Entries in the 'Crisis' Category

A Little Lost World

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What should we do in order to connect with the desires of other people? Is it enough to simply want it?

Answer: We need practical actions to at least explain to every person why he or she feels bad. It’s similar to how we behave with small children. If a child hurts himself and is crying, we first of all need to explain to him the reason for what happened so that the next time he would stay away from it. Then we need to explain how to correct what has happened and how to achieve success specifically thanks to these mistakes.

Now the entire world has found itself in a peculiar situation whereby the upper force field is becoming revealed to it—the connection between us all. Meanwhile, humanity is not ready for it; it does not correspond to it in its qualities. Therefore, the network that extends over us evokes in us the feeling of the breaking, disaster, and crisis, and nothing works for us, nothing is clear; everything is like in a fog, in a state of confusion.

So first of all, we need to explain to a little lost child why all of it is happening as well as the entire process. Some will begin to understand sooner, the others later. In general, it is called the recognition of evil, the first stage of correction. A person is being told: Look, this is why you feel bad!

And now let’s examine what we need to do to feel good. If you remain in your present state and do not exert any effort to bring yourself to the correspondence with the network that is being revealed to us, you will not come to a good life.

And here the method, the wisdom of Kabbalah, comes into light, which explains to a person the reason of evil and how to avoid it. We gradually begin to realize that it depends on the correct and good connection between all people, on the so-called mutual guarantee because we thus bring ourselves to the correspondence with this network.

The better we will match it, the better we will feel. At least, from a bad sensation, we will gradually begin to approach a good one.

And if we advance even more, then, possibly, we will prepare ourselves for the revelation of this network so well that we will go from success to success. Everything depends on our preparation.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/30/2011, Shamati #110

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Which Way Will The World Scale Tip?

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday it is difficult to tell what the role of different countries will be in the new global world. Everything depends on how Israel will operate in the spiritual realm and which way it will tip the scale – what kind of balance will America, Russia, and the Arab world settle into.

Europe is losing its influence. The main forces remaining on the world map are the Arab world, America, and Russia. China will not manage to come out of its concealment, its place at the far end of the world. The crisis will not give them enough time to develop. They will soon begin to feel that the world does not need what they produce. That’s because the world will only need the bare necessities, but China does not produce objects that are vitally necessary.

However, right now it’s impossible to predict anything with precision because everything depends on our freedom of choice. If we act properly and well, then these forces will settle down into a balance. Then Americans won’t be using the Arab countries to cope with everyone else and to rule over the world, which is what they aspire to do today.

That is why Israel became an obstacle for them, which they wish to remove in order to then move in the direction of Russia and China. And to accomplish that they want to use the force of the most extreme Arab fundamentalism by allying with it, together with all of its terrorist branches.

This phenomenon is already well-known and has been described in many sources. I do not say a word of my own opinion here. Therefore, we have to understand that all of the good changes that can be made in the world can only happen above nature – only with the help of the method of correction! There are no chances here to achieve anything by force, especially in a country like Israel. By the recent disorder we see how the American program is being realized.

All of these demonstrations and demands are part of big politics, whose objective is to level this entire area and establish the power of Arab fundamentalism here. Americans expect this to become a powerful weapon in their hands, and this tendency or program has existed for a long time now and is gradually being realized.

America perceives Islam as an external force that enables it to control the world. But this is all arranged for Israel from Above in order to push us toward a spiritual solution. However, Russia and China have to feel that they are our allies in this situation because they are also in danger. We are just a “small obstacle” on America’s path, whereas they are the real goal.

This is the balance of forces that Americans want to establish in the world. And indeed, what other force is available today that can be manipulated and used for fighting, that has oil backing it as well as the pressurizing force of fundamentalism? Europe has gotten old completely, and Russia has also grown very weak and has gotten old over the years. It does not have the energy it once did, which is obvious even by the dynamics of the national gross product.

China also lacks real power because it is occupied with producing “toys.” This activity does not provide it with a powerful influence. It is a center of great financial and human resources, but this country has not built itself yet. And its psychology is to stay on the sidelines, as it did for millennia. And even though the Chinese have now dispersed all over the world, this still isn’t an “incursion” because their inner psychology has not changed, and it stops them.

All of this is finely calculated, and it is arranged from Above. Everything unravels by a strict program, which you can read about in the Prophets, which describe what will happen to the world in the end of days. And Israel is precisely at the very tip of the scale’s indicator, determining the direction and the steps that the world will take.

This tendency is very precise and it is already clear to many. I am not revealing anything new here. In the end, we will gain greater awareness of a simple fact: That we have nothing to rely on besides the upper force. But that doesn’t mean simply screaming “Save me!” into the sky, but rather, we have to make real actions and attract this force to us. Just as America attracts foreign forces to itself and operates through them, so we attract the upper force and operate with its help. I think that the success of the good forces is guaranteed to us. We only have to keep working and do what is necessary.

All other attempts and big plans are worthless. Only by acting correctly will we muffle all of this evil so it will choke by itself.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/11, “The Nation”

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Is It The Economy Or Something More?

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat economists, politicians, sociologists, and political scientists call today a “crisis,” actually is not. The real crisis arrives when a person must find an answer or he will die. Kabbalists wrote that this condition will transpire, and then we will have to reveal the method of unity and mutual guarantee and carry it to the world. This is the destiny of the people of Israel.

That is why the whole world blames the Jews for their problems. We will need to explain first of all to the Jewish people that we have to achieve mutual guarantee, that without this we will not solve a single problem. We cannot exist in any rational form; this is possible only above nature, in mutual guarantee. This is what the current situation pushes us towards, and people are beginning to sense this.

The wave of protests, which is not over yet, are people’s inner reaction to the necessity to do something with themselves. People demand social justice, housing, higher wages, all kinds of benefits, but in reality, it is not so. It is no coincidence that the head of the commission of social change writes that these demands contain the desire of internal compensation, but not money. A person lacks something inside, and he doesn’t usually complain about material problems. At the end, as the commission head concluded, people lack love and unity.

And this is true. Observing the laws of nature, we will see that this is what is required of us. The current crisis is global and integral. In other words, we discover that we are connected with each other, depend on each other, and are linked by countless technological, virtual, trade, and other ties, so strongly that it is impossible to break them. Our interdependence has become truly total.

We are fused with each other, hate each other, feel insecure and helpless in the seven-billion-people mass, who demand from each other, lay claims, and show cruelty. There is no end to it. Every moment, Nature “compresses” us more and more, and we do not know where to escape from this, like a married couple who started to hate each other, but meanwhile cannot get a divorce and argue within four walls.

This is how we feel the reality today. Kabbalists wrote that this is a wonderful state, that the need to find some solution to the problem will manifest itself finally in the nation and in the world. First of all, it will be the economic solution, on which our material life depends. Nature starts with the basics and pushes us towards unity. As a result, we will have to unite just to save ourselves, as in ancient times the sons of Israel had to flee from famine to Egypt. Literally, the same process takes place in our times.
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From Lesson 1, the Achziv Convention 9/1/2011

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Whoever Is Integral Will Come Out On Top

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Do people have any choice left once they’ve heard the explanation of the laws of the integral world?

Answer: No, because these laws do not depend on us. Imagine a fictional scenario where an alien ship is approaching us and is warning us in advance that by the time it reaches us, we have to reach mutual guarantee. And whoever does not is “doomed.” That is exactly how the laws of nature operate: They suddenly become revealed to us and force us to become aware of what is happening.

Nature’s condition is invariable. We have reached the phase of the single system, whose law is the interconnection of all the parts. This is the mutual guarantee, or in other words, mutual support, the proper participation in the common life, mutual understanding and respect, friendship. You can put it any way you like. Say it warmly and pleasantly, but don’t forget to inform people of the fact that this is an invariable law and there is nowhere to run from it.

Today and tomorrow depend on our explanations. The need for mutual guarantee will not disappear. It will only increase from one day to the next and will require us to realize it. The common system will become increasingly more closed and fused together, the interconnection will become tighter, and the transfer of information via communication lines between us will gain more power, pressure, and intensity.

We will become more aware of these processes and whoever understands and recognizes them will come out on top. In any part of the word, in any society, in manufacturing and trade, in children’s upbringing, and in any other area, success will come to those who are able to use this integral system correctly, who become integral on the inside. These people will gain the right approach and the right calculation, will draw up agreements the right way, and will succeed in everything by virtue of having an inner copy or mold of the external system.

Today we lack this correspondence, which is why we are in crisis: I am an egoist on the inside, while the system is already being revealed to me as united, as all-inclusive. As a result, I cannot treat anyone or anything correctly.

Thus, nature places us before an inevitable necessity. However, when we explain it to people, it is nevertheless better to soften this harsh message. Our task is not to take a person’s freedom away or to tie his hands, but to wrap him in warmth despite the inevitable changes.

The process changes fundamentally if we bring ourselves into similarity with the system. Imagine that the nation tries to attain mutual guarantee, mutual empathy. This will give us an enormous desire to help people. They are like children, and even though their pleas are not turned to us, we will be imbued by their desire, which we won’t be able to satisfy. It will tear us apart on the inside like birth pangs, and that is how we will evoke a tremendous force in order to conduct it to others. And then, the Creator will become revealed—for us and for them.

It doesn’t matter that they still don’t feel that this is Him. At the initial stages, this does not appear as the upper force but as an understanding of things and forces that operate in the world, the expression of the universal interconnection and mutual interaction. The air will suddenly become thicker and a person will acquire the general understanding, a common sensation together with others, unity without words.

And that is already a revelation because a person acquires a new mind, a new feeling. He opens up a new perception and suddenly notices things that did not exist for him before.

We are standing at the threshold, and this is a very exciting period. I am very anxious because this has never before happened in history, but today we are being obligated to do it. I am waiting for you to finally attain what you desire. This is a chance for the whole world: Today we can already accelerate and reduce the entire process. Let us hope that we will achieve success.

Until this time we did not advance by our own mind or our own correct decisions, but with the help of the upper force. And still, we have been brought to this. And that is very important.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/11, “The Nation”

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Climate Change Threatens Mental Health

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (From France24.com): “Flooding, drought, and superstorms boosted by climate change are not only poised to ravage human habitats but mental health as well, according to Australian researchers.

“’Recent experience shows extreme weather events also pose a serious risk to public health, including mental health and wellbeing, with serious flow-on consequences for the economy and wider society.’

“Up to now, however, few efforts have been made to assess the psychological impact of climate change-enhanced weather events, which in Australia have destroyed communities, farms, and businesses.

“In poorer countries with less capacity to absorb such shocks, the consequences on mental health are likely to be even greater, the report warned.

“’The emerging burden of climate-related impacts on community morale and mental health – bereavement, depression, post-event stress disorders, and the tragedy of self-harm – is large,’ noted Tony McMichael, a professor at Australian National University, in introducing the study.

“Statistics from Australia show higher rates of drug and alcohol abuse, violence, family breakups, and suicide after extreme weather events, with impacts more pronounced in rural and semi-rural areas according to the report.

“’Evidence is emerging that drought and heat waves lead to rates of self-harm and suicide as much as eight percent higher’ when annual rainfall is at least 300 millimetres below average, it said.

“Children in particular are vulnerable to pre-disaster anxiety and post-trauma illness, the researchers noted.

“This is due not only to direct exposure of life-threatening situations and dislocation from family and community supports, but also to ‘the reality of living with long term threat,’ noted Ian Hickie, director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute.

“Climate change will also render already stressful conflicts over resource use, especially for water, even more volatile, he added.”

My Comment: But namely man by his behavior, his lack of aspiration to balance with nature causes the changes of nature, its instability and variability. And then nature itself reacts to these changes and backlashes. It’s because nature consists of the following parts: still, vegetative, animate, and human. A human is the highest part of nature, not because of his animal body, but due to his desire and reason.

For thousands of years, nature was developing desires and reason in humans. While the desires and the mind were evolving, nature did not put obstacles for us. But at the end of the last century, the individual development in each person came to an end. Since then, the desire and the mind started to unite with nature in one integral network. The world became globally and integrally connected. The network between us made us interconnected.

However, the desires and the mind remained egoistic, and thus, are opposite to the network, and in the process of convergence, evoke greater hatred and crisis: Egoists cannot function in the common network. And because man’s desire and mind are the highest, that is, the most influential in the connection network between all parts of nature, people suffer more than others—and from all other levels.

It is the time for everyone to draw a conclusion because nature will force us anyway! Is it not better to change our inner nature: egoism?
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The Readiness Of The Rich To Pay For Peace Will Not Help

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News: “The global economic crisis is leading to a possible ‘developed economy’ recession in the U.S. and Europe, which may be hard to alleviate, according to Pacific Investment Management Co.’s Bill Gross. …Strife between rich and poor in the U.S. is sending Treasury yields lower, Gross wrote.” (Source: Bloomberg.com)

“Italy’s highly-paid footballers are threatening to strike over new taxes being brought in on those earning more than 150,000 euros. …The proposals have sparked a storm of criticism in Italy as the country attempts to clean up its public finances to avoid becoming the next victim of the debt crisis.” (Source: Dailymail.co.uk)

“Spain’s Socialist government is considering an increase in capital-gains tax as a result of the economic crisis but will not raise tax rates on earned income, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, prime minister, said on Monday.

“’If a crisis comes and you then have to develop your social policies, it seems reasonable that an important part of society should make a small effort to help those in difficulties,’ Mr Zapatero said.” (Source: The Financial Times)

“On August 30th, at the meeting on socio-economic issues, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko…said that private businesses should prop up the state and share their super profits with it which resulted from soaring prices.” (Source: caspionet.kz)

“Now, as both France and Spain consider introducing a wealth tax, a group of 50 rich Germans have joined the ‘tax me harder’ movement by renewing their open call to Angela Merkel to ‘stop the gap between rich and poor getting even bigger.’

“In Italy too, one of the country’s richest citizens has come forward to offer to pay more tax….

“Luca di Montezemolo, the multimillionaire Ferrari chairman, made his offer in an interview with the centre-left daily La Repubblica earlier this month.

“In Spain, the Socialist government is reported to be considering the reintroduction of a wealth tax scrapped just three years ago.” (Source: Guardian.co.uk)

My Comment: No transfer of money between various parts of society will help. Undoubtedly, it is necessary to eradicate beggary, poverty, to bring everybody to the level of normal existence. But beyond that, the problem cannot be solved by monetary injections! People do not realize exactly what they want.

Everybody feels the problem of existence in the world that has become unmanageable. But no one sees how to solve this problem because its solution is not at the level of our egoistic desires and thoughts, where we used to solve our life problems. Rather, it is in the ascent above them to the sphere of altruistic relationships.

People still cannot accept the fact that we deal with nature that develops us according to its plan. They consider themselves above it, although everything that is in us has been created by nature, and it is above us.

The reason for this attitude towards nature is that the upper forces of nature are hidden from man, hidden namely because of their perfection, but it seems to man that they simply do not exist, and he is the only master in the world. That is why he has become accustomed throughout history to do whatever he pleased in the world: Everything is permissible, there is no responsibility, and no one demands accountability.

But this time has passed like a carefree childhood. Adult life begins, obliging us to pay for everything, even for the unrealized desires and thoughts. Nature takes into account people’s desires and thoughts. The egoistic ones, to the detriment of others, cause negative consequences, and vice versa, the good ones bring positive results.

Sure, this looks like mysticism and religion, but we will have to think, scrutinize, and discover that we are surrounded by the force of nature, which we have to consider and try to be in balance with as we are familiar with and take into account its particular forces of gravity, electricity, or magnetism. A violation of the laws of nature brings the violator suffering.

As we develop, we are obliged to observe, as growing people, more and more laws. Today, we are required to fulfill the law of balance with nature, not by each of us, but by society as a whole so that the entire humanity takes the form of a unified whole in its mutual connection (mutual guarantee) and thus becomes equal to the general law of nature—to maintain harmony in all parts of this single organism.

Solution: The rich should set aside funds for the education of society in mutual guarantee and the explanation of the new laws of the world,  global and integral ones. This will provide an opportunity to redistribute wealth and excess so as to achieve material balance and spiritual harmony.
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The Bitterness Of Inequality

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we explain to people the true meaning of social justice?

Answer: Along with the external demands, people feel deep inside the bitterness of inequality, of social and national injustice, of various differences. A person values himself not for who he is, but in comparison with others. Never before have we lived as well as today, but when we look at each other, we feel bad.

Of course, there are people who truly live “from paycheck to paycheck,” and their living standards should be immediately raised to the minimal level. However, all the other imbalances need to be fulfilled primarily by way of mutual unification.

No “just distribution” will help here: It will only aggravate conflicts. Any addition to someone would  raise rumors and criticism, discontent and resentment. Try to increase salaries in one of the sectors, and it will be hated. Even if this is not done at my expense, and even if I am not supposed to get more, I am still wondering why the money was given to them and not to me.

In what case will I be happy for a person who was given a raise? Only if I am connected to him by the ties of love. So, first, I should be taught the right attitude so that I consider him. For starters, before we even reach mutual guarantee, we need to understand that we completely depend on each other.
[53201]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/31/2011, “The Nation”

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World Economic Forum, Global Risks 2011 Report


Report: Global Risks 2011. The Risks Interconnection Map illustrates the interconnections between the following factors: liquidity/credit crunch, slowing Chinese economy, retrenchment from globalization, global imbalances and currency volatility, asset price collapse, extreme commodity price volatility, extreme energy price volatility, fiscal crisis, extreme consumer price volatility, regulatory failures, illicit trade, corruption, organized crime, fragile states, terrorism, geopolitical conflict, global governance failure, weapons of mass destruction, space security, online data information security, critical information infrastructure breakdown, treats from new technology, infrastructure fragility, economic disparity, demographic challenges, migration, food security, water security, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, climate changes, biodiversity loss, air pollution, flooding, storms and cyclones, ocean governance, and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

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The Belarusian President Is For The Round Table

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (From rt.com): “Belarusian president Aleksandr Lukashenko has called on his political opponents, the European Union, and Russia to sit down for a round-table discussion about the current situation in his country and its future.

“‘As head of state, I suggest that all sober-minded people who love their country, regardless of their political stance, get together at the round table, look each other in the eye, and assess what each of us can actually do to improve the situation in the country,’ the Belarusian president said during a meeting with officials, adding that ‘our goal is unity’ and that the future should be decided through a dialogue rather than ‘on the barricades.’”

My Comment: The key is to begin correctly and then stay on course: to discuss openly based on the actual laws of nature, which dictate the necessity to reach consent and mutual guarantee. As soon as we advance at least a bit in this direction, the country and society will prosper according to the similarity with Nature.
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Stanley Fisher: Economic Theories Do Not Help

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Stanley Fisher, the Governor of the Bank of Israel): “’We’ve run out of our normal bullets and out of our heaviest bullets, but there could be room for quantitative easing if that decision was made, and that would have an impact.’

“’We are at the end because the economy went through a massive recession and the financial system was very badly hit, including the banking system and housing finance. Many people have mortgages that are under water, and that situation hasn’t been fixed yet.’

“There are clear concerns almost everywhere that we could have a very slow period, both in the United States and in Europe.’

“’The difference among governments is that there are governments that are cutting back already, …and other governments that don’t see a way of doing that without reducing demand seriously.’

“’We are in very difficult territory. This is not where the textbooks five years ago would have expected us to be: with interest rates at zero, with massive budget deficits. In those circumstances, you’re operating under extreme conditions, and the textbooks aren’t quite sure what to do in those cases.'”

My Opinion: If Stanley Fisher, who led the Israeli economy faultlessly over the years, is talking about the unpredictability of the situation, it means that the world economy is at the lowest point of the fall. It’s time to realize this and act using the new economic methods: the method of the “integral” economy, where everything is calculated as “for the family.”
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