Question: Now that the crisis is intensifying all over the world with natural disasters and wars happening more and more often, how should we treat people who have experienced misfortunes considering that we feel their pain when we see what kind of suffering they are going through, but aren’t able to help?

Answer: The crisis is not moving in any single direction. It’s not just an earthquake and tsunami in Japan, floods and tornadoes  in America, fires in Russia, or national revolutions in the Near East. These are local events and that is why we worry only slightly when we hear about them, not taking it too close to heart. Our egoistic nature does not allow us to empathize with others any deeper. But if I’m afraid that the tsunami will reach me, then it’s an entirely different matter.

However, this crisis is multifaceted. For now it is being expressed as several separate catastrophes here and there, but in essence it is preparing ground for a fundamental worldwide jolt that will be common and global. This is exactly what people who understand what is happening are afraid of.

This will be a global economic crisis. When economic connections disintegrate in conditions of our total, universal interdependence, it will be a huge problem. This will be an immediate blow to everyone, causing people to go crazy because they won’t know what to do. Let us hope that before this happens we will be able to exert a positive influence on the world and prevent this kind of turn of events.

We shouldn’t think that in order to influence the world we have to enter the mass media or get the world’s leaders on our side. Rather, we are operating internally. We are connected with the world’s inner forces, the global, integral system that operates inside of the world. If we correspond to it and go together with it, then we act according to the laws of nature. We bring the force of unity and love into this system. It comes from us, from the part of humanity that desires a good connection between people.
From the 1st lesson at the Rome Convention on 5/21/11

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How can we stay on the path of the correct development? It is very simple: A person should always see himself as opposite to the plan of creation.

Indeed, our nature is egoistic and therefore it is so easy to check myself: Do I see that every moment my thoughts and desires disagree with the goal opposite to it, are false and incorrect?

In reality, rationally and practically, I am looking for the means that would aim my thoughts and desires correctly: accurate diagnosis, analysis, the upper force, studies, relations with the friends and the group. However, first of all, I have to recognize that my current situation is incorrect—from the very beginning and every moment. Everything I want, think about, and intend is not valid.

Obviously, it should not make me depressed. On the contrary, I use this approach effectively in order to work on this problem: I immediately try to define the correct direction.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/4/2011, “Peace in the World”

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Question: Our egoistic race is turning into a snowball rolling down the hill. It’s clear that it would break at some point, but no one can stop its motion.

Answer: It’s true. Egoism is our only nature. If we had one more force, opposite to it, we could stop. However, we have no other force.

It has to become crystal clear: We are all arrant egoists. Boundless self-love forces people to drink the cup of poison to the bottom, until the very last drop. Even at the moment before death, they will not be able to stop.

It’s impossible to convince anybody of anything: Everybody will be left with his thoughts and will not hear the warnings. I can deliver a speech before the entire world, bring all the data, write all the facts, invite leading scientists and the most prestigious public figures, and together we will cry out: “Friends! Brothers! We are heading to our death!” Their response will be: “Really? What are you talking about?!” And the public will return to their business of burning the rest.

Everybody is an egoist; each one of us is like a machine and cannot act differently. Someone spins; someone leaps; someone moves back and forth. We are created in this way and are not capable of anything else. People don’t hear calls coming from a higher degree and existing above human nature.

Only by uniting among ourselves will we help them recognize the problem. Only then, having understood the situation and sensed the threat that it carries, will people be ready to listen to us at least a bit. And united with them internally, we will give them the Light that Reforms.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/2011, Talk on The World’s Overpopulation Problem

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The essence of the global crisis is that humanity has “gotten stuck” or “bogged down” in nature and does not know what to do. Nature has turned its harsh side to us, threatening us with crises in various areas, and we don’t have an answer to that challenge.

On one hand, we developed inside of our nature and have reached a completely lawful result. If we had a chance to turn back time a few centuries and do it all again, we would still take the same path.

That is because this is our very nature—the growing egoistic desire with all of its derivatives. Scientific and technological progress, industry, culture, education, and human society are all natural results of egoism, and nothing can be done about them.

Until now we have developed the way our nature ordered us to. So how can we now influence it and correct it in any way to change the direction? Has anything like this ever happened in history? Never. In the best case scenario we can recognize the results of our development—whether they are good or bad, depending on the observer’s point of view. Meanwhile the train moves farther and farther along, and maybe we really don’t have another way out?

Scientific research of the manifestations of the crisis is a useful thing, but what does it give us? We are looking out of the window of a train, watching the view that is flying past us: At first it glitters with different colors, the sky is clear, and the green fields are filled with sunlight. But then, the colors start to wither, the grass becomes replaced by sand more often, and there are increasingly more glimpses of garbage dumps, dirt, and waste drains, and the sun becomes obstructed by smoke and smog. Can we do anything or will the train ride down this track until the end? Should we put a veil over the window and come what may?

There are many uncertainties here, but the science of Kabbalah does not even discuss this route and where it will lead us. It deals with the root of the problem: We are riding down the train of our egoism, which is constantly growing.

Development is necessary, but will we direct it in a different vein? Let’s reject the egoistic path in which we are unable to agree on anything and inflict so much harm to ourselves and nature. After all, every person thinks only of himself, and that is why we inevitably destroy our lives and the surrounding environment.

What if, instead of that, we will unite in love? Would we then treat nature and the environment differently? Would we still exhaust the earth’s abundant resources? Would we burn such inconceivable amounts of fuel? Would we throw out food when there are a billion people suffering from hunger? Would we give birth to one child here and to ten in another place? Would we then be able to reach balance?

Or maybe we wouldn’t have to look for balance between us? Maybe people’s attitude to each other and to the world as a whole would correct this world? And then the train itself would change and would ride forward differently? By correcting our attitude, maybe we would ensure an abundance of natural resources and crop yields so there would be more than enough for everyone?

Baal HaSulam wrote the following in the newspaper “The Nation”: Our planet is sufficiently rich to feed all of us. So why do we need this tragic war for survival, which complicates our lives from one generation to the next? If only we would achieve unity, compassion for one another, and love, then everyone would have enough of everything. That is because then the upper Light would fill all of our necessities. Nature itself would change from the inside.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/18/11, The World’s Problems, Overpopulation

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Question: Even if my intention is egoistic, if I start thinking about the benefit of others and the well-being of the world, can this already be considered an action?

Answer: Of course. Do you really think that giving out bread to the poor is a real action? This will only cause more poor people to exist in the world.

Your action is to attract Light. It, and nothing else, returns you to the Source. So what else is there to think about? Especially at a time when the whole world is in trouble and in danger. We only need the Light. The lack of Light is the reason for all the wars, crises, catastrophes, and other problems.

Precisely the lack of good actions by the Light evokes troubles at the four phases of development—still, vegetative, animate, and human. The evil we encounter is a projection of the lack of Light.

Punishment does not come from above. If I have to reach a specific reward, the revelation of the Creator, similarity and adhesion with Him, and I don’t do that, then I experience the gap that this creates as punishment or lack of goodness. And vice versa, by attaining this, I will feel a reward.

Thus, I feel reward and punishment in the same desires. If I have corrected and filled my desire, this is the reward, but if I cannot correct and fulfill it, this is punishment. There are no penalties from above. I do not receive a speck beyond what I inflict upon myself. I create my own punishment.

Therefore, we have just one task—to attract the Light. Especially today, considering everything that is happening and accumulating in the world. There are no other means.

I am constantly in touch with people who are “in the know,” and I read all kinds of articles, visit websites, and follow the newspapers, but I don’t see a solution offered anywhere. They cannot offer anything and they don’t even want to think about this because they don’t have the slightest connection with correction.

Just yesterday I was talking about this with a famous writer and he did not say anything—he avoided answering. This indicates a lack of sensitivity, a lack of understanding the corrections.

“The world is round and we have to unite,” I say to people. “That’s right, we’re also acting in that direction,” they respond. People don’t even realize that in reality they are going in the opposite direction. After all, in the end every person is just strengthening his own party or movement. There is no one to talk to.

Therefore, we have to create conditions in our midst for a positive force to emerge. Only then will its waves ripple through the whole world. Nothing else will help. We do not depend on others, but we have to help them so that later on people will quickly catch these waves, understand their message, and feel that they are coming from us.

The materials have to be disseminated ahead of time, but in essence the source of these waves is us. And therefore, the most important thing is to unite, to merge with one another more and more.

I place great hopes on the upcoming conventions. They are the means by which we have to bring to life unity, consolidation, and mutual care for the world and for our correction, which will help the world.

The time has come for the Creator to become revealed in the creatures. The means is simple and it is in our hands. All we have to do is use it. We ask the world to wake up, but are we awakening ourselves?
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/17/11, “Peace in the World”

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Each of us feels that he is special and unique, as if he were the only one existing in the world and the whole world is intended for him. As generations develop, every person stands out more and more, egoism grows and requires a person to become more self-sufficient and to feel that he is the center of the world. Envy, fear, and conceit force us to act in a way so others will think we are higher than they. We are only willing to give this up if we have no choice or are too lazy because in order to achieve anything we have to lead an endless battle. However, the desire and urge to affirm oneself above everything still burns in a person.

We see that only the sensation of one’s own exclusivity invites people to “climb on top one another,” to step on each other, building up the human pyramid from the rulers on top to the smallest ones down below. Everything depends on how much a person stands out with his exclusivity, as well as the conditions and qualities he was born with and which he received from the environment in the process of his development.

One way or another, eventually people attain something in human society only by using the quality of their own exclusivity. This quality comes from the Creator: He is One, and therefore every one of us, who has separated from the common desire that was created by the Creator, also feels singular.

We are like a holographic picture where each part contains the whole. We used to be one soul, similar to the Creator, but then it broke into parts and now each of its pieces contains the single form of the common soul, but in the opposite form due to the breaking. There is an integral form of the initial soul concealed inside of me, and therefore, pressured by the force of the breaking, I feel whole and demand the whole world and the Creator to be at my disposal. Who or what can have any importance besides me?

As a result, our self-expression in this world is built only on the quality of exclusivity which operates in every person. Where do I aim all of my desires, thoughts, and abilities? At becoming even more unique and exclusive. Every person advances down this path according to his own forces, qualities, and speed, and also to the extent that the environment spurs him on.

The most important thing is: For whose benefit do I use my “I,” all of my qualities, and in general—my exclusivity? If I am unique in the world, then whom am I acting for? Eventually a person makes the decision that correctly using himself means serving the world just like the Creator. That is when he becomes human, similar to the Creator, and the world turns into a meeting place of the Creator and creation. There they unite and merge with one another, serving all the souls.

From this we see that the quality of exclusivity can play a dual role: at first a person strives to conquer the whole world like Napoleon and to use it as he sees fit, in opposition to the Creator, but in the end he reveals the need to change and acquire similarity to the Creator. Exclusivity can be used either for one’s self or for the sake of the neighbor. This is what determines a person’s place on the spiritual ladder.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/17/11, “Peace in the World”

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Nature controls us with the help of four categories: mercy, truth, justice, and peace. Of course, the best one is peace, which means perfection, and it can be achieved with the help of the quality of “truth.” However, we are incapable of making this come true because according to the truth, a person must be completely pure of the egoistic desire and be entirely in bestowal. He must receive only whatever is necessary for his life and bestow to others with all his might.

We still haven’t attained these states. Our society is incapable of this. We do not belong to the still, vegetative, or animate levels, which operate according to the laws and forces that nature awakens in them. Unlike those levels in nature, we are egoists and as such, our desire for pleasure desires to absorb and use everything.

As a result, we cannot affirm the category of “truth.” But without it, humanity faces a problem: If we don’t give and provide each other with everything, then society is flawed and therefore experiences all kinds of troubles and disasters. When there is no balance, people feel disadvantaged or, on the contrary, privileged.

Therefore, in order to avoid destroying the environment completely, the category of “mercy” awakens in us. “Mercy” is a sort of compensation, a way for the powerful to make up for things because they have the ability to use all of society for the sake of their own interests and then to allocate a little bit to the weak. That is how we use the categories of “mercy” and “justice.”

Of course, these compensations are inadequate, yet with their help we have been able to balance society out. Humanity has done a lot for the sake of this balancing act: charity and humanitarian organizations, all kinds of revolutions, public health services, education systems, and so on. However, nature demands much more from us. Lately we are finding that it requires us to create a system of mutual bestowal.

According to all the indications, today we have to rise to the level of “truth” and “peace”—in other words, to live by the principle, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his necessity.” On the the still, vegetative, and animate levels, this principle is maintained by nature absolutely and instinctively, whereas people have to come to this by reaching total correction, by ascending above their egoism and establishing the appropriate interconnections within society.

Today humanity is at an intermediate phase. We are no longer animals or primitive barbaric tribes living in a natural communism, yet we are still not corrected either. Right now we are at the beginning of realizing the crisis of our nature, our egoism.

So let’s listen to what Kabbalists say: They explain to us that there is a way and a means that can help us to create the perfect society.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/16/11, “Peace in the World”

A Social Agreement To Cease Hostilities
Is True Equality Possible?
Learning Isn’t For Us, Is It?

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We are all egoists. So how can we organize regular life in human society in a way where we won’t eat each other?

That is why people have agreed that we can’t manage alone, after all. Other people serve me in one way, and I serve them in some other way. Without that we just can’t manage. Once we understand this, we come to an agreement: Let’s do this without waiting for a disastrous situation. Let’s do it out of mercy: I give a little bit to you, and you give a little bit to me.

Suppose I am driving in a car and someone in front of me suddenly stops. Then I also have to stop. If there is someone standing in front of me in line, then I have to wait. I spend time, gas, and money on others because we have all agreed on mutual sympathy and have to pay for it.

We create funds to help one another, such as medical funds and retirement funds. A person understands that it’s worth it for him to pay the medical fund even if he is healthy because his egoism recognizes how it will benefit from this. That is how we make concessions ahead of time because we need each other. This is “mercy”: We are willing to bestow to others in specific ways because we won’t survive without them.

As a result, people divide into two categories: Some promote “mercy,” wishing for everything to be “pretty,” while others support the category of “truth,” which says: “Mine is mine and yours is yours.” So whose side is truth on? The answer is: neither.

However, if every person clings to what is his, then society is torn apart to pieces, whereas if we add mercy, then we can somewhat soften or sweeten the situation. As a result, human societies throughout history have differed from one another by the correlation of these two approaches.

Society can be softer or harsher. In its pure form, capitalism does not like to play around: If you earned it, receive what’s yours, but if you haven’t earned it, then you can starve to death. Others understand that this is not a solution because hungry people will come and rob you, and maybe will even murder you. So it’s worth it to give them something “out of mercy.”

That is how humanity develops, but it cannot achieve piece on this path. Granted, truth is the lot of the strong, and mercy is the lot of the weak, but justice stands in the middle as the foundation of the scale so our cups could sway to and fro.

That is how society keeps itself back from self-destruction, but this does not bring it any closer to real peace – to conciliation and mutual completion.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/15/11, “Peace in the World”

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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 1 “Histaklut Pnimit,” Item 7: Our sages have said, “The Creator is destined to bequeath each righteous 310 worlds.” …

It is like a person who says to his friend, “Work with me for just a minute, and in return I will give you every pleasure and treasure in the world for the rest of your life.” There is indeed no greater free gift than that, since the reward is utterly incomparable with the work, since the work is in this world, a transient, worthless world compared to the reward and the pleasure in the eternal world.

Question: So is there reward after death or not?

Answer: After which death? If the animate body dies, it gets buried. But if the egoistic desire dies, then that’s not the end. After that it is necessary to “revive the dead”—the dead desire.

First it is necessary to “bury” the egoistic desire, to read the commemorating prayer over it (Kaddish), to bless the Creator for the fact that my egoism has died. I say, “You have killed my egoistic desire and I am very grateful to You for that! Now let’s continue working. Let’s revive the dead and give it the intention for the sake of bestowal!”
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/12/11, Talmud Eser Sefirot

Related Material:
Commemoration Or Gratitude?
Life On The Degree Of Bestowal
The Most Materialistic Approach

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Today humanity is trying to unite. People instinctively understand that together is better than alone. Different countries are trying to make agreements over and over again, to enter a union that will make them stronger and more successful. But do they succeed in doing this? In the end we see that this leads to conflicts and even wars. The problem remains: We do not know how to unite.

However, the urge to consolidate has naturally permeated humanity for many years already. This is the partnership that is inherent to nations and people: I guard myself and yet I still see that it’s worth it for me to unite with others. Together we will create a monopoly and become stronger than everyone else.

This drive that has not grown any weaker will eventually bring us to such enormous troubles that nature itself will show us the need to unite. It is revealing to us that we have to merge into a single, global, integral whole, to totally complete one another, to become perfect, whole, and accept the “round world” where all the parts are interconnected.

If nature puts the challenge this way, then how should we now build human society? After all, the problem of egoism is concentrated only in human society. This is the only place where egoism works against unity. As a result, we discover that we are incapable of uniting.

Why did the Creator put a stumbling block in front of us, making us different and unlike one another? If we were the same, everything would be clear: Every person gives a certain amount and receives a certain amount, and the matter is settled.

Yet we are different, and therefore we have to ascend above egoism and activate the intention for the sake of bestowal, without any connection to personal benefit. Only on this condition will man be completely able to unite with others. Then he will reach bestowal for the sake of bestowal, and then—reception for the sake of bestowal. Only if every person takes this path will perfect unity emerge among us.

This is why we were not created the same: because otherwise we would solve the problem on the material, animate level and would become tantamount to ants in an anthill.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/12/11, “The Peace”

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