Question: What is so bad about science if searching for the secret of life is a natural inclination that evolves in a person naturally?

Answer: We have an inclination to discover the secret of life because our higher source illuminates us. The question is only where, how, and by what means do I search for it? In regular science I search for it through my beastly mind and senses.

Do I mean to find the higher source by physical means? Don’t I understand that He is so high, influential, and detached from the desire to receive, from its loathsome lowness, from its limitations?

The desire to receive, the ego, that wants to receive for itself all the time, cannot be complete because it always feels a deficiency. So it cannot be adapted to the higher source. The more that it wants for itself and discovers its limitations, the lower it falls.

For this reason the ancient people thought that the sun was divine, since for them it was the origin of life.

Question: How did Abraham search for the secret of life?

Answer: Abraham went to look at the stars, the moon, and the sun, searching for the force that could be said to be universal and supreme. But this was an inner search.

Question: Didn’t he search for this with his physical mind and senses, as in every science?

Answer: Abraham didn’t rely on his mind. He was searching for something higher, detached from it, and universal. He attained everything, thanks to his soul, like the first Adam (man). So essentially he succeeded in attaining everything without a teacher.

With us that cannot be because nobody in our generation is able to discover the Creator by himself. There are many people who are sure that they feel the higher power, but in fact, none of them are even close. That is how our generation is, and this is a result of the growth of egoism that causes the decline of the generations.

Our ancestors were in a unique situation called the “merit of the forefathers” because their Shevirah (shattering) was from above in their source and was derived from the system itself. But after our fall, we corrected our own partition, and we have no merit.The ancestral merit existed only until the discovery of the evil inclination, which was called Pharaoh.

After Jacob died in Egypt, no ancestral merit remained. Indeed, we could use it, but only through adhesion to the same level, and actually not by ourselves.

Question: Wasn’t Abraham a scientist like every Kabbalist? So why is science harmful?

Answer: Science is like snake venom that can be used as a poison or a remedy depending on how it is used. It is necessary to use it to discover the higher power, where we understand that our ego is lower, and that it is impossible to attain anything of the truth with it. We are limited by our physical senses and the egoistic desire that stands behind these Kelim (desires).

We cannot depart from this desire that obligates us to think, see,  understand, and feel only what is for its own good or what can harm it. This means that all perception is directed only towards the desire to receive and we don’t see anything more. Around us there could be whole worlds and forces, but we don’t have the senses to perceive them.

If this is how we are organized, we have no means for searching within us and not with the science which we developed. In this way we will never reach the truth, divinity, or universality.

So in science, there is only what the person discovers in his egoistic Kelim, and so science is also egoistic. That is the way we discovered it and that is how we use it. We cannot use it with any other intent or inclination because all of its development is derived for our egoistic benefit.
[142346]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/27/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Comment: Let’s talk about the distant, but in fact very close history, the history of Babylon and the story of Abraham. This was 3,800 years ago.

Answer: Essentially for me, there is another perception of history. For me it is alive even now, including Greece and Rome. Everything is alive today, for without this, it is impossible. Everything exists together with us, simultaneously.

And so, around 3,800 years ago the ancient civilization of Babylon existed, which was similar to our civilization. The entire process began from that and gave a push to the development of modern civilization.

A very interesting breakdown happened in those times. It is possible to say that it was an internal revolution in humanity that was concentrated entirely in one area. Until then it was a type of commune, a family that was not particularly connected, but also not quarrelsome. And suddenly everything changed.

The fact is that a person has an ego. This makes us different from animals. As long as the ego is obedient to a person, we quietly arranged our lives and designed a kind of patriarchal order. But when this ego suddenly broke out and began to go crazy within us, we became detached from the animal world and became true humans. This created a basis for today’s breach, which is the level of the ego that dominates the world today.

The civilizations prior to Babylon were much more primitive and not egoistic. Of course, also among them there was a hierarchy, rulers, and wars, but there was no concept like, “the ego that pushes us forward.” In other words, humans were not conscious that the ego was managing them, separating them, and bringing them to mutual hatred, the demand for an “ascent to the heavens,” and the aspiration to manage and trample everyone. That clear perception of an egoistic world did not exist then.

And then another figure appeared who established the Jewish people, Abraham. It is noteworthy that Abraham came from a much respected family. In those times, one of the central pillars of society was the continuity of the generations because everything was handed down, including, until recently, the transfer of various crafts and skills.

Terah, the father of Abraham, was a distinguished spiritual leader of the people. He was so revered that they created statues of idols in his family. It is possible to understand this as simply as it sounds: They made statues of idols and related accessories. But it is possible to say that they “created” ideas and concepts; meaning that they spoke about divinity and explained it to their people according to their understanding.

So I would say more than this, they were the founders of the spirit of Babylon. It wasn’t Nimrod, but specifically the family of Abraham. This was a clear separation of power: On the one hand, there was the power of the state, “police,” the military, which was represented by Nimrod, and on the other hand, spiritual power, represented by Terah and Abraham who came after him. Each of them had a strong personality.

And suddenly at a particular moment, from a particular point in his investigation, Abraham observed with what rapidity his own and others’ cruel egos were developing. While searching for the general global force that manages everything, Abraham discovered the integral system that manages creation. His essential question was that among all things in the world, there must be something in common that basically provides for the principle of unity and leads the world towards a particular goal. After all, we see how everything turns, and even if it rolls backward, at the same time it continues to advance, like the rim of a wheel.

And so from facts and research, Abraham succeeded, through willpower, in penetrating this system by way of the filter, the screen (Masach). The filter is very simple; it is found between us. It is clear that entry into the world to come, the next dimension, is found in a place where it is possible to find a tangible bridge between people, where confrontation between them disappears and clear accommodation is created, meaning such a connection within which they dissolve one into the other. At this moment they discover gateways between them, entries into the next dimension; and you enter into it.

There is nothing new here. In our world there are three components: still, vegetative, and animate. Regarding the person, if he is prepared to nullify his ego with regard to others, to rise above the ego and nullify it together with another person, then he acquires a new characteristic which becomes an entry into the next dimension.

Question: How did Abraham succeed in discovering, from his investigation, that the main thing is found between us?

Answer: He saw that the entire system of creation is integral and good and that all of its parts support each other. It is mutually connected and united.

And here a single, ugly and damaging “nuance” was created, which was the person with his narcissism. He is, in fact, a beast, but he has an ego. And this ego pushes him towards a development that is not at all right, since it is against others, opposed to everyone, and in opposition to the still, vegetative, and animate. This means that he is not in harmony with them, in homeostasis. Instead he goes out of his boundaries, tearing everything up and dominating everything.

What for? It’s not important. What is the goal? There is no goal. It is only to satisfy the ego that is burning inside.

Abraham understood the global system of nature and the intent of the person that is absolutely opposed to it. So it became clear that the problem is within the person, that it is necessary to bring him to harmony, to be similar to nature. How is this done? He needs to be directed towards the right relationships with the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and most importantly with humans, within society.

So by looking at nature, Abraham saw an ideal; and by looking at the person, he saw its opposite. So the task was to integrate these two systems, and he understood that the whole problem is in realizing the principle, “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

The civilization of Babylon encountered the process of globalization, as in our world today, and it closed in upon itself. After all, this was a small civilization, around three million people who were living in a limited space between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia.

Incidentally, they were seriously developed. From there came astrology and esotericism, and was born what is today called the new age, the new era, as there were stores, flushing toilets, and water supply systems. Many of the inhabitants of the modern world could be envious of the Babylonians. Everything was very organized, nice, and neat among them. We simply cannot imagine how they lived.

But suddenly everything exploded from within. Within 20-30 years, egoism broke out before the eyes of Abraham, and the Babylonians began to hate one another. This became a type of miniature globalization in which the inhabitants of Babylon, who were tightly linked, could no longer live together. By and large, the same thing is also happening today. We must live together, and on the other hand, this is impossible.

And so the ego that erupted compelled the Babylonians to build a tower to the heavens. This was a natural, instinctive, direct expression of the ego, and the continuation of its activity.

A new religion was created: “We must worship our ego, rise above the heavens, we must open everything up, reach the general welfare, and perhaps even equality and brotherhood. All of this is in our power to do,” This is very similar to the calls of the modern era: communism, Nazism, liberalism, and consumerism, whatever. They were all represented there together.

Since the process was so rapid, strong unrest brewed within the society. Large factions were created: for Nimrod, against Nimrod, etc. But Nimrod was a very serious leader, and Terah, Abraham’s father, served him, so to speak, as his right hand, as the spiritual leader of the people.

And Abraham, as a son and student, had to go follow the same path. In the history of humanity, continuity had always been desirable, especially in those times.

But here something interesting happened. From his investigation, Abraham discovered a completely different picture and it became clear that the ego was given to us not to manage us, but so that we would manage it, and with its help, rise above it and truly ascend to the heavens. This is not to those heavens to which the Tower of Babel would raise us, rather to the heavens above which we rise, against it, against our ego that continues to grow. In other words, this was a completely different system!

Question: So Nimrod, who understood that the ego separated people, proposed separation, spreading out over the face of the globe, and Abraham’s intention was the opposite, connection and work on this ego?

Answer: There were a number of streams here. The first stream was similar to the modern inclinations: “In spite of the ego we will fight against our nature. With the help of science, culture, and education, we will flatten it. It won’t be possible for the ‘dog’ that sits inside each one of us to break out.”

Another stream proclaimed the opposite: “Tear everyone else to pieces and dominate. That is how we advance. All of life is a struggle, egoistic, and competitive, and the strong survive, like in nature.” At any rate, it appears to us that this is what is happening in nature.

Question: This was the intention of Nimrod?

Answer: No. Nimrod thought that the true development of civilization could be attained through balance. But this was not balance with nature, but with the ego. “We are neighbors and don’t get along with each other as neighbors. Someone throws garbage in the wrong place, slams the door, and makes noise that disturbs those who are sleeping, and so on. So we will separate and meet from time to time, and suddenly everything will work out between us. We can sit together, drink beer, and remember our old common home where we took turns for the shower and the toilet.”

And so Nimrod thought that we had to separate. If we separated and everyone was given a small apartment, we would solve this problem. Just get away from each other and everything will be okay.

This decision is directed towards realization and management of the process. That means, in principle, to remain in control, and in this manner, to solve the problem of the large ego and social conflicts.

Nimrod understood that the ego is bad, but together with this, he only needed to be concerned that the people remain as a people and that everyone would live well and correctly together. “So we will build a tower that will symbolize both the connection between us and the separation, the dispersion.”

This was not some kind of foolish idea, this was a philosophy: “I don’t recognize any god. Globalization and integration are derived from nature, and we will flow with it without giving up the ego. Yes, we can develop this civilization calmly and well, along with our growing ego.”

Essentially, this is what capitalism today also proclaims: Each in his house, in his corner, in his particular area. This is mine; that is yours. Each one has his own inheritance. And a common government, a national structure also exists, and so on.

This means that Nimrod is every modern government and modern perception in general. It is possible to say, that in part, what Nimrod thought has been realized: People scattered all over the globe and began, as it is called, to speak in different languages, and continued to live according to the laws of the ego.

Nimrod’s position is very understandable and rational. He logically solved the problem that had been created. And Abraham went out with an absolutely different revolutionary thought that was derived from attaining the inner characteristic of nature.

Today we have again come across the same problem, but there is nowhere to disperse. The ego has grown and we are so stuck, linked, to each other, and it is impossible to separate. If there were several additional nearby planets and a “bridge” to reach them, we would make the same attempt again. But we have a single planet Earth and now we have no choice but to solve the problem through the way of Abraham.

Today, the forces of separation and disengagement are growing. Moreover, families divorce, many children separate from their parents, etc. Each one is searching for some corner of his own to be detached from everyone there.

And what is interesting is that there are so many places in the world! In my flights above our planet I see clearly that humanity occupies only a few percentages of the entire area of the planet. But people cannot go far away from each other. They simply cannot. This means that we have reached a situation where the idea is no longer about an area for settlement, nor physical distance. Today we are linked much more tightly.

So Abraham began to advocate his theory. Clearly, it seemed illogical and unnatural. In fact, it was impossible to prove it.

But there is a higher logic in it. After all, Nimrod, in principle, did not offer an absolute and final solution to the problem. He said: “We, with the ego that is growing in us naturally, must only disperse a bit.”

And Abraham said, “This won’t help us because the ego is growing with an absolutely different goal in order that we will rise above it! We will not disperse in all directions; rather, we will rise above the ego and use it specifically to connect with one another, so that the ego will be used by us as an ‘opposing helpmate,’ meaning that it will oblige us to rise above it.”

It is difficult to understand this and to agree with it. But if you do this, in fact, you will be linked to all of global nature. This is a clear and logical conclusion: You become an integral part of nature because you are linked with all of humanity and become like the nature of the still, the vegetative, and the animate. Only unlike that, you have reached this general integral state through your own power.

So you begin to feel the general nature, its general law, and the general power that is called the Creator. And you go out to the next level of development above the ego. Now you feel the world, not by way of your physical eyes, not by way of the animalistic, corporeal senses, but you begin to feel it by means of a completely new logic, by means of new desires, which are not beastly, not with an egoistic face, but from a truly human level.

In conclusion, all modern civilizations emerged from ancient Babylon. Babylon is the basis for all of our civilizations, and furthermore, for all of our spiritual development.
[141874]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/18/14

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The Torah, “Leviticus”, 16; 18-19: And he shall go out unto the altar that is before the LORD, and make atonement for it; and shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat, and put it upon the horns of the altar round about. And he shall sprinkle of the blood upon it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it, and hallow it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel.

The work on the level of Aaron (the priest) is sublime and very serious work in revealing all our attributes, desires, impulses, mind, and thoughts, in terms of with what we can work in love and bestowal for others and with what we cannot. What is revealed here by a person as to what is going on isn’t simple at all.

Each of us needs to reach the level of the priest in order to divide these desires. The Torah speaks only about one person, since the whole world is included in one force. Therefore, I have to rate and differentiate what all the parts the Torah tell me and to understand precisely that I must gradually establish all the corrected vessels inside me.

I leave Babylon as a person who wants to attain the meaning of life and go to the land of Canaan as I reveal all my desires, thoughts, and impulses inside me.

Then the state of the land of Canaan begins to bubble in me by drawing me into the egoistic swamp. This means that I have gone down to Egypt, where I try to break out of myself by constantly focusing on love thy neighbor as thyself.

Eventually, when I begin to fight with myself, with my ego (Pharaoh) and my altruism (Moses and Aaron), I go to the desert (an empty place). Here I am told: “Gather all your desires with which you can advance. If you manage to do so, you will be able to receive the Upper Light on them, which will lead you forward and you will be able to move in the desert.” I am already advancing in the desert here.

The main thing is the slight awakening that emerged in me in Babylon, which is gradually covered by a very big ego that is gradually corrected in the desert. Babylon is the beginning, the thought and the goal. The ego that emerged in me is the exile in Egypt. In the desert, however, I work with an enormous, four-phase ego in order to bring it to a neutral state. I don’t want to be in it, I want to be above it.

All this is the revelation of my attitude towards the ego. It is like a huge black ball, and I clarify what I can illuminate in it under the influence of the Light, one piece, another piece, another, and then another. These are the forty years of wandering in the desert.

Each time I discover a variety of things and decide that I can ascend above all these new desires I have discovered in this phase in the desert so that no egoistic fillings will bother me. The Light and greater pleasures are gradually revealed in them, while I am above them, working only in bestowal, outside myself.

There are desires that I know I will not be able to overcome for sure. Then I send them to the desert, which means that I cannot make this desert my home, my shelter as yet, and so part of my ego remains in the desert.
[143066]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/06/14

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The Torah, Leviticus, Metzora, 15:12-15:13: An earthen vessel that he touched was to be broken, and any wooden implement was to be rinsed with water…

Question: Is there a difference between a clay and wooden vessel?

Answer: Wood doesn’t absorb impurities because it has a vegetative origin, whereas a clay vessel is made of various sorts of ground and absorbs everything. That’s why it is weaker.

During its growth, wood sorts out what is right and what is wrong and then corrects them inside itself. That’s why it is more resistant to plague. It repels things that harm it, absorbs things that are good for it. This is how it grows. Clay absorbs everything and is more vulnerable to contamination.

A wooden vessel, i.e., a desire of the vegetative level, is more prone to the egoistic contamination than the desires of the inanimate level.

A vessel is a shaped desire. If a vegetative desire is hit by the egoism, for its correction it needs to be “washed” by the Light of Bina. Wood is Zeir Anpin, thus, it can be impacted by Bina from above. Clay is Malchut; Bina cannot influence it.
[142237]
From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 3/05/14

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The wisdom of Kabbalah says that the Creator is good that does good. In order to realize Himself, He created the desire to receive, which is called the “created being.” This desire should be developed according to the Creator’s plan, according to His program until the created being understands and feels Him as good that does good, as great.

This is the desire of the Creator. Kabbalists explain to us that it’s not because He wants us to recognize His greatness, His omnipotence, and our dependence on Him. We are talking about the highest so therefore it is clear that this is so. No, the Creator wishes to raise us to His level.

So, we have to go through a certain awareness of the higher force in our nature and to reveal how we can ascend to its height. The Creator enjoys that we experience Him, meaning reach His level. According to the law of equivalence of form, to achieve adhesion with Him means to acquire the same properties as His.

The period of our self-correction is the path, the ladder, the rungs of which lead us upward through the five worlds. The created being can realize this ascent only if it is sure and knows for sure it he must do this. Then it has the force to realize it.

From where does the created being get the power to take the actions leading upward from reception to bestowal contrary to its nature? The created being has to have an understanding, awareness, and sense that he is in the bad egoistic state of reception and has to come to a good state of bestowal that is completely opposite to his current one.

We are told that we can do this if we get help from the Creator. The Upper Light is shed on us, and then we begin to talk in a different way and understand that to receive is bad for us and to bestow is good.

Well then, simply let the Creator do this! He has created the desire to receive within us and now can “shine” on us to turn that desire into bestowal. But no, this cannot occur because we would then lose independence and become like “angels,” that is, forces that just perform certain actions. Instead, we must admit and accept for ourselves that to receive is bad and to bestow is good.

This internal statement is called the “recognition of evil,” and nothing else is required. We only need to recognize the evil of the desire to receive and the good that is inherent in the desire to bestow. Once this happens within us, we will definitely stop using the evil of the egoistic desire that is manifested at this moment, and begin to use the desire to bestow, manifested as good.

It would seem that this is not child’s play: If a doctor explained to me what is good and what is bad, what is harmful and what is healthy, I would appreciate and follow his advice. However, I have to recognize evil myself. Advisors who tell me what is good and what is bad will not help me. I have to very precisely figure out on my own that the desire to receive is evil and that the desire to bestow is good.

Here, such a thin “string” is stretched that it cannot be expressed in words. I need to remain neutral internally, rising above the created being, since the desire to receive is defined as evil and the desire to bestow as good, with the first quality belonging to the created being, and the second, to the Creator. However, I need to anticipate preceding the created being, to stand in front of it, and look at these two desires. Then, based on this completely independent point, I need to define the desire to receive as evil.

This will be the true realization of evil. It is not done “all to order” for me, not on the basis of pleasure and suffering that lead to my decision when time after time I play a “negotiation game,” choosing according to the criteria of my egoism. No, the “expert,” “judge,” and “tester” in me has to stand apart, neither on the side of the Creator nor on the side of the created being, but seemingly a step in front of it.

This is a prerequisite. It is impossible that the Creator is good in my eyes. Why is He good? Is it because He created my desire and is enjoying His presents? No, it is just a given, the creation in which we find ourselves. The Creator desires us to “anticipate” the created being, so that we agree with Him, that He made it in that way.

The benefit of this is great: We are no longer dependent on what and how He created us. We have to rise above good and evil, regardless of the intentions connected to them. We must reach another degree, rising above them to the beginning of the plan of creation that existed even before He created us, before He decided to be revealed to the created being as the giver and made the created being as receiving. We seem to find ourselves before that moment and even before its cause. And this is where we actually find ourselves.

Therefore, the realization of evil must go deeper, to within the qualitative depth. It is not about how terrible my endless egoism is and how beautiful bestowal is. It is about the quality and essence: Why do I define one as evil and one as good? This choice should be performed on my own feelings. It just measures the details of perception for me “for statistics,” and above it I reveal a higher principle, which is above the created being and before it. Thus, the recognition of evil encompasses the whole of reality and raises us above it.
[142785]
From the 5^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/3/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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From the book: The Essential Secret of the Jews, M. Brushtein:

The Postulates Of The Theory of Integrality

Connection gives a sense of life.

Nature is a common organism.

The organism of nature passes sequentially through the still, vegetative, animate, and human levels of development.

The human being includes the still, vegetative, and animate levels.

Egoism limits the human being, that is why he cannot evaluate the prospects of development.
[142587]

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Ancient Babylon receded into the depths of history, but it is still reflected in our time. Its entire course is a single process, linked from beginning to end and from end to beginning.

That is why when we see how history repeats itself, but on another level, we need to draw the right conclusions from what happened and is happening.

So, in Babylon, which was ruled by King Nimrod, Abraham’s group was formed, which challenged the “official” program of development with its own program. Nimrod said that the hatred and separation that flared up between the people must be overcome in a natural egoistic way: to settle in different places in order to have less contact with each other, in modern terms, to move out from shared to individual accommodations.

Abraham’s opinion was different: We cannot do that; we must connect. And now we have to pursue not division, but unity.

As a result, three million followed Nimrod, and only five thousand followed Abraham. This small group of distressed people, who were not satisfied with the people’s general concept, called itself “Israel” and left Babylon. “Accumulating” years, centuries, and millennia of suffering, it moved its own way up to the present day.

Question: Was the group “pushed out” of Babylon and forced to start its own movement?

Answer: I would not say that it was “pushed out.” Pressure began later, but not at the beginning.

In those days, Abraham was a great Babylonian priest and sage. The people who gathered around him realized that his method of correction, or the method of a new life, attracted them by its inner meaning, that it is not just egoistic “divorce,” separation, scattering to different places, but the movement inside. The corresponding message, the request of the soul, was awakened in them, and they were ready for it.

After all, humanity evolves not just technically; it changes form throughout history: slavery, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, etc. In other words, it changes its shape, it changes its content. The quantitative growth of egoism also acquires a new quality.

So, the followers of Abraham felt that they could not develop just egoistically; they needed to reach a completely different level, to “jump” to the next level. Thus they adhered to Abraham, who fulfilled their internal demand.
[142502]
From KabTV’s “Babylon Yesterday and Today” 8/27/14

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In the News (from DSNews): “Selfie is a way to inflate one’s importance and obtain instant popularity. This phenomenon occurs when the individual becomes more important. The reason is a lack of real communication, inability to reveal one’s inner world.

“Complex content – public, social, informational – takes only 20-30% of the total social networks.

“The bulk of the content is focused on personal life. This trend is even more noticeable in Instagram due to main visual content. Instagram, Facebook and Twitter are the same in their principles and preferences of the audience.

“Fascinated with themselves and drawing attention to themselves, users of social networks are becoming more fragmented; selfie contributes to the fragmentation of society. Social networks have stopped thinking. Selfie is a way to communicate with society at the loss of live communication skills.

“Funny pictures forced out thinking. Decline of the masses is observed in selecting specific information: an image makes a bigger impression than a text because the brain processes visual images faster, so there is greater involvement.

“Consumers of digital information do not like to read, they perceive only images. Pictures get more viral circulation than analytical articles.

“Users of social networks are much more interested in their own photos or the photos of their neighbors than in the significant events in the world. Great interest in positive information has been laid in the very principle of the structure of social networks.”

My Comment: This is a consequence of the growing egoism, for which the main thing is instant gratification. But there is a dead end in its development and it will be forced to look for fulfillment and will find it only through bestowal.
[140279]

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We are made from the substance of the will to receive, like all of creation. But in contrast to all the rest, the human knows how to divide himself into two: into action and intention. It is possible to act like all of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, or like little children who play without any inner intention, taking what they want for themselves.

But when the child grows and takes the image of man in this world, it is no longer possible to know his intentions from his actions. It could be that the deed is a deed of bestowal, but as usual, the intention is for the sake of receiving. This means that our bestowal requires compensation in exchange and we are always acting for our own good.

From here it is clear that if we don’t change ourselves, then we act only for our own good. And because the ego grows all the time, then all of our activity is based upon the new ego and the intention becomes more and more egoistic. That is how we advance until the gap between our actions and intentions is made so great that we begin to pay attention to it.

When we see an old movie that was made fifty years ago, it seems really childish. Although they show strong and heroic people there, all of their speeches and their actions seem naïve like those of little children. This is because the ego was still small, not like in our time; their behaviors seem naïve and primitive to us. The action and the intention are very close to one another, the deed precisely matches the intention like with a small child. There are no devious political calculations behind all of it.

But in our times, the ego has developed so much that it brings us to despair because we see that every action in our world is only with an intention for oneself alone. We no longer believe in advertising, in nice promises, in words or actions, we no longer believe anyone, not politicians or simple people. We don’t even believe the members of the family, for we see how much each one is an egoist and is concerned only for himself, both children and the parents. So we are moving far away from each other. It is clear to all of us that all of our deeds are only for our own good without consideration of others at all.

Even if we are concerned about someone else, this is only because of feeling a connection with him, and as a result of that, his problem becomes our problem. So we think of him as we think about ourselves. But essentially this is only an egoistic calculation, for there is nothing else. That is how we reach recognition of the evil of our nature, understanding that everything is “for the sake of reception.”

The ego develops so much that it is not possible for us to connect to anyone. In the previous generations the ego was still not so developed and we would not use it in such a coarse form as today. But in our day nobody matters to us and nobody is ashamed of anything, rather he is even proud of his ego.

Politicians and businessmen no longer try to disguise their activities and appear to be nice. Each one acts according to his desire, fearing only punishment, and making a simple egoistic calculation.

And this is good because it is a sign that our generation has reached the recognition of the truth about itself. We have finally understood who we are and in what kind of a world we exist, and in what kind of connection we find between us. All connections have been made simple and clear, between nations, between people, in every city and family. As long as it is good for me with them, I will remain, and the moment that it is bad for me, I will leave everything.

There is no other calculation. Nobody speaks about patriotism, about self-sacrifice for the sake of the motherland or for the sake of someone else. A modern hero is famous for the number of people that he killed in a movie and not how many people he saved.

The question is can we continue to exist like this? If we continue to develop our egoistic nature, whose source is the desire to receive, then without shame we begin to use our ego instinctively like animals.

Animals act instinctively according to the inner program that is implanted in them, and humans can exist only if some kind of connection exists between them, like ants in an anthill. We are seven billion humans, each one must be aware of his place, his role, and his obligation. And that is how, through reciprocal work, we will build a secure life for ourselves.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/14, Shamati #60

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After thousands of years of human development, humanity has reached the recognition of the evil of its nature. We finally realize what is happening and see that all of our lives are full of suffering and that all of our history is a history full of very great pain.

We thought that we were wise, advanced, enlightened, and very developed, and, ultimately we are empty, without hope and without a future for the new generation that has been born.

In such a difficult and critical situation, I am ready to think about a method and a new form of life. This would not be a life that is derived from my inner egoistic drives of exploitation of others from generation to generation, but from a different inclination, the exploitation of myself for the good of others.

This is the choice that stands before us, the only approach that is dictated by nature, the dilemma between the two inclinations: the evil (egoistic) inclination and the good (altruistic) inclination. There is no other possibility. The human has developed for thousands of years with a desire to exploit the environment, the still, vegetative, and animate nature, and human beings, and all of this is for himself and only for himself.  Now only one thing is left: to change this model to an opposite model. This means reaching balance with the environment. Indeed, I suffer because everyone wants to exploit each other, as do I. Ultimately, we are depleted. We deplete each other. We become upset, helpless, and defenseless. In short, we have reached a dead end.

There is simply no other choice. We must examine ourselves, understand how it is up to us to change our approach toward life, and then, instead of “everyone pulling the blanket toward himself,” it is clear that the only solution is to talk about cooperation and balance between us.

Indeed, the Earth is ready to provide us with all that we require, but, because of our ego, we are like foolish children who steal from each other, and ultimately no one is happy and no one gets any true satisfaction in life. So, the only solution is to balance the relationships between all of us. We begin from this: How do we change?

At the present time, I want to pull everything toward me, even if I don’t need it. The main thing is not to leave anything for others. That is how I enjoy not just my fulfillment, but also the deprivation of others. It is not enough that I have more than others. I don’t want them to have anything. Essentially, the fact that they have something bothers me because I always measure my situation in relation to others, and am happy that I have more and they have less.

So, it is up to us to understand what is good and what is bad in our nature and how we can compensate, complete, and correct it.

Question: Even if I want to reach balance, on what grounds can I evaluate my activities? How can I know what will help and what will harm me?

Answer: What makes things better for others will help, and the others will think about what is good for me. We try to do good to one another, to do the opposite of what is happening today.

Question: Each of the others has his own desires. Does this mean that it is always up to me to be changed within, to adjust myself to them? This requires me to be very sensitive to people.

Answer: The main thing is the desire to do good to others and to have a good attitude toward others. First of all, the attraction towards this comes from a lack of choice, and we continue to work on this. We hold workshops, games, events, and discussions, until, within us, we are sure that it is possible to get along mutually—well, with love—by rising above our ego, which doesn’t disappear anywhere but remains and becomes stronger.

We arrange the connection specifically in the face of the ego, above differences of opinion, above opposition, and we build good relationships among us and connect with balance.

Through this, we design a new standard of living, a new level called Man (Adam), leaving the previous level.

Question: This means that agreement fundamentally is not enough? It cannot be the button that activates the mechanism of cooperation?

Answer: This button is found in me, within my heart, and in order to press it, I release all of my good impulses and use them for the benefit of others, and I close, contract, and freeze all of my bad impulses.

Of course, for this, we must build the entire auxiliary systems of the new world, build them with our own hands. With their help, we learn to differentiate between good and evil, between bestowal to others and reception from them, between using myself for their good and exploiting them for my good.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 4/10/14

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