Entries in the 'Crisis' Category

Questions About Integral Education

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat is, in your opinion, the goal of education?

 The goal of education is to give a person an understanding of his mission in the world and the real means for its implementation. Such education today is called integral (IE) because it allows a person to become one with nature and thereby bring himself in the optimal condition. It’s much more important than getting an education in the form of profession or trade. The purpose of IE is to make people happy in their personal life and useful in public life.

What is an educated society?

An educated society is a society that is constantly improving itself towards a greater likeness to a unified integral nature, revealing in its unity the single force of nature—the Creator.

How has the institution of higher education been changing over time?

Historically, education was generated by the social system of society based on the opinions of scholars and religious leaders. Since both authorities are losing their importance today, due to the internal changes within a person as well as the external pressure of integrated nature manifested now, there is a need for a new form of education aimed at the revelation of the plan and purpose of our natural (evolutionary) development. I call this education integral education, IE.

Do you think that wisdom has no place in today’s education that involves memorizing?

Wisdom was once in the past, and it was earthly wisdom, that is, within the limits of human speculation of the ancient philosophers. Lacking the possibility of revealing the true purpose and plan of nature, feeling the Creator, the scientists of all times tried to create the world’s view within the framework of the human mind. Their efforts deserve much respect.

Nonetheless, they can help us in nothing, except in craft, i.e.; the practical use of the results of their research because they can neither feel nor study the forces that govern our world.

Only one who reveals the Creator practically, whose qualities become similar to the Creator, has wisdom in an unlimited sense of the word. To him is included the definition of “understanding.”

Plato wrote that a book gives people a “semblance of knowledge” rather than a real understanding.

He meant that after reading a book, you can convince yourself and others that you know the subject. In Kabbalah, you discover the book to the extent that you comprehend what it describes, meaning, attain this level through your inner contemplation. Moreover, your attainment is individual, in the instruments, the properties of your soul.

What is knowledge?

It is a connection to the higher source, the Light, from where, to the extent of necessity and possibility, a person can draw any necessary information, like money from a bank. But the ability to get knowledge depends entirely on a person’s spiritual level, his screen, not on a successful Internet search.

How can we solve the problem of information?

Everything from search engines to social networks is aimed at ensuring that information is available instantly and for everyone. This leads to its depreciation because the importance of the carrier of knowledge is lost. This is good because what is important is not knowledge, but wisdom, the depth of understanding—insight into the hidden layers of nature. They are attained only by the law of equivalence of form between the researcher and material. Practical Kabbalah prepares a person for this equivalence of form.

But since only few people have a predisposition to Kabbalah, I would suggest the practice of workshops where under the leadership of Kabbalists, any person could be included into the discussion of the hidden knowledge of nature and thus gradually develop his latent ability to realize this, i.e., become a Kabbalist.

These workshops are not like ordinary widely practiced discussions, debates, or brainstorming. They are built on the principles of not opposition but additions; not division, but unity; not dispute, but agreement; as a result, there is a common and new feeling and the resulting knowledge.

How do you see the near future, what features of its development do you foresee?

 The Internet will turn us into inhabitants of non-geographic space. The problem of distance will not be felt by us both in connection between people and in connection with between state and social services, shopping, and so on. We can be constantly connected with everyone. Thus we erase the problem of time. The network becomes a field, free from any state, political, religious, and any other control. This blurs the boundaries of power.

Only the elite remains, which controls the network and manages the world through it: the media, the educational system, and so forth. But the upper governance controls the elite itself, as it is said: “The hearts of ministers and kings are in the hand of the Lord.” The result of the availability of all types of information will be in recognizing the “emptiness” and “Why do I exist?” In the end, everything leads us to the need for personal and public awareness of the need to reveal the upper governance, its cause, law, and purpose. And the method of integral education will be able to answer this.

What does it all mean in the context of the nature of work?

People will stop thinking about reducing the population of the planet. They will come to the need to consume what is necessary for bodily existence and receive other fulfillment from integral communication, through which higher fulfillment will come to them. They will work only if necessary for the acceptable existence of humankind. Work will be entrusted and considered socially necessary, unpaid.

Everyone, without exception from a young age and until his last day, will be in the system of integral education within which the entire personal and social life of humankind will take place. The state would wither away; we observe the disappearance of borders today; the influence of government disappears with increasing networking between people.
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The Universal Formula Of Happiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from DailyMail): “Research into what makes people feel happy has led renowned professor, Dr Todd Kashdan, to produce an equation called the Feel Good Formula.

“In it, he identifies six factors which, when put together in the right combination, make a happy soul.

“The factors are: Live in the moment (M), be curious (C), do something you love (L), think of others (T), nurture relationships (N), and take care of your body (B).

“The winning formula is Feeling Good = (Mx16 + Cx1 + Lx2) + (Tx5 + Nx2 + Bx33). …

“Whilst it may not appear obvious how a combination of letters and numbers will make you feel good, Dr Kashdan believes this formula is the perfect prescription for a happy soul.

“He said: ‘There is no single secret to feeling good, but when these six ingredients are carefully attended to, in the right doses, you will be on target for a happy life.’”

My Comment: Artificially, it is impossible to reach such a state on one’s own. For this, a person has to re-educate himself, to correct. Psychologists themselves say it is impossible. But the method of integral education makes this possible for everyone because this method uses the force that created us as a means of our correction.
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Offshore Zones Are Cancer Cells

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Dominique Strauss-Kahn, former International Monetary Fund chief): “Offshore zones exert the most destructive influence on the global financial system, former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said in an interview with Itar-Tass and Rossiya 24 TV channel.

“He expressed an opinion that these zones had not been eradicated over the lack of political will. ‘Offshore zones affect the global financial system, they are its cancer cells,’ he said. ‘It is well known that big enterprises find the loopholes to escape paying taxes that are absolutely legal with the use of offshore zones. At the same time, offshore zones are used not only by rich people, enterprises and the financial system. Offshore zones are advantageous to governments, therefore they exist until today.’

“Focusing on the fight against offshore zones that had been repeatedly declared by many world leaders, Strauss-Kahn noted that these statements contradicted real practice of many countries that use offshore zones in their interests.

“Strauss-Kahn said he kept an eye on world leaders’ statements on this issue, but these words had not been justified by deeds so far. ‘In reality nothing or practically nothing has happened,’ he said. ‘The problem of offshore zones – economic system’s cancer cells – lies not in the shortage of technical means, but in the lack of political will that can eradicate this phenomenon.’”

My Comment: Egoism obscures an objective vision of the truth. They will not be able to overcome it themselves since, as it is said, “the kings’ hearts are in the Creator’s hands.” And He will not let them go, will not set them free from egoism. That’s why the hopes of the masses that their leaders will change for the better are to no avail.

They will change only if the masses stop demanding change from them, but rather change themselves. This is the only way they will force their rulers to change, through the Creator, by getting closer to Him themselves.

Therefore, although we urge authorities to implement integral education, it will spread and be realized specifically from the bottom up. This does not apply to school systems; there we should try to go from the top down because the crisis is felt at all the levels of the education system.
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The Lessons Of The Revolution

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the article “The Peace,” Baal HaSulam analyzes the Russian “experiment” of building a socialist society in the last century. This period brought about a huge number of victims, and we have yet to understand the causes of what happened. Of course, the events were run from above and had to happen as a kind of discernment, “reconnaissance.”

Why did the attempt fail? It could not work out because its initiators had everything but the main thing, the connection with the Creator. They despised this relationship, could not understand it, keep it, or feel the need for it, so their expectations were not fulfilled.

Today, we know that it’s impossible to do without the Light that Reforms, and a person must correctly aim himself at its influence. But since Russia had nothing like that, the huge investment in education turned out to be in vain. The authorities tried a variety of things. The people were “brainwashed” in many different ways: through the press, radio, and television. The borders were locked to protect the country from external influences. Brainwashing started in kindergarten and continued in schools, but nothing worked.

After all, people’s egoism remained at the same level, even though they were a little accustomed to the external, superficial attributes, since a habit, as it is known, becomes second nature. Yes, there were songs and nice words about unity and other values, but it was not enough to be a real support.

In the end, the country has not achieved a decisive victory in the economic, social, or political sphere. Many in the world believed that Russia would become an example and influence the rest, but most of the world treated them with hatred and fear, or at least with dislike.

On the other hand, before the revolution of 1917, Russia blossomed against its industrial-technological development and sold its products in Europe. As long as there was temptation for and satisfaction of the egoistic desire, progress was remarkable. If that had continued, Russia might have surpassed the United States in spite of the reactionary government that prevented many progressive reforms.

However, the revolution switched development to the non-egoistic track and demanded a person work for the good of society because society is greater and more important. As a result, “fuel” disappeared and the breakdown started.

What could support these altruistic social transformations? They could only be supported by the connection with the Creator. After all, the human being needs a reward for his labors. And this reward is adhesion to the Creator. It’s worth working for, and although the Light that Reforms in the process turns the egoistic consideration into something else; nonetheless, it’s like a reward. We still don’t understand to what change this approach leads: A person seemingly works for one thing, but gets another.

But Russian revolutionaries cut themselves off from the source of Light, the force that animates changes, corrects a person and leads him to the goal. In other words, they fenced themselves off from the only force acting in creation, and in a short period, their endeavors were not successful. As a consequence, instead of a positive force from above that recharges and unites people, the authorities had to resort to the negative methods of influence that drove people from below by intimidation and suffering…

Today, in our society we should consider this lesson, and with respect for each of the friends, we should only use the upper force and not any coercive method. You cannot replace what the Upper Light gives with social pressure. Social pressure must be used to bring a person under the influence of this Light.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/10/13, “The Peace”

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Global Work On Our Mistakes

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Peace”: Anyone can see how a large society such as the state of Russia, with hundreds of millions in population, more land than the whole of Europe, second to none in wealth in raw materials, and which has already agreed to lead a communal life and practically abolished private property altogether, where each worries only about the wellbeing of society, has seemingly acquired the full measure of the virtue of bestowal upon others in its full meaning, as far as the human mind can grasp.

And yet, go and see what has become of them?… Indeed, that fact puzzles us, because judging by the wealth of that country and its plentiful population, it seems unreasonable that it would come to that. But this nation has sinned one sin which the Creator will not forgive: that all this precious and exalted work, namely bestowal upon others, which they have begun to perform, needs to be for the Creator and not for humanity.

Question: What does it mean, “The Creator will not forgive”?

Answer: This is the law, the effects of which may only be revealed in the form of prolonged shattering and destruction. It will take a long time for Russia to understand the flaw in its attempt. It has already been twenty years since this country has been going through a sort of transition period, as a result of which it has started a pseudo-return to the previous era, to the days of Stalin with the intention of finding out what exactly and to what extent the corruptions were. See what a huge turn they will have to make in order to realize and to recognize how to move on.

The Americans and the Europeans will also have to work seriously on their mistakes, until eventually everyone will reach a common decision. In the meantime, they each follow different directions and the world is returning to the days of the cold war with all its particulars.

On the other hand, however, this century is different from the last one: Today there is no fear of big wars between the superpowers. This is improbable since it would definitely lead to disaster and total annihilation. So there will be conflicts and regional wars; there will be unrest and troubles, until all sides realize that they have no other choice but to cooperate integrally.

What is more, the future blow will come from a different direction: social, economic, etc.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/08/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Peace”

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“Loneliness Epidemic”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from FBII.org): “U.S. researchers learn the rapid devaluation of family values in the United States. The traditional relationships between a man and a woman, when love leads to marriage, reach back. Today, four out of ten Americans believe the marriage institution is obsolete. Scientists find it difficult to justify the current situation, however, they confirm that the American Society tend to disunity.

“Young Americans often delay marriage. This is a typical trend of many racial and ethnic groups in the U.S., even Asians, who had before the highest marriage rates.

“The divorce is common thing in modern America. The ‘separate habitation’ is customary for the generations born in the second half of the twentieth century. Percentage of divorced and estranged, who broke off the relationship, is much higher than the percentage of widowed. It’s typical for all age groups, both men and women. Most divorced and estranged are among 50-54-year-old men (17%) and women (21%).

“The same survey showed that the remarriage isn’t preferred by most Americans. Only 29% of divorced would like to marry again. Among the widowed this rate is even lower – 8%.

“According to studies, the family disintegration has no links with the Great Recession of 2008-2009.

“As a result, the total fertility rate (average number of births per woman of childbearing age from 15 to 49 years) dropped to the reproduction level (replacement rate) – 2.1, and at the end of the 2000s, during the recession – to 1.9.”

“In addition, the share of children born out of wedlock has increased during the 50 years up to 8 times – from 5.3% in 1960 to 41% in 2010. The highest rate of illegitimate births is among the youngest mothers: 86% of infants in 2011 born by mothers aged 15-19, 62% of infants – by mothers aged 20-24 years.

“A record 8% of households with minor children in the United States are headed by a single father, up from just over 1% in 1960, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Decennial Census and American Community Survey data. … Men make up a growing share of single parent householders.

“As we can see, the American family values face serious hardships, that change the society structure and social consciousness. Hardly surprising, almost half – 45% – of Americans, mostly young people, approve the Supreme Court’s voting rights decision over the gay and hetero equalization. The straights represent the minority – 40%.

“The American family future causes alarm, given that the traditional union between a man and a woman, who plan ahead and have many children, likely can be classified by future generations as a jest.”

My Comment: The values of all aspects of the traditional society are being re-examined, and it will lead to a completely unusual conclusion: readiness to accept a new type of family relationships, proposed by integral education. It’s when marriage is based not on a sexual desire, which has already proved to be ineffective, but on the ultimate life goal: unity with the Creator and the possibility of achieving it with a particular partner.
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“Homo Economicus Might Actually Be An Idiot”

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Bloomberg): “Imagine yourself betting on the long-term survival of two types of people. One is the classic egoist, focused and ruthless. The other is more selfless, willing to help fellow humans without any evident gain. Who will be more successful?

“For anyone steeped in the prevailing thinking of our era, the obvious winner is the egoist. Darwinian evolution and the lore of modern capitalism tell us that only fierce competitors survive. Altruists, the game theorists teach us, are mathematically incapable of achieving dominance. Acts of cooperation are either errors born of ignorance or purely selfish strategic moves aimed at getting something of greater value.

“The idea that biological competition favors the greedy, creating the ultrarational and incentive-driven Homo economicus, remains at the core of the models economists use to understand the world.

“Problem is, the ‘hard-headed,’ supposedly scientific take on human behavior bears little relation to reality. An overwhelming body of research demonstrates that helping behaviors (or, as economists like to say, ‘other-regarding preferences’) are the norm in human interactions around the globe. This raises the question: If it really does pay to be greedy, why do humans act differently?

“So far, there’s no definitive answer. But there is some evidence that rational self-interest isn’t always the best strategy. In conditions of harsh competition, Homo economicus might not prevail.

“In many simulations, the nice species ended up doing better than Homo economicus. How? The cooperative types tended to cluster and interact with one another preferentially, thereby benefiting from each other’s selfless behavior. The researchers called the winning species Homo socialis — quite rightly, as it isn’t blind to the potential of social interactions to enhance well-being.

“The take-home point is that Homo economicus is an oversimplified caricature who, in many situations, fails to benefit from real possibilities. Greed isn’t good, as Gordon Gekko famously said in the film “Wall Street.” In many cases, it’s not even very smart.”

My Comment: Studies, though far from complete, are right. The question is how to bring these 7 billion egoists to reason? The method of integral education offers a means of correcting human nature. Undoubtedly, sooner or later, meaning after having suffered, we all will begin to see the need of its realization.
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How Should We Arrange The Planet?

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft): “To the global elite the math is simple: human overpopulation is causing climate change so the solution to climate change is population control. …

“What would it take to accelerate fertility decline in the least developed countries?”

“The world today has 6.8 billion people. That’s heading up to about nine billion. Now if we do a really great job on new vaccines, health care, reproductive health services, we could lower that by perhaps 10 or 15 percent.”

Opinion (John P. Holdren, Barack Obama’s top science advisor): “‘A program of sterilizing women after their second or third child, despite the relatively greater difficulty of the operation than vasectomy, might be easier to implement than trying to sterilize men.’

“‘The development of a long-term sterilizing capsule that could be implanted under the skin and removed when pregnancy is desired opens additional possibilities for coercive fertility control. The capsule could be implanted at puberty and might be removable, with official permission, for a limited number of births.’”

My Comment: Our planet can feed many times more than its current population. If people feel like relatives, they will not feel that there so many of them, if they are loved, there aren’t unnecessary members in the family, and nature, the Creator, will provide us with everything we need subject to the law of equivalence of form.

The problem is not in reducing the population by force, but in educating and upbringing the population. By becoming similar to the system of higher management, we will consume and reproduce correctly naturally, due to our adhesion to nature, the Creator.
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The Truth On Crutches

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: …by nature, the power to work is not equal with each and every person. One person in the society labors in one hour of work, due to his weakness, much more than his friend who works two hours or more.

And there is also a psychological matter here, because he who is very lazy by nature exhausts himself in one hour more than his friend in two hours or more. And according to the perspective of the evident truth, we should not compel one part of society to labor more than the other part for the fulfillment of the needs of their lives. In fact, the naturally strong and nimble in society benefit from the labor of others and exploit them maliciously against the attribute of truth, because they labor very little compared to the weak and the lazy in society.

Can we evaluate people from the angle of truth or in accordance with the category of veracity? By itself, it is a wonderful and true category. It attests to a very simple thing: One deserves as much as one gives, meaning that everyone must be valued correctly and justly based on one’s contribution to the general structure. It is a law of nature. We can design numerous other regulations, but in reality it is exactly so.

Our rewards equal our efforts, although exertions should not be assessed through absolute numbers. Rather, they must be calculated by using relative specific measures. For example, it is extremely hard for me to lift a ten-kilogram weight and carry it for ten kilometers. However, for another person, it would be just an easy stroll. He won’t even notice this weight. I would need to rest for a couple of hours to replenish the energy I lost and eat something nourishing, whereas the other person wouldn’t be tired at all. On the contrary, he would feel much better than before.

Hence, it means that we simply cannot use the category of truth and do not have any criteria to make accurate calculations here. So, is it possible to lead a truthful life in our society?

You won’t find this problem in inanimate, vegetative or animate nature. There, everything exists in accordance with the attribute of truth, although we don’t notice it since we do not comprehend the entire picture. Each species occupies a niche of its own. All are connected; all are driven by natural instincts. Therefore, everything is correct.

We don’t know what it means to be governed by veracity since, at the speaking level, nature lets us go, releases the reins, abandons us, and allows us to establish relationships with it on our own—not as individuals, but rather as a society. Integration and social relationships are, in fact, the major problems we are facing at this time.

Previously, when humanity was still at a primitive stage of formation, the world was as one flock, as one family. Thus, it didn’t require any particular clarifications. At that time, everyone’s share was defined by a family, a tribal sense of community, and corresponded to the laws of nature.

However, when liaisons among humans lost its family basis and transitioned into a professional services exchange field—when people stopped being just parts of their families, tribes, clans, and villages, when they began to develop on their own—the problem emerged. After all, now people compare themselves to others and tend to give their neighbors as little as they can and, at the same time, receive as much as possible. We and the people around us are no longer a unified system. This explains why we have no clue as to how to get along with each other. The category of truth among us is vague, and that’s why we don’t sense or understand each other.

“I worked on your boot for a whole week,” the cobbler says.

How do I know if he is lying to me or if it really takes that guy so much time and effort to mend my shoe? Perhaps, is he simply unprofessional? A month ago, in another shop, it took them only one day to repair a mate to the same boot, and they charged me pennies. Now, I am paying four times more and had to wait an entire week!

To make a long story short, when we go beyond the boundaries of natural communities, we deal with unresolved problems. We are unable to stick to the category of truth and need additional criteria to support it. After all, if it falls it would cause chaos in society. That’s why we make “crutches”: various social programs, national insurance, hospital and pension funds, free education, and so forth. We don’t rely on our ability to implement the category of truth into life since we know that people will do nothing about it. Instead, our countries take over to compensate for it, and allow us to stay aloft and float not too far from unattainable shores that we cannot yet reach.

We have no ability to reach the shore since we traded family ties for commercial relationships that are built on the principles of mutual lies. Our society is in a huge conflict with this category: the attribute of truth. By not obeying it, we suffer and don’t know what to do next. By obeying it, we still acknowledge that there is something false in it.

This situation instigates an eternal confrontation between the masses and the elites. According to the category of truth, everyone is equal, and yet, the elites take away a huge portion of the wealth, leaving the masses poor. All rotates around the original problem.

Is there a way out? Can we establish genuine criteria? For that, we must feel others as we feel ourselves. The category of truth simply cannot be grounded on anything less than that. We must sense how intense other people’s exertions are and compare them with our own efforts. This comparison will let us replenish our relationships.

If we could measure how much each of us has received from nature—how healthy one is, how capable of doing various types of work—and what the real outcome of our efforts is exactly, then, possibly, we would distribute resources in a more correct way. However, in reality, our calculations always are wrong, and we never will distribute wealth fairly, honestly, and correctly because of the Creator’s interference. He deliberately spoils everything so that we come to Him since He is the truth!

Subsequently, the problem is not a just or merit-based distribution, but rather our altruistic intention to bestow. Any calculations are right only on the condition that we act solely to establish a connection with the Creator. Only then can we distribute things in accordance with the category of truth.

This explains why the “socialist experiment” failed in Russia. Its organizers did not hold the key: a connection with the Upper Light. Although they were given a chance, in the end, the upper governance turned it into a negative example.

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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/27/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Aspiration To Happiness As A Common Denominator

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: This is the key to understand the weakness of world-reformers throughout the generations. They regarded man as a machine that is not operating properly and needs mending, meaning to remove the corrupted parts and replace them with good ones…

But because the Creator meticulously watches over all the elements in His Creation, not letting anyone destroy a single thing in His Domain but only reform it and make it useful and good, all the reformers of the above-mentioned kind will vanish from the face of the earth, and evil inclinations will not vanish. They live on and count the degrees that they must still traverse until they complete their ripening.

Each time, world-reformers repeatedly commit a big mistake by trying to act independently, without seeking the help of the Light. As a result, everyone suffers, including them.

The world crisis started five years ago and these bright people constantly invent recipes for how to fight it. Psychologists, politicians, economists, and financial specialists, everyone participates in this noble task, and all of them are confident that they are doing the right thing. These world-reformers are sitting everywhere. They discuss things in governments, teach children at schools, and try to improve family relations. Where do they get the self-assurance that they are capable of changing things for the better?

We must move with the Light. In the morning, leaving the house, we should say, “If not for me, then who,” as if there were no upper force and that the day ahead of us depends exclusively on us. In the evening, when we come back home, we must say, “Only because of the upper force did I manage to do what I have achieved today.”

In our desire to correct the world, do we really act in a way that the Creator and the creation complement each other? Do we provide their fitting together? Do we orient all our efforts toward opening the pathway for the Light that will correct everything?

Question: This approach seems totally mystical. Can we suggest that people stay at home and do nothing, just asking the Light to descend and correct them? Are you serious?

Answer: You are right. That’s why it is said, “If not me, then who?” Let’s say that my car broke down. Should I invite friends to pray in the garage? Should I resolve any problem this way? Of course not.

On the other hand, how can we achieve a genuine correction instead of faking it? We see that without spiritual actions, our exertions only make this world a worse place instead of making it better. Yes, we still can find solutions for many problems, but we don’t realize that each detail is a part of the entire system. One way or another, everything that is not corrected by the Light will not work. It only exposes and demonstrates the egoism that is hidden in our attitude and obligates us to correct our outlook. Only when we can cope with it will we elicit correction, but in a new and true way.

Question: How can we explain this to others within the framework of integral education?

Answer: Beyond anything else, integral education is a part of the wisdom of Kabbalah. We are talking about various levels of the same teaching that explains the methodology of the world correction with the help of the Light that Reforms. We open the pathway for the Light, and It corrects us and the entire society. The goal always remains the same: to establish a good connection among us, to reach unanimity and harmony that correspond to the Light. Then, the Light will descend and correct us.

You can give the Light various names: the power of the group, collective intelligence, the vigor of integral unity. The essence remains the same. We are equal, we are together as one man in one heart, and the Surrounding Light influences all of us no matter if we teach others the methodology of integral education or just study it.

We totally were dissapointed in this world and found the wisdom of Kabbalah. However, other people also deal with the same problems. They also want to live better lives. The beautiful words that we use only mask a common, general aspiration to happiness.

Question: Does it mean that the definition of happiness varies? For us, happiness means one thing. For others, it signifies something else.

Answer: When you say that, for you, the bliss is in bestowal, it’s just words. Your desires keep you where you are. You simply tolerate a message that is disgusting to your egoism. We must pass the message about bestowal and unity further on, although we should be doing it in a much milder form. We should make it look like we are sharing the methodology of establishing good relationships with others that later will allow everyone to succeed.

In fact, the main obstacle on our way to happiness is happiness itself. There are no external monsters that prevent us from being happy. The monster is inside us. That’s why we keep talking about establishing a good and kind attitude toward each other. This is a universal remedy. It doesn’t depend on the level of our demands. By uniting our interests, goals, and general problems, by sharing a common worldview, each acquires something that one wants irrespective of what names they use to identify their unity.

So, we offer them a unified and effective solution.

Later, when they achieve unity, people will experience new psychological phenomena. They will sense internal energy and the power of their interconnection. They will have a better feeling of each other. Fine threads between them will grow stronger, the air will become thicker, clear responses to various actions and thoughts will appear, and everyone will begin working with the entire system, regardless of whether they realize it or not. Even now, we attempt to use this structure correctly. However, when we unite, this system finally will acquire realistic features and will surface from the fog.

In the end, does it really matter what exactly made people unite? The reasons that will make unity acquire a new enhanced value in everyone’s eyes will vary. What matters is that unity will become much more important than anything else. Behind multiple threads and powers, people will recognize a single force of love and bestowal. Each of us can name it differently: health, family values, wellbeing, and so forth. In fact, all these words are the names of the Creator.

Question: So, does it mean that the Creator is a reaction or an inspiration that we feel when we are connected with others?

Answer: Yes, you could say so. All that we feel within a desire is called the Creator.

Question: Do I retain this inspiration constantly?

Answer: When you advance, you find out that the general network and the force that is hidden in it are not connected with the tool that brought you to it. The instrument that pushed you to pursue the goal is illusory and deceptive.

Question: Can we compare it with electricity that we cannot identify directly, but rather, detect it because we see its effects if we are trained to do so? Otherwise, the electric circuit exists only potentially.

Answer: Yes, it is true. Today, people do not allow an electric current to flow and that’s why they don’t see it.
[109784]
From the 4th part of Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/11/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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