Baal HaSulam, “Peace in the World”: …the well-being of society, which is the well-being of the state and the well-being of the world, are completely interdependent. As long as the laws of society are not satisfactory to each and every individual in the state, and leave a minority that is unsatisfied with the government of the state, this minority conspires under the government of the state and seeks to overthrow it.

Our world is round not just because the earth is round, but because all the connections round up before our eyes. All the signals move back and forth between us and we are all connected even if it’s against our will.

When we discover the inner connection between us, we also fulfill it on the outside by building different instruments to help us communicate. Did a person who lived three centuries ago need a mobile phone; actually no, and for what? Did he need it in order to check the prices of flour or salt in another state? What difference would it make? After all, it was too far.

But direct physical contact gradually became an emotional contact, and people invented transportation, cars, trains, planes, and radio connections, etc. On the whole, fifty years ago there was no need for global communication cables that connect the entire world, but now we can’t even imagine managing without them. During the last fifteen years the Internet has surrounded the whole world and has become part of every person’s life. Why? Because man has felt an inner need for that and has developed the right technology. By the way, today we also have greater deficiencies, but the ego of individual people curbs their advancement and doesn’t provide us with the right tools…

It all stems from frustration, from an inner attraction to something. This is what should obligate us to build tools by which we can correct the world.

At the same time, the global connection is accompanied by a negative and very dangerous phenomenon. Because of the ego we are connected by evil desires, and each one wants to dominate others, to enjoy at their expense, and to use them. If we could only set certain limitations, but it’s very difficult. Thus the connection between us can be very dangerous.

We are in a state of transition, an intermediate state, and despite the threats we have a need for absolute connection. We want to see and hear everyone regardless of language differences, cultural differences, and other differences, and we want to understand and to feel as much as possible. We are ready to make the Internet into something that is totally different since now it already offers us very limited options compared to our requirements. Modern technology can bridge this gap, but in the meantime we don’t develop it for more extensive use.

We are in a very sharp transition and the peace in the world actually depends on each one. This means that each one needs correction since otherwise he can cause harm on an internal scale. Hackers, for example, can disrupt many essential functions by remote control and break the electronic protection of gas reservoirs or the power supply system. In other words, a certain expert can bring about a great disaster just by using his ten fingers from some distant corner of the world.

This means that as long as we are not corrected, the connection between us is very dangerous to the peace in the world. It relates to many different areas and especially to those who produce weapons and deal with them. These people just wait for a conflict to break out somewhere in the world. This is the way the egoistic world thinks and it will remain that way until we correct our ego.

But on the other hand, it’s the danger that was caused by global phenomena that brings about an opportunity for correction, since we will have no choice; we will not be able to go on living under this terrible constant threat. As long as we are under this threat, it isn’t worthwhile to live, to get married, to have children, and to raise them if everyone can easily hurt my success and even put an end to my life. All the beginnings become insignificant.

It’s then that a person finally understands that we must correct the situation. How can I protect myself against criminals? Actually my life depends on everyone and I simply cannot live under this constant terrible threat. It’s impossible to chase all the potential criminals.

Perhaps all this will force us to make a decision since we have no other choice.

In the meantime, we don’t even understand how we can reach a solution, through the UN? We see how impotent this organization is. Behind the bipolar connection there is a bitter truth according to which everyone tries to profit at the expense of others. In fact there is nowhere to turn. There is no organization or institution that represents humanity with regard to the key questions of our time.

Baal HaSulam says that the wellbeing of the world and the wellbeing of the individual are the same. The essential condition of our time is to finally acknowledge the need for connection, for peace, for agreement, and for love among us. Without love we cannot survive. The principle of “love thy friend as thyself” is the result of a very difficult process of the recognition of evil when there is no choice and a person will understand that he must fulfill it.

One way or the other, the individual and the general advance along the same path today, along the path of the recognition of evil, that eventually pushes us to make the decision that we have to change our lifestyle and adopt new software. Then we will finally embark on a new path.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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In the News (from International Business Times): “In the massive economic misery that has engulfed Greece, the people at the very bottom of Greek society – namely, the homeless of cities like Athens -are being decimated by a cheap new drug called sisa, which is described as a kind of ‘cocaine for the poor.’ …

“Bizarrely, no one is quite sure what all the ingredients are in sisa, although methamphetamine is definitely a core component.

“But at only one or two euros ($1.29 to $2.58) per hit, it’s an attractive buy for the poor and/or homeless seeking any temporary escape from grim realities. …

“… the high from sisa is accompanied by dreadful after-effects, including insomnia, delusions, heart attacks and aggressive behavior. Other reported side effects are anorexia, palpitations and anxiety.

“‘It’s often compared with cocaine … It’s the drug of the streets, produced in home-based laboratories.’ …

“GreekReporter.com noted that, as more drug addicts are forced into prostitution, the negative effects of sisa use are spreading into mainstream Greek society.”

My Comment: We will see this all over Europe, if they don’t come to their senses. As Mark Twain said about Tom Sawyer that “he would be President, yet, if he escaped hanging.” So, the world has two options for the future.
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Opinion (Richard N. Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, USA): “Whenever something bad happens – Iran moving closer to acquiring nuclear weapons, … some official or observer will call upon the international community to act. There is only one problem: there is no ‘international community.’

“The United Nations General Assembly comes closest, but little can be expected from an organization that equates the United States or China with, say, Fiji or Guinea-Bissau. …

“No amount of UN reform could make things fundamentally different. Today’s major powers do not agree on the rules that ought to govern the world, much less on the penalties for breaking them. Even where there is accord in principle, there is little agreement in practice. The result is a world that is messier and more dangerous than it should be.”

My Comment: The whole advancement to perfection comes from the “recognition of evil”‑the revelation of the imperfection of our egoistic nature. Only when the human being, people, and the world are finally convinced of the total corruption of this nature, the self, and the world, will they be happy to give it up. Then, the upper force of nature will be revealed in their sensations. People ask it to change them, and it corrects them. Everything that happens to us is only to bring us to this event.
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Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization, News - No Comments →

In the News (from Money News): “Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

“Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. … Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

“Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.

“So why are these billionaires dumping their shares of U.S. companies?

“After all, the stock market is still in the midst of its historic rally. Real estate prices have finally leveled off, and for the first time in five years are actually rising in many locations. And the unemployment rate seems to have stabilized.

“It’s very likely that these professional investors are aware of specific research that points toward a massive market correction, as much as 90%.

“One such person publishing this research is Robert Wiedemer, an esteemed economist and author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock.

“In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States. They published their research in the book America’s Bubble Economy. …

“Wiedemer calmly laid out a clear explanation of why a large drop of some sort is a virtual certainty.

“It starts with the reckless strategy of the Federal Reserve to print a massive amount of money out of thin air in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

“’These funds haven’t made it into the markets and the economy yet. But it is a mathematical certainty that once the dam breaks, and this money passes through the reserves and hits the markets, inflation will surge,’ said Wiedemer.

“’Once you hit 10% inflation, 10-year Treasury bonds lose about half their value. And by 20%, any value is all but gone. Interest rates will increase dramatically at this point, and that will cause real estate values to collapse. And the stock market will collapse as a consequence of these other problems.’…

“And this is where Wiedemer explains why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros could be dumping U.S. stocks:

“’Companies will be spending more money on borrowing costs than business expansion costs. That means lower profit margins, lower dividends, and less hiring. Plus, more layoffs.’

“No investors, let alone billionaires, will want to own stocks with falling profit margins and shrinking dividends. So if that’s why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros are dumping stocks, they have decided to cash out early and leave Main Street investors holding the bag.”

My Comment: Apparently, the meltdown is under way. But fundamentally, this issue is not solved, like anything else, other than by changing the person himself, and through this social and economic relations. All the problems are caused by nature to force us to change. People are still not inclined to believe that we are we “enter” the new world.
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Baal HaSulam, “The Peace in the World”: But when we delve deeply into it, we will find that the contradiction from reception for oneself to bestowal upon others is nothing but a psychological matter, because in fact we do bestow upon others without benefiting ourselves. …Thus, if the direction were to change from self-reception to bestowal, the individual will enjoy the entire produce he produces without much pain.

Today, when we produce much more than everyone needs, our life, in theory, should be generous, abundant, and peaceful. We could get rid of all the troubles and problems with these resources, having understood that our body requires just a basic, essential regime, and all the other efforts we need to invest into balance with nature, the Creator, into resembling Him. No matter what He reveals to us, we must immediately seek equivalence of form, adhesion, even egoistically. By this we acquire health, peace, good relationships in the family, etc.

In fact, here in this world, we have only one way to achieve a peaceful life: to produce what is essential and put all the rest of our efforts to the spiritual realm. Otherwise, we are harming ourselves because we produce nothing but problems.

What is the correct arrangement? Suppose, we dedicate ten hours a day to spiritual development and from time to time, in turns, give about an hour or more to the material needs of society. Automation allows us to completely switch to this mode.

Then we will see that our world has really completed the previous stage of industrial development and moved to the next stage, to spiritual development. This will be the final corrected way of life in this world: a person lives, provides the necessities for his “animal level,” and develops himself on the human degree, on the level of becoming similar to the Creator. This is what is before us today, according to the evolutionary process, and there is nothing else you can invent.

So, at the current stage, we have to be more and more involved in the work of building a new society, new relationships, and the new human. That is when we will see how all the pleasures that we desired and could not achieve on the previous stages are revealed. You can reach them only on the human degree because their forms of realization have to be similar to the Creator.

It’s clear from here that there is no point in waiting for new pleasures in this world. On the contrary, from now on we will just face growing suffering, which will nonetheless compel us either to take the correct form or to plunge into suffering. And these troubles will eventually do their job, meaning that by their means we will become smarter and come to the right decisions.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/31/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: Why is the collective soul divided into so many different and extremely disparate parts? Why is the world filled with unsolvable contradictions? And how can all these parts be connected in unity and equality?

Answer: Indeed, the soul is divided into countless pieces, private Sefirot. And therefore, through every action, even the smallest, we immediately activate many components, all the characteristics, as simple as it sounds, but every time in a different combination.

In general, the desire of the “soul of Adam HaRishon” that shattered is unfathomable. This is the true Behina Dalet (fourth stage)  with its “stony heart” and it is no longer on the level of the still, vegetative, or animate level, and is at the level of man (Adam). In other words, it is an absolutely different, deeper stratum of the soul. We see that the nature of the still, vegetative, and animate is found under the direct control of the Creator, while man after the split is His opposite.

So, after the Upper Light enters the shattered soul of Adam, it divides humans into groups that are very distant from each other. And from then on, the process of correction takes place from easy to difficult. A small “mess” began in ancient Babylon, and this was enough for people to be scattered. And then the desire grew and the imperial wars of ancient Greece and Rome began.

In the beginning people lived in a very simple and primitive form, but when the desire grew in particular parts, the condition was changed. For example, when Cortés conquered South America, he stood against a civilization that just didn’t know about war. The Indians of the American continent, in general, solved problems without bringing them to military confrontation.

However, Cortés, who didn’t have enough soldiers, caused trouble among the Native American tribes, like the Biblical snake, by squirting “poison” at them, meaning the addition of the evil inclination. And they began to kill each other to the benefit of Cortés. In this way several hundred people conquered the continent.

The moral is that the gap formed in contact between the various civilizations created great opportunities, and in particular for correction.

We are simply unconscious of the processes that are taking place in the modern world. For example, not long ago, China was a closed nation, but the Americans began to “flirt” with it, and the condition was dramatically changed. Japan was also isolated from the world for a long time, and Asia “slept” until the last century. Today, in contrast, contact between cultures activates more meaningful mechanisms than the wars of Cortés. But now these are internal wars. A living example is Europe, which has changed its face as a result of mass immigration.

And therefore we need to explain the situation to people and the method of the correct connection. That they will understand our explanation in another ten or twenty years is not important. We must help and they will gradually understand what is happening.
[113368]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/25/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: What does it mean that the entire system is stopped if one of us doesn’t participate in it in the right way?

Answer: It’s like one valve in an engine suddenly gets stuck and the entire machine stops, or one component on the computer motherboard is burned. However, there is significance to how important this unit is. Is it the motherboard or something minor? Whereas in the integral system, the components are not more or less important;  it is round so each one is important to the same degree as every other unit. If it disappears, the entire system will stop.

Also if one component burns, they all burn, because it’s included in them all. We are like gears in the mechanism of a watch. If one gear is broken and doesn’t turn, it blocks them all and the watch stops.

The system works thanks to the fact that all of its components are linked with each other and work together. And if some part stops working, it stops the entire system. No gear can be removed from the others and just turn like it wants. This cannot be. In a working engine, all the gears must turn, and if suddenly some of them get stuck, the entire machine stops.

You cannot enter into the system or leave it. You are found in it against your will and you cannot do anything about this. Throughout history to date we have only grown; this entire system grew thanks to egoism. And when it grew, it began to show the link between all its parts.

Today the relations between us are revealed more and more. Every day we discover tens or hundreds of threads that are stretched from me to you and from you to me and to all the rest of the people. From day to day this giant octopus catches us more and more in its arms, through new connections, from all of my thoughts and desires to everyone and from everyone to me.

We are connected by innumerable binding threads; there are so many of them and they are so tightly intertwined that they eventually merge into one great field. Now the world is passing precisely through this process: At every moment these connections are becoming stronger and stronger, and they define our lives. Before they were hidden, but today these relationships are revealed. And in fact, no new connections are created, rather the system that already exists is being discovered.

But at least this disclosure is beginning to judge us and demand a response. The world crisis is spreading and intensifying, revealing our interconnectedness, and we feel worse. This system is being revealed as already existing, and it demands that we begin to act to the degree of this discovery.

Suppose that 10% of the linkages out of 100% are revealed to us. We don’t know or understand 90% of them, but we must comply with the system according to the degree of the discovery of the mutual connection. If we aspire to be supported by it, then we are walking in the way of the Light (“Achishenah”); we agree with the system, want to join with it, cooperate, and work together, and we want to adhere to the higher power. The law that works in this system and connects all of its parts is called the Creator, the higher power, the Light.

Even if we don’t want to be associate with it and don’t want to participate in it, the system still continues to work. But the difference, this gap, between its active state and our unwillingness to work is felt as a crisis. The system continues to reveal itself because according to the program, 6,000 years were allocated for its development.

For example, in another year the system will reveal itself, and our fault and lack of cooperation is no longer 10% but 20%. And so we will feel the crisis twice as much as the present crisis, and even worse because this is an integral system that multiplies its reaction. So it will be several times worse than it is now. Just imagine temperatures of 50 degrees hotter and 50 degrees colder; the crops will naturally die, also all the cattle. And what are we going to do?

If we don’t participate in this system, don’t obey the law of nature to which we are required to meet, then it’s true form will be revealed. This is not a punishment that someone is sending intentionally. Simply the true picture is being revealed: that you are not participating in the common system, and therefore you are harming yourself. The Creator doesn’t punish you; in general, He is ready to help you. He simply doesn’t want to take away your free choice. You yourself must decide who you want to be: a sinner or a righteous.

If I am conscious of the system, want to be better aware of it and to participate in it as its integral part, this is called the “prayer of the many.” And then I can pray for the others or for my participation in the system, this makes no difference, in any case it’s considered that I am praying for the whole in order to fulfill my obligation in relation to all. I ask only that it will give me the strength to participate in everything for everyone in the right way. I feel myself responsible for all, for the entire world, and am obliged to carry out my function. And in fact, with this I define the state of all the rest.
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From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/05/13, Writings of Rabash

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Once, autocrats reigned over the world. They had absolute power and ruled people for a long time.

Then came the industrial era, the bourgeoisie became strengthened and some monarchs remained as special symbols, a beautiful appendage to the life of the country. Instead of monarchs, a rather “vague” state system has emerged not a one-man rule, but the power of money, meaning the people who have it.

They dominate the world, in the end, it is only a few families who began to manage cash flow three, four, or even five centuries ago. By the way, even then they “managed” the crowned heads a little, toppling some and enthroning others.

So, the world is driven by big money and their owners are above countries and borders. They have their own map of the world and democratic governments serve them as a “façade.” At its core, democracy is the world’s “kindergarten” with nannies that calm “pupils” and get everything they need from them. Quiet and comfortable “kids,” that is what democracy is.

In my eyes, this is the most secretive and deceitful regime. The king is another thing, he openly, without hiding, declares his sovereignty over everyone. Everything is clear with him: He is the lord; he decides, and he is surrounded by powerful and rich people. On the other hand, no one has real power and real responsibility in democracy. Today, a politician says one thing, tomorrow, another. We are so proud of this form of government, but in essence, it’s more contemptible than all the others because of its falsity and every day we see this more clearly.

Democratically elected leaders have no effective power in the framework of the system and are unable to solve problems. Realizing this today, the masses treat them accordingly. As the masses have no real power, so the government has no power as well. Its members have just “found a good place,” with a high salary, bonuses, vacation, etc. In addition, they know how to argue with each other and spend a lot of time in such productive activity. Over time, everyone will see this. At one stage of the realization of evil, it will help us change the situation.

On the other hand, with a real monarchy, a clever and adequate king cared about his people more than the current members of parliament and ministers with all their nice words. The king felt: “It is my country, my treasure, my property.” In contrast, today’s leaders do not see their people. They perceive people as nothingness, as ephemeral as if they are not there at all…

Of course, this does not mean that modern authoritarian trends are positive. Here the point is that different countries hold different formulas of power. We need to consider the character of the people and their upbringing, as well as other factors. For example, Russia tends to have a one-man rule: People want to be given an opportunity to organize their lives, and prefer to see one person at the top, for clarity. On the other hand, the age old opposition of Republicans and Democrats is such a tangle that the Americans themselves may not understand what processes are in power.

Russia does not fundamentally differ from that of America. After all, the Americans, albeit in veiled form, are much more stringent than in Russia. Externally, the USA is a free country but in fact, there is not much freedom in it.

This is neither good nor bad, the elite just have no choice. The State is power and it needs tools to implement it. People should be constantly kept within some boundaries. If you open one door before it, you need to close the other, and it requires the appropriate means.

The problem today is the education system which is beneath criticism both in Russia and in the US. And that is why nothing can help the rulers remain in power. All the threads will slip out of their fingers because today they are unable to approach the new generation. They do not know how to approach the young and the great of this world, the rulers and the rich, and they are powerless here. It’s not within human power, this is already an internal program of human development, moving into a new phase and bringing us to a new state. That is why today there is no point in comparing Russia and America, and in general, anyone else. Everything is falling apart.

The only question is how it ends. And it depends on our choice. Anyway, by the recognition of evil, we will understand that we need to change our nature because there is no possibility to solve problems, not in society, not in industry, not in commerce, and not in power. Everything is caused by human nature. This is the only factor that we can change, and then everything will be changed.

That is what humanity needs to understand. When this understanding comes, people will lose faith in everything else and will admit to themselves: “Nothing else is necessary other than to work on human nature.”

This solution will be realized not in the usual way but by the means of automation in various areas. We will create a new industry where robots will take over almost all functions. We will switch to this even in other spheres, including medicine and trade. Let automated machines work everywhere and people will just manage processes, provide maintenance, and develop new technologies. In everything else besides the basic needs, a person will be engaged in one thing: studies, education, and upbringing that will guarantee everyone unity in this world.
[113378]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Question: I am studying your whole series of talks, “A New Life.” Thank you. In what do you see the cause of the difficulty in the upbringing of modern children?

Answer: For the first time in history we are stepping into a completely new world, not knowing it or feeling it, because our senses are egoistic, and we cannot feel the future world as long as we have not corrected them. In the past we were always able to anticipate, to imagine some kind of future world, some kind of “tomorrow” that awaits us.

This arouses special challenges for the transition to a new life. It is not known to anyone, except the Kabbalists. This is what I teach my students. Learning about the new world and entering it, that is, correcting human nature, which is a protracted and difficult process.

The problem is in the education of the new generation, both that of the young and the adults. In the past parents prepared children for entry into a world with which they were well familiar, which is to say they were ready to convey to the children habits required for life, but the parents of today cannot prepare their children for the life of the future because they themselves don’t understand anything about it. Conclusion: Both need to go through the system of integral education and upbringing.
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In the News (from Reuters): “The Group of 20 nations pledged on Saturday to put growth before austerity, seeking to revive a global economy that ‘remains too weak’ and adjusting stimulus policies with care so that recovery is not derailed by volatile financial markets. …

“The U.S. chose to pursue macroeconomic policies that encouraged economic growth and jobs, with fiscal correction once private demand was strong enough to be self-sustaining. The G-20 has acknowledged the importance of getting this balance right.”

My Comment: The increase in demand will not happen because that is the course of the crisis, that is the trend is moving to a new formation, and the “tastes” of society are changing toward a growing indifference to excess.
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