Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

The Masters Of The World

Dr. Michael LaitmanFor some reason we are afraid that if we give up our egoism, our desire will cease to develop. But in fact, it’s quite the opposite; it’s now that we don’t develop it and rather, we use it in its lowest form. This destroys man and the world. The global elite have developed this approach on purpose so that a person will obey and agree to the infinite chase. Everything is arranged so that a person feels satisfied and considers it a “good life.” The top percentile of society fools people and turns them into slaves. A person is told, “What a good boy you are. Work more and you’ll get a bonus.” And he gladly continues the forced labor.

A person doesn’t understand how he is manipulated by society, education, the media…it isn’t by chance that the elite don’t want to change these mechanisms. They want you to remain a fool. Actually the whole world works for them.

When people wake up they’ll understand that they have been cheated and that their life is worse than a beast’s life. Beasts obey nature, even unconsciously, but directly.

But you are being manipulated by that one percent of humanity, and you smile happily as you’re turning on this “skewer.” You don’t even suspect that you are carrying out their orders that have been inserted into your head for decades through the TV screen, newspapers, and other channels. You are in a worse position than a trained dog.

Look at how they oblige you to buy and with what entertainment they feed you. And you obey their orders faithfully from morning to night. You are not free at all. There is a program in your head that totally enslaves you.

Until the elite feel that they are on the verge of collapse, it’ll be very hard for us to bring something to the world. They know what they are doing. They are holding all the strings that sustain humanity. They throw democracy at you like a bone, so that you will play with it by your “kennel.” These “masters of the world” are so proud that they don’t understand that they are destroying themselves this way.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/12, “The Freedom”

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The Beginning Of Enlightenment

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I know from experience that a person is prepared to study if you explain to him why that’s needed. So why does he need a course on the evolution of egoism?

Answer: From this course he will learn not only the beginning, but also the end of this whole chain. He will feel himself existing within it. He will see where all of this is headed. On the basis of that he could make correct decisions regarding all his personal states.

Comment: Let’s say I learn how the planets got formed. How is this related to my life?

Answer: It’s a part of an overall worldview that slightly raises a person above his animal part. When he turns to look back a few billion years, and when he looks forward to tens or maybe even hundreds of years ahead, he begins to see this practically endless axis of time within which he exists at this moment—a small, weak, and dependent element. And from here a question arises in him: “Who am I?”

When he sees his pitiful condition upon this axis, it will be possible to start raising him above it into a new state where he will feel: “All of this is below me, I can be in control of it all, I am actually on a higher level and can exit the boundaries of time, space, and history.” This is the beginning of that enlightenment that will appear within him.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” 12/12/11

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Everything Will Be Clarified In The Thought

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe have a desire and a thought. If we only had a desire, we would perform everything blindly with no self-control, just like inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature in which the only thought is how to fulfill the desire.

A person who has developed to the inanimate, vegetative, and the animate levels thinks only about how to attain what he wants. There are different types of people: smart, energetic, violent, shy, brave, etc.—but each one wants to fulfill his desires, from a tiny baby to an elderly person who hides his desires. In each one there is the thought of how to fulfill his desire in every possible way.

This is how we develop in feeling and in mind, like a beast, until the point in the heart is revealed in us and begins to ask: What is all this for? Why? From that moment on, real science begins; when I begin to ask about the essence of my desire: What do I need it for?

This isn’t simple. People come to study, they become a group, but years may pass until they begin to ask this question, that is, that they want to know the desires they feel: where they come from? They begin to look for the reason, the root, the source.

Then they understand that the thought was given to them in order to reach the Creator by studying their desires. If I, through thought, correctly perceive the desires, I can reach the source from which they come, will understand who is sending them and why, what he wants from me, and how I should regard Him.

Through the group and even directly, I begin to demand from Him to change my desire: “You gave me such a desire, but I am asking for another desire!” then I will really be able to change it. The thought is given to us so that thanks to it we will be able to know our desires and demand new desires.

The thought exists so that I can check and prove to myself that I can’t do anything with my desires! Even when I seem to overcome, it isn’t that but simply changing one desire for another, which is also egotistic: for respect, for control, and pride. I simply find another desire that beats the first one and change values.

As a result of my thoughts, or under the influence of the environment, I begin to imagine that another desire is more important than the one I just had. And so I decide to change it to another. It is the game of egoism. This way I can change any desire I have.

But I can truly change the desire only with the influence of the environment that will give me other values. Then, as a result of its influence, I will demand from the Creator to change my desires. These desires can already be super-natural for me, meaning against my ego.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/30/11, Writings of Rabash

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Shame Of Inequality

Dr. Michael LaitmanAll the changes that happen in the universe, following the origin of the plan of creation, only pertain to the creatures. But the Creator is constant, as it is written: “I did not change the manifestation of my HaVaYaH.” Nothing else happens in relation to Him: He wished to make a creature to please it—and He did it.

All the actions take place inside the creature—in its consciousness, understanding, perception, and development. This way the creature develops from one point, which essentially separates it from the Creator. It is a special point, created by the Creator, which is the reason the created is called a creature, a desire.

Everything beside this point must absolutely be like the Creator. And in order to bring them to this similarity and create a connection between the creation and the Creator, the creature separates into an enormous number of parts.

These parts are separated and are pushed away from each other by their egoism, the desire to enjoy, the evil inclination, a selfish intention. This is the way the creature feels: divided and diverse, separated into many different systems, which are hostile to one another. But all this only exists within the creature in its sensations.

This sensation is called “concealment” (Alama)—an entire system of worlds (Olam), which exists so the creature would finally understand that the concealment separates it from the Creator. There is absolute perfection, unanimity in the Creator. He is one, and there are no differences within Him. But inside the creature there are an infinite number of different parts, which contradict one another.

In the end, the creature discovers that this exact division does not let it connect with the Creator and creates inequality between them. This evokes a special feeling, called shame—the feeling of their difference, which makes the creature begin to act, striving to become like the Creator. And here it sees that for this it needs to unite with everyone it now hates, pushes away, neglects, and does not take into consideration.

The creature is ready to make this transition, these actions of correction, for the sake of attaining equality with the Creator—anything to achieve adhesion. Complete equality of actions and qualities is called adhesion.

This is a gradual, step-by-step process where we realize the program of creation. We must feel ourselves in all the other states on the way towards unity or when already attaining it—in other words, on all the rungs of the ladder, while increasingly developing our unity.

At the end, we will see ourselves to be absolutely different creatures, and the group will appear different, not just a union of friends in a team, but a new spiritual formation with common thoughts and desires in a different reality. But any new state is directed towards the attainment of a greater connection, which is referred to as a union of friends both in our and the spiritual world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/11, Writings of Rabash

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Formula For The Transition To Goodness

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal Hasulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”: The philosophy of morality called “ethics,” which is based on an empirical knowledge, through examination of the practical reason, whose essence is but a summation of the visible damages that result from the nucleons of egoism.

…Once they have germinated, after they reveal in us. This approach is based on personal experience: Only after many punishments, the stubborn child begins to think about the reason for the punishments. In the same way, we first experience unpleasant feelings from different actions and only then begin to reach some conclusions. This is the path of suffering: I suffer until it forces me to change my ways.

It all depends on my egoism, which calculates benefits versus costs. For example, I sit in an uncomfortable position and still don’t want to move in order to change it. I suffer, but not enough to change my position. How long will I stay in this position? Until the suffering grows to such an extent that it will be worthwhile to make an effort to sit differently.

We always calculate things this way, and our body deals with it just fine: We can leave our present situation only if we feel suffering which make us feel that it is better to invest energy and to move to another position in which there will be no suffering.

So my calculations depend on comparing the level of suffering, the pleasure, and the efforts it takes to change. I calculate whether the expected pleasure is greater than the present suffering and the efforts I have to make.

It is a very simple formula: And thus, I can make the transition from state to state, from bad to good, because it is worth it..
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/1/11, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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Feeling The Suffering Of The Whole World


Question: What does it mean to feel the suffering of the whole world? How does one join in it?

Answer: Let’s say, I am close to a person who works the land and does not know anything else in life except his cows, his field, and farm. On the other hand, there is the opportunity to get to know the big world, to multiply one’s knowledge and pleasure, to attain the eternity of nature.

The difference between what he has and what he could have reached is the shortage, the suffering. He does not feel it by himself. As if he is mentally sick and does not know about his ailment, but I know; I see it looking at him and I feel sorry about it.

It is not important that he is not sorry about it by himself. It is possible to make a pain-killing injection and people will not suffer from the pain. However, suffering exists in the world for a purpose, so that by the means of suffering, by the means of one’s simple actions, we can reach correction.

In order to feel the whole world on our shoulders, I need to feel how much everyone is missing—the difference between their current state and the end of correction. This is a perfect desire, which a person must reach.

The suffering from feeling this empty vessel is simply unimaginable. But we connect the beginning and the end, understanding that “the end of the action lies in the initial thought” and that everything is originally derived from the benevolent desire of the Creator to give pleasure to the creation, and we arrive at this good end, and a person feels the suffering only to the extent of how much he is connected to his desire to enjoy.

However, at the moment when he rises above this desire, he will no longer feel the suffering, but only inspiration and excitement. In this form, we can endure suffering from what is seen as another person suffering in his personal life as a result of being immersed in his self-interest. But when we see how much is prepared for him after he rises above his egoism, how the vessel is full of light—it helps us, suffering together with him, to endure this pain for everyone.

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The Truth Is In The Connection Between Us

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: When hatred arises between two people, should they figure out the reasons for it with each other, or should the whole group participate?

Answer: It is much easier to figure it out between two people. There are many additional factors inside the group which force us to act in a particular way. Usually it’s better to perform these clarifications among yourselves or in the presence of a few people with whom you can be completely honest because it is not our goal to prove who is right.

None of us can be right—the truth exists in the unification between us. Therefore, the most important thing is to clarify the greatest differences and rise above each of them. We should tune into each other to such a degree that I would perceive all your negative qualities, which you perceive as given to you, as positive ones.

It is the same with our children. We love everything about our child because love outweighs all the negative things. We see almost nothing bad with our own children and even if we do, we immediately gloss it over, sweeten it, and forgive them. In regard to a neighbor’s child, it is the opposite: I not only notice the most minor negative qualities in him, but also I exaggerate them or make them up only because he is a stranger to me.

We need to understand that by uniting with each other, we need to reach a state where I will perceive all the negative things in you as positive.
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Talk on Integral Education 12/12/2011

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Supposed Desire, Supposed Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How will I, being broken and having only egoistic requests, be able to bestow?

Answer: You are not able to bestow, and no one expects it from you. You are expected to do what you are capable of—which is demanding correction.

Naturally it will be false and you are lying when you say that you want real correction. But the more you want this fake correction, keep asking for it as if you really want it! This is called a game through which we grow, learn, become wiser and advance.

Of course I do not want it, but I act as if I do. There is no choice—how else am I to wish to be in this state without being in it? And this is why you are given this transition through “as if”—an opportunity.

We will later understand why this world was created in this specific way without being in the spiritual space, with us having to rise from it. Attaining the perception of the upper world is a game. And it is clear that everything is a lie if we were to look at it in a sane manner.

But how is a child playing with a plastic car not a scam? But this is how he grows. Our world was created this way for a reason, and it precisely reflects the fact that the creature was intentionally created opposite to the Creator, and it must distance itself from Him in order to feel like a creature. But on the other hand it must become similar to the Creator.

And this transition of someone who is separated but at the same time becomes similar can only be done in this form—act as if you are in a state of similarity, while you start out separated.

This helps you discover how much you “supposedly” want it! And this “supposed” desire attracts the surrounding Light to you. And this Light is not even the real Light, it is the “supposed” Light! In this way we establish a connection with it.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/27/11, “Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Farewell To Egoism

Dr. Michael LaitmanIf a person is brought up in the spirit of mutual guarantee and togetherness, he treats others like they are his own family, like an integral part of himself. Nowadays our world is called an integral system of interaction.

An integral system is a mutually dependent structure. How do we depend on our children? We cannot abide without them; we are instinctively tied to them through care and love. If we hurt them, we’ll eventually harm ourselves since we are concerned about them anyway.

I begin to feel the same way towards all the people of the world. A genuine picture of a complete egoistic interdependence emerges in front of my eyes; a lack of care towards others harms me by hitting me back in a negative way.

We still exist in accordance with egoistic laws that were established in the past when we were selfishly connected: You give to me – I give to you, steal more, gain more at the expense of others, use somebody for your own sake….

Today, the system of egoistic relations comes to an end; a totally new, altruistic, inter-dependent, global, integral system comes to life. If we want to succeed in this world, we have to match this system. But since we still fall short of this new system, we feel our current state to be a crisis. But this crisis is not in the sense we are accustomed to understanding it. “Crisis” is a Greek word that means new birth; that is, crisis is the solution, not the problem.

We have to realize that we are transitioning from one state to another. The sooner we recognize this fact and start acting in unison with the laws of evolution instead of resisting them, the easier and more pleasurable our transition through the changes will be.

We have to become one family. We have to treat others like our own children, parents, our beloved, or adored pets…we have to treat everybody like something that belongs to us. Nature leads us in this direction irrespective of our desires.

It is a sensual cognitive process. We have to create an environment that will explicitly demonstrate this to everybody and thus alter us.

To the extent we manage to change, it will change our family, social, political and industrial relations.  The connection among us will adjust to match our new developmental level.
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Victory Over The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe purpose of our studies is to develop recognition of evil within us. On the other hand, even without studying, people can identify the evil within themselves. We are brought up in a certain spirit and acquire cultural values; thus, we are unable to steal, beat or kill anyone. We become better, more open-hearted; we start charities and help the sick and needy. Hence, we learn to distinguish good from bad and intentionally want to do good.

At the same time, all people in this world no matter how highly developed or poorly bred they are act in accordance with their egoistic desires. Some people help others because they are afraid to get into a similar situation in the future. Others feel pain when they see their neighbors’ affliction and would like to calm down their own pain. Our egoism contains multiple bases for “altruistic” behavior, that is, caring about our neighbors.

However, it has nothing to do with authentic correction. All good and bad qualities as well as all principles of our world are rooted in egoism. A person can be the quintessence of kindness, be utterly concerned about his surroundings, be loved by everyone, but still is being governed by self-love.

In Kabbalistic terms, a person remains on the animate level since he is not in control of his own properties; rather, his properties are in control of him. No matter how wonderful he is, he is not the one who manages his behavior, but rather, his ego is in charge of him. We can call such person “an angel” according to the spiritual classification, meaning on the “animate” level.

In fact, inanimate, vegetative and animate developmental levels are considered “angels” since they implicitly fulfill “orders” of nature. This applies to everyone in this world. It explains why there are no such things as punishment or reward; they are applicable only to those who work on self-improvement in order to approach the Creator. The rest are simply ordinary “derivatives”; it’s useless to expect more from them.

We study Kabbalah because we are triggered by a point in the heart, which allows us to differentiate between reward and punishment on our spiritual path. What bothers us is whether we will rise above our nature that in fact is the Creator. We’d like to have power over it.

What does this mean? Do we really want to take over the Creator? Yes. It is said: “My sons have defeated Me. I created the evil inclination and they demanded that I create a force that corrects it.”

A person develops in order to validate his existence rather than blindly submit himself to nature. His development depends on the recognition of evil. What kind of evil do I disclose in myself? Maybe I am a thief or a liar…. But it is the Creator who made me this way.

The ability to differentiate between a human being and the Creator is in fact a genuine recognition of evil. Only in comparison with Him, my evil inclination reveals itself. It is about the desire that I identify as being opposite to His.

But how can I possibly compare myself with the Creator? For that, I need a group. It is my only opportunity, my only standard, and my sole criteria for evaluating myself. My negative mind-set towards my friends and detachment from the group allow me to acknowledge my evil inclination. Then, I unite with my friends in order to approach the Creator.

So, there are three components: myself, the group, and the Creator. According to them we evaluate evil and good inclinations, rewards and punishments, and all other details of our perception that we measure up to the Man (Adam in Hebrew) who is similar with the Creator. The rest is simply irrelevant.

Basically, this is the way to separate creation. This approach accurately focuses my attention on the goal. The group becomes a method of achieving the Creator; the Creator is hiding behind the group and reveals Himself to the degree that I immerse myself in it.

After I incorporate myself into the group, I realize that the Creator is also a part of it.  Thus, the group is a common territory between me and Him.

I disclose my evil inclination through my relationship with the group, while I am trying to unite with my friends in the group. Similar to when we exited Egypt, Mount Sinai emerges between us; it’s a mountain of hatred (Sina in Hebrew).

On the other hand we must unite and be as one man with one heart out of desperation. The gap between unity and enormous hatred constitutes the evil inclination. This is what we raise our demand to correct.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/11, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”

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