Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

Rising Above Our Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the action of rising above egoism? Is it a thought process or activation of a certain intention? What is it?

Answer: You can try to reveal your essence either independently or with the help of psychologists. Just reveal yourself; it is like surgery, laying your essence down before you in all its qualities, desires, thoughts.

Qualities are given to us by nature, desires are formed under the influence of the environment, and thoughts form in order to execute and realize these desires, to attain the desired. This is the way we are made.

When you see the entire picture of your psychological inner world before you, you can be objective towards it, as if it were not you, and work with yourself.

If at the same time, you connect to a special goal, which you want and can attain; begin to work correctly with your inner data, the qualities obtained from your parents or ancestors; work with the desires acquired from the environment during the upbringing process; and aim your thoughts for the purpose of realizing these qualities and desires as much as possible; and if you see a certain, very serious, big, and grand goal before you—this means that you can objectively begin to work with your properties with the purpose of attaining this goal.

This goal is supported by the surrounding society. You can begin to work with it with the help of the society, with its judgment and approval; this is the “pump” that provides strength and energy to start this work. And this society will always show you the precise direction toward the goal, because the goal is inside the actual society, your inclusion in this society as a harmonious element.

In this case you rise above yourself and look at yourself from aside, from the point of view of this society, this goal. And you naturally begin to change yourself correctly and objectively; moreover, you change independently from what you feel in your egoistic desires, thoughts, and qualities. Your main test is in your integral connection with the society, and coming even closer to your goal.

If this is so, you absolutely stop caring what you do with yourselves. This is called “to rise.”

A person must come to this goal, this level on his own. This is because every one of us must consciously achieve the state of integrated interaction with others through the use of all the internal and external social and personal resources at the same time. But the person must actually change instead of just popularizing this method.
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From “Lessons About the New World” #7, 12/14/12

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A Game Arranged From Above

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can you make a faster decision, see what matters, and not waste more time on it than is necessary for its analysis?

Answer: For this we need the power of the group; a person alone is incapable of it. This is exactly why one person was not enough to correct the breaking, and he had to be divided into many pieces to learn what connection is from the lack of it.

Now we need to do this around the world. Today Pharaoh is being revealed in the world: the power of our breaking. We simply need to have the right attitude towards it, and then we will know what we need to do.

On one hand we need to reveal the breaking, and on the other hand, we need to understand that it is a tendency of nature; we can find the power that will correct it all and achieve connection. We are given all the means for this.

A person alone is incapable of this, but next to him he has friends and a teacher, whom he listens to. And this will awaken him and properly aim him toward solving problems, so he won’t treat them as personal problems, but instead, will only perceive them in the form of a subject for correction, as a revelation of the breaking, the Pharaoh.

Everything that happens is only given with the purpose of solving problems and reaching a corrected form. And under no circumstances should he delve into different egoistic calculations: Conversely, this will lead to even greater breaking.

It happens that not just one person, but an entire group can become so confused that it is unable to come out of its problem state. But there are other groups and a teacher to help them. It is impossible for them to remain in their same state if they are studying: The Light will still illuminate and evoke changes in them, and eventually they will understand that this is a game, which was arranged for them from Above. But if they are unable to come out of this state, they are probably not studying or listening to what is being said during the lessons.

Otherwise this would not be happening. Because when a person studies and does not deviate from his usual schedule, the Light influences and awakens him, and the Creator gives him the right point for analysis.

But there is nothing that can be done when people do not want to listen. They will go down the path of suffering, and then a part of them will leave and stop studying, a part will grow, and a part will drown in this swamp. This happens when you do not return to the principle of: “There is none else beside Him” and you do not go with Him to Pharaoh.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/6/12, Writings of Rabash

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Corporeal Altruists And Spiritual Egoists

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Recently I have attended a gathering of representatives of Eastern beliefs. They all were very nice and caring toward each other. What in their behavior differs from the integral global upbringing that we are speaking about?

Answer: First of all, their behavior is not driven by the necessity of nature. I am an egoist. I am completely indifferent to all the methods, including mine (if you can call it mine). I simply regard the world, its movement and evolution, like a technician, and I understand that there is nothing that can be done.

I am not a supporter of a specific idea. I am not trying to invent anything fictional, some beautiful new kingdom. I understand that we are here on the path of necessary development, and this is why this path is the best one for us and leads us toward the right goal. This is the first point.

Second, I do not have idealistic ideas. I apply egoism to our development without suppressing diminishing, or hiding it. It does not go anywhere; instead, it continues to develop even more.

In fact, now we are shutting down the egoism between us, it won’t develop. We do not feel how much we really hate each other, how opposite we are, how each one of us really wants to destroy everyone and remain completely alone, or just leave others as meek performers of all of his desires.

The method of integral upbringing and education involves the use of all the internal and external natural and human resources. It is in no way built on the suppression of anything, and this is why it works for all of mankind.

All the other methods are based on the suppression of egoism, the absence of its use. But it still jumps out and shows itself because it always continues developing in us, every second, from one generation to another, and there is nothing we can do about it.

Moreover, all of these methods are intended for a very limited number of people. According to studies, between six and ten percent of people in the world have natural altruistic inclinations: to give, to live in harmony, to paint flowers, etc. We are familiar with this phenomenon. But this destiny only belongs to a very few people and others cannot understand them at all: “Good, keep visiting hospitals, keep helping the sick and the elderly. You are not hurting anyone; it’s great what you do, you are good people. But do not drag us into it.”

But it is a whole other business here: Nature specifically obligates egoists to become altruists with the help of that same egoism. In other words, we give this egoism—all of our nature, all our properties—the maximum realization.
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From “Lessons About a New World” #7, 12/14/11

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Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (from Vesti.ru): “Parents want their children to grow self-confident. Children are aimed at achieving success. Ambition and a sense of superiority are instilled in them. A child is a reflection of our value system.

“In 2011, parents wanted to develop in their children the ability to achieve their goals, a sense of responsibility, and the ability to stand up for themselves. In 1998, it was good manners, the ability to behave in society, and to communicate with people. Today, these qualities are not included even in the top five.

“These data suggest that the world has become much tougher, and people more self-centered. We used to say ‘we’ and now ‘I,’ but it is hard to live when you have only ‘I’—you are alone!”

My Comment: Our system of values ​​is a consequence of our growing egoism. It will grow until we realize its deadly properties and begin to seek the means of dealing with it. Then, we will feel the need for a method of correction and begin to exit from the general crisis. We can advance this moment by disseminating the method of mutual guarantee.
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When Will We Finally Exit Egypt?

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe wisdom of Kabbalah only speaks of inner work, correction of the soul, revealing the Creator to the created, and all the images in its stories constitute different types of desire through which we view the world. The desire to bestow is called Israel, (Yashar-El, straight to the Creator). “Israel in exile” is the desire to bestow with an intention of self-benefit. “Nations of the world” are the egoistic desire to receive.

If the desire “Israel” is in exile, its intent becomes egoistic, meaning it becomes bestowal with the intent of “in order to receive.” Hence, Israel in exile can gain much greater benefit than the “Egyptians,” than the regular desires to receive. That is why it has been said that after the sons of Israel descended to Egypt, they multiplied, became rich, fattened, became important, and had plenty of onions, garlic, meat, and fish.

In other words, all desires received the filling they wanted. After all, they were working in bestowal in order to receive: They used the force of bestowal to benefit egoistically. And of course, they succeed more than “the nations of the world.” As it written, the nation of Israel mingled with the other nations, learned their ways, and achieved greater success because they know how to use bestowal even in order to receive.

That is why it is very difficult to exit the ego; it requires special work. A unique force is required to extract the egoistic desire to bestow from Egypt, the desire which is so advantageous to Pharaoh who can’t receive the same from his own people:  the simple, egoistic will to receive.

Israel on the other hand, work for their own benefit, using the spiritual force to fill their corporeal desires. Surely, the ego doesn’t want to lose them; they become the primary means for receiving its fulfillment, which can’t be received from anything else. Nothing can provide such great fulfillment.

And so, how can Israel’s desires become disconnected from the ego? They have to undergo two corrections because they work in bestowal with the intention of in order to receive, not just the Egyptians (the desire to receive), rather the will to bestow, which learned from them, hence, it fell even lower than Egypt. Egypt doesn’t have the option of using the force of bestowal for egoistic fulfillment.

Everything begins from the moment the Egyptian king dies and those desires that worked in bestowal for self-benefit suddenly stopped feeling fulfillment in that way. There’s nothing to work for any more; our king died, disappeared! That means, I stop feeling why I’m studying and working. I don’t see the reward any longer. And then, “And Israel cried out from the work.”

At first, we knew the purpose of our work; we worked hard and gained egoistically. We were faithful slaves of the ego and wanted nothing beyond that. And now, all of a sudden, hard work begins without the clarity of knowing why.  We don’t feel the purpose in egoistic bestowal: That is help arriving to us from Above. The development reaches a state in which we’re incapable of enjoying that, we cry out in desperation and then begin to search.

Indeed, if there’s nothing to enjoy, “This life is worse than death.” There’s no life, no sense of fulfillment. And if there’s no pleasure, a person is prepared to commit suicide, rather than feel the emptiness. Then the work of exiting Egypt begins, which lasts “many days.”
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/12, Shamati #159

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An Altruistic “Shirt” For Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does it mean, “to rise above egoism?” How do you do it: through thoughts?

Answer: To rise means to work with your egoism in a sensible manner. When you are under the influence of society and the society seems to be to your right, while egoism is to the left, you become close to the society and merge with it as you invest yourself in it as much as you can and treat egoism as matter that you must use in order to make a person, to give it a human form.

This is the difference between our method and all the other methods, which are based on the destruction and suppression of egoism, its maximum concealment, leveling. But not here! Here it is easily revealed. And since it is one of the two forces of nature, as I reveal the second force, I begin to see in an absolutely objective manner how both forces can be used, and neither applies to me!

Today I identify myself with my egoism; I exist in it inseparably. But here I sort of come out of it and regard my body, myself, and those around me objectively; I separate every person from their inner egoistic essence. In this way, I start seeing people, not necessarily in their egoistic matter, but outside of their egoistic matter, outside of their egoism, outside of matter, the way they should be if they were to properly use these two forces, the right and the left. The left force is egoism, and the right is the surrounding environment, which demonstrates altruistic qualities to me that are opposite to egoism.

Question: I do not fully understand, what is the right line?

Answer: The right line is power. It is the idea that I need to transform my left line: all my egoistic desires, intentions, everything there is. Let us say I have 600 or 800 of them, it does not matter whatever number becomes revealed, even 10 or 20 different desires and thoughts. Under the influence of the society and the environment, I must transform all my egoistic qualities, desires, and thoughts, which are my egoistic heart and mind, into their opposite: altruistic. It is like putting an altruistic shirt over egoism.

Question: Let us use an example to make it clear. Let us say that I have a new desire to sing. I like singing, but I am bad at it.

Answer: This is not egoism. Egoism is when you wish to use something, which will hurt others and will supposedly benefit you. But even if we use the singing example, if you were to sing in front of your mother who loves you, your singing would please her, despite the quality of your voice and your ability to carry a tune. If you were to sing outside, people might not be very pleased to hear you. Thus everything depends on the degree of participation, love, and connection between you and your listeners.

Question: How do you turn an egoistic action into its opposite?

Answer: Introduce love in the connection between us.

Imagine a scientist, for example, a doctor that operated on a person who had a problem with his voice, and the surgeon gave the patient the ability to speak. Now, this person, completely out of tune and wheezing, sings. Imagine what pleasure the doctor is experiencing hearing the results of his work!

Here everything depends on the connection between the people, and not the correct reproduction. If your actions are making others happy, go ahead do it. All the doors are open before you.

The main thing is to have a proper connection with others when you perceive each other with love. Then your new relationship is in charge. You begin to perfectly and instinctively understand which qualities you can use. Just as before you wanted to instinctively and openly use egoism for your benefit, now you openly and sincerely use it in the opposite direction.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #7, 12/14/11

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Penetrating Love Through Barricades Of Hate

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf I feel indifference toward the friends and nothing disturbs me, it is a sign that I haven’t begun to discover hate and certainly not love. However, if I already feel repelled by them, it is the influence of the upper light that is shining on me to show me my evil, my ego.

Not everyone is ready for this kind of work: It is possible that a person may connect with others and feel good; it’s pleasant, it’s interesting to go to the desert with everyone with all that hugging, and he doesn’t feel any hate. Hate can only be revealed by the Light that reforms.

Does it surprise you that this is the way It reforms you? Yes, this is the way to Him.

It is important not to despair that you have discovered hate that repels you. Don’t shout, “Where is my advancement? What kind of reward is this for my efforts?”

If you continue despite everything, if you want to connect with the friends because there is no other choice and Kabbalists advise you to do so, if you annul yourself, then you will understand that it is possible to reach bestowal and the revelation of the Creator only through connection. But you see that by yourself, you cannot connect and then you realize that connection is only possible with the help of the Surrounding Light.

The hatred towards the friends also comes from the Light, but this happens without our request. It is the revelation of evil. In order to correct it, a person must relate to the upper force purposefully and ask It to be revealed so that we will have the opportunity to connect with others.

There are many ascents and descents, disappointments, and a long period of helplessness on this path when you can’t annul yourself or turn either way. We are purposefully being exhausted this way until eventually the Light from Above comes to help us, and we begin to appreciate the friends. Here too you should check whether you appreciate them for no reason or whether you appreciate them because you appreciate the Creator.

Israel, the Torah, and the Creator should always be joined into one, and then this aims you in the right direction. Israel (you) is full of hate; the Torah (the upper Light) reforms you, helping you build the love on top of the hate. And then in the middle line, when you correctly connect the right and the left, you reveal the Creator and it all merges together into one.

This is the focus of our work.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/31/12, Writings of Rabash

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Audacity Won’t Hurt

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Can I oblige myself to change internally? Is there such an action? For example, if I constantly think and worry about the friends’ intentions and set an alarm clock to remind me to do that, will I be able to measure the result of these efforts?

Answer: I don’t know the result. I exert myself and I don’t know what I will find.

Question: How can I examine things this way? What is the purpose of such a study?

Answer: Carrying it out. If you did it, the result will be positive. All other questions and claims come from the ego, “What do I get from this? Do I lose anything?”

Try to detach yourself as much as you can: There is a mission and I don’t need anything else. The alarm clock rings and I think about the friends. Then they disappear from my sight until the next ring. That’s all.

We can succeed. The problem is the inner weakness: You don’t have enough audacity. After all, audacity towards Heaven opens up the doors for you.

At the moment you see things intelligently and without attracting attention you are trying to turn the doorknob quietly and slip inside. But no, you should pound on the door so that it will swing open.

Question: How can I acquire this audacity towards Heaven?

Answer: Audacity is not when I doubt things indecisively: “Is it worth it? Perhaps we are not worthy of it yet? Perhaps we should first accumulate power and knowledge….” Audacity is when I demand although I know that I don’t deserve it. I know it and I demand it as if the Creator owes me.

And this is justified. I understand that I cannot exit my ego, that the Creator has created me this way so that I cannot really connect with the friends. I know that I am standing in front of a wall because I have discovered this after the efforts I have made. I have already tried many things and I have already attained certain things, but all my achievements are futile in front of this wall. Each time the evil inclination overtakes me and tells me: “Wait a while, you still have to finish what you haven’t had a chance to. Perhaps in a month or two, maybe brush up on Shamati, and accumulate power… but now you are not ready yet. Let the others try.”

There must be audacity here, but very serious and thorough audacity: “I deserve it and that’s it.” This isn’t a senseless attack but a careful calculation. I bring the efforts I made with me; I don’t simply demand things, and I do it together with the friends. It makes no difference whether we look like a gang of criminals and not a consolidated group, we demand decisively, as brave people who will not give up.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Spiritual Vessel: It Is Not A Pocket

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should be the result of the Arava convention?

Answer: The word “result” in itself indicates that we are going there for some profit and that we want to get something. The truth is that I have to rise above myself, to lose myself and to feel “we” instead.

That’s all we need—to acquire the first spiritual vessel. This vessel in essence is a desire, a deficiency, and not an egoistic property. The desire to be with others in particular is revealed here, to connect to others. If it is constantly in me, it means that I have acquired that vessel.

But you expect to feel good as a result of our connection, that is, you expect to get an egoistic fulfillment. Start thinking and looking for the differences. There are many details here and it is good if you are confused by them, then you try to find out the truth.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/30/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Bestowal Is Not Paying Taxes

Dr. Michael LaitmanLo Lishma (not for Her name) is when I agree to be partners with the Creator. I have no other choice since after all I want to attain everything that exists in the world. This is the way I begin, like an egoist, like all of us.

But afterward, I despair at acquiring what is desired. If they were corporal acquisitions, I would apply more effort since I know this does the trick, or I would go study at a university if knowledge were needed, or I would steal it, but one way or another I would attain what I wanted.

But if my goal is above this world and I want to reach the root of my soul, to discover the goal of my life, where it comes from and what the plan for it is, then I will not be able to find that in this world. And it is here that we see that we have no choice, and we can’t manage through our own forces, and thus we reach the wisdom of Kabbalah.

And here I am told, “Do you want to attain that? It’s possible, but in order to do that you need to bestow to the Creator.” And then I perceive the Creator as a partner, like the taxing authority, where I think I can gain for myself on the condition that I allocate to Him the percentage He deserves.

If this is His system, He created the world, and I am in this world as a worker, as an implementer, then it’s clear to me what the Owner requests. As it is written: “The shop is open
and the owner gives credit. The book is open
 and the hand writes.
 And whoever wishes to borrow 
may borrow.” Thus subconsciously, I feel that the Creator is my partner Who will ask for His part.

Lo Lishma, is my partnership agreement with the Creator. In truth, I would like to gain everything for myself and not share with anyone; I would like spirituality to continue like corporeality, with the same conditions. But there is no choice, I am forced to share: “Tell me how much You need, I agree.”

Even if it were 99%, but if the one percent that remains is dear to me, then I am prepared to work for it. The worker in the factory works for pay of 1,000 dollars a month, while the owner of the factory can make millions. Here, it is the same thing. Therefore, I agree to a partnership deal with the Creator, and this is what each one of us does. We don’t have to lie to ourselves. Our ego doesn’t understand another way.

And here is the key point: How should I relate to this partnership? Do I bring my egoism to this partnership and divide: That’s mine and that’s Yours?

Sometimes I want to take everything for myself. Sometimes I actually agree to give everything to Him, but of course, that’s on condition that I also get something from it. Subconsciously I mean it, in my agreeing to give everything, in all of this there should be some gain in it for myself.

In as much as my state of Lo Lishma seems to me as a perfect state, when I want to give everything to the Creator, I see myself in my imagination as adhered to the Creator, and thus everything that He receives will be mine. Thus I am prepared to give to Him like to my baby, where I am not sorry for anything that I give Him since nature obligates me to feel that it’s mine. It’s as if it is I, myself, and even more important than myself.

Whether I want it or not, I have no choice other than to be situated in this kind of unconscious partnership, that is beneficial to the ego, like with income tax. And if it’s possible to somehow conceal the taxes, then it’s clear that it won’t work with the Creator.

Thus, if we are on our own, our desires to reach bestowal to the Creator is egoistic, it’s a ‘fixed’ game from the beginning. We can agree to bestow only from desperation, a lack of choice, or from the expectation of receiving payment. Everyone wants such a powerful partner who controls everything; it’s a very profitable alliance. This is the basis for all religions.

But our goal is to recognize the egoistic alliance in this point, and to correct it. Since it is especially in this point that we battle: if my relationship to the Creator will become my “potion of death” or the “elixir of life.” Will I go from Lo Lishma to Lishma or stay completely within the deadly ego? Here is the critical point.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/11/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot

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