, if people wanted to reach the stars, this threatened his profession, wealth, power, and authority.

Question: So in the beginning Abraham decided to go in a simple scientific path?

Answer: He had to solve this problem. People first turned to him for advice regarding simple daily problems: Should they water the fields or not, should they go fishing or wait, whom should they marry? They asked things like that. But people became so egoistic, so immersed in narcissism, and so sure of themselves, that it was as if they stopped feeling a need for him.

Abraham felt that they avoided him, and this situation threatened his future.

Understandably, I am exaggerating a bit, but in principle, it must be noted that in the beginning he was a regular egoist. He made statues of idols and sold them profititably to the community that worshipped them. In the end, everyone profited from this, since the community received a feeling of security and Abraham received his profit.

And suddenly people stopped being satisfied with statues. They felt that they were above them. This was threatening to Abraham himself, his future, his profession, and his status. And so he began to investigate what happened.

It is necessary to say that in his heart, he was a true investigator. In other words, the truth was more important to him than his personal gain.

And so when he explored the nature of the phenomenon that he had encountered in the Babylonian environment, Abraham saw a very interesting tendency in the development of the ego. During this process, people began to neglect his idols, for their ego became like a god for them. And accordingly, the fulfillment, the desire, and the glorification of the ego replaced all the other cults.

In the modern era, we see the same processes throughout the world. Why do people move away from religion? It is because the ego has grown in them. “What do I have with a divinity that is sitting who knows where if I have my own divinity: my ego, my self, that is more important to me than anything else?”

Until now, Jews and Christians have broken away from their religion in droves, and in the Muslim world, a struggle against fundamentalism is happening since they are also going through a process away that takes them from religion. As for the Indians, they also have the same struggle, but quietly and covertly. Their way is slightly different, but it is also leading towards the same goal.

There is nothing to do about it, since this is the universal way of development. Yet since every nation has a different purpose, it comes to be expressed in different ways.

In any case, the ego has become a new religion. This is just as it was in ancient Egypt when Pharaoh said: “Who is the Creator that I should listen to His voice? I myself am supreme.”

That is also what happened in ancient Babylon. When Abraham investigated this phenomenon, he discovered its essence: The ego grew to such dimensions that it became the central active image, the supreme power. Highest in the hierarchy of personal worship—for me there is nothing higher than my ego.

And so Abraham wondered: How in general is it possible to contend with this ego? “Suppose that he truly is the crown of creation, the supreme power of nature. In fact, from what I see, the impression is created that the human ego dominates everything. It destroys and builds; everything good and everything bad is done only by it, with its help, and for its sake. But if we go after it blindly, we will destroy everything and annihilate each other and all of civilization.”

This is what Abraham saw. And he was helped by King Nimrod who offered his own solution: separate and distanced from each other, to calm things down, and  scatter all over the shared space.

Nimrod was very clever. He understood that he could not do anything against what was happening by himself. So he worked for the sake of the separation process.

But Abraham looked forward: “Okay, we are dispersing. And what will happen then? After all, this is only half of the work. We truly must calm the Babylonians down who formerly lived as one family and became hateful to each other. But this only delays finding the solution, and from this aspect it doesn’t bring us closer to it at all.

“The true egoistic direction demands that, on the contrary, we cooperate and consolidate. It is true that the ego separates and incites us against one another where different interests conflict. But on the other hand, it connects us so that we can enjoy each other.”

So egoistic development is both, and within it exist opposite aspects. So everyone felt this, yet didn’t know how to use it.

“I know that I cannot get along without my neighbor. Yes, I need to stay away somewhat, to be distant from him where we disturb each other. I suppose that there is a river flowing between us now, or there is a staircase found between us. But on the other hand the neighbor produces something and I produce something, so we can help each other and, in spite of it all, we need to be connected for the sake of our egoistic fulfillment.”

Here the problem of how we correctly cooperate with each other is immediately revealed. The clearest example is the Europeans with their common market. When they were separate, they existed in a reasonable manner. Clearly, they were fighting all the time, but they existed. They wanted to connect and didn’t know how to do this. In other words, it was bad on one side and bad on the other and they didn’t know how to work with the ego.

But in fact, it is impossible to work with it. This problem was clear from the start. Both Abraham and Nimrod stood before the problem of how to transform the ego into a vital force.  How do I use my hatred towards others, my dependence on others, my desire to dominate others in a positive way? And accordingly, the same attitude exists from others towards me, which is the desire to dominate, hate, conquer, and so on. How does one bring all of this to common denominator?

After all, if we don’t solve the problem, we will be constantly immersed in disputes, annihilation, wars, etc. This is what we have seen up to today. People are already tired of all this.

Look at the modern world. From the start, there has always been unrest everywhere. Soon there won’t be any place that is calm. Latin America, China, and Japan will rise up again; everywhere there are the first signs of future wars.

How can we package our ego correctly? If this is a natural force, how can we use it correctly?

The correct use of the ego was Abraham’s discovery. Not one-sided, according to the principle of separation, nor according to the military principle of who will defeat whom, which leads to self-destruction, but a clear calculation: We require the ego so that from the hatred that typifies it, we will create the characteristics of love and mutual connection.

In conclusion, Abraham solved the problem of how to transform the ego. Without getting into philosophical, historical, technical, and psychological details that are inherent in the characteristics of nature and its laws, in general, this is Abraham’s legacy.

As a result of many years of investigation, Abraham succeeded in understanding this natural phenomenon, and after penetrating more and more deeply into the ego, there he found the higher power of nature.

He understood why it was necessary for humanity to pass specifically through this development so that a person will truly rise to the level of the Creator. And then it follows that the aspiration of civilization to build the Tower of Babel to the heavens was right, but it is necessary to build it specifically according to a supra-egoistic technology. The human ego, the construction material of the Tower of Babel, will constantly grow, but each one must stand above it. The little man stands above the pile, above the mountain that is constantly growing.

Abraham researched all the components that appeared, against their will, in that small humanity of Babylon. He used them according to their designation, and he discovered that in fact there is only one solution. And he realized this solution.

He realized it by gathering a group of his supporters, his students, that truly rose up to the heavens, meaning that they built a spiritual Tower of Babel above their ego. And as a result of this, they reached the highest point of nature, the characteristic of bestowal and love. They grew to this level.

In other words, Malchut, the egoistic foundation of humanity, reached the level of complete bestowal and love, the level of Bina.

To reach this, Abraham’s group had to leave Babylon and work for many years. Abraham lived around the year 1,700 BC, and built the correct Tower of Babel, in other words the First Temple attributed to the year 900 BC.

Generally, the concept of the Tower of Babel has passed through all of human history and humanity aspires to it subconsciously. Abraham, in the end, built it, and clearly in an absolutely different form than the Babylonians themselves imagined.
[145679]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 9/24/14

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The Rapid Growth Of The Ego In Society

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Psychologists claim that 20 to 30 percent of the people living in our society are categorized as mentally ill. They are not a special threat to society and are not harmful, and so they can live among us. What does this phenomenon mean?

Answer: We all know that people who need to concentrate in order to solve difficult problems or to perform dangerous missions undergo special training. They practice under special conditions and according to a special program. When they have carried out their mission, they are allowed to rest so that they can restore their powers and get back to normal life.

We, on the other hand, are in a constant race for survival all our life. A worrisome reaction sinks into our subconscious and penetrates different systems, is processed and kept in our memory. This relates to everything that comes from the environment and thus our natural systems cannot cope with such so many problems that continue to get deeper and wider in scope.

Comment: At the same time, we claim that the society is more developed and more cultured.

Answer: Our society has become worse and more egoistic. It is especially evident among children. In kindergarten children are already competitive. At the age of three or four they are as mentally developed as eight or nine-year-old children were in the past. If in the past a child needed the company of his peers at the age of six or seven, today kids play with each other at the age of two or three.

They already have social skills and habits and they begin to compete and to adopt the desires of others, not to mention what goes on in school. In the classrooms, there is the class queen and the class hero and those who are popular and those who are rejected. This didn’t exist 40 or 50 years ago when kids were much more naive.

Such phenomena are a result of the influence of television and the movie industry. It seems that kids today are used to it, but in fact they are under great internal emotional pressure and monstrous feelings, starting from kindergarten.

Question: What can we do about it?

Answer: Look at what psychologists do. They gather people in small groups so that the participants will mutually support one another. By this mutual effect, they establish a protective wall behind which they exist. People come like frightened animals and unite into a group by holding on to one another. Then they feel that they are safer

We establish a society that serves as a wall for everyone who is incorporated in it by holding lectures, workshops, and discussions at roundtables. In this society, we not only find protection, but also a positive influence.

Question: Our whole life seems to be an endless competition, a continuous chase, that we cannot escape. Can there be positive competitions and how can we fulfill this?

Answer: The ego pushes us to compete, but society is dependent on how we fulfill these competitions. We don’t need to destroy any natural inclination that we have. Compete with one another as to who helps others more, who loves, smiles, and makes others feel good. Everything depends on the ability of society to see certain values as higher than others. Competitive sports are also a good idea.

We have to think of how to fill these inclinations and not just let a person manage them by himself. The whole game industry can still be relevant, but in a healthy manner. The inclination to gamble and look for adventures is natural and stems from our animate level to hunt and bring home prey.

Therefore, we should allow people to compete with each other and to participate in games, but these should be beneficial games. This is the essence.
[147922]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/21/14

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