A person loses the actual concept of death immediately after crossing the Machsom, because the fact is, death doesn’t exist! Death is the feeling of emptiness inside our egoistic desires; it is when we find out that these desires will be empty forever. Therefore, if a person feels completely empty, he finds it easy to take his own life, since it is nothing but suffering for him.

Thus, the most important thing is to realize that there is no fulfillment inside the egoistic desires – and there never will be. However, it is possible to receive fulfillment inside the desire to bestow, and moreover – this fulfillment will be eternal and perfect.

No matter how hard a person works to fulfill his egoism, it’s all in vain – it’s like trying to fill a container with holes in it. No matter how much money you make or how hard you try to accomplish something, you soon discover that things like money, respect, power or knowledge all go away, disappear, leaving you with greater emptiness and disappointment.

The whole world is beginning to realize that money, fame, power, and all other competition will never bring good results. The only useful conclusion we can make from our personal experience and the entire history of humanity is that it’s useless to toil for our own egoism. After reaching this conclusion, a person begins to have a sensible outlook and understands that there is nothing to pursue and nothing to wait for. And there’s also no reason to despair: we just have to grasp the correct, real picture of the world. We have to recognize that the world is developing in a new way, where we are offered the highest opportunity – eternal fulfillment.

A smart person will not get himself into a deal that will leave him disappointed ten years down the line. Rather, he will see everything through beforehand and will carefully choose another, more correct path. Thus, we have to explain to the world that there is a short and easy path to the goal of creation. This will save everyone from unnecessary and lengthy suffering, which will end up bringing us to the same goal anyway.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Death of One’s Egoism Is Better Than This Life
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Laitman.com Post: The World Will Never Be the Same

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Two questions I received about increased acts of violence:

Question: I am curious about the increase in violence against women. There seems to be a huge lack of respect, understanding or appreciation for women today compared to just a few years ago. Routine attacks and killing have become almost commonplace in the news, so much so that parts of the world turn a blind eye to these atrocities. Is there a spiritual connection behind this phenomena, and if so, what can be done about it?

My Answer: This, and  other manifestations of violence, are caused by people’s growing egoism. Hence, the correction of egoism is humanity’s only task.

Question: I read a story recently about yet another mass slaying that took place, this time in Germany.  A teenage gunman shot at least 15 people before police had to shoot him. Why is this happening with such increased frequency? Is there a spiritual explanation?

My Answer: The cause of this is, again, people’s egoism, which is growing exponentially.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: How to Stop the Violence Among Our Youth
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From Chaos to Harmony: Part 1 “From Chaos to Harmony – Prologue”

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Two questions I received on the relationship between egoism and reproduction:

Question: Do people reproduce because they have too much egoism in their soul?

My Answer: When there is too much egoism in one’s soul, it’s difficult to correct it. It’s much easier to correct it by separating it into pieces, and then to correct every piece separately. This is why the population increases. It decreases, however, because this egoism brings suffering to people. This is the cycle of the universe.

Question: Why don’t people want to reproduce? Is it because they have corrected (eliminated) the egoism within them, or is it because they have too much egoism which brings them suffering?

My Answer: The lack of the desire to reproduce is the extreme form of egoism.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Does Every Person Have a Soul?
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From Chaos to Harmony: “Breaching the Balance”
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A question I received: What is the meaning of the Kabbalistic expression, “Death is better than this life”? Does a person have a choice whether to live or die? Or, does living mean being in the spiritual world, and death is equal to a lack of spirituality?

My Answer: Kabbalah speaks only about spiritual states, rather than the death or life of our bodies. the expression says that the death of one’s egoism is better than this life, even though one’s life may be filled with various kinds of pleasure. That’s because the pleasure may distance one from the truth, and one will reach the end of his life without any result.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: On Life, Death and Free Choice
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Kabbalah Revealed: “The Ego’s Inevitable Death”
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Two questions I received on the ego and the Klipa:

Question: I am confused. Is the ego and the Klipa separate forces, or are they one?

My Answer: The ego is the desire to feel pleasure or fulfillment. If one does something for the sake of fulfillment, then this desire is called egoistic. But if one does something in order to fulfill another person, then the desire is called altruistic. The Klipa is the desire to be fulfilled with the Creator, to receive from Him instead of giving to Him.

Question: Can the Klipot deceive us by imitating the governance of the Upper Force? Can the Klipot interact with or affect my reality the same way the Upper Force does when It makes the governance obvious?

My Answer: This is exactly what the Klipot do, as they are opposite to the Creator in every way.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Soul Is the Property of Bestowal, and Without It We Are Animals
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Shamati #39: “And They Sewed Fig-Leaves”

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In the News (from globalissues.org): “Development: New Africa Commission Report Reiterates Basic Goals” Africa’s arduous path to development could be eased if governments took elementary measures to improve infrastructure, coordinate regional trade policies, and speed up the regional exchange of goods and services.

My Comment: The reason is, once again, people’s egoism, which is the same in Africa too.

In the News (from Haaretz): “Keeping your joint account from separating you” Israel’s 2007 divorce rate, at 17.5%, was 15th worldwide. “Although most couples say they marry for love, 72% divorce due to a breakdown in communication, usually over money,” says Yosy Esh, chairman of the Israeli Union of Home Economy Advisors and Coaches.

My Comment: “Love and hunger rule the world,” but hunger is stronger!

Related Material:
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In the News (from ZDNet): About 60 percent of the world’s population now use mobile phones, with approximately 4.1 billion mobile-phone subscriptions annually, according to a United Nations survey.

My Comment: This indicates that the egoism developing in people today is the kind that wants communication. One’s egoism feels a desire to have influence over others. So today, in order to fulfill one’s ego, one depends on communication with the people around him and with the world at large, and this indicates that we, as humanity, are ready to correct our relationships from egoistic to altruistic.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Would It Be Like to Live In a Perfect World?
Article: “The Needed Shift to Altruistic Social Values”
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Nostradamus’s predictions (from Euro-Tongil.org): The salvation of the world will come about because of the appearance of a new religion. This will be: “The sect of philosophers, despising death, honor, and riches.” In other words, it is speaking about a religion not just of love, but of reason too. This will be such a teaching, combining modern science and a certain understanding of God.

My Comment: There have been many wise people who had the right hunch about the only one possible way to save humanity from the evil that consumes all – Egoism.

Related Material:
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In the News (from The Associated Press): “Group of 6 arrested in western Ariz. fires includes 4 firemen” Four firefighters and two others have been arrested on suspicion of igniting between 15 and 20 fires in western Arizona to make money by fighting the very blazes they lit, officials said Tuesday.

My Comment: Egoism forces people to harm others in any way possible for the sake of their own benefit. The same can be said of doctors and others who manufacture food fillers, useless and harmful drugs, and so on. Our society is built so as to use people in every way possible. Instead of, “Everything for the people, everything for their benefit,” what we have is, “Everything for the sake of one’s profit, everything to harm people” (and this harms both those who do it and to whom they do it).

In the News (from Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany): “Does persistent low fertility threaten the future of European populations?” Three stylized demographic facts are nowadays taken for granted by many Europeans: First, European birth rates are very low and further declining. Second, the currently low fertility will inevitably lead to rapid population aging and population decline in the future. Third, these trends are unsustainable in the long run… Perhaps no one summarized the fears of shrinking Europe more succinctly than Pope Benedict XVI: “…the problem of Europe, which it seems no longer wants to have children, penetrated my soul. To foreigners this Europe seems to be tired, indeed it seems to be wishing to take its leave of history” (Vatican 2006).

My Comment: Egoism doesn’t need anybody; it wants to feel special and unique. The same thing will happen in all the countries as their population’s egoism develops. But the emergence of the quality of bestowal and love in people will naturally make them desire to have children in order to continue their kind.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: What Awaits Humankind: Extinction or Prosperity?
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Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace In the World”

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News Report (from GfK): For the international GfK survey on cheating, carried out in 19 countries, the respondents were asked whether cheating was more common today than ten years ago, particularly at school, where taxes were concerned, in sport, in the workplace, in business and in relationships. Almost half of all respondents thought that more cheating goes on now than ten years ago.

My Comment: Indeed, egoism is growing, and there is no way for us to curb it. Even though we admit that our actions are bad, we no longer blush about it; we’re even proud of it.

News Report (translated from Israelinfo.ru): “Israelis have become crueler to the weak” Statistics show that over half of those who were killed on the roads of Israel in 2008 were the most unprotected: pedestrians, motorcyclists, and bikers.

My Comment: This is evidence of an increased egoism, neglect for the weak, and the feeling of impunity due to the fact that such egoistic behavior is becoming a norm. The accidents aren’t even mentioned on TV anymore, and people don’t have the right attitude to them. Indeed, egoism doesn’t allow us to take even the basic precautionary measures. Defenseless, our society is heading right into the mouth of the Snake!

News Report (from Times Online): Although there is no definitive list of mortal sins, many believers accept the broad seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, avarice, sloth, anger, envy and pride. …new sins have appeared on the horizon of humanity as a corollary of the unstoppable process of globalization. Whereas sin in the past was thought of as being an individual matter, it now has “social resonance.” You offend God not only by stealing, blaspheming or coveting your neighbor’s wife, but also by ruining the environment, carrying out morally debatable scientific experiments, or allowing genetic manipulations which alter DNA or compromise embryos.

My Comment: So how would we put the sins in a spiritual order?

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Consequences of Egoism’s Growth
Odessa Congress 2005: “The Last Stage of Evolution”
Chaos to Harmony: “Chapter 4. Breaching the Balance”
Shamati #59: “About the Rod and the Serpent”

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