Comment: As a rule, prophets talk about two options of development: hard and easy….

Answer: Suppose your son is lazy and stubborn. He is smart but has no desire to realize his potential properly. What would you like to see him as in the future?

Comment: A famous soccer player.

Answer: I see. It is the modern dream of a father.

Well, you take him to a soccer school, but he is lazy and does not want to work. He is required to have a daily regimen, exercise regularly, and sleep well at night without any parties. The life of athletes is a hard life indeed; it follows a strict schedule. People sacrifice their best years to become professionals. In this case, the body becomes a machine that is pushed to work at full capacity.

So, your son does not want to practice. What can you do? But you are sure that soccer in particular is his future. Then, you take a belt. Here, the question arises: Whether beating can make him a soccer player? Does this move him in the right direction?

Comment: No, this simply hurts him.

Answer: It means that the belt does not help. But after this “educational work” your son makes a calculation: What should he do? He suffers both from the beating and the training. Where is suffering greater, and where is it lesser? His egoistic desire compares the outcomes, and he decides: If his father makes him suffer more than the coach does, he goes to soccer practice.

On the soccer team, he meets other boys and gradually acquires a taste for the game. If he does not, you continue to punish him until he fulfills your program.

We see from this example that suffering simply takes one closer to realization. How can we manage without it? We are lazy and stubborn, each of us. It is not just about physical activity; we are obstinate in the mind and heart, in perception and sensitivity. Every second, we shrug aside important things, take a smoke break, sleep with our eyes open.

How can we use every moment of our life for spiritual training? To do that, we constantly have to ignite ourselves with our friends’ burning desire. Otherwise, the Creator will inflict blows upon you, and you will come out of your daze because of fear or pain, one or the other. However, you must realize the entire program because without it, you will lack desires.

Consequently, you face only one opportunity: to fulfill the desire of the Creator. You will do it in any case, but you have two options, two paths, leading to this realization. You cannot escape training and awakening; however, you can take the long path of suffering, during which you sleep (although not like a baby). Or, you can take the short path, where you are given a chance to realize yourself quickly by receiving additional desire, additional awakening from the environment. They stir your enthusiasm, and you run to your practice.

It does not matter which way you come to the practice: This is your choice.
[44466]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, “The Peace”

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We are entering a new world that is abandoning luxuries and restricting itself to rational consumption, to what a regular person needs. We won’t be able to produce washing machines that go out of order in three years, while today it’s being done intentionally so that instead of fixing it, one would buy a new one.

We’ll have to move into a new state of existence. That’s what the governments of the world must understand. But how are they going to keep their nations pacified? How will they educate and explain all the facts to them?

This is why we must prepare a package of educational resources that stands on a firm foundation and demonstrates this with absolute clarity that we will offer to everyone. There is no other option: We must study the new world.

You won’t have to go to work. You will be going to school instead, but not for the sake of learning. You will study how to receive real pleasure from life. Is it worth it? You won’t be able to continue working anyway; nobody needs you anymore. The Great Depression was part of the development, an intermediate decline in the cyclic process, but today it all has changed. We are running out of resources. We’ve come to the threshold of a new phase. Plenty has been written about it.

Hence, our job is to inform the public that the old era has come to its end. There aren’t and won’t be any more jobs. How will people make a living then? Well, let’s make only goods that we need and just enough for everyone, while we learn how to distribute them properly and how to live in the new world.

We have to tell them about human evolution and history, the growth of egoism up to its final stage, the stage of integration and the laws by which the integral system operates, the interconnection of all its parts, and how reciprocity and the real connection unfold in it. This is our only option for this is what nature is forcing us to do.

We are supposed to come to a state of balanced consumption, like the animals who take from nature only as much as they need to sustain themselves. They do it instinctively, without calculating, whereas we must structure our relationship with nature consciously, sensibly, through learning, restricting ourselves, and taming our evil inclination, simply because we understand that we can’t afford to do otherwise.

Yet, how will we satisfy our egos when man wants to consume the world and he is asked to be happy with just food and shelter? “Is that all? What am I, a bear in a cave, a bird in a cage?” "Certainly not, you will receive even greater fulfillment than you wished for before, but never got. It can be done. Let’s find out how to get there."

Thus, we obligate the public to learn, lead them toward it. No one will want to do it unilaterally; everybody seeks immediate gratification. So, we have to prepare a package of educational resources and a system of public education. It will start slowly. Right now, we can’t openly tell this to the world, but it’s time we devise and disseminate materials about what’s causing a crisis. This will shed light on the solution. After all, there is nothing else out there. Like it or not, you will have to do what you have to do.
[44458]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/31/2011, "The Peace"

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Question: You are leaving for the Kabbalah convention in Spain, where you will also be giving interviews to the Spanish media. How are you going to explain to them what Baal HaSulam wrote about in his article “The Peace”: “We must but accept the yoke of heaven for the Creator as we are learning who He is”?

Answer: I hope they will hear me better than you do, better than people anywhere else in the world. Indeed, Spain is facing very serious problems.

I am scheduled for several interviews there, including a primetime interview on a leading TV channel that broadcasts to millions of viewers. We have become popular. Many journalists are willing to listen to us; they agree and quickly respond to our words.

As it presently stands, we have to explain what the current condition implies. The money is gone. No credit will help because it cannot be properly managed at this point. Would it help just to split the funds among people and stay in debt?

But what is there to do if there are no jobs and nobody needs what anybody may want to produce? Even if the European Union loans you some money to try to save the situation, what can you do? Open another store? Build another factory? What can I possibly produce? Is there anything left the world is still lacking today?

Try as I might, it will only make things worse since price-wise my products cannot compete with those made in China. How can we keep people’s jobs under such conditions? It is wiser to just close the business altogether. But what are we supposed to do with the unemployed, college graduates, and youth? Nobody has any idea.

You simply have nothing to produce. Even the food the world produces could feed eight billion people—we just don’t know how to distribute it correctly. How many cell phone upgrades can one have? Consumers are getting tired of novelties. Imagine what is going to happen when nobody will be buying products made in China any longer just because there will be no money for it. The goods may be cheap, but there’s a hole in the pocket, while one still needs food and clothes. Who will care about “toys” then?
[44462]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, “The Peace”

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All the work begins namely in this world and at our time. We have reached the state when our desire to enjoy has grown, completely evolved at the corporeal level, and now we are able to start to perceive it by comparing it with the desire to bestow. In other words, we finished our development at the still, vegetative, and animate levels, and now we have to begin to develop at the human degree which includes two forces: reception and bestowal.

Before, I had completely “flat” vision; I saw around myself only what I could benefit from and  grab for myself, and those who I could use. I acted just on the desire to enjoy, which is the basis of the still, vegetative, and animate nature. Thus, I did not have any “splitting” and doubt; it used to be one direction only: how to succeed more in my egoistic desire.

This translates into an ordinary corporeal life without regard to public life, which we never developed before. We always looked at the society as an object of use. However, now the desire to bestow awakens and manifests in us. We cannot resist this desire and must take it into account.

For the first time in history, the whole of humankind enters a state in which the desire to receive and the desire to bestow have to be balanced and controlled by us. If we don’t establish their balance, we bring upheavals and crises.

Thus, the most important thing for us is to create the correct environment for all of humanity. Our world group has to become the first one to serve as an example. Thus, our growth “from below up” begins, while before that, we were developing only on the horizontal plane.

Then, we will reveal the correct interaction between the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, Malchut and Bina, in our broken desires. To reach this, we request the Light that Reforms. It’s as though I reveal: Here is my egoism, and I would like it to act differently and to connect with others, to participate in the mutual work.

That is why I ask the Light to come and correct my desire, to establish some balance and reciprocity in our system so that we bestow to each other, make concessions, and connect. Then, the Light comes and brings us back to its Source. This is called the correction “from below up” that we have to accomplish.
[44327]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, Talmud Eser Sefirot

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Question: There are limits to what people can hear from us. Do these limits expand during the peak of a crisis, as for example in Spain, where recently mass demonstrations took place?

Answer: If a person has a problem or illness, he always wants to hear the good news about the remedy. Ideally, not we, but our Spanish friends have to address the Spanish people. Namely, they will be able to disseminate the method of correction among their people, gently and in an accessible way. They know how to communicate with their people. We have only to train and instruct them so that they set to work.

This should be done around the world. This is why the Creator awakens the points in the hearts among all the nations so that they act locally. And from now on, we have to prepare them for this mission. They know how to talk to the people; there are no barriers between them and their people. Their people are their family, friends, and acquaintances. We only have  to prepare a collection of materials and a supporting base for them.

All our groups around the world have to be converted into dissemination centers so that they know how to explain to demonstrators and the needy the reason for their suffering, in very simple words and without mentioning the word Kabbalah. Otherwise, people will just turn away and will not be able to listen. Even you, who are ready to listen, have difficulties grasping the words of Kabbalists. What can we expect of others?…
[44337]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, “The Peace”

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People with the point in the heart have received an understanding, means, and ability to help the world. We have to put into practice whatever we have received to realize ourselves one hundred percent.

We still have time: People are still looking for the cause of all the troubles and for an opportunity to improve the situation. But eventually people will understand that there isn’t a particular solution for their country because it is dependent upon the whole world. “What’s the point in gathering in the square? How will it help us? So I need to appeal to the entire world?” “Yes, you do. Let’s find together what we have overlooked here; let’s understand where help can come from.”

And then the nations will turn to us. The prophets write about this, talking about big suffering all over the world. It’s not local calamities anymore, but epidemics, natural disasters, and so on. All this is to press Israel, despite its seemingly small size on a global scale.

A global drama is unfolding in front of our eyes. Israel is still not in the position of its people having lost their jobs and necessary social services, such as health and national insurance. In the U.S., for example, a vast number of homeowners cannot pay their mortgages, while at the same time, their homes have depreciated and are valued at less than the amounts owed to their mortgage lenders.

The situation is bleak. People will see this better when the crisis becomes even more integral and undeniably global. It’s not a coincidence that the participants of the G8 who gathered in Deauville had a meaningless meeting.

I’m not making fun out of them; there is really nothing they can do. A great disaster has come, everyone understands this, and everyone is silent. And they can’t stop the meetings because they have to do something at least for show.
[44340]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/2011, “The Peace”

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Question: How do we reach people in authority? After all, we want to break down the walls of the box they live in.

Answer: Not at all. We don’t fight with the government, don’t destroy politics and the economy, and we don’t break customary lifestyles. We fight only for the education of people and not more. I am in favor of leaving everything in the world as it is, only adding the principle of “love your neighbor as thyself.”

It’s none of my business what has been built so far. Let them build more. Only one thing is important for me: People should know in what world they live, what they live for, and how they can truly fulfill themselves so that they reach the goal without falling into self-deception and entertaining themselves with all kinds of games that give only fleeting, inadequate fulfillment, and ending in death.

I don’t cancel anything, don’t oppose government programs, banks, city halls, and the like. I don’t care about that. Do what you want: If you want to steal, steal, do other silly things, it’s not important; I don’t look at that at all. All I want is to add education.

The purpose of education is to give knowledge about the world we live in, how it functions, what moves it, what its goal is, what would happen if we go along with this program, and what would happen if we deviate from it or head in the opposite direction. How much suffering will this bring us? What kind of suffering? Whether it’s worth it or not? I want people to know, to see what they face, to be able to read the map and nothing more.

All the other issues are on another plane, and I don’t overlap with it at all: My office is on the floor above. We are talking only about what we are destined to come to anyway. We deplete natural resources and pollute the Earth. Thus, we have to move from a consumer society to a balanced society, in other words, to stop acting silly.

People need simple everyday things: housing, work, food, clothing, and the like. This should be provided for everyone, and everything else has to cease. We have to stop producing useless goods, to stop measuring one’s success by output. These goods empty the planet and pollute the environment.

Thus, you will work half a day to provide the necessities and study the rest of the day, passing exams from time to time. You will be paid for this and only for this.

People don’t know the world they live in. They graduate from school, not matching the reality they exist in. They live in their illusions, in isolation from the world, surprised by the troubles they attract to themselves. These troubles come because, like children, we act to harm ourselves.

And thus, I want only one thing for you: to add education and, most importantly, upbringing and training, the essence of which is the correction of the relationship between people. Then, you will be in sync, in balance, with the world; you will become an integral whole, which is the imperative of the time. All the elements have to be correctly connected with the main mechanism, with natural networks of interconnection, and you don’t even know about this.

That is what I am talking about. True, such education will change a person, but it will happen gradually, as if by itself. I don’t fight with the nature of things; I just explain the world to you, show where you live, and as a consequence, you change. You see the facts in front of you, and what can you do? We can do nothing: Having seen immutable laws, we will take them into account.

Nothing can be changed at one go. People act according to their nature. Can it be corrected? Destruction is inherent in human nature, and until you give humans a correct education, until they will see for themselves that they risk losing their lives, they will not stop. And they have to see it in the clearest way, as if death is standing on the threshold. This is the education, the upbringing that we need.

Otherwise, we will not survive on the Earth. This is confirmed by research. There is no other means except education. We don’t have to moralize and tell people whether they are good or bad. They are the way nature created them. They cannot steal less, lie less; they are unable to. It’s said: “Go to the Creator Who made me.” The Creator tells you from the very beginning: “I created the evil inclination.” You are not going to complain to Him about His deeds, are you?

You have only one medicine: “The Torah as a spice,” in other words, education according to the method of Kabbalah.
[44119]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/2011, “The Freedom”

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Question: I’m stunned that a series of such dramatic changes in the world draws such a weak reaction from the leading nations. What’s going on with us?

Answer: I think that the “movers and shakers” of the world have understood that they’re not in control of the situation, and they’re trying to mitigate the blow. They are especially concerned with the sharp decline in oil production and the resulting sharp decline in the global economy.

This will undoubtedly impact global reconstruction. The automobile and aviation industries will be demolished, and a new public mode of transportation will need to be implemented. People will only be buying the bare essentials, which will crush many of the economy’s sectors.

Every tenth US citizen works in the auto industry. A string of bankruptcies will shatter the national economy and bring about the rise of extremist political parties, the kind that emerged under similar circumstances in the 1920s in Germany.

It is no accident that Kabbalah asserts that the next phase in the collective global development is either correction via the method of Kabbalah or fascism! I suspect that the US deliberately terminated their auto industry, correctly realizing that it would be the first to fall in the looming global crisis. This bought their other industries and their workers time to make a transition from the economy sectors so badly dependent upon oil, such as the automobile, to other modes of manufacture and consumption which are simpler, more natural, and direct. As for the media, they simply carry out orders from those who pay them.
[44144]

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Q&A - 1 Comment →

Question: Owing to the crisis, the world is beginning to realize the necessity to unite. Is this desire higher in relation to the previous desires?

Answer: No, it isn’t. It’s about approaching our positions, which in effect will assist us with connecting people to ourselves. Indeed, this awareness is being felt more strongly with each passing day. Scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and even politicians talk about this. However, so far, the issue is limited to educated specialists associated with this problem.

In principle, it’s clear that the main problem in the world is our inability to get along, to agree among ourselves to stop excessive consumption and pollution of the environment. We have to be united by mutual agreement. Such a conclusion can be made by ​​every intelligent person, but still it’s nice to hear about it and read similar materials. At least, experts have come to that.

Nonetheless, they are not capable of more; they cannot find a solution, and herein is the main problem. After all, the solution is brought by the Light, the force of correction, and they don’t know what that is. They only understand that the situation is critical, that egoism destroys everything, and that it is the source of all problems. They realize that we need a problem-free world, where all people are united and live a normal, modest life without excessive additions because of which we empty and pollute the Earth.

Eventually everybody will understand this. Millions of people around the world raise their heads anxiously: Soon, they will have nothing to eat. They will agree to anything only to have food. They will agree to unite. However, once again they will fail to connect if the people from the human degree of development don’t come and explain how to accomplish this.

It’s done in the following way: Everybody begins to study, learning about the crisis and its solution. Even if people don’t yet understand the underlying principles, they will have to get in touch with the primary sources not related to their degree. Then, the Surrounding Light will influence and enable people to connect to a higher level.

It’s a must. When Baal HaSulam writes that we should sit on the school bench and start reading books, he doesn’t mean Marx’s Capital, or articles by Lenin or other socialists. He refers to his works, such articles as “The Mutual Guarantee,” “The Giving of the Torah,” adapted in such a way that any person can understand their message.

These materials come from the Kabbalistic source and talk about unity and equality. They are being given to the world by the people with the point in the heart, and this is enough for “illumination” that will inspire and encourage the masses to truly and correctly unite, not as it was in Soviet Russia or Israeli Kibbutzim (communities).
[44071]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/2011, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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Question: How will the changes happen in the education system—by the initiative of the government from above, or pressure from the masses from below?

Answer: Leaders are only afraid for their “seats” and nothing else. If the masses come out to the streets and start shaking those chairs, and they aren’t just setting cars on fire but starting to making more serious actions, then the leaders start listening to their demands. In the end, they will have to agree to them. The question is: Will we be able to offer them our explanation of the necessary measures? We have to try to do that as much as we can.

One way or another, we have to get through to the leaders, but from both sides: from below, through the masses that go out onto the street, and from above directly. After all, we are talking about a global study of the world, about changes in education, and about building a worldwide system of upbringing in which everyone will study while receiving a specific salary for it, the means for sustenance.

This learning will take place instead of work, but in reality it will become people’s work in the spiritual sense. Every person will attract Light to the extent of his forces and capabilities, and this will be his reward. After all, the Light holds all of the abundance there can possibly be.

How many people are required to provide the vital necessities for all of the earth’s inhabitants? Clothing, food, construction, service—everything that’s necessary within the framework of a normal existence? For example, people will work for half a day and will study for half a day. And this will be done by everyone.

However, this can only be achieved through the leaders, or more precisely, through the public opinion, through people who think, including scientists, sociologists, political scientists, and all those who rise above the mass, but not too high. After all, the very top is occupied by the “destroyers,” whereas we are talking primarily about the university circles.
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/26/11, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

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