Entries in the 'Crisis' Category

Nature Is Always Right. So What’s It Saying?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we explain our message of unity to people? Can we say that this is a natural, obvious phenomenon?

Answer: We can talk about unity by showing it from many angles. After all, unity is always beneficial if it is done for the sake of a proper and just goal. It is written, “An assembly of fools [meaning an assembly of evildoers] is bad for them and bad for the world.” On the other hand, the unity of people who desire goodness certainly benefits them and the world. We see this.

We all win by uniting. Unity is only repulsive to a person’s individual egoism because of its limited nature. It’s not that difficult to explain to people that in any situation unity accompanied by a good intention will not cause any harm to anyone and will always end up successful. Always. And only if you want to harm someone or profit at someone else’s expense and only in cases that you aim to cause direct or indirect harm will the unification be evil and undesirable.

In all other cases we can cite formulas, proofs, and examples from the lives of animals and plants, as well as human relationships, which demonstrate that unity is beneficial.

Question: Does that mean we can say that good unification is in accord with the law of nature and therefore it works?

Answer: That is what I say in all of my conversations and video conferences. Even if a person hates me, even if he is dead set against me and is pushing in the other direction, my goal is to place him and myself in a researcher’s position through the process of conversation. Even if we are the most irreconcilable enemies in the world, we are still inside of nature, so let’s take a look at it. Let’s listen to what it is saying. After all, we will definitely have to progress by its laws, and we can do it in a good way if we agree with it, or in a bad way if we don’t agree. In any case, there is nowhere for us to run from it.

And now let’s see which of us is right. Or perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle? This doesn’t matter. We, as researchers, should only recognize this picture, instead of remaining in our false, self-induced tranquility, no matter how pleasant it is.

We want to reveal the truth, and the truth is nature. You can curse at the laws of the universe, but that won’t help you because you are inside of them. This is the point we have to emphasize. More and more, scientific discoveries are indicating that we are opposite and against nature, and this opposition is being expressed as a crisis. Look at what is happening to us and where we are going because of our lack of understanding nature’s laws. That is why we have to study them.

Baal HaSulam writes about this in Item 42 of the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot”:
Indeed, you should know that the reason for our great distance from the Creator and that we are so prone to transgress His will, is for but one reason, which became the source of all the torment and the suffering that we suffer, and for all the sins and the mistakes that we fail in. Clearly, by removing that reason, we will instantly be rid of any sorrow and pain. We will immediately be granted adhesion with Him in heart, soul, and might. And I tell you that that preliminary reason is none other than the “lack of our understanding in His Providence over His creations,” that we do not understand Him properly.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Falling Asleep In The Enemy’s Grip
Got A Plan, Mr. Fix-It?
From Separation To Unity

Our Meeting Place With Humanity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we explain to people the difference between the right kind of unity and the wrong kind?

Answer: We are simply saying, “Let’s get to know nature.” I do not want to divide humanity into those who unite correctly and those who do it incorrectly, and I don’t want to analyze anyone personally. That is why we are setting up contacts with scientists—in order to show everyone what nature is. And you can decide for yourselves what to do next. Just know that the degree of your similarity to nature determines how many disasters you will receive from it. The greater is the equivalence, the less troubles and the more pleasures are waiting for you.

Everyone has to have a clear understanding of what the source of their suffering is. Humanity is asking this question, and we will give it the answer. In our times it is already possible to explain things. Previously it was impossible to explain anything because we first had to reach the maximal, global, integral egoism. But today we have reached this level and therefore we can explain the general picture of what is happening to people.

From here on we will explain it in increasingly easier words, reformulating it again and again, and using this as a basis to explain the source of people’s problems in their family, with their children, with their health, at the bank, at work, on the roads, with one’s self, and so on.

After all, the general nature is essentially your entire life. Inside of this picture you will be able to find your attitude to everything, including football, work, and death….

However, you are still not expressing yourself in this picture. Newton revealed the law of gravity thanks to an apple that fell. However, the law operated before that as well. Similarly, it would be good if someone would “get it” and recognize the universal law of nature in order to tell the world about it. But if we wait for this to happen without giving a preliminary “presentation,” then we will pay too high a price.

By now I can already talk about this with anyone. The knowledge is in my hands, but let’s check it together. It belongs to everyone and if everyone learns it, we will all win. So let’s see whether or not I am right.

This is a very sound, scientific approach, pure of any personal biases. And I am willing to check myself as well. Most importantly, look at what is being revealed by a science that has reached us through many millennia. And it is especially relevant to the present moment, to whether or not we will have the means to live tomorrow, whether we will survive or fall in war.

In short, from the entire picture of nature, you cite the facts that confirm how everything aspires to unity. All of the still, vegetative, and animate nature is in balance, in homeostasis, in a fine interaction between different species. It seems to us that they simply eat each other, but in reality this is mutual existence. That is how the cells in our bodies exist as well.

Obviously, it is not simple to raise people slightly above their current level, but there is no other choice. You cannot leave them on the “animate” level and keep them on the infusion of the upper Light to change them from the inside. They have to come a bit closer to it themselves as well.

You come closer to them by trying to give them explanations that are as simple as possible, while the Creator will awaken their interest or even nudge them forward with blows so they would gain a greater awareness of the modern troubles and will be more willing to listen to the rationale. Then you will meet in some place: You with your maximally simplified explanations, and they with the attention span they are capable of having.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/26/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Nature Is Always Right. So What’s It Saying?
The Connecting Link
Falling Asleep In The Enemy’s Grip

The Planet On The Edge

Opinion: Thomas L. Friedman (From nytimes.com): “You really do have to wonder whether a few years from now we’ll look back at the first decade of the 21st century—when food prices spiked, energy prices soared, world population surged, tornados plowed through cities, floods and droughts set records, populations were displaced and governments were threatened by the confluence of it all—and ask ourselves: What were we thinking? How did we not panic when the evidence was so obvious that we’d crossed some growth/climate/natural resource/population redlines all at once?”

The only answer is that it is difficult, even if it is necessary, to change our view of life. We are destroying vital reserves, consuming our own future.

We exploit natural resources and pollute the earth with our waste to such an extent that it exceeds the planet’s capacity for self-restoration. We cannot change ourselves at will, and, hence, we will be reformed by the crisis, quickly and radically. Over the course of a few decades, we will have completely reformed the economy, the power industry, and transportation.

“We will realize that the consumer-driven growth model is broken and we have to move to a more happiness-driven growth model, based on people working less and owning less.”

“We are heading for a crisis-driven choice,” Gilding, the veteran Australian environmentalist-entrepreneur, says. “We either allow collapse to overtake us or develop a new sustainable economic model. We will choose the latter. We may be slow, but we’re not stupid.”
[45734]

Related Material:
Live News: Thirteen Minutes About The Most Important Thing
Game Over
Defining Vital Necessities

A Time For Reflection

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday, the entire world is in crisis, and we are slowly approaching even greater problems everywhere and in every area of life. All we have done in this world was done poorly because we grew under the rule of our egoism. We cannot expect good from anywhere because we have always worked just for the sake of our ego.

Now, evil is gradually revealed, drop by drop, at different locations and at any opportunity so as to prevent us from being withdrawn into our own pain. If the pain becomes too strong, we will not be able to think about anything else except how to get rid of it. We will no longer be interested in its cause and effect; we will want only to stop this pain.

However, if the pain comes in waves and all the time either subsides or becomes more severe, leaving me enough time to reflect on it, then I start seeking from where and why it comes and how to get rid of it. The Creator plays such a game with us, and as a result, we find a solution.

First of all, we need to study the cause, and it is in the oppositeness of our nature. Our properties are opposite to the Creator, and therefore, as He gets closer, we feel bad! And the closer He approaches, the worse we feel! It is like in the case of the thief whom it is better to keep away from the treasury and not to give him an opportunity to commit a crime. The same is with us.

Therefore, especially now, in our time, the Creator is revealed very slowly and gradually, in order to give us time to think. He is revealed slightly, and we feel bad. For example, a couple of years ago, a crisis erupted, and now people say that it is allegedly over. But it did not pass; we are simply given time to think and explore! Soon, another blow will strike, at several levels and of several types. And then a period of calm will take place.

Thus, the Creator teaches us and gives us opportunities to look for reasons so that ultimately, we would reveal Him as the source of all that happens. And in relation to our egoism, He appears as the source of all evil. Then, we will understand why we feel bad: It’s because of our oppositeness to the Creator.

What can we do to feel good? The Creator is perfect, and we have to change only ourselves. Thus, gradually, we will realize that we must correct ourselves. Humankind will certainly arrive to this under the methodical, periodic blows that will come in all forms to any nation, to any person, teaching us thereby.

However, we have to reveal the method to people so that they learn sooner from where and why these blows come. By this, we will facilitate the development of entire humanity. This is called “bringing the Light to the nations,” that is, to people who still do not understand why they get hit.

To develop consciously, people need to discover the cause, necessity, and purpose of the blows. As a result, the whole course of development changes very much. Those who possess the method of correction must do this for the entire world.
[46327]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah World 6/24/2011, Shamati #241

Related Material:
Don’t Scream “No!” Standing At The Threshold
The Exit From The Labyrinth Of Suffering
Finishing The Creator’s Words For Him
Move Through The Stage Of Concealment Quickly

Humanity At Risk Of Extinction

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: Nick Bostrom (Professor, Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford University), Existential Risks: Because of accelerating technological progress, humankind may be rapidly approaching a critical phase in its career.

Today, we are doing something we have never done on the Earth before. If natural factors haven’t been able to destroy the human race over hundreds of thousands of years, they will extinguish us in the approaching century.

The paradox lies in the fact that without technology our chances to avoid the global risks will equal zero, while having technologies gives us a bit greater chance to escape extinction, although it’s the technologies themselves that generally cause those risks. The major leading factor of why risks increase is the discrepancy between man’s maturity in terms of ethics and morals, and the growth of the power of the technologies created by him.

To minimize the risks of technological disaster, we need to do the following:

  • Raise the issues of existential risks,
  • Create a structure of cooperative international acts,
  • Regulate the pace of technological progress,
  • Design programs aimed at minimizing specific existential risks.

My Comment: Technologies that we produce are the direct outcome of our selfish attitude to the surrounding society and nature. Only our balance with nature could bring us to the wise use of technologies. But to achieve it, it is necessary to transform man’s nature first. And that can be done solely by the force that created us: “I created the evil inclination and the method for its correction.”
[44279]

Related Material:
Energy That Will Save The World
When Technology Is Futile
The Global Crisis Is Not Fiction

Systematic Limitations

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Suppose I want to buy a fancy car that’s twice as expensive as a regular car. How am I doing anything bad to other people by that?

Answer: We are all in a global, integral, limited system of nature which is interconnected into a single “sphere” that you cannot break out of. You are obligated to be in this sphere and to be connected with others very precisely. There’s nothing more or less than this.

Therefore, when you buy a car that’s twice as expensive, you become a cancerous cell because in that case you are not buying it to lead a normal life and to serve others but in order to “snatch another bite.” The more you “consume” beyond the necessity, the more of a malignant tumor you become.

The common organism is built ideally: Every person in it has to receive the vital necessities and in every other regard to think only about others. The Creator made the desire and its fulfillment. So why are you suddenly taking more than your due?

All desires are united into one. The Light fills them and gives them life in the single form. But suddenly you are “pulling the blanket to your side,” wishing for more. As a result, your excess will definitely come at someone else’s expense.

Today we are being shown this clearly: A billion people are at the brink of starvation, and in the meantime the earth’s resources are reaching an end. Soon we will use them up and will be left with nothing.

We are reaching the end with all of our consumerist production. And what will happen next?

Therefore, if you want to reach life within the boundaries of vital necessity against your will, that’s what will happen. Everything is finite, limited, and used up. Everything has an end, and it’s getting closer.
[46157]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Learning From Our Troubles
A Time Of Change
Defining Vital Necessities

Learning From Our Troubles

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We say that excessive consumption is consumption at others’ expense. However, in order to see the evil contained in it, do we have to peek at the end of the movie?

Answer: No. The Creator does not have a shortage of minerals, vitamins, oil, gas, water, or anything else. He arranges troubles for you in this world so you would begin becoming aware of your loss. You are losing out.

The Creator does not show you that in reality you are letting the spiritual world pass by because then you would lose the freedom of choice. Instead He puts you under the blows of this world, from which you begin to realize the evil of your nature. You don’t reveal the Creator as being the cause of your troubles, but your own egoism.

Then, unable to correct it, you begin to regret having it. That is how you gradually come to the realization of evil. So what should you do with it? How can you climb out of the trap? Slowly but surely, you come closer to the solution.

Lack of resources, natural disasters, and people stealing from each other are all artificial things at the end of the day. This is “small change” intended to help us eventually reveal the fact that we are stealing the spiritual world from one another.

In reality, why should I share what I have with you and satisfy myself with the bare necessities? It’s only in order to learn from this and acquire the desires that aspire to spirituality. This is the goal, and everything is structured precisely this way from the beginning. Otherwise every person would have gotten his own planet.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/22/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
Systematic Limitations
Bringing People A Little Closer To The Light
ABCs Of The New World

Got A Plan, Mr. Fix-It?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How do we bring ourselves in line with the law that we haven’t followed in a long time, and with which we don’t have equivalence of form?

Answer: It’s not a law, it’s a state. A “law” means that you act and insert yourself in a certain formula which you must adhere to regardless of your desire. In other words, a law is the actualization of a certain formula that lies between cause and effect: Y = function of X.

Today others are starting to discover the law revealed by Kabbalists. Many already understand that we must come to balance with Nature, unite, and practice bestowal. The need for this is already being manifested, but people won’t be able to actualize it without the proper method.

The ancient Babylonians had found themselves in the same state: “If we don’t unite, we will perish right here.” The same was revealed when the Torah was given to Israel: “If you don’t unite, this will be the place of your burial.”

This is already becoming clear, but do we have a method? If we do, we know how to move forward, but if we don’t, this truly will be our grave. We will plunge into a world war simply because we won’t have any other choice.

This is the point we’re approaching: Either humanity accepts the method and embarks on the path of hastening, or it doesn’t accept it and follows the natural path of development. It’s one or the other.

The problem is that we need to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah in the world in advance. After all, people don’t know that there is a goal and a method which allows us to reach it without wars or suffering. Essentially, they will even be able to understand the goal because our eyes are able to recognize the harmony present in the world of which man is the only deviant component. But how do we join in this harmony?

The place between the actual and the desirable must be filled with the method. In other words, here you need the upper Light, the force that acts above our nature. It has created our nature as the desire to receive, and it will also create in us the quality of universal unification. And we will only find this means in the Kabbalistic method for it does not exist in our world.
[46041]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
An Infusion Of The Force Of Unity
A World War Or A World Guarantee?
Levers Of Controlling The Spiritual World

Falling Asleep In The Enemy’s Grip

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why aren’t modern scientists discovering the essence of what is happening?

Answer: On the contrary, they are gradually digging out the essence. Many people are already discovering and writing that human society has to strive to unite. It is written, “Believe in the wisdom of the nations.” They have knowledge and they see that unity really is necessary. We simply don’t have any other choice. People can see this with their own eyes even without being on the spiritual path, without acquiring the method of correction.

Moreover, they will widely voice the need for unity themselves. We should only encourage this process with all our might.

But the most important thing that will be required of us is to let all the people know through all the possible means, using all the channels, that there is a method, a means. This is where the problem lies: How can we present this method to the world so it would take the medicine? How can we rewrite the entire science of Kabbalah in a way so people won’t turn away from it?

We have to act gradually: Now we aren’t talking about the Creator, the Torah, the commandments, and so on. We are only picking up the thought about unity and continuing it. We continue to explain more and more, until people’s understanding will undergo specific changes and most importantly, they will undergo inner development by means of the Light. Then new points in the heart will be revealed, and besides, the world will be able to realize that “Israel” is a function, a predestination. And suddenly, everyone will begin to interpret us differently.

For that we must gradually bring our part, the method of correction, to the people. They will talk about the crisis and the need to unite on their own. We must only explain how exactly that unity can be accomplished.

We feel pained by the inability to unite, as if the Creator, nature, is leading us to a dead-end just so we would kill each other. Just like in Ancient Babylon, we are standing before an invariable law. We hate one another and at the same time we totally, boundlessly depend on one another. So what should we do? My enemies are standing behind my back ready to kill me, but I am falling asleep in their arms like a baby. Is that possible?

Nature is leading us to a dead-end, a catastrophe. This is what we have to talk about with the world, clearly showing it that this is the best possible state in order to receive the method of correction.

[46038]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/21/11, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
The First Contact With The Method Of Correction
It’s Time To Start Taking Care Of The World
The Mission Of The Nation That “Aspires To The Creator”

The First Contact With The Method Of Correction

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Only upon completion of the current phase does desire realize that it must cross onto the next level. How do we convince humanity that the egoistic desire has reached its limit?

Answer: We are not going to convince anyone. We want people to realize that it is so on their own. This awareness should never come from us. On the contrary, the clever minds among humanity do understand that it is impossible to continue egoistically since in this manner we are consuming ourselves and the Earth.

It isn’t that obvious yet and doesn’t make us shiver. However, it has penetrated into the mind. We already understand that this is the path of evil, despite the fact that we don’t feel it just yet. After all, a sensation is a correction made.

People are prepared to discuss this issue, but have no clue as to how to resolve it. They have a basic thread of connection with the method, an understanding that man’s nature should be reformed, but they don’t know yet how to accomplish it.

We are being ruined by egoism, our “angel of death.” The “thinking” crowd is willing to agree with this much. However, they are not clear yet as to how to reform it and what benefit it will bring. Still, it’s a start.
[45920]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/20/2011, “Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah)”

Related Material:
A Person Should See The Road Ahead!
From The Giving Of The Torah To The Giver Of The Torah
Stop Groping In The Dark