Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

We Must Come To Harmony With Nature

720Question: You often say that one needs to learn from nature. How can an ordinary person look at what is happening in nature and learn anything? What can be learned from nature?

Answer: I believe that, having studied our earthly nature somewhat and seen that it is all a single, closed system, we only need to find out how we can be an integral part of this unified system, how we can fit into it so that nature is comfortable with us.

Question: Modern people are skeptical about the phrase “learn from nature.” People often perceive nature as an inexhaustible source of minerals, as a place of recreation, a research laboratory.

What is nature from your point of view? What is the essence of the unity of nature?

Answer: Nature is a single integral organism consisting of still, vegetative, animate, and human levels. These levels are very clearly and firmly connected to each other and feel dependent on each other.

But the human level has increased egoism, does not want to take into account the surrounding world, and tries to adapt nature for itself, rather than adapting itself to nature. In this lies man’s greatest mistake because, although he generally develops selfishly, all his development eventually leads him to great problems.

Question: Does this mean that there is harmony on all levels of nature, except for the human?

Answer: Man must come to harmony.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/16/20

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Altruism Of Our World

627.2Question: Ten percent of the world’s people are considered altruists. They care about others and about nature, but with a hidden benefit for themselves. How should we relate to this?

Answer: The hidden benefit for oneself without harming others does not constitute any danger either to a person or to the world around him.

But if you intentionally harm the world and society, this is already serious.

Question: Many people think that one should take an example from the so-called altruists. But are they still considered selfish?

Answer: Selfishness is exploitation of each other. And if a person lives normally in our world, goes to work, raises children, goes on vacation, this is not considered selfishness. Selfishness is the use of others for your own sake.

Comment: It is interesting that we do not feel this. No one considers themselves selfish.

My Response: Therefore, a person must be taught, explained to, given examples, and exercises. Otherwise, nature will not sustain our society, and society will not sustain itself.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 4/23/20

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Why Can’t We Balance Ourselves?

laitman_282.01Question: When predators, like wolves for example, show more selfishness, the number of rabbits in the forest becomes fewer, and then the wolves themselves die of hunger. But then nature compensates all this again, balances it.

Is it possible to say that in human society a balance can also be established between altruism and egoism, receiving and bestowing, for example, using the coronavirus?

Answer: This happens in a much more complicated way than in the animal world because there are many more equilibrium factors here, but we do not see it as such.

We have the possibility of freewill, not like with animals. We can say that they relate to one system and so mutually influence and balance each other. Above them is a general rule, a general formula.

But this does not exist in people. People cannot balance themselves in this way because the property of egoism is receiving, enriching at the expense of another, power over another, and envy. This is what animals do not have. Egoism prevails in man and leads him to absolute destruction.

Question: But still we are part of nature?

Answer: Yes, we are part of it, and we must bring ourselves to its complement as soon as possible and fit correctly into the entire integral picture of all of nature.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 4/16/20

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The Useless Fight With Windmills

737.01Question: If we cannot interfere with nature, then should we let it do whatever it wants? Should you resign yourself, give up?

Answer: First, there is nothing to oppose to nature. This is completely illogical, unreasonable.

Nature is the entire cosmos. These are such inner levels that I do not know at all. Who am I? Just a product of nature. A little bug against her. I cannot even imagine who I am dealing with. Why argue like a small child trying to fight windmills? What is this quixotism?

We should simply understand that we are in a huge, multi-level system, but we do not know where, in what, and how. Therefore, by the measure of our development, we should try to automatically integrate into it.

If we were an inanimate, vegetative, or animate part of nature, we would automatically abide in it as its integral element. But since we belong to the level of Man, besides the fact that we are in nature, we also have an element of egoism that pushes us out of it: I want to be special!

By that, a person is different from animals. It turns out that with his egoism, he is pushing himself out of nature and is suffering as a result.

But the egoism in us is constantly growing, forcing us to be opposite to each other and to the surrounding inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature. In general, this is our evil, our problem, which is called: the evil beginning of man.

It was created so that we recognize evil and correct it into good. Then we can understand the whole depth of nature, how to become integrally connected with it and participate in all its actions.

Therefore, egoism was not given to us so that we oppose nature and put ourselves against it, but that it is with its help that we get in touch with nature, feel ourselves distant from it, draw into it, and interact correctly with it in mutual influence on each other. Then man will become truly on a level with all nature, which means with the Creator. Because nature is the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/19/19

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How Egoism Be Neutralized?

laitman_232.05Question: You always say that we do not need and cannot neutralize our egoism, level it. It is enough just to balance it with some positive force of nature. What is this positive force? Where does it come from?

Answer: This is the spiritual force.

In our world, we are at the level of inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature. Man is like an animal here. If he has any kind of anti-social actions, they can be balanced only if we bring him to the next level, the level of spiritual interaction, “love your neighbor.”

And then we will see the correct integral picture of all of nature and ourselves within it. Humanity will understand that it can exist without any problems, even without death.

Question: How can we evoke the force that neutralizes our egoism and balances it?

Answer: In nature, in addition to egoism, there is also a kind, altruistic force that can give, bestow, and think not about itself, but only about others. We lack this force opposite to our egoistic force, which in no way takes into account the desires of others, and even vice versa: The more it opposes the desires of others, the more it enjoys and is filled. We must balance these two forces.

Question: Do you mean balancing this good force is caused by some good deeds and the fact that we talk about it?

Answer: Yes. It must be developed when you are in the right environment, in the right group. It is caused by both thoughts and actions because actions are followed by thoughts.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 4/23/20

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What Nature Wants From Man

Laitman_715Question: Is unification the balance between giving and receiving in society? Is the unification process  a balance between how much I get from society and how much I give to society?

Answer: Yes. This is a process of unification. But the fact is that it is not clear to anyone. There are many economic, political, social, and all other theories, but still no one knows what to do with them. There are as many opinions as there are people. Because all this relates to man, and man for us is terra incognita (unknown territory.)

Question: How do I know how much I can receive and how much I can give?

Answer: You can’t know that because your egoism knocks you out of the system. While animals have an understanding of hierarchy, the need to unite, and a clear idea of what the right pack is, the human pack does not have such a law. It turns out that, unfortunately, we are worse than animals. We don’t have any restraining principles.

Question: So what does nature want from the human level? If everything works automatically and instinctively at all levels, what is required of the “human” level?

Answer: Nature requires a person to realize that he is above its inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, that he does not belong to animate nature, and that he cannot automatically create such a structure in his society as animals.

Therefore, he must study who he is and how he can come to a beautiful, correct, dynamic balance, following his continuous development. Nature demands all this from man.

He must understand the general law of nature and then apply it to human society. He must create such an association between people that would reflect, on the one hand, the fact that they are not animals, but egotistically developing people who want to subjugate everything and everyone all the time.

On the other hand, he still has to bring himself to the right balance and create such a system of interaction between people and the other levels of nature, so that this system would work in absolute harmony, in integration with itself.

This condition is not understood by the person. He can’t even create his own little society. I’m not even talking about how he treats inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature and only destroys everything. This is his only problem, in principle, this is his egoism.

We need to find out how we can ride this egoism, begin to manage it, limit it intelligently, and understand how, after all, we should behave toward ourselves and among ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era” 4/16/20

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Desires Given To Us By Nature

laitman_555Question: As far as I understand, our desires are neutral and it is the intention that makes them egoistic?

Answer: Yes. Intention determines the vector and magnitude of desire.

Let’s say I want to eat some fruit. How much I want it, what I have to do for it, to what extent exactly I have to go for it, this is already determined by the intention.

Question: Which desires are egoistic and which are normal when I just fill myself up and do not intend to harm anyone?

Answer: From the point of view of nature, any of our desires that we feel as a movement toward each other, to unite and to interconnect, are all true, correct, kind, good. And if we feel distant from each other, opposite, ready to contradict each other, then, of course, these desires ruin the world, destroy us, and in the end we find ourselves at the “broken trough.”

Question: Are our natural basic desires for food, sex, and family considered egoistic?

Answer: This is not egoism because man’s nature makes it necessary for him to fulfill these desires, and he realizes them to the extent that nature forces him.

Question: What if I egoistically use my closest ones in the family?

Answer: This is already beyond what nature intended, this is already egoism. And those of our desires that are aimed at maintaining the normal life of a person are not called egoistic, they are just fundamental, natural.

Question: So if I fulfill a desire at the expense of others, this is called egoism?

Answer: Of course, because you humiliate others and rise above them.

Question: What’s wrong if I play sports, listen to music, go to concerts, travel, go on vacation abroad every month? Whom do I harm?

Answer: It is quite possible that there is no harm regarding human society. But in addition to society, there is also nature around us. Do you harm it? Don’t you act opposite to its integrality?

Question: So I always have to control myself, whether I’m hurting someone or something?

Answer: Yes, as you are part of the entirety of nature.

Comment: But this is an ideal condition.

My Response: No, it is a necessary condition. This must be taught and explained. A person must be aware of this and adapt himself to this state.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/23/20

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Toward The New Relationship

737.01Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”: This is what our sages said, “Let all your actions be for the Creator,” that is, Dvekut with the Creator. Do not do anything that does not promote this goal of Dvekut. This means that all your actions will be to bestow and to benefit your fellow person. At that time, you will achieve equivalence of form with the Creator—as all His actions are to bestow and to benefit others, so you, all your actions will be only to bestow and to benefit others. This is the complete Dvekut.

And we could ask about it, “How can one’s every action be to benefit others? After all, one must work to sustain oneself and one’s family.”

Question: We are saying that unnecessary economic sectors, unnecessary occupations, and the excess that we produce will soon disappear. How can a person grasp this situation? Where can he apply himself if his profession becomes unnecessary?

Answer: Nature consists of four levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. What is the difference between human and animal nature? After all, according to the structure of our body, we are certainly animals with the small addition that we must create a certain society and conditions for ourselves.

We cannot live only in our “skin”; we have to dress. We cannot eat ready-made products of nature, we must somehow process them, cook them. We are ill and must be treated with all sorts of medications. In other words, although man is more developed than the animal species closest to him, at the same time, to this extent and even more, he is flawed.

If we look at how animals behave, they have a very large social circle. We just do not fully understand their environment.

A person does not communicate with their own kind. He is only concerned with his own interests, for example, football and similar things, in general, anything but improving their relationships.

Animals, both young and adults, devote most of their time to the development of their relationships, games, etc. And this is very much missed by people because they go to any area, just not to encounter each other.

As we do not scrutinize and do not get closer to each other over our bad relationships, we suffer. After all, in principle, we do not perform what nature considers necessary.

More than a hundred percent of the time allotted to us in life, we spend on completely unnecessary things. For example, every day we spend 10 hours at work, and in nature, for example, two to three hours are programmed.

But then what do I do the rest of the time? Animals devote this time to their relationships. They rest together, lie in the sun, wander along paths, sit in the trees. What are we doing? We do not devote time to so-called leisure, although it is not leisure, but the clarification of relationships with nature and with each other, and therefore our condition is deplorable.

We need to think carefully and decide how we will live when this complex, global, and integral virus recedes and gives us the opportunity to get closer to each other in a new way.

Nature is integral, it does nothing in vain, everything in it is provided for. Therefore, everything that is happening now is intended to clarify the further interaction of all its parts.

It is moving only toward even greater interaction. It turns out that we should pay attention to our mismatches and how we can lead to more correct, better relationships. I hope that humanity will be ready for this.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 4/12/20

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Through Suffering And Pleasure

laitman_628.3Question: Does nature affect our desires through suffering and pleasure?

Answer: Yes. Nature manages us through suffering and pleasure. We do not react to anything else. Truth and lies are very weak agents of change in a person. Reward and punishment, pain and pleasure, are very strong stimulants.

Question: Do we become more vulnerable the more our desires grow?

Answer: Of course. When a person is more vulnerable, more sensitive, the easier it is to influence him or her.

Question: If we look at the suffering of our ancestors who lived a hundred years ago, their problems were much more serious than ours. For example, epidemics that killed hundreds of millions. Today, a small problem, even just sitting at home, a person perceives as a catastrophe.

Why does nature develop us making us even more vulnerable?

Answer: For us to become more sensitive, to understand more clearly, and feel even nature’s most subtle instruction.

Question: How do you feel about the fact that the world has invented methods that neutralize desires and then a person really suffers less. For example, all Eastern practices are based on that. And they really help: the less you want, the less you suffer.

Answer: But by this, you diminish yourself to the animate, vegetative, or even inanimate level.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,” 4/23/20

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Contrary To The Benefit Of Everyone Else

laitman_627.1Question: There is something in people that prevents them from revealing their dependence on one another. This is what we call egoism. What do you, as a Kabbalist, consider egoism?

Answer: Egoism is love for oneself, which is the opposite of love for everything else: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human elements of nature.

Question: A definition of this concept is that “Egoism is behavior that is entirely determined by a person’s desire aimed at his own benefit and advantage.” Do you agree with that?

Answer: Here it must be added that, as a rule, this is an aspiration contrary to the interests and benefit of everyone else . That is, I do not just fulfill myself, I do it through using others.

Remark: Moreover, that filling leads to devastation.

Answer: Of course, because when a person is filled with something, he immediately comes to a feeling of emptiness and an even greater desire to be filled.

Remark: In addition, our egoism is not controlled by us, but by a society that defines our values.

Answer: We get egoistic aspirations from the outside either in a simple way, when we compare our wealth with what our neighbor has, or they come from above, it is not known from where. But every moment egoistic impulses arise in us, the ego develops, and we are created with a general desire to satisfy it.
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From KabTV’s “The Post-Coronavirus Era,”4/2/20

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