Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

Lack Of Desire To Reproduce Is Egoism At Its Extreme

laitman_2009-03_4172Two 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?
Laitman.com Post: The Black Hole
From Chaos to Harmony: “Breaching the Balance”
Rabash Article: “To which level does a person have to reach in order that he should not need to be reincarnated a second time?”

Death Of One’s Egoism Is Better Than This Life


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
Kabbalah Today Article: “To Be or Not to Be?”
Kabbalah Revealed: “The Ego’s Inevitable Death”
Talks: “Why There Has to Be Death?”

The Difference Between The Ego And The Klipa (Advanced)


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
Laitman.com Post: Klipot and Reshimot (Advanced)
Laitman.com Post: Adhesion with the Creator, from the Primary Source Texts
Shamati #39: “And They Sewed Fig-Leaves”

Whether In Africa or In Your Joint Bank Account, Egoism Is Egoism Everywhere


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:
Laitman.com Post: Real Care Is Helping Others to Develop, Instead of Giving Them Charity
Laitman.com Post: Money Can’t Buy Happiness
Laitman.com Post: Israel Sets New Records
Laitman.com Post: The Global Crisis Strengthens the Connections Between People

The Popularity Of Cell Phones Shows That People Have A New Type Of Egoism


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”
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: “Yearning for Spiritual Qualities”
Lecture in Arosa

Nostradamus On Our Times And Salvation From Egoism


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:
Laitman.com Post: What Does the New Year Have In Store for Us?

Egoism Can Force Us To Become Extinct


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?
Laitman.com Post: We Were Created as Parts of One Whole
Laitman.com Post: A Spiritual Revolution Is Inevitable
Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace In the World”

Egoism Is Taking Us Right Into The Mouth Of The Snake


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”

Comfort Can Only Be Achieved By Correcting Egoism


News Report (from PloS One): New Japanese research concludes that greater interpersonal trust is strongly associated with a better quality of life, including physical, psychological, social, and environmental quality of life.

My Comment: Small egoism or an artificial suppression of egoism creates a sense of comfort, because “One who increases his knowledge, increases his grief.” This is why an animal’s life is easier than a human’s. But of course, reducing one’s egoism is no solution to a problem because you can’t fool nature. According to the Creator’s plan, egoism must continue growing until it demonstrates its own incompetence to its possessor, or in other words, until it shows us that it is the source of evil.

This is egoism’s primary mission, as it says in the Torah, “I created a helper against you” (Ezer Ke Negdo). One way or another, the growing egoism will force “its master” (as man thinks at first) or more correctly – “its slave” (as man later realizes) to use it. There is just one solution: comfort can only be achieved by correcting egoism. This not only enables a person to rise above egoism, but because one uses it to bestow, one senses the life of the general soul (Adam). In other words, one perceives his next level – beyond the existence of his animate body, the state of Adam, an existence that’s equivalent to the Creator. He reveals the Creator inside him.

There is so little separating us from happiness!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: There Is No Prohibition On Correcting Egoism
Laitman.com Post: We Can Develop Without Waiting for the Suffering to Come
Attaining the Worlds Beyond: Chapter 21 “Correcting Egoism”
From Chaos to Harmony: Part 1, Chapter 2 “The Boundaries of Joy”

We Feel Better When Others Feel Worse


News Report (from Times Online): The Milgram experiment was one of the most infamous experiments in history, offering compelling evidence that almost everybody is capable of great evil. Almost 50 years on, it has finally been repeated by scientists – showing that people today are still willing to hurt others when prompted by an authority figure.

The new research [by Dr. Jerry Burger of Santa Clara University in California], published in the journal American Psychologist, suggests that little has changed since Professor Stanley Milgram’s work. … Dr. Burger found that 70 per cent of participants were willing to continue delivering electric shocks once the learner had cried out in pain at 150 volts.

My Comment: If the experiment was done under natural conditions, the researchers would find that the subjects are 100% willing to use others in any way they can, even for the tiniest gain, and even without any gain at all. It’s because we assess our situation relative others, “The worse off others are, the better off I am.”

The events taking place will force us to reveal our evil nature and to recognize its evil power over us so much that we will agree to change it to love and goodness. In principle, it doesn’t matter if we receive or bestow, because it’s all about fulfillment! If we were born with the quality “to bestow” instead of the quality “to receive,” we would similarly be completely unable to understand how it is possible to “receive” rather than to “bestow.” This transition is simply a psychological problem. After all, fulfillment is the most important thing! For the time being a person sees fulfillment only within himself and evaluates it according to the misery of his neighbor.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: We’re All Zombies Before Entering the Upper World
Laitman.com Post: Falling In Order to Rise
Laitman.com Post: The Difference Between the “Letter of the Law” and the “Spirit of the Law”
Article “Attainment of Unity of the Universe”