Question: In what way is the ego good and how is it possible to beneficially use it?

Answer: The ego is good because it’s the only energy that exists in us. It’s what pushes us forward, raises us. Throughout evolution, it has been constantly lifting us from the beastly level to the present level.

And today we are at a meeting point where we actually change. We begin to understand that the previous form of ego that we used has exhausted itself. We’re not able to work with it any further, thus it shows us the present crisis.

This is the crisis of the former ego, when we used it and it seemed to us that all was well, everything was normal, and it was possible to continue in this way until the end. But suddenly it was revealed that it had closed, had encompassed us into a single system, to complete interdependence.

And if we are completely dependent upon each other, how can we use our ego? Gradually we become like one family in which everyone is dependent on each other, and I need to use my ego, calculating my dependence on others. This means that in this way I need to use it differently, meaning already in an integral manner, according to the ego of others.

It turns out that we need to begin to use the general ego that is shared by us: to connect it together and rise above it so that our unity, connection, and support will be higher than our personal ego, that is, so that our ego becomes mutual, social, and collective.

This means that our group needs to have a shared goal, and we need to attain this mutual goal by each one pushing towards it with his personal ego. Then everyone will be ready for a mutual goal, a mutual connection, and in the end we’ll begin to measure our success to the extent of our connection. That is very important. Thus our ego isn’t annulled, but simply is utilized in such a way according to how it’s revealed today to humanity, meaning in an integral way.
[91296]
From a Virtual Lesson 10/21/12

Related Material:
Commonality And Self-Expression
An Essential Method
A Course On Harmonious Education

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

We shouldn’t be afraid of suspending someone or even of taking him totally out of our circle of the global group if these friends refuse to follow our principles and who hold on to their opinions which are different from the ones determined by Kabbalists.

Kabbalists are people who are already on the spiritual levels and who pull us towards them from there. It is they that we want to follow and not any living person in this world who is after some goals of his own and whose ego is now burning inside him pushing him towards these goals.

It is very important to remember that. In fact it is typical of everyone and the only difference is the matter of degree, but there are many people in which the unrestrained ego is burning so strongly that it pushes them to determine a new direction as they see fit. If they cannot restrain themselves, the group must do it.

We can meet such people among those who deal with dissemination actively. They are burning with passion to do everything as they see fit and don’t let others participate in the work by keeping others away and protecting their “territory.”

We should perceive such trends as destructive for our work. On the one hand, a person should be free to work and to advance successfully. But on the other hand, if he aspires to do this work alone, without drawing others to it, without giving them equal opportunities next to him in the same territory, then it will gradually begin to have a destructive effect both on him and on others.

We should constantly check whether there is equality among us and openness in our relations with one another so that there won’t be cases of someone trying to keep a certain territory for himself, a certain niche, a direction in which he will be untouchable. Everything should be open to everyone and a person should be especially happy when he dissolves among others everywhere, in every job, in every goal and in every success.

If this doesn’t happen, such people will eventually cause great harm to the group, although for a while it may seem that they are doing a good job. We should be very careful of them.

If a person cannot work by really subjugating himself and only feigns modesty, as in a theater, he will eventually cause terrible damage. So we should be very careful of such people.
[91453]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Conversation About the Group”

Related Material:
Which Group Do I Choose?
Choose The Well Of Living Water
A Boomerang Always Comes Back To You

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism - 1 Comment →

In all the groups there are sometimes problems, and there are people who do not agree with what is happening and believe that they have to advance differently. There are those who act that way simply because it is their nature to be altruists or philosophers. It has nothing to do with the path of correction and they have no point in the heart. They arrive and they begin to decide how things should be run and think that everything should be done in an opposite manner because naturally it is against their egoistic nature.

There are different cases in which a person sometimes acts this way because he likes to be dominant and cannot restrain himself until he acquires some knowledge and understands the method. It takes years, sometimes 15-20 years, and until then a person is unable to give the “half a Shekel” that he should, his half of the work, so that the Creator will complete the other half, but thinks that he can turn his life around by himself.

It is foolish pride, but we usually don’t perceive it with our corporeal senses since a person in this world does everything according to his corporeal feelings and mind. But if he begins to approach the spiritual work with these feelings and mind, then it is a totally naïve and childish approach. He tries to work with systems that are opposite from his from which he is totally detached and doesn’t even know in what way he is opposite from them.

If at the same time he also begins to feel proud, then sadly he causes harm not only to himself but also to others. Eventually it comes back to him like a boomerang and hits him whether in this life, if he is still alive, or in the next life.

A person should take into account that all the harm he causes the environment will be many times greater and will come back to him! So the group has to guard itself from such people the moment such deviations appear. Usually it happens if the group has no strong leadership or if for different reasons it doesn’t want to share information with other groups. Then other groups don’t know what is happening in that certain group and cannot help it and support it.

Such people have a strong ego and being foolish they assume that they know and understand what should be done and begin to drill a hole in the general boat, thus endangering the whole group. This can eventually lead to great problems in the group’s advancement.

So all the groups should openly share among them what happens in every group. Everything should be known, like in one family, in one body. We should organize and establish a committee that will fulfill the ideological leadership of all the groups as one group. The committee should be above all the local groups and should always know what is happening in every group and be able to decide what and how things should be done in every group according to our criteria and our principles.
[91412]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/28/12, “Conversation About the Group”

Related Material:
The Ego Tends To Protect “Its Territory”
A Heated Chess Game Against The Snake
To Be Born And Grow Up In The Group

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work - 2 Comments →

Baal HaSulam, “The Giving of the Torah”: …we must understand that the rest of the 612 Mitzvot (precepts) in the Torah, with all their interpretations, are no more and no less than the sum of the details inserted and contained in that single Mitzva (singular for Mitzvot), “love thy friend as thyself.”

There are 613 “commandments,” that is, 613 actions that lead to correction. We should alter intentions that are associated with the desire to receive from egoistic (for the sake of receiving) into altruistic (for the sake of giving). When we do so, it means that we have “fulfilled a commandment.”

The number of commandments is defined by the amount of individual desires to receive which the vessel of the soul encompasses. It is divided into two parts:

Top           Galgalta Ve Eynaim (G’E), 248 desires
Bottom      AHP, 365 desires

The intention to receive is called the “evil inclination”; whereas, the intention to give is called the “good inclination.” The action per se remains the same. We can differentiate between good or bad actions only by intentions that stand behind them. Thus, a process of correction is in fact a modification of intentions. If it is self-oriented, then it is considered to be the evil inclination; if it is focused on our neighbors, then it is good.

Eventually we have to correct 248 and 365 desires; all together they comprise 613. However, in reality we only correct 612 desires, since the last commandment (the one about love) remains “problematic.” As Kabbalists say, by improving 612 desires, we will attain love. In other words, from love of friends we come to love the Creator.

In the overall system, there is a special part of desires, of course interconnected with the rest of desires, the group that must correct itself. I am not there at the beginning. But as soon as I start working with the group, with friends, wanting to connect with them, and doing so in reality, I will find that in my nature everything is against this: “I cannot, I am not able, I don’t want to, I will not do this.” This is what the evil inclination is, that I do not want to unite, and it hinders me.

Then I call it my “hater” and demand correction from the friends, who are near and far, from anywhere. I discover where correction is, how to realize it, how to overcome my inclination. And I do so until I feel the need to turn to the Creator.

It will not happen immediately. I can scream now, but then the egoistic desire grows, and the thought of the Creator becomes unbearable. I hate Him, I am ready to destroy Him, anything but not to turn to Him. I think that I am required to do the impossible, as if instead of destroying the enemy, I have to love him and help him. It is very hard. And then, feeling hopeless, desiring to achieve bestowal in spite of everything, I turn to the Creator.
[90804]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
The Correction Of Evil: Going All The Way
From Your Actions We Shall Know You
612 Components Of The Upper Love

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Prayer and Intention - No Comments →

The Creator is a universal and the most general law of nature. He is called “The Good that does good.”

The law of nature is comprised of numerous parts: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels. In general, it’s all about desires to receive, which the Creator strives to satisfy. He wants them feel their absolute best.

What can fulfill them? Nothing less than the state in which the Creator Himself is. Anything less than that cannot be considered “The Good that does good,” since it means that something is missing.

So, the goal of creation is not to “melt” or dissolve in the Creator. On the contrary: The creation has to preserve its identity and at the same time become similar to the Creator.

The ultimate benevolence that the creation can get: “Great! You gave me the best you could; now, I don’t yield to You in anything at all—not in the form, in how I express myself, in the mode of operation, nor in the states I go through.” This is the state that we are supposed to reach.

It is possible for the creation to perceive perfection only if it remains being the creation, meaning something that is opposite to the Creator. At the same time, the creation should become similar to Him without giving away its “autonomy.”

For that, the creation has to experience a state that is opposite to the Creator; it has to stick to this state, meaning internally retaining the evil inclination, maintaining contrary desires, and building a benevolent attitude above them. Only if the creation manages to “keep” both poles, it remains as the creation; but at the same time, it becomes similar to the Creator.

This process has to be implemented in the group, that is, in a small part of the desires that belong to the speaking level, which is called “Israel” It is the group that needs to initiate the process, go through the flaws, and make corrections. After this work is complete, the group has to transfer the results of their work to all of humanity, in its turn, by self-correcting, the human level will eventually modify the animate, vegetative, and inanimate levels. This is the sequence of events to follow.

[90828]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Internal Changes: High Frequency Range
Completing The Creator’s Creation For Him
Above The Black Abyss

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, My Similarity to the Creator - 1 Comment →

In the News (from BBC News): “The debate came after Greece…announced that unemployment in Greece hit a record 25.1% in July, with the level among young people reaching above 50%.

“And the nation predicted its economy will shrink by 6.5% this year, much more than previously estimated this year, worse than a previous estimate of 4.8% in March suggested to its bailout lenders.

“Greece also said its economy will shrink for a sixth year in 2013.”

My Comment: How can new jobs appear if they are not needed in the economy? This suggests only one solution: to produce as much as necessary, instead of producing unnecessary goods, which harm the environment.

The calculation of production will have to start from “the bottom”: What goods and services in what quantity are needed FOR EVERYONE. And then production and services need to be built according to this calculation. The pursuit of fulfilling one’s ego will be shifted to the right leisure: integral connection, which gives the feeling of higher contentment.
[91366]

Related Material:
Middle Class Greeks Queue For Charity Soup
Where Is The Solution To The Unemployment Problem?
The Disintegration Of Greece Is Increasingly Evident

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Egoism, News, World - No Comments →

Baal HaSulam, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah),” Item 7: One who eats and enjoys the labor of one’s friend is afraid to look at his face because by doing so he becomes increasingly humiliated until he loses his human form. And because that which extends from His wholeness cannot be deficient, He gave us room to earn our exaltedness by ourselves, through our work in Torah and Mitzvot.

The creation is opposite from the Creator in its internal attribute, in the egoist desire of “I shall rule.” The only thing that can stand opposite it is the shame that stems from the defect in your own “self.”

In fact, these two discernments merge into one, and it is quite sufficient in order to bring the created being to correction. This is because a person is ready to do anything so that he won’t have to feel the defect of shame in his desire to receive. We can stand shame only if it is possible to cover the desire to receive so that it won’t actually be hurt. Even if the desire to receive may be hurt on the first levels, we cannot accept it on the fourth level, since then it will immediately force a person to put an end to the current state and to stop the feeling of shame immediately in every way he can.

Usually we compensate for the defects by learning from our environment. The whole system is built that way, so that in the opposite three lines we will somehow cope with the shame. But in fact, it is a great feeling that was prepared for high souls.

Question: How is shame related to adhesion, which we have to attain?

Answer: Shame and adhesion, fears and anxieties, whatever you want, are all components of adhesions. In adhesion each of them participates fully in the highest, most open way.
[91103]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/24/12, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Shame Worse Than Death
Shame Is The Opposite Of Perfection
Shame As The Means Of Correction

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Egoism, Group Work, My Similarity to the Creator, Q&A - No Comments →

Opinion (Vince Cable, UK Secretary of State for Business): “Europe could be plunged into war if the euro collapses, Vince Cable warned… .

“’We tend to forget, until we were reminded last week of that Nobel Prize, the European project was constructed in order to rescue Europe from extreme nationalism and conflict. There is no automatic guarantee that won’t return.’ The Business Secretary described the euro as ‘very valuable’ and said the UK would ‘be heard very loudly if it does unravel.’

“He added: ‘My sense is that the Germans in particular realise how much is at stake. A series of sensible measures have been taken in recent months.

“‘I think deep down there is enough common sense and a sense of survival to prevent this getting out of control. If it does, I’m afraid the consequences for us will be awful.’”

My Comment: The problem is not in the euro and not even in Europe, but in the general program of human evolutionary development. Humanity must move to the next state, similarity to Nature, meaning unity and reasonable consumption. Unity, because in this we level our egoism and become like all parts of nature, interconnected with it. Reasonable consumption, because in this we are in equilibrium with the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

Through this change in ourselves, we go out of our egoism and begin to feel the next level of nature, the sphere of bestowal, besides the sphere of receiving in which we exist for the time being. So, the euro plays just a small role, pushing us towards the change.
[91127]

Related Material:
“Fall Of EU Could Help A New Hitler Come To Power”
European Union wins Nobel Peace Prize
Will Europe Reunite?

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Egoism, News, Unity - No Comments →

Opinion (Jane Jones,  David Wong): ”If 80s movies taught us anything, it’s that at some point you’re going to run into a mysterious relic that lets you switch bodies with other people.

“Would you use it? But let’s say the artifact doesn’t let you choose, but will instead switch you randomly with one of the other six billion people on the planet. Virtually nobody will take that deal, for fear they’d switch with some poor villager in Nigeria.

“So what does that say about us? Well, according to experts, it says almost everything we think about what would make us happy is dead wrong. Let’s look at the five things we’re most wrong about…

“#5 Fame…

“This is brand new to humanity, for thousands of years, material goods and security dominated. Now, fame is at the top. Obviously part of the reason is the perception that anybody can get famous these days–reality TV and YouTube have proven that you can become a celebrity for doing not a…thing. But there’s another, less obvious factor. And it explains why so many famous people are miserable.

“So What’s the Problem

“Experts say where you find kids who desperately want to be famous, you find a history of neglect at home. Parents were either absent completely or, at best, emotionally distant…. It turns out the whole surge in aspirations for fame came right along with the explosion of single parents and ‘broken’ homes. Only half of today’s children live with their original two parents.

“You can see how this sad mechanism works in the attention-starved mind. The kid is programmed by biology to love a parent, but the parent doesn’t return the love. Fame lets them turn the tables on that arrangement. When you’re famous, millions love you, but you don’t even know their names. It’s purely one-sided. They wait for hours in the cold for your autograph, you barely glance at them on the way to your limo. You get to take their love and wipe your…with it, the same as your parents did to you.

“But it turns out that kind of massive, paper-thin adoration is a poor substitute. Famous people are four times as likely to commit suicide as the rest of us (…you’d think it’d be higher–everybody reading this has seen more than one of their favorite performers self-destruct).

“#4 Wealth…

“Hey, remember when we said earlier that most people wouldn’t do the body-switching thing for fear they’d wake up in Nigeria? Well according to surveys, Nigerians are happier with their lives than the people of any other country.

“The USA came in 16^th.

Hey, did we mention that the average Nigerian makes $300 a year? That’s less than a hundredth of what the average American makes. America being the country that hands out 120 million prescriptions for anit-depressants every year.

“China is turning into a great object lesson in this, as their economy explodes and incomes skyrocket, but levels of happiness and personal satisfaction are dropping at the same rapid rate.

“There’s a couple of reasons for it. First, your brain adjusts feelings of happiness downward after you’ve reached some goal or other. It regulates the good feelings, presumably so that you have motivation to reach the next goal instead of just lounging by the pool for the rest of your days. …

“#3. Beauty…

“Yes, being physically attractive has concrete advantages. Attractive people earn more, get better grades, have better jobs and find more successful partners than average or ugly people. Strangers are more likely to help them in a crisis. They have wider social circles.

“So What’s the Problem

“Remember, we’re talking about happiness here, not success. For one, attractive people have the same self-esteem problems the ugly people do. Like money, attractiveness is relative and if you’re hotter than your friends, at that stage you start comparing yourself to people in the media. You know, like the magazine covers we mentioned before, the ones that that have had the living…Photoshopped out of them. …

“#2.Genius

“We’re using the broader definition of the word “genius” here, meaning anyone with an extraordinary talent or skill. …

“Want to know what it’s like to live life as a genius? All you have to do is go hang around with the stupidest, most incompetent people you know. Cringe at their stupid jokes, feel the frustration as they fumble even the easiest tasks and fail to grasp the simplest concepts. Being a genius must be like that, only everyday. Everyone is an idiot compared to them. They’re living Idiocracy. …

“If you’re not the Einstein kind of genius, it doesn’t matter, any situation where you’re 10 levels above your coworkers is going to be daily frustration. If you’re a genius at spreading concrete, that feeling only occurs to you in the form of everyone else being sloppy and helpless. No wonder they wind up treating people like dirt.

“Not that you’d have time for friends anyway. Genius takes practice. Lots of it. …

“All of this is a great recipe for the stereotypical depressed, moody genius who dies alone and bitter.

“Wait, it Gets Worse…

“If your genius lies in some kind of creative field, then there’s a good chance you have actual mental illness to deal with. While only one percent of the population suffers from bipolar disorder, it is claimed that 50 percent of poets, 38 percent of musicians and 20 percent of painters have it. It’s just part of the package.

“Compare the number of great musical innovators who have died of suicide or drug overdose versus, say, the number of plumbers who have died the same way. It might be better to just stand in the poop all day.

“#1.Power…

“…power is what everything else on this list is about. Fame is about having power in the relationship with the fans. Beauty is about gaining power through others’ sexual desire and jealousy. Genius means society needs your skills more than you need its approval. Money . . . well, money and power are conjoined twins. …

“So What’s the Problem

“Maybe you’re eying the kind of job where you’ll be the boss, or maybe you want to go into law enforcement. Or maybe you’re just driven by that bitter, unspoken urge almost all of us feel at least once in our youth: ‘I’ll show them! I’ll show them all.’…

“It has nothing to do with the ‘culture of corruption in Washington DC’ the Libertarians are always talking about. You find it everywhere, from the…supervisor to the bitter gym coach. Small people driven to mindless, unethical behavior, drunk on just a few drops of…power. They often can’t make friends, their marriages end badly, they self destruct. The world is full of these miniature, sad Tony Montanas, destined for a proverbial bloody downfall.”

My Comment: Research shows that friendship, altruism, and community service bring happiness and satisfaction. Detachment from attempts to arrange personal, individual happiness and focus on others is what makes happiness possible.
[91030]

Related Material:
Can Money Buy Happiness?
The Main Problem Of Humanity: Lack Of Happiness
Money Cannot Buy Happiness

Filed under: Crisis, Depression, Egoism, Integral Upbringing, Society - No Comments →

In the News (from ScienceDaily): “No matter which way you look at it, rejection hurts. Experiencing rejection from a boss, a friend, or a partner is difficult enough for many adults to handle. But adolescents, who are dealing with the one-two punch of biological and social change, may be the most vulnerable to its negative effects.

“In a new study published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, researcher Michael Murphy of the University of British Columbia and colleagues examine the human immune response as a potential link between social stressors like rejection and later mental and physical health outcomes.

“There are many kinds of stressors that increase our risk for disease, but stressors that threaten our social standing, such as targeted rejection, seem to be particularly harmful.

“Many people are probably familiar with targeted rejection from their school days, when a student was actively and intentionally rejected by another student or a group of students. It’s the kind of behavior that we see in so many cases of ostracism and bullying.

“’Targeted rejection is central to some of life’s most distressing experiences – things like getting broken up with, getting fired, and being excluded from your peer group at school,’ said Murphy. ‘In this study, we aimed to examine processes that may give these experiences the ability to affect health.’

“Previous research has shown that people who are on the receiving end of this kind of rejection experience symptoms of depression three times faster than people who are faced with similarly severe life events. Researchers believe that certain inflammatory processes that are part of the immune response could be a link between targeted rejection and depression.

“The researchers note, however, that an overly productive immune response can be harmful to mental and physical health in the long run. If substantiated in future research, these findings could have implications for understanding how social conditions increase risk for a variety of inflammation-related diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, certain types of cancer, and depression.”

My Comment: Undoubtedly, nothing is more harmful to our egoistic nature than a feeling of neglect. It causes violent feelings and physiological reactions that mobilize the entire body and make it capable of the most critical steps. There is only one treatment: to correct man and society!
[90610]

Related Material:
Friends Are Healthy
Lonely People, Join Us!
Loneliness: 25% of Americans Have No One To Confide In

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