Entries in the 'Egoism' Category

Short Stories: From Wandering In The Desert To The Last Exile

Dr. Michael LaitmanAfter standing at Mount Sinai, the people of Israel began the process of internal self-correction called the forty years of wandering in the desert.

Forty years stands for a period of time (although it has nothing to do with actual time, but indicates a certain number of steps) covered while rising from complete egoism and correcting its portions to the point of attaining complete altruism.

However, it doesn’t mean that they were connected to the Creator. They reached a state of only standing in front of Him, but not yet merging with Him. Even though the property of mutual bestowal was already shaped in them, they didn’t ascend to the degree of reciprocal love.

At this point, they had to implement another tendency called mutual love, i.e., to transition from a condition of “not doing to others what they didn’t want for themselves” to “loving their neighbors as themselves.”

The first criterion was achieved in the desert and signified that all of them would never have a desire or a thought of harming others no matter how beneficial it seemed to them.

And yet, it is not the degree that allowed them to reach the level of loving thy neighbor as thyself, which is a prerequisite for the restoration of huge, universal, internal egoism and re-directing it towards altruism and connection with others.

This level can be reached in the process of conquering the land of Israel, where seven nations (seven gigantic egoistic qualities) had to be overcome and surmounted. This process is called the war of liberation. In other words, conquering the nations, making them leave the land or killing them stands for modifying​ the ​egoism that is associated with the last step of correction in the land of Israel.

By internally correcting, the Israelis attained the state called the Temple, i.e., they achieved the revelation of the Creator among them that kept them united for about 800 years before the Temple was destroyed.

This period of time was full of numerous twists and turns, rapid ascents and crucial downfalls, wars with Rome and Greece, and various local conflicts. The only reason for these events taking place was to enhance the connections among the people of Israel.

The people reached the state of correction and attained the Creator. They knew the purpose of their lives and realized that they existed in the eternal, perfect, infinite world. Their physical actions and spiritual attainment were inseparable. However, they began gradually sliding down from this height until they completely lost it.

The question is why was this situation created if they reached the state of complete correction?! It was given to them in order to correct the Babylonians throughout the world. They still remained at an egoistic degree of ancient Babylon, at a low, selfish level. The Babylonians had not gone through the stage of Egypt or did the stage of the golden calf.

This explains why the people of Israel, who stood way above their egoism, fell from their degree and reached the level of other nations, but still preserved a huge egoistic potential.

Here is the point when the antagonism between the people of Israel and the Babylonians (the rest of humanity) appeared. The nations of the world do not associate the people of Israel with this material civilization this people do not feel like they belong to this world. There is something strange, not like other peoples.

It can be felt through numerous tiny details. No matter how much some Israelis want to be similar to other nations that inhabit our planet, they just cannot be similar to them, since they do not come from this world. Instead, they fell from spirituality to this realm.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

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Real Love And Not Hypnosis

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How will an integral system help me cope with fear? Now I know only that I have no money in my wallet.

Answer: First, it is important to establish a proper relationship with family members, then with the environment. A person depends on the environment. All that is in his apartment was obtained through society.

Each individual is dependent on society and cannot be disconnected from it.  So let’s see how we can tie ourselves to the society so that everyone feels comfortable and, at the same time, feels responsible. Then there will be more confidence.

We must introduce a question of reciprocity between money and egoism and a requirement to be considerate towards others. Otherwise we would eat each other, like a cancer eats an entire body.

All this has to be explained gradually, attracting the evidence of scholars and the media so that a person would learn it in its entirety. We’re talking about feelings, the ones that gnaw at us and are impossible to neutralize with money: fear, worry, uncertainty.

Question: Why can a society give me, as a person, the warmth and confidence, which I myself cannot achieve?

Answer: Confidence, warmth, love, and a pleasant sensation are received from the outside, and depend entirely on the environment, and never on one’s self or one’s inner feelings. We can influence you so that we can take you through all the senses, from one extreme to the other. We will fill all of your bodily material desires with the optimal basket of consumption and all your human aspirations above this basket. What else?

A person should be able to keep himself in the inner equilibrium, inner harmony, and to feel good. Can it be completely healthy? Yes, and is due to the positive vibrations that emanate from society. And this is the real state, not an illusion or hypnosis.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 9/3/14

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Going Out To Establish Interpersonal Connections

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does a strong family, a strong home, mean for a Kabbalist?

Answer: A strong family is a family that lives in a strong environment, and since an environment like this is good for them, this is a strong home for them.

A home is a human environment, not the stone walls or physical structure. Nowadays, the concept of a home has gradually changed its meaning, and it is understood that stone walls no longer can protect us from anything whatsoever and don’t provide any sense of security. This is because security is found in the good relationships and incorporation into all the circles of human society.

Today society is the next circle for a strong family home, and for society, a wider circle is the nation, and so on.

This means that the concept of a home as a cave, tent, tabernacle, apartments, etc., no longer exists. A home is about going out to establish interpersonal connection.

So here all of the physical borders have been destroyed and only internal contact between people remains. Walls, seas, and oceans cannot separate us, as we must be connected. The development of the Internet clearly shows this to us.

Question: Can Europe, which opened the borders between the nations of the European Union, serve as an example for us?

Answer: Unfortunately, Europe took this step from the point of view of egoistic benefit for itself, to make more money, avoid war, and exploit the weaker nations.

The nations of the European Union connected only the banks. In their program, the integration of all of humanity and the mutual penetration of cultures with each other did not enter into the plan. Only today are they beginning to understand how far they are from integration.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/23/14

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Do Not Allow Another Catastrophe On A Universal Scale, Part 2

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we avoid problems even before they come, by relating ourselves to the upper governance, which apart from that there is nothing else?

Answer: Without waiting for problems to appear, we should transform them into the attainments of greatness, mercy, and revelation of the upper governance. Unhappiness is the result of the same Upper Light that I take into myself for the sake of bestowal that brings me suffering by its effect on me.

After all, if I do not receive it in the correct form, for the sake of bestowal, when it enters my egoistic desire, it causes a breakage. That is what is felt as misfortunes, death, problems, hunger, and disease. It is all the same Light, as there is nothing but the Light and desire.

The Light is coming towards us because it is compelled to do so according to the program of creation, the plan of natural development on the time axis. Its time to be manifested inside the desire has arrived and we must be ready to accept this Light for the sake of bestowal.

But our desire is not ready! Are you not ready? Nonetheless, the Light enters the desire and causes a feeling of darkness. We are not able to take in the Light for the sake of bestowal; we have neither restriction on our ego nor the screen. This darkness will be manifested as catastrophe, wars, problems, and epidemics. Terrible misfortune will be revealed if we are not able to stop them, and all this because of a lack of correction of desires.

Everything is done by the Upper Light, and it can be both the elixir of life or fatal poison for us. We choose what it can be! Therefore, the people of Israel have no one to blame. We ourselves were the cause of everything that happened to us, especially in the 20th century, no matter how painful it is to talk about that. I grew up in a family that suffered greatly from the Holocaust.

But nothing can be done if it is a law of nature. And now, according to the general program of development, which is realized on the time axis in a natural way, we come to a similar situation that existed before the Holocaust. If we do not prepare ourselves, then the Light will come closer to us and an uncorrected vessel will be found again. Terrible darkness will be revealed in this vessel, this desire, which will cause terrible problems in the world.

This will affect every person, every nation, and every part of the world and all civilizations, which now according to various estimates, there are six or eight. Everyone will be hit to the extent to which each of us have already developed, and it is our fault that we still lack the screen and the reflected Light, that is readiness for connection. In normal earthly language, it is called a lack of good communication between people. This is the example of unity that the nation of Israel must show the world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/29/14, Shamati #1

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The Children Of The Universe, Part 9

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are very limited. We study the whole universe and ourselves through our five senses, calculating our profit and loss.

This really limits us because we don’t go beyond ourselves and don’t actually see what is on the outside. Rather, we pass everything through our internal system and decide whether it makes us feel good or bad, period.

As a result, there are many phenomena that we don’t see and we don’t distinguish the many forces in our universe or in parallel universes. It is because they simply don’t interest us and don’t affect our ego, our desire to receive pleasure.

If I could identify the connection between something and my success, I would certainly study it and would discover a new phenomenon. If I don’t see such a connection, I am blind to any phenomenon.

The reason is that I don’t have a second force, the force of bestowal. I am totally made of the force of receiving.

Comment: But there are also phenomena in which we see the connection but cannot distinguish them. For example, we would very much like to know about natural disasters in advance so that we can protect ourselves from them. This is very beneficial, but we are still helpless in the face of hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.

Answer: Of course there are phenomena that we believe to exist, but they are like dark matter. We assume that they exist and that they are related to us, yet we cannot identify them. But this is a matter of research on a different level.

I, on the other hand, am speaking about a fundamental flaw in our perception, about the fact that it isn’t in our power to actually see in any way, not even theoretically or hypothetically.

If we acquired the force of bestowal, the force to exit ourselves and if we could remove the limitation of our egoistic minds and desires, we would truly and objectively study what is external to us. We would study it with an external mind and heart.

Then we could reveal whole worlds and complete the distorted and fragmented picture that we see today.

Now we seem to live in a bubble that is totally drawn inwards and collapses into itself. We see, feel, and study only what is perceived by the egoistic gravity. This is also where our universe exists, which seems so immense and infinite to us. It is all inside this small bubble of our perception.

Unless we acquire a second force that will allow us to exit the boundaries of our attributes, we will not discover what is on the outside.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 3/2/14

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Fame With A Peaceful Purpose

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Many children and teenagers dream of becoming famous. Their appearance is extremely important to them. How is this desire born?

Answer: Obviously, these kids include all feasible pleasures into the notion of being a celebrity. We know that food, sex, and family are the basic desires that refer to bodily needs.

They are supplemented by the desires for fame, wealth, and knowledge. The quest for popularity is understandable and specific to our time. Our desires for wealth, fame, and knowledge continually change, but for a young person they are very common and natural. It has always has been; we just don’t realize.

Today’s youth has much wider opportunities. What were they dealing with previously? Becoming a little bit more skillful in their fathers’ crafts? Moving from a village to a city or from a province to a capital? In any case, their opportunities were very limited. Now, it looks like the entire world is in front of them. They think they can embrace the whole world and that they are connected to it.

Question: Can the aspiration for popularity be useful in any way?

Answer: The inclination to reach celebrity status is very common for kids nowadays and we can show them which properties are necessary to achieve fame. The desire to be famous obligates them to work on themselves, change for the better, and reveal new qualities within themselves.

Children attend dancing, drawing, and theater classes in order not to grow up as little animals and to understand that behind each star, there is hard work. Just watch Michael Jackson’s rehearsal videos and you’ll see how much exertion and hard work it takes to reach the lightness that he demonstrated on the stage. There are no stars that just fly upwards, but there are numerous incidences of falling at the start. These issues should be explained to the young generation by the mass media.

Question: Let’s say, your grandson tells you tomorrow that he wants to become famous. You are the wisest grandfather in the world! What field would you advise him to concentrate on?

Answer: In the future, those who are capable of creating good and kind relationships among people will be in huge demand and will be extremely valued by society. I am not talking about virtual relationships; I mean a real system of communication among us that is similar to the one that exists in nature.

Only this profession will really be needed and other occupations will remain only to the extent of meeting immediate human necessities. Those who work in the field of establishing correct relationships, creating the methodology of interconnection among people, and preparing educators in this field will be the most popular and respected in future society. This is what I would tell my grandson.

Question: Can specific, individual talents in painting, dancing, or singing be helpful to society?

Answer: The talents through which one plans to advance and become popular have to allow for self-expression in an enjoyable way.

For that, one has to study psychology, sociology, philosophy, and laws of communication. By expressing him or herself, they will have to help others unite. By doing so, they will fulfill themselves and fulfill others.
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From the program “A New Life” 2/12/14

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Soon Everyone Will Want His Own Planet

Dr. Michael LaitmanRegarding money and questions about the economy in general, countless books have been written by Nobel Prize winners in this field. Interestingly, despite this, they are frequently mistaken.

The ability to profit from a connection with other people, to buy and sell and create special relationships with them changes a person into Adam (human). Before this, people acted only through the use of force.

But today, anyone with money is found at the top of the social pyramid.

If I don’t have money, I cannot get food, establish a family or buy a house. In exchange for money I buy power, respect, and all my means of communication, because everything depends upon how the amount paid. It turns out that money is a cover, with it I can fulfill any desire.

There are some things that I cannot buy, for example, wisdom, or other kinds of characteristics I receive from nature. But it is possible to acquire them with money by buying people possessing those characteristics. For example, I can pay a person to write a book that will be signed with my name.

Not long ago, there was no substitute for money. But in the 1960s, a community of people appeared who related to wealth with contempt. They wanted to be happy about other things and wanted to be happy internally.

And even though the ego thirsts for fulfillment, many today no longer agree to a life of constant tension. A poor person has no happiness because he has no money, and a rich person has no happiness because besides money, he has nothing. And this is not a problem of money, but a problem of the society that gives us these values.

When a person has the possibility of getting everything, he loses his desire. In this sense the poor are more successful than the rich. If I have a need that I can cover through effort, if it pulls me forward, if I see pleasure through working for it in a future that shines for me from a distance, then I am happy.

A wonderful example of this need is the yearning of lovers to meet each other. This illuminates their entire lives; they wait for this meeting and are ready to overcome all difficulties for it.

If we could exist without dependence on society, let’s say, on some deserted island, and we could educate our children as we truly want, then we could get them accustomed to a simple way of life. Then they would live without tension, without crises and tragedies.

Today the world is experiencing an economic crisis. But essentially this is an ideological crisis: We have developed artificial desires in people, and after that, it turns out that we cannot satisfy them. With our claims and demands soon everyone will want his own planet. But even then he will not relax because he will immediately envy a neighbor whose planet is bigger.

The time has arrived to scrutinize how to utilize the power of covering, the power of money. On the one hand, it is necessary to educate a person such that he will bring his needs to a necessary level that we can satisfy.

On the other hand, it is necessary to think carefully about how to organize the economy so that it will be ready to create everything needed and a system of education that will move a person towards rational needs and ways to fill his spare time.

It follows that in the new economy people will be involved with the creation of money coverings for the rational balance of physical desires as well as the higher spiritual desires that will be discovered in them. This is how they will advance.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/11/12

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Short Stories: The Evolution Of Abraham’s Group–Isaac

Dr. Michael LaitmanAfter Abraham founded his school, he began to develop the Kabbalistic method with the students who joined him. Thus he created three systems: a system of studying, a system of dissemination, and a system of fulfilling the wisdom of Kabbalah.

The system of dissemination takes into account the level of a person’s development. Everything depends on how people can perceive the spiritual idea, to what extent it is close to them and can answer their expectations, and to what extent they can be shown that this system is beneficial for them.

Later, when they ascend and develop, they will be ready to understand other options that the wisdom offers them. Therefore, a person should always be approached on his level, in a language that he understands, so he be can attracted by knowing you can actually help him realize what he wants.

This is what Abraham engaged in when he explained that the ultimate goal of our evolution is love and bestowal, and those who wish to attain it internally, at least to some extent, should come to him.

This is how the next stage of the development of Abraham’s school began. At this point, it was called Abraham’s group, since all the members in the group began to work on the connection between them, accepting the fact that unity is above separation.

When the leap of the ego occurred in ancient Babylon and people wanted to build a tower to reach heaven, that is, to the uppermost force, it was putting pressure on the negative force.

Abraham, however, claimed that the negative force stems from the same positive force and has to be operated differently, by absorbing it as what we call the left line (the negative force). He believed that the ego that rises in people should be studied and worked with correctly. This is the reason that the period that followed the development of Abraham’s group is called Isaac.

The correct use of the ego is called the sacrifice of Isaac, which means that we bind our ego and threaten to kill it, totally ready to sacrifice it, although we understand that we will not attain the Creator without it. On the other hand, resemblance and equivalence to the Creator can only be attained if we limit the ego correctly. For us, it is like cutting our own flesh.

We learn to control our ego, to bind it, manage it, and place it under the attribute of love and bestowal without destroying it and without threatening it, and we become ready to break away from ourselves (since the ego is the whole self). This process is part of our evolution, and when we perform it, we are have the opportunity for the correct, productive, and focused work with our ego. This is the essence of the story of the sacrifice of Isaac.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/15/14

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 Short Stories: The Schools Of Kabbalah

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom the time when a small part of the Babylonians joined Abraham and began to work together on unity between them, the starting point of the Jewish people began.

Although it was not yet a formed people, the group of Abraham’s disciples, who were Kabbalists, received from him the method of unity with the purpose of revealing the Creator and began to move forward.

From a Kabbalistic point of view, moving forward is not the story of their moving from Babylon to the land of Canaan, the descent into Egypt and return to the land of Israel, but the growth of their egoism and their constant ascent above it. Indeed, the ideology they agreed with in ancient Babylon continued to work in them.

In the process of the growth of egoism, the people gradually began to change and became more sophisticated, both egoistically and altruistically. Their unity underwent various metamorphoses, and took different forms.

Therefore, the school of Abraham transforms into the school Isaac, then into the school of Jacob, then Joseph, and, finally into the school of Moses. All of them represent a variety of movements of the people to an ever increasing revelation of ego and the rising above it.

The the school of Isaac represents the people’s desire to break away from its egoism and rise firmly above it. This is the sacrifice of Isaac, when a person is ready to slaughter his egoism. Indeed, at first he thinks that this is the only way to maintain his movement forward.

Then the school of Jacob is then formed, which believes that one should not kill egoism, but balance it with the property of mercy, represented by Jacob. After all, when mercy begins to correctly use the property of Isaac (the ruthlessness of judgment), then it turns into the property of Israel, which means straight to the Creator.

This is a serious movement forward, in which both the egoistic and altruistic forces are coming together, with egoism remaining at the bottom and altruism rising above it. Thus, by rising and falling synchronously, they move together. This is the way people grow, composing the two parts of nature within themselves, and in the correct symbiosis between them, they reveal the Creator.

The spiritual movement of Israel gradually leads the people into Egypt. The development in Egypt means that the people’s egoism rose even more, to the level of Pharaoh, and they were required to rise above it.

Pharaoh represents egoism, which one simply cannot rise above and use. It is necessary to be pulled out if it quickly, to correct it in small portions, transforming it into altruism.

The people of Israel, having finding themselves in Egyptian captivity, i.e., in an extremely egoistic state, discovered that they could not follow the ideology of Abraham. A new leader, whose name was Moses, appeared among them. He was able to organize them so that they understood that progress must be based on detachment from egoism. That meant they had to escape from Egyptian captivity, the captivity of egoism, and slowly begin to correct its parts.

While in Egypt, under the pressure of a huge ego, the people were in the same confrontation as in ancient Babylon. Moses understood that it was necessary to make another effort, to get out of Egypt and go to the land of Canaan, as Abraham’s group once came from Babylon.

The land of Canaan symbolizes the spiritual state that gives people the opportunity to internally unite among themselves, to rise above egoism and move away from it, i.e., to leave Egypt, go into the Sinai desert and head for the land of Israel.

This is the essence of the school of Moses, the direct follower of Abraham. In the history of spiritual development, there is no brighter personality than Moses. After all, the group of Abraham came from Babylon after rising above the manifested egoism and that was enough, but now its followers, while escaping from Egypt, must not only rise above a huge ego, but also gradually correct it.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/22/14

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The Guest List Cannot Be Revised

laitman_281_02Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”: From the beginning of Creation, all people have reservations, and the Thought of the Creator necessitates them to come to the feast, knowingly or unknowingly.

This plan certainly will be fulfilled, and it is all a matter of time. After all, the evil forces we develop return to us like a boomerang, pressuring us and bringing us to the right decisions.

The goal will be obtained one way or the other, and we actually are bringing it closer by using our developing ego incorrectly so that eventually it acts against us, forcing us to respond.

On the whole, until recently, the process of evolution was good for us. We developed new tools, introduced competition, built a banking system, developed commerce, discovered continents, and basically, everything was just fine since it helped us advance.

However, in the 20th century, we exhausted this form of development and for the first time began to see that there is a limit to our advancement. We found ourselves at a dead end. We have exhausted our ego and today it is beginning to destroy itself. We have seen clear signs for that for a while now. In 1971 for example, the gold coin in the US was replaced by a paper note. The eruption of the ego had many consequences, but the main lesson was that future problems will force us to change our lifestyle, the formula of human existence.

The question is whether blows will force us to grow wiser and to understand how to avoid problems along the way, or whether we will be able to identify what is coming in advance and begin to change ourselves.

Slow evolution will lead to totalitarian forms of government like in Germany or Soviet Russia in the first half of the last century. These are the two ultimate forms of the ego’s development, and we may be witnessing them again. What is more, this is exactly what we are advancing toward; however, today, it is called “Armageddon,”or we can force ourselves artificially against our growing ego to develop the good, anti-egoistic force of bestowal instead of the force of receiving between us.

So, let’s develop this way. This is actually what Kabbalists tell us: use the force concealed in nature. It can dominate us just as our ego dominates us today. So far, the evil force has dominated the good force, receiving dominated bestowal. However, now, the force of bestowal can dominate the force of receiving. This means that they will be balanced just as the wisdom of Kabbalah explains and teaches us how to understand the balance between them. After all, it is impossible to use only one of the two forces. The force of bestowal, absolute love, can be a destructive force. Generally speaking, each of the forces blinds a person, and he doesn’t see anything before him. If we accept one force only, we will be captives of that force. Only the right balance of the two forces we find inside us is called the Adam (Man) in us. It brings us to the realization and to the true feeling, to receiving and to bestowal, that allows us to use all of nature and build ourselves in the middle of these two forces.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, there is no other way that we can develop. In the worst case, we will reach it through blows and sufferings. However, the blows will not create the right form in us. We must make the choice by ourselves, make decisions, and gradually establish it inside us so that we will grow wise and understand the connection between us and the Creator through our efforts to build our home, the Divinity (Shechina).

However, we are like a stubborn kid who refuses to learn, and so the troubles come: the disciplinary measures that force him to begin learning. If he would learn from his books, there would be no need for the blows. On the contrary, he could save time and avoid the sufferings.

It is actually impossible to advance on the path of “in its time” (Beito) since then you stay in the same place without moving, like a donkey, until you are beaten and have no other choice.

Baal HaSulam says that the guests will come to the feast knowingly and unknowingly, so we should listen to him.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/26/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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