Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

The World Is One Big Village

115.05Question: What is history from the point of view of Kabbalah?

Answer: It is the development of egoism.

History is the development of the simplest egoism, which gradually increases from small, individual, family, like in animals, to communal, urban, state, and finally global.

Accordingly, we see the struggles of people at the same level. First, the settlements fought with each other, then small disparate states. Then they united because it was necessary to unite in the fight until they reached the current state.

Now egoism shows us that we are in a useless fight with each other, that we are connected with each other. At the same time full mutual interconnection is revealed, and therefore we raise our hands: “What to do?”

If one country closes and then another, unpredictable phenomena will begin in the world. The world does not realize that it will come to a standstill and that is it. You will not be able to turn on air conditioners or heating, there will be no international connection, nothing. The whole world will just stop.

What does the world have? If today it does not receive a couple of tankers with oil, then it will only have strategic reserves for as long as they last in each country. That is it. We are sitting on an oil needle, not to mention other needles. If there is no fuel, who will deliver food to various countries?

We have no idea how interconnected we are, how fragile it all is. Today there can be no world war because no country provides for itself. I am not talking about any frills, but about the essentials.

Today, living on the twentieth floor, you cannot live as you once did in the village, where you had your own garden, your own cellar, planted potatoes and cabbage, and you were ok; you provided yourself with everything. It is not like that any longer.

I remember my childhood in the small town of Vitebsk with a population of a quarter of a million people. We had a small plot and a large cellar where, like everyone else, we kept potatoes, cabbage, garlic, and onions. All this was prepared for a year so that the family would not starve.

This was the case for most of the population. Today no one has that. Imagine huge residential areas and cities with a population of over a million. What will you feed them? There will be pestilence all over the earth. We do not realize what will happen if a couple of large countries suddenly cease to function.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What Is History?” 3/13/11

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When Killing Others, You Kill Yourself

963.1Question: Do you think a killing gene is present in every person?

Answer: Every person has this inclination because every one of us is comprised of the full set of desires, from the best to the worst.

Question: So do we have absolutely all desires?

Answer: All of them.

Question: I heard that a serial killer said that every time he killed, he killed a part of himself? Do you think a person is constantly engaging in some sort of suicide if he kills others.

Answer: That is correct. It is natural because we are all in one common desire, in one common system.

Everything that exists is inside of me: still, vegetative, animate, and human. By killing someone or something, I kill a part of that inside of me. This is so true that a person must repent, so to speak, when he uses anything from this world for himself. He must justify this consumption, starting with a gulp of air and ending with lives, and so on.

It is the same as when we consume food or anything else. All of it requires some kind of correction.

Question: Are you saying that a person kills a part of himself if he kills someone in war or somewhere else?

Answer: Yes, that is correct.

Question: But even when killing an animal for food, am I also killing something inside of me?

Answer: Yes. Anything at all, when I consume it, including as I said before, a gulp of air, a gulp of water, it does not matter what, by that I consume, nevertheless. I kill that particle of the cosmos and I must somehow take responsibility for it. That is why there are blessings that we have to say and more things.

A person feels this even subconsciously. There are people who before drinking something, pour a little out of the cup, cut off a piece of bread, and put it aside, or do other things.

This all indicates that a person understands that he is taking from nature and taking practically without ever returning it. By that, he kills the Universe. And he wants to give, share, and so on. This exists in many nations, and it is subconsciously instilled in man.

Comment: So to exist I must kill around me.

My Response: If you do it as a necessity for your existence, to support life, then it is another matter. But you must understand it, nevertheless. That is why you have to say a blessing, so to speak, set apart a piece for someone, a tithe, and so on.

Question: And a blessing, is it when I say that I require this for my existence?

Answer: Yes. Even though it is not my fault, I was not the one who created myself this way, but I recognize this and share it in this way.

Question: Can you say why this was done? Globally speaking, for what?

Answer: A person must understand that he is in a world where he has no right to anything at all. And if he takes something and consumes it for himself, for his own sake, then he must pay for it, give it back, repay it, and so on.

Question: And the fact that we ruin everything, kill everything, and that we have brought the environment to the brink, will we be punished for that or not?

Answer: Yes, it is a great shame.

Question: Does all of it boomerang back to the person, in your opinion?

Answer: We will have to pay for all of it globally.

Comment: Rabbi Akiva said that the book is open and the hand writes, and you borrow, but later you will have to return all of it.

My Response: Indeed.

Question: Is this what we are talking about the same thing?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is taking normally only when it is for one’s existence?

Answer: It is only for existence, and if you take it only for existence, then you will be able to bestow it.

Comment: And that is blessed.

My Response: Relatively speaking. This is very complex because nature is closed, whole, and perfect. That is why our existence in it, in nature, requires us to be very careful and to be in complete bestowal.

Question: How do we nevertheless reach harmony with nature?

Answer: Only by attaining the feeling of unity with nature and the opportunity to bestow as much as we take. Then we will regulate how much to take and how much to give.

Question: But in principle, are we constantly moving toward this, one way or another?

Answer: I hope that one day we will get there.

Question: But why were we not given an understanding and feeling of this? We take without a second thought.

Answer: But we are moving toward this. This is development, the gradual development of nature from the still level onward.

Question: So do we have to come to a state where I cannot simply take and that is all? And even more so, to kill, steal, and so on?

Answer: Of course.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/23/23

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“I Am Marrying Myself”

627.2In the News (NY Post): “To thine own self, say ‘I do.’

“Indian woman Kshama Bindu, 24, plans to marry herself in what she believes could be the country’s first ever example of sologamy. …

“’I never wanted to get married. But I did want to become a bride. So I decided to marry myself,’ she told Times of India in June 2 report. Her solo affair is slated to be ordained on June 11.

“And while there won’t be a groom, the solo-bration will feature many Hindu nuptial customs including pheras (rounds) around a holy fire, wedding vows, and a vermillion bridal gown. …

“Kshama believes that she’ll be setting a marital milestone with her act of self-love. ‘Maybe I am the first to set an example of self-love in our country,’ the soon-to-be self wedded spouse told TOI.

“While her solo venture may seem sacrilegious, the trailblazing bride argues that ‘self-marriage is a commitment to be there for yourself and unconditional love for one-self’ — because no one can love her better than she can.

“’It is also an act of self-acceptance,’ the sologamist added. ‘People marry someone they love. I love myself and hence this wedding.’”

Question: What is it? What is it when all maternal and feminine instincts disappear somewhere?

Answer: It happens. It is one of the pathologies of the human psyche.

Question: Can it develop as a virus?

Answer: Everything can develop. See what pathological changes are taking place in the world. This is pathology.

Question: But can we look at this pathology in-depth, based on egoism? In principle, we carry out this self-marriage all the time. We are as though, with ourselves all the time, getting married or not.

Answer: There is no doubt that egoism exists and develops from generation to generation.

The fact that we do not want to get married can be understood despite the instinct, especially in women, because it is also associated with childbirth, upbringing, and so on. But, in principle, this is all changing. Today there are a lot of not only men but also women who do not want to burden themselves with any worries. We call it bonds.

This is the growth of egoism and nothing else.

Question: Why is this happening?

Answer: For people to understand that they really need to do something about this egoism. Because it robs us of even such small joys of our life as love, children, and family.

And in a healthy environment. Look at Japan, at other countries. It is amazing, remarkable, and even incomprehensible in some ways. They stop giving birth, buy some dolls or something instead, and that is it.

Question: So does this lead to us returning to a normal natural existence?

Answer: No. It leads us to develop and understand our essence, that we need some kind of communication and some kind of love, some kind of devotion, attachment to something, to someone, but we do not have that.

Question: Which means, when egoism in us finally kills the natural healthy states, we will only then open our eyes?

Answer: I do not think we will open our eyes. I do not think it will correct us. I do not see that people, after doing any insanely negative things, turn in the other direction and come to their denial and correction.

Question: On the contrary, do they justify this act, and in fact, the opposite is happening?

Answer: It is more possible. But usually, humanity rolls on. It will get worse and worse, more egoistic, until it reaches such an accumulation of negative energy of relationships, thoughts, properties, feelings, and so on that people will already explode from within themselves like an atomic bomb and will have to just like crazy, shovel the rubble of their egoism, just to get rid of it.

It will really be like an atomic bomb, but it will start to explode from within humanity. It takes internal negative energy to tear egoism.

Question: Is this the way?

Answer: A beautiful way.

Comment: The beautiful path is not of reason, but of suffering.

My Response: Yes. I see that after this, a bright time will finally come when people will understand and realize based on the manifestation of this huge egoistic force, that the period of love has come.

Question: And will they understand what love is?

Answer: Yes, it will manifest.

Question: What will they understand then? What is love?

Answer: This is not understood, it will just be felt that they should show only such an attitude to each other.

Not that they even should. What does it mean I have to, and I show? It just manifests itself. With our suffering, we will cause this inversion, the manifestation of love instead of hate.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/16/22

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How Do We Break Out of Prison?

222In the News (SciTechDaily): “University of Chicago data and social scientists have developed a new algorithm that forecasts crime by learning patterns in time and geographic locations from public data on violent and property crimes. It has demonstrated success at predicting future crimes one week in advance with approximately 90% accuracy.  …

“‘We created a digital twin of urban environments. If you feed it data from happened in the past, it will tell you what’s going to happen in future. It’s not magical, there are limitations, but we validated it and it works really well,’ Chattopadhyay said. ‘Now you can use this as a simulation tool to see what happens if crime goes up in one area of the city, or there is increased enforcement in another area. If you apply all these different variables, you can see how the systems evolves in response.’”

Question: What do you think about this algorithm?

Answer: It is very good!

Comment: It scans everything and says: “Here there will be a theft and here there will be murder.”

Answer: Yes, according to some data.

Question: You talk all the time about the development of egoism and how it developed historically within time. Knowing this, can we foresee the future of mankind?

Answer: I hope that egoism will not develop the same way. But if this continues, it will develop even more, exponentially, and we will not try to limit it in any way, or correct it, and so on, then, of course, there would be a world war.

Question: So you are saying that our egoism is a criminal and its actions are more or less comprehensible?

Answer: That is absolutely correct.

Question: Does it work for a complete breakdown of the system so that everything is directed at me?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And it only leads to one?

Answer: And if everyone is like you?

Comment: If someone is like me, maybe we will be afraid to get close to each other? We’ll build fences since we understand our nature.

Answer: That has happened already, and then you fail anyway.

Question: So the ending with this criminal is inevitable?

Answer: It is inevitable.

Question: So what is the task? To understand that egoism is a criminal?

Answer: Of course. Everyone is a criminal! All are egoists.

Question: In principle, if this crime gene develops in us, which is embedded in everyone, then basically there is no future?

Answer: Yes, nothing. But the future of the world is known, and it is revealed gradually. That is, we are taught.

It is like we are in a performance that shows us the development of humanity with its egoism on the one hand, and with the methodology of development of coming closer to the right state on the other hand. And at the junction, in some correlation of these two forces on the one hand, and the development of egoism, the need to unite, to connect egoists, on the other hand, that is where we will be shown how all this will happen.

Comment: In this teaching, it is amazing that it does not handcuff the criminal; it somehow works with him in a different way. It does not put him in prison.

My Response: We are already in jail, and we are all criminals.

Question: It comes from the fact that we are already in prison. And the task is not to be put in prison, but to get out of prison. The reverse problem is how to get the criminal out of prison. Right?

Answer: The task is to show the criminal that he is in prison, so that he would want to get out of it, would understand how to do it, and would free himself and everyone else.

Question: Is this what Kabbalah deals with?

Answer: Yes. Until our time, only a few could escape from this dungeon. But in our time, it is no longer like that; it should already be the way out for everyone, for the masses.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/4/22

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Adopting Others’ Desires

549.01 If a person lived only on his own, realized himself, and nothing more, meaning, if our egoism did not try to imitate others and invent new tasks for itself that are completely alien to it, then we would be happy and things would be simple for us. The whole problem lies in realizing others’ desires, which I adopt from them with the help of envy and the desire for fame and power, and these desires become my own.

This is our progress forward! By the fact that I want what others want (suddenly I want it too), I  develop. But these desires are given to me so that I can feel others and connect with them, satisfy their desires and enjoy it, and not adopt their desires to myself and try to fill them. In this I never enjoy and will never find fulfillment.

When we adopt others’ desires and start trying to fulfill them inside of us as “I want!” is when we start digging ourselves into the ground.

If I did the opposite, fulfilled these desires not in myself, but in others, in the form that they have, in their place, then I would be infinitely happy! I would connect to everyone. This is why the qualities of envy, jealousy, respect, honor, and all others were given to me, so I would feel the qualities of others and would fulfill those desires inside of them. Do you see how simple it all is?

But we do the opposite. This “opposite,” meaning adopting others’ qualities (envy, jealousy) inside of us, “What do others have? And what about me? Why not?” This is a real expression of egoism. It turns us around in the opposite direction from the goal of creation.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How to Use Other People?” 12/22/12

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The True Manifestation of Selfishness

423.01Question: How can you use your egoism so that you can take control and it does not control you?

Answer: It is said that the Creator created everything very simply, but man got confused and complicated everything for himself.

We all do this; it becomes incomprehensible to us because we constantly want to get out, to go the indirect way.

Desire-pleasure, desire-pleasure; everything is very simple, and there is nothing else in nature!

And we start twisting things, inventing how it is possible without it or outside of it, or instead of it, and so on, and in the end we steal from ourselves. By stealing from ourselves and constantly encountering problems, we, in general, create difficulties.

Nature is arranged according to the principle of simple selfishness. We are the same creatures as animals. But our selfishness is also connected with the fact that we learn from others what to enjoy. And therein lies the difficulty.

If I acted only according to my needs, it would be very easy for me. I would calmly work on how to get the maximum pleasure at the minimal cost. This is a simple self-filling formula. This is how all nature works. And in that way I wouldn’t have any problems.

But when I start to see instead the needs of others that are not mine and try to make them my own, then there is already a problem because I am not created to receive other fulfillments. Therefore I am confused.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call How to Use Other People” 12/30/12

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Meaningless Filling of Emptiness

272Instead of maintaining connection between us and filling each other, we, with our egoistic properties, want all the needs of others, their desires and empty spaces, to be ours. We try to fill them and as a result remain empty and unhappy.

But why should I envy because I cannot fulfill myself anyway! “Others have it, and I should have it.” I begin to work seriously, I earn, I fulfill the desires adopted from others and do not experience any pleasure because they are not mine; they should not be realized in me, but in them!

And what is the result? I worked out too much, spent my life on it, tried to fill other people’s desires in myself, and I die with nothing, even more empty, many, many times emptier.

This is our life. Instead of acting to the contrary, to be filled with the fact that you feel the desires of others and you exist in order to connect with them.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How to Use Other People” 12/30/12

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The Difficult Maturing of Humanity

272Humanity is finally beginning to realize that it is coming to an end. People are not talking about it in full voice yet, but they are already saying that they do not know what to do. This is already a good result.

Our egoism in no way wants to act the way it should. It wants everything to be the way it wants it to be. Like a small child who closes his eyes and says: “There is no such thing!” It seems to him that if he closes his eyes and sees nothing, it means that it does not exist or nobody sees him.

It turns out that humanity acts in the same way: “There is no such thing!”. When I talked to the Nobel Prize laureates in economics many years ago and told them there was a crisis, they looked at me almost with mockery: “Well, what is wrong with you? What are you talking about?!” Of course, I kept silent. With whom should I argue?

I understand that these are just people. But today they do not say that anymore, it gave them a big whack on the nose.

Nevertheless, even if they already hear, they do not want to accept it internally yet. There are several thresholds that information must pass before a person accepts it, suppresses himself, and begins to take it in.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Conquering Space” 11/11/12

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Black and White World

921Question: In the 60s and 70s of the last centuries, South Africa was considered one of the most heavenly places to live, and then it slipped to the level of general Africa.

My father was a marketing director of an English company and lived in South Africa for 14 years. At the end of the 80s, when he left there, he cried on the plane, because he understood that this heavenly place had come to an end: What had lasted for so long collapsed in a matter of days.

Most of the buildings built in the 70s, which were a symbol of independence, were expensive apartments that have become drug dens.
Is there anything we can learn from this?

Answer: Learn?! Humanity?! Never!

Where have you seen humanity learn anything at all? There is no more stupid creature than a human who does not learn from anything! He constantly needs to be driven forward with a stick, and he only thinks about how to dodge this stick.

If we could draw our caricature, we would depict a mischievous boy who is constantly looking around and searching for a place to run away to, and behind him, like in a Tom Sawyer story, his aunt runs after him with a big stick that she tries to smack him with, and sometimes gets him. This is us! This is us and Mother Nature.

Have we learned anything today?! Today we are more like barbarians than ever before. We take care of the body in a way that we have never taken care of it in history. We have plastic surgeries, transplants, and tattoos, we remove body parts, and whatever else we do!

Our ancestors would envy us. We have built such a cult of a body that has never existed before. Instead of rising above it and developing the spirit, look what we are doing! On television, they only show programs about food, how to cook and fry it, the Internet is filled only with sexual offers, and TV programs are about how to earn money somewhere, and so on.

If once the knowledge of literature, music, and arts was respected, today there is none of this! The degradation is complete! A person clearly shows another person that he is his enemy. This is considered right, good, and supposedly emphasizes your independence and self-sufficiency. What do we teach children at school?—To suppress the other. What are we teaching them in general?—Only to conquer, suppress, and grind down others.

Meanwhile, the means of confrontation are getting stronger. Today, we can easily “smooth out” each other and sweep them away from the surface of the Earth. Astronauts say in one voice that when they look at the Earth from afar, they have the impression of it as a fragile, very delicate balloon.

And we, who live here, are ready to tear and cut everything as if we have descended to some planet to conquer it, as if this is not our only home!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Black and White World” 11/13/12

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How Will Humanity Die Out?

293Question: If you imagine the picture of the world in utter chaos, can some community that would live by completely different rules jump sharply out of these sufferings?

Answer: Yes, it could. But suffering will remain to the depth of egoism that exists.

Even if seven and a half billion of the world’s population die, the remaining half billion will go through enormous suffering because all the desires and all the qualities of those seven and a half billion will flow into them.

This remaining half billion will finish the correction, but in very severe agony because the suffering will not be distributed to eight billion. This is a terrible thing!

Imagine that there are only a thousand people around you and you have to absorb all their sores, all their negative qualities, everything that is in them, and live with it now. Your egoism will be a thousand times bigger, or even more, because it is cumulative, combined.

Imagine how many illnesses, sufferings, and blows you alone will have to feel, and your good desire will remain the same—one. These blows will eventually shake you, but not immediately because you will have to realize, feel, and decide for everyone that you cannot remain in this state.

Therefore, do not expect anything good. There will not be a better state in the future if we do not start improving it quickly ourselves. In a world where everything is interconnected, it cannot be otherwise. The interconnection is such that you cannot escape.

Question: So will even those seven and a half billion suffer and leave this state?

Answer: They will suffer within you. This is called Hitkalelut Neshamot, connection of souls. They will not go anywhere, but they will be so integrated into each of us that everyone will have a larger soul.

Therefore, at the time there was a need for the shattering of souls, for their multiplication. Where does the demography come from? On the basis of what it jumps up and down in different countries throughout history? It is precisely because egoism is growing and you need to somehow cope with it.

Adam alone could not correct it. Therefore, it had to be divided into eight billion parts.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How Will Humanity Die Out” 10/20/12

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