Timur writes: I have listened carefully several times to your explanations of what the Torah is. I realize that the Torah is instruction for correction. I realize that the serpent is in me, and it is always egging me on. I even feel that I cannot stop and therefore I spoil the relationship with my wife and friends even though I do not want to do that. My first question is: How do I crush this serpent?

Question:  He understands that it is his ego, his pride, that is spoiling his life. Can this serpent be crushed?

Answer: In general, a person himself can try to do this all his life and fail. Although a lot of people are doing this and want to be better, but it does not work out directly this way.

It will work only in one way; if we create an external environment, that is, a human society, that will put pressure on everyone, impose on everyone in the right way, in a good way, how to behave with each other, then it will work.

But so far, it has not worked anywhere. So, of course, everything is fine, but for some reason it always turns out very badly.

Comment: You just said this: it will not work individually if I just want to crush it in myself. You think this is doomed to fail. But if we want to sort this out, then you say that such an option is possible here.

My Response: “We” means the group, a society. Let’s try.

Question: Will it, this serpent, our egoism, be crushed? What will happen to it?

Answer: Such a “tapeworm” lives inside us.

Question: Will it keep living?

Answer: There is nothing we can do to it.

The only thing we can do is just agree among ourselves that we will all oppose it and thereby strangle it in ourselves.

Question: But not to death, you are saying?

Answer: No, it is impossible to strangle it to death. This is no longer our work. We just have to want it to quiet down so much that it kind of ceases to exist. So that it does not speak but huddles in a corner somewhere and stays there.

Question: Timur has a second question: “Is there something good about the serpent? After all, I know that in our world snake venom is used as medicine.”

Answer: There is a lot of good in the serpent and, in principle, there is nothing bad about it. Nothing! It is only to the extent that a person cannot fight his serpent that he discovers that the serpent is evil. But he detects this only in order to work with it correctly.

In general, the serpent is a creation of the Creator. It was created in order to correct a person and lead him to absolute goodness.

A person cannot fight the serpent; this is clear. But he can ask the Creator for this.

Question: How did humanity figure out that it is possible to use snake venom for medicine? This is some kind of reverse thought. Poison on one hand, on the other hand, medicine.

Answer: Any poison is a medicine. There is nothing bad or evil in the world. Nothing! Moreover, the venom of the snake, which seems at the first glance designed to kill everything, is precisely a great medicine.

Question: Timor’s third question is: “Is it possible to live in peace with the serpent?”

Answer: If we manage to control it, the serpent that is in us, that evil (envy, jealousy, hostility, and pride), then, of course, we will be able to use the whole serpent for good. It will be with us in an embrace, as with Adam and Eve.

Question: His fourth question is very interesting: “Why do we see the serpent in the Bible only at the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, and then nothing is said about it? After all, it exists. You said that it is in us until the very end.”

Answer: It is an eternal creature, an eternal being, an eternal nature, that will be with us all the time until we correct it at the end through our serious, long–term work.

Comment: But really, when reading the Torah (the Bible), we see that the word “serpent” ends there.

My Response: Yes, it is at the beginning, at the very beginning of the sin, at the foundation.

Question: But where is it later? Are all these, roughly speaking, evil heroes its personification?

Answer: Everything evil that happens in people and between people, all of this is the consequence of the serpent, called by other names, but this is it.

Question: Let’s finish about the serpent globally. The serpent, what is it?

Answer: It is not the serpent we imagine. It is what lives inside us and is our egoism that wants to exist only by itself, in spite of others, hates everyone and everything, and wants nothing but to rule over everyone.

This serpent is in us. There is no other serpent in principle. Its future lies in the fact that we will define it as the only evil inclination of the entire nature, which we must necessarily exterminate from ourselves.

Question: Exterminate, after all?

Answer: Yes. To exterminate it from ourselves means that we must understand where it is, in what form, and how we can deal with it. That is, the serpent is a purely spiritual substance.

Question: When you say “exterminate,” does it mean to conquer, put in a cage, or what?

Answer: Do whatever you want. Tie it into a knot and do not let it stick its head out of you.

Question: Recently you said that it is necessary to project warmth and love. When you say that we should approach each other with kindness and warmth, does it mean that we are going to conquer this serpent?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Will it at the same time become stronger?

Answer: After all, we must understand that the fight against the serpent is a work for all times until complete correction.
[319405]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/18/23

Related Material:
The Upper Wisdom of the Torah
The Serpent Is An Assistant In Achieving The Great Goal
The Serpent—The Driving Force Of Nature

Filed under: Egoism, Laitman Unplugged, News, Torah - No Comments →

To unfold world history along an axis, you would need to take approximately 200 axes in parallel, and on each of them draw what happened in 200 different regions of the world, and explain this by focusing on the progression of egoism, which transformed in such a way in these parts of the world, in the environment, and in the people themselves.

But to describe our entire history in this way, imagine it in myself, yet it is impossible to even begin to verbally express this entire huge picture. We need to take some fragments and describe them. But what for? We will not learn anything from them! We do not need this at all!

We now need only one thing—to understand that we are in a different world, in a different connection with each other, where all these regional and egotistically developing axes have united together into one circle, into one scheme and complete dependence on each other!

We have no idea what this system of complete mutual dependence is telling us—that we are unable to do anything! Not him, her, you, or me; nobody!

What can we do then? The only thing we must do is connect with each other, like this system, which is now manifesting itself before us and inside of us.

Connect with each other?! But can we?! No we cannot do it ourselves. We must only make attempts and then nature, which in the language of Kabbalah is called the reforming light, will begin to unite us. That is all it will do.

And everything else, no matter what we do, is completely in vain!

We must take care to feed ourselves. After all, we humans consist of an animalistic part (body, flesh and bones) and of our inner part, a spiritual part, which must be developed in connection with others.

Therefore, the animalistic part needs to be fed and properly taken care of for everyone. In this, we are absolutely equal. And in the spiritual part, we must connect with each other.

Today we have practically no other task and no other opportunity. This is it; that one-person, egoistic world is over!

We need to understand that the problem is in us; we must change ourselves to be like nature. Just as it is all interconnected, so must we enter into it consciously interconnected with all its other parts.

All previous history was the history of egoistic development. Now begins the story of our mutual development—mutual concessions, mutual support, and mutual attention, up to mutual love.
[318202]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The History of Human Development” 10/31/11

Related Material:
Learn to Live in a New World
The Real History of the World
The End of Egoistic Development

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization - No Comments →

In order to allow us to attain the essence of creation, its inner strength, which is the Creator, the creation first reveals its shattering to us. Then its elements begin to connect with each other: first atoms, molecules, simple organisms, then the male and female parts of creation.

In the end, the connection reaches not only the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, but also the human level, that is, connection based on characters, views, mutual connection, and the birth of common offspring.

In this way, we develop more and more until we realize the need for an increasingly internal connection between us, and then we discover our oppositeness, mutual hatred, and rejection. The more these forces grow within us, the more we develop within the contrast of these opposites.

This contradiction lies within each of us, opposite desires and problems, because of this we want to unite but cannot do so. This is how we follow the path of our development, connect into different groups, nations, countries, parties, and all kinds of associations, and in this form reach our time divided into nationalities, states, and families.

But now the time has come to go through a very special stage of development and discover that we must rise above all our differences. That is, the unity should no longer be on a corporeal level, but on a spiritual one. This is the call of the times we find ourselves in; it requires us to rise above all contradictions.

Let us hope that we can understand this requirement and implement it so that we can ultimately reach one commonality as one man.
[318337]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/26/23, Writing of Rabash “The Order of the Work, from Baal HaSulam”

Related Material:
Building Bridges In The Connection Between Us
The Need For Unity Is Drawing To A Head
Learn to Live in a New World

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Globalization, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: This WhatsApp quote went viral: “When TV entered my home, I forgot how to read books. When the car pulled up to my doorstep, I forgot how to walk. When I picked up my mobile phone, I forgot how to write letters. When the computer came to my house, I stopped valuing time. When the air conditioner came to my house, I stopped looking for a cool breeze under the trees. In dealing with banks and credit cards, I forgot the value of money. With the smell of perfume, I forgot the scent of fresh flowers. By always running, I forgot how to stop. And finally, when I got WhatsApp, I forgot how to talk and communicate with real people.”

Please tell me why all progress leads to this. After all, these are meant to achieve something different—to help a person out and make our life easier.

Answer: Progress doesn’t do anything by itself. It opens opportunities for us. But when we start using it, we use it egotistically for ourselves. And this is the result.

Comment: So you’re saying this technological progress could have been used differently?

Answer: It could not have been used differently. Our egoism would not have allowed us to do anything differently. Nothing! That is, reason is given to us in order to develop this technological progress, but then it all gets stolen by our egoism.

Question: Is this too done by the ego? This is some kind of a completely closed circle.

Answer: This is called “the recognition of evil.” We are led to the fact that these opportunities will grow and become endless. Eventually we will become their slaves.

Question: Is that why we like what was written? A lot is found on the Internet that makes us say “Indeed, this is true.” Do we like this quote because we understand that this is true, that this is how it is, that our lives have in fact been damaged?

Answer: Of course. This is a train that cannot be stopped. This is what we are faced with.

Question: Are we damaging ourselves?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is there a way to turn it around?

Answer: There is no way. Our egoistic nature will not allow it, will not permit it.

Question: So what is your conclusion? Should we stop technological progress, or do something about it?

Answer: We have to balance it with internal moral progress. Then everything will be fine.

Question: So should we be given weapons only to the extent we can use them?

Answer: To the extent we can use them for the good of everyone.

Question: Then one last vital question: why are we given weapons if we are unable to use them for the benefit of all?

Answer: To realize the evil of our nature and demand the opposite force, the good force. Then everything will be corrected.

Question: So you are saying that we will be given weapons of destruction, the most terrible and vile. Will we keep getting them and will we not be stopped until we stop ourselves?

Answer: Right.

Comment: This doesn’t sound too optimistic.

Answer: Everything is ahead of us.

Question: I see. But the Creator, the upper force, can He not say: “Enough! I cannot give you these toys anymore. You use them for self-destruction.”?

Answer: Then why did He even start giving them?!

Let us learn how to live correctly before it’s too late. Otherwise, our learning will take place in very unpleasant states.
[317516]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/30/23

Related Material:
Will AI Enslave Us?
What Have We Gained By Scientific And Technological Progress?
Where Does The Program Of Development Lead Us? Part 1

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization, News - No Comments →

Question: There are histories of wars, religions, and the development of science. Why is human development judged by these three main parameters?

Answer: War is also a kind of development. On the one hand, there seems to be subjugation, death, and cruelty, while on the other hand, a very tough and vivid exchange of information, feelings, and contacts. There is no getting away from this, this is how war manifests.

In addition, the development of humanity is judged by these three parameters since they are very clear manifestations of egoism.

Moreover, egoism is manifested in the internal sphere: the way a person arranges his home, the way a person arranges his society (feudal, slaveholding, capitalist, etc.), including technology and science, and the way a person arranges himself internally, including religions, goals for the past and goals for the future.

All this comes from the fact that our egoistic desire forms in four phases: first, second, third, and fourth, as we learn from Kabbalah. Therefore, we need their parallel development: me as a person—my comfortable physiological state, including family, me in society, me in science, and me regarding spiritual development. That is, we develop on all four levels.
[318069]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Evolution of Discoveries” 10/31/11

Related Material:
The Process Of Global Development
Psychology As A Mirror Reflecting The Development Of Ego
Still, Vegetative, Animate And Speaking

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization - No Comments →

Question: There are well-known periods of egoistic development: a sharp surge of the Roman Empire, then Byzantium and the Crusaders. But why did all this revolve around the Holy Land?

Answer: If we talk about the earthly level, then I believe it was all about politics, nothing else. However, in principle, all this happened in order to further and further develop humanity toward a gradual understanding of today’s spiritual processes. Everything was moving only forward, only toward the future goal.

With the emergence of the great Kabbalist Ari, the process of Renaissance began because the world started moving toward its correction. Prior to Ari, there was a period of breaking and mixing of various internal fragments of shattered humanity. But starting with him and onward, a period of purposeful flow toward correction had begun.

This is when the Hasidism of Eastern Europe and many Kabbalists emerged. Simultaneously, there was a general development, the discovery of lands by Columbus, Gutenberg’s printing press, and other discoveries and technologies—everything started to develop.
[318032]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Evolution of Discoveries” 10/31/11

Related Material:
Evolution Of The Method From Adam To Our Day
Long Way To The Temple, Part 1
The Real History of the World

Filed under: Egoism, Israel, Nations of the World, Religion - No Comments →

The history of human development is an external manifestation of our inner egoistic development.

The fact is that egoistic development takes place in humanity only in its various manifestations, concentrations, and pace. It pushes people forward. This is how we have evolved over many millions of years.

As egoism developed, this process became more and more intense. Let’s say that the transition from dinosaurs to monkeys took 100 million years, and the transition from a monkey to Homo Erectus, speaking man, took 2 million years. Meaning, this process is very steep, exponential.

Naturally the development of egoism is what happens in nature because the ego is the matter of all nature.

Therefore, the only question here is how different degrees, different egoistic forms, get their application in the outside world, both in the form of wars and in the form of technological advances. Suddenly, for example, new weapons appear, or printing develops, or some kind of progress culturally, or there is a transition from one system to another, the rise of some countries over others, and so on. All this is determined by the growing egoism.
[318143]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. History of Human Development” 10/31/11

Related Material:
The Real History of the World
World History In The Light Of Kabbalah, Part 2
History Of Humanity – A Look Inside, Part 1

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization - No Comments →

The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
The donkey told the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion became heated, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, so they approached the lion.
As they approached the lion on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied: “If you believe it is true, the grass is blue.”
The donkey rushed forward and continued ′′The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me and annoys me. Please punish him.”
The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence.”
The donkey jumped with joy and went on his way, content and repeating ′′The grass is blue, the grass is blue…”
The tiger asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”
The lion replied, ′′You’ve known and seen the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, ′′So why do you punish me?”
The lion replied, “That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is degrading for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with an ass, and on top of that, you came and bothered me with that question just to validate something you already knew was true!” (“Short Story of the Donkey, the Tiger and the Lion: When Arguing is Futile”)

Question: When you argue with someone, which one of you is a donkey?

Answer: The one who objects to the donkey is the donkey.

Question: As a result, this tiger who objects to a donkey is a donkey? And there is no need to waste time on these arguments?

Answer: There is no need. The lion is right to condemn him.

Question: Then the question is how can one argue with donkeys, since it happens all the time? You say: “Don’t argue at all.” But what should one do?

Answer: There is nothing you can do. If they exist in nature, then the wisest thing is not to get into an argument with them.

Question: That is, if there is a stubborn person, and you understand that he is stubborn, you don’t have to prove your truth to him in any way?

Answer: In no way.

Question: How will you build your truth if there are, say, only donkeys around you?

Answer: Tell them all that they are right. And if there are a lot of them, let them sort it out among themselves.

Question: Do you keep your truth to yourself and not spread it?

Answer: Yes, of course.

Question: Is this the right thing to do?

Answer: Not only is this the right thing, it is the only right way out of this state.

Question: Meaning, it’s like what is happening now in the country: everyone is stubborn and holds on to his own, precisely his own. And he’ll never move away from it; you know that perfectly well. And you still get in and out of arguments. Why?

Answer: Each tries to convince the other that he is right.

Question: And what does this result in?

Answer: That everybody is a donkey.

Question: But what are my actions, after all? Quietly, calmly build my own on the sidelines, without entering into disputes?

Answer: Yes, mind your own business.

Question: How will I draw my own, non-donkey line?

Answer: Don’t draw it.

Question: How will this be resolved then?

Answer: It will be resolved somehow. If the world is made up of donkeys, then nothing can be done. Understand what it is like.

Question: I will ask you carefully: does the world consist mainly of donkeys after all?

Answer: We can see it!

Question: Yes, we see that everyone defends their position. What is the future of this world then? Surely it has to come to some sort of decision after all?

Answer: No.

Question: Can it continue like this?

Answer: Yes. The last thousands of years that we have known the world, this is how it happens.

Comment: It’s going to go on and on.

My Response: Of course. Give the donkeys a chance to live normally in this world.

Question: What will this result in?

Answer: This will lead to the fact that there will be wars after which there will be little left.

Question: Nobody will give in?

Answer: Nobody. After some kind of war, people will remain by the ashes; they will sit quietly by the fire, drink tea and talk. It will no longer matter to them.

Question: Former enemies, is that what you mean?

Answer: Yes, even enemies.

Question: Will these wars go on again?

Answer: They will, inevitably.

Comment: Wars, I mean even our skirmishes.

My Response: As long as egoism exists, it will not disappear. This is human nature.

Question: How can we change our nature? How can we rise above the “donkey,” to get out of the donkey state?

Answer: Only if people understand the meaning of the existence of the world, countries, and people, will they be able to do something about it.

Question: Then tell me, what should they understand?

Answer: They must understand what we are saying: that the world is in its egoistic development. We have to realize this. We have to rise above our egoism. If we want to, then it will happen; and if we don’t want to, then it won’t happen. Then after some generations they will dig us up and understand what happened here.

Question: I don’t want it to be like this. What do you think might work?

Answer: Only evil can work. When evil manifests more, then we can rise above it. Evil must be realized. It is not that the world is collapsing. It must be a realized evil, that this is the nature of man and only if we decide and shout together to the Creator will we be saved.

Question: So you are talking about the recognition of my evil as such, in everyone? Is this evil?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Then what function is assigned to us?

Answer: I hope that our work will still show its result somewhere. Somewhere it will.
[317557]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/21/23

Related Material:
Don’t Waste Your Life on Strangers
Did Humanity Ever Know Truth?
Where Is The Truth?

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization, Laitman Unplugged, News - No Comments →

According to the law of evolution, we have reached a state when nature no longer changes at the inanimate, vegetative, or animate levels, but begins to change at the level of mind and desires.

Previously, when we had not yet reached the level of the monkey, nature was constantly changing physically, and under the pressure of various cataclysms, explosions of stars, etc., it created matter. Then this matter formed the planet Earth. Then life appeared on it, and all this was under the external influence of nature, which formed the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of matter.

Today nature influences us! But it is already at the next level, at the level of the mind, at the level of its program, its purpose, and it manifests itself in new conditions.

You do not want to become extinct a dinosaur? Then adjust to it! Otherwise, you will die out.

Kabbalah tells us how to adapt to the natural conditions that are manifested before us today.

We cannot escape anywhere! In any case, we must fulfill this program of creation. We have only two possibilities. Either we will come to this voluntarily or with great suffering when out of eight billion people seven million will maybe remain or even less—it does not matter how many. But still, we will reach a state of complete harmony with nature, i.e., complete adhesion with the Creator.
[317434]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. You didn’t Say Something” 9/3/11

Related Material:
In-Between The Heart And The Mind
According to the New Scheme
The Pressure Of Nature

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization - No Comments →

Question: In the material world, we see an external picture of the history of the development of egoism. What is happening behind this external layer?

Answer: Behind the external layer of the history of the development of egoism there is a manifestation of light in a not-yet-formed pot (a common spiritual Kli , vessel), and this causes us suffering. In other words, the light that should already fill the pot, let us say, by one millimeter or two centimeters, is revealed, but the pot is not ready. Then the light is perceived as darkness.

The deficiency of this pot is revealed to us, the deficiency of our connection with each other. Therefore, it is felt as a global, integral crisis.

As soon as we begin to unite, instead of a negative crisis, we will feel positive fulfillment. Everything you desire, every one of your wishes, all of them together, will be completely satisfied, and not only on the earthly level.

You will begin to feel these desires in connection with others as desires on an entirely different level, as the unity of one global, integral system in which you will feel your eternal perfect state. It cannot be conveyed in words. It is a different dimension.
[317479]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The History of Kabbalah” 9/29/11

Related Material:
The Real History of the World
How Does The World Feel The Approach Of The Creator?
The Time Has Come For The Creator To Draw Near

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization, Q&A - No Comments →