Question from Facebook: Where did you come up with the notion that a person sees in people only his own flaws? In killers too?

Answer: Yes. In everybody and in everything we see ourselves, our reflection. Why? Because we perceive everything in the mirror of our egoism. This is how our perception is structured: we cannot see what is not in us. The picture of the world is drawn inside.

In fact, in front of me there is white Light—the perfect property of bestowal and love. And on this background, I “draw” my own properties. Therefore, whatever is projected onto the screen of my consciousness, it all comes from within. The external evil I see is my uncorrected nature.

And in the end, having corrected all the flaws in myself, I will reveal that same white Light, the original love. In this way, the Creator leads us to Himself—through a gradual realization of the illusory nature of the external world as it seems to us today. This is Kabbalistic psychology.
[224416]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 2/13/18

Related Material:
A Change In Perception Of The World: Why Is The Machsom Called A Psychological Barrier?
All The Attributes Of The World Are Within Me
My Evil Under A 620-Times Magnifying Microscope

Filed under: News, Perception, Q&A - No Comments →

In the News (Wired): “Twitter launched a new initiative Thursday to find out exactly what it means to be a healthy social network in 2018. The company, which has been plagued by a number of election-meddling, harassment, bot, and scam-related scandals since the 2016 presidential election, announced that it was looking to partner with outside experts to help ‘identify how we measure the health of Twitter.’ The company said it was looking to find new ways to fight abuse and spam, and to encourage ‘healthy’ debates and conversations.

“In a series of tweets, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged that his company didn’t ‘fully predict or understand the real-world negative consequences’ of how the platform was designed, like harassment, trolls, bots, and other forms of abuse. ‘We aren’t proud of how people have taken advantage of our service, or our inability to address it fast enough,’ he wrote.”

Question: This begs the question, what is a healthy social network?

Answer: I suppose that to give an answer to the question, it is first necessary to understand the significance of our development. Then it will be possible to evaluate scientific and social platforms according to the degree of benefit or harm they cause, relative to the attainment of the goal in the best way. Then the “diagnosis” of the social networks will be severe: “terminally ill.”

I understand the disappointment of the creators of the Internet with what people have done with their brainchild. The problem here is not about the Internet itself, but the ego that controls us. We must correct ourselves, not the Internet. Without correcting ourselves, nothing will help. People will bypass everything because the ego is what motivates them.

Twitter in particular and the Internet in general must begin to be involved with only one thing: re-education. It is necessary to fill the virtual space with what is useful for the development of positive mutual connections among people.

I am not an ascetic and I do not advocate restriction. However, people have stopped reading, stopped consuming normal information, have forgotten how to think, analyze, and empathize. In fact, they are unhappy, duped.

Today in the network where the majority are entangled, most engage with everything except what is most important—themselves! A person is captivated and mesmerized by the flickering screen and doesn’t desire anything higher, the next level.

It’s time to use the same system differently, for ascent, to benefit all people.
[224739]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 3/13/18

Related Material:
Hackers Congress
How To Neutralize The Negativity Of Facebook
A Global Cyber Attack

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, Internet, News - No Comments →

In the News (New York Magazine): “Do modern realities merit an increased dependence on Xanax? Steven Hayes, a clinical psychologist at the University of Nevada, believes that benzos stop a gap that evolution has yet to fill. As humans try to control an exponentially growing number of inputs with which they are confronted, ‘our attention becomes less flexible, our minds become more chattering, and the next thing we know, we’re frantic.’

Humans are ill-equipped to process or accommodate all these new signals. ‘Our task now is to create modern minds for the modern world, and that modern mind has to be psychologically flexible.’ In the absence of that flexibility, Hayes says, people need a bridge—a pill—between what life doles out and what people can realistically handle.”

My Comment: The world is developing too quickly and people are simply unable to adapt, unable to cope with all of its challenges. Therefore, advances in modern pharmacology come to help.

When taking a course of typical antidepressants, one must wait two to three weeks before starting to feel any effect. With Xanax, it’s much simpler: get nervous, take a pill, calm down. The drug is similar to a cup of coffee and doesn’t even cost that much.

Xanax disconnects a person from the problem. If life has him by the throat, then of course, this is a blessing for him. This will work until he realizes that he needs to attain the truth. Only then will he reject these “sleep-inducing” methods. He will throw Xanax away and pick up a book on Kabbalah.
[224054]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 2/8/18

Related Material:
From Antidepressants To Weed
A Fatal Diagnosis
The Land Of The Dependent And Weak-Willed

Filed under: Health, News - No Comments →

In the News (Project Syndicate): A Nobel Prize laureate in economics, Joseph Stiglitz, writes:

“I’ve been attending the World Economic Forum’s annual conference in Davos, Switzerland – where the so-called global elite convenes to discuss the world’s problems – since 1995. Never have I come away more dispirited than I have this year. …

“The CEOs of Davos were euphoric this year about the return to growth, strong profits, and soaring executive compensation. Economists reminded them that this growth is not sustainable, and has never been inclusive; but such arguments have little impact in a world where materialism is king.

“So forget the platitudes about values that CEOs recite in the opening paragraphs of their speeches. They may lack the candor of Michael Douglas’s character in the 1987 movie Wall Street, but the message hasn’t changed: ‘Greed is good.’ What depresses me is that, though the message is obviously false, so many in power believe it to be true.”

My Comment: Contrary to Joseph Stiglitz, I do not feel depressed because I understand humanity’s egoism and from the start do not expect any good deeds from the economic elite. Moreover, I would wish them luck. Because the more they descend into their own greed, the quicker the world will see the truth and will finally become mature enough to apply the wisdom of Kabbalah.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says that we need to unite and demand the realization of the methodology for the correction of the world from the people of Israel. Even in ancient times the Egyptian Pharaoh understood that the Jews were running from him to true unity, to the ascent above egoism. This has to be understood by the nations today even more clearly.

The essence of the wisdom of Kabbalistic methodology, inherent in the people of Israel, is such: connect with one another to such an extent that egoism will no longer separate us or disturb us. Demonstrating this possibility to all, the Jews will fulfill that which the world awaits from them, even if unconsciously.

Having found themselves at a dead end, people will feel this. Humanity will begin to become aware that the solution to the problem is hidden in the people of Israel.

And everything else depends on how capable the people of Israel are of realizing the idea of unity within itself—then showing and presenting it to the world.

Today, the Jews are hated, without a clear understanding as to why. Instead of an inherent cause, reasons and excuses are offered for this hatred. Therefore, this hatred requires a correct orientation in consciousness so that everyone together gets down to business: on the one hand, those who aspire toward internal correction—the “people of Israel,” on the other hand, all others.

In reality, these two parts together solve one mutual problem. It is simply necessary to begin with someone and that’s why unity begins with those who are already ripe for it. And then, on a voluntary basis, based on desire, by way of positive example, wider circles connect to them.

In this manner, it is entirely unnecessary to drive the Jews out of their land; it’s not necessary to kill them. It is necessary to motivate them to create a strong, interwoven society, spreading the upper Light to the entire world.
[224419]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 2/13/18

Related Material:
Forum in Davos: Unprecedented Optimism
Mission Of The Jewish People
A House Open To All People

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization, Israel, Nations of the World, News - No Comments →

In the News: Scientists at Berkeley and Bar-Ilan universities, after interviewing over a thousand respondents, found out that the root of all humanity’s troubles is women.

It turned out that wives, sisters, and daughters are the main culprits in complicating everyday life. It is about their ability “to make an elephant out of a fly” which, in the opinion of the respondents, women mastered to perfection. (Study Finds)

My Comment: Indeed, this is how is sometimes appears to men, and this is their big mistake.

The thing is that men and women have completely different attitudes toward life. A man is like a boy, who changes his toys over time. A woman, on the contrary, is a mature being, who looks at the world very realistically and responsibly. By nature, she is created to give birth, educate, care, and continue life.

It is very hard for men to comprehend and appreciate women’s place in the world. What can we do, we cannot put ourselves into someone else’s shoes, understanding and feeling that their demands come from a different and “closer” perception of reality.

Therefore, what appears as complex to a man is in fact a calling for him to grow up and listen to a loved one who understands life better. “Listen to what Sarah tells you,” is what the Creator told Abraham. In everything concerning a realistic approach to life, men should seek women’s advice. It is she who unravels the entanglement of contradictions that men only increasingly tighten.

If women controlled the world, it would undoubtedly be much better. We would not play around with wars, nor compete with who wins over whom. Yet, on the other hand, the point is not in giving all the power to women.

We all should be like one family where mutual understanding, responsibilities and opportunities are accurately distributed, and where both parts of our nature connect harmoniously. And someday we will learn how to do this.
[222369]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/30/18

Related Material:
Men And Women: Being Content With One’s Lot
Women In Power
To See A Worthy Husband

Filed under: Man and Woman, News - No Comments →

The largest portal Breaking Israel News published my new article “The Passover From Materialism To Unity:“

“This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.” – Exodus 12:2
Passover is an opportunity to pass over from a state of divisiveness, disregard, and coldness in modern society, to one of unity, care and warmth.

Although the Jewish year formally begins on Rosh Hashanah, there is a more expansive view of the Jewish holidays that shows Passover as the start of the Jewish year. To see it from this perspective, we need to understand the deeper meaning of Passover.

Passover describes an inner process where a period of intensifying division leads to a decision to unite, followed by the discovery of a more unified state. Also, Passover points out what makes the Jewish people unique.
What Makes the Jewish People Unique?

Unlike other nations and races, the Jewish people did not emerge organically from familial offspring or terrestrial closeness. The Jews were originally a gathering of people who became known as “the Jews” when they dedicated themselves to uniting “as one man with one heart,” and accepted the responsibility of being “a light unto nations” (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]).

The holiday of Passover explains this transition.

It starts at a time when the people of Israel lived exceptionally well in Egypt. In terms of commonly accepted social values, they had it all: comfort, wealth and success, or as it is written in the Torah, “in Egypt … we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted” (Exodus, 16:3). However, even with all their material abundance, they felt that something was missing.

At this point, let’s zoom out to see the process this describes: Human nature, which is a desire to receive pleasure, constantly urges us to fulfill ourselves. The more we fulfill ourselves, the more we feel empty, and the more we feel a need to seek higher and greater fulfillments time after time. Thus, our desire to enjoy grows, and we evolve through various stages of the desire’s growth. After we satisfy our basic needs for food, sex, shelter, and family, our desire grows, and we develop social desires—money, respect, control, and knowledge—which we continually try to satisfy.

Then, we encounter a problem.

Like a dog chasing its tail, we chase after all those pleasures, but we keep finding ourselves wanting something more or different than them, without being able to point out what we really want. The Passover story describes this new desire: that when our material desires are quenched, a new desire for positive social connection emerges. This desire is called “Moses.”

Moses had been around the whole time the people of Israel were thriving in Egypt. He grew up in the house of Pharaoh until he himself exhausted the material pursuit of happiness. That is when the Egyptian exile began. Pharaoh, i.e. our ego, refuses to accept unity. It cannot think of anything worse than the idea of living life with a goal to “love your friend as yourself.”

So as the people of Israel prospered in Egypt, they naturally started wanting more than what they had, and the idea of social unification—Moses—started forming among them. Then came the struggle between Moses and Pharaoh. On one hand, Moses pointed the way to unity and love for one another, while Pharaoh insisted that the rule, i.e. that they would continue living and working only for egoistic, material fulfillment. When Pharaoh saw the people of Israel accepting Moses, he became the savage king the Passover story describes.

Through a long process, the people of Israel ultimately stood by Moses, demanded their unity, and triumphed. They united at the foot of Mount Sinai and accepted the law of “love your friend as yourself.” They then proceeded to purify themselves of hametz (leaven), i.e. their ego, and made the transition (i.e. the Passover) from egocentrism to unification, realizing Moses’ idea and guidance.

Passover Today

Since Passover describes a process of overcoming egoism with unity, it is just as relevant today as it ever was. Today’s materialistic culture looks increasingly like Egypt described in the Passover story: we enjoyed the delights of materialism for quite a while, but more and more people are increasingly feeling that their lives are missing something.

We see this expressed among individuals with increases in depression, stress and loneliness, and in society with intensifying politically-fueled social division, xenophobia, and anti-Semitism. All these phenomena show us that we can have all the material abundance we want, but it still won’t fulfill us, and what we really need in order to fulfill our new, bigger desire is unity, positive social connection.

Unlike our material fulfillment, we cannot picture what uniting above our divisions would be like. We see no example of unity that we can fill our media and educational systems with, and so we keep regurgitating and reinventing materialistic ideas, stories and products since we do not see nor know anything else.

As society continually engages in this materialistic pleasure-chasing loop without any other goal in sight, and as problems increasingly burst out from this setup, the more society points the finger of blame at the Jews. Anti-Semitic sentiment thus rises because the Jewish people, in their ancestry, possess the template for realizing the new desire for connection. If the Jewish people fail to aim and work toward unification in a time when not only the Jews but the world at large, needs unity, then the world subconsciously starts feeling the Jewish people as the cause of their problems.

Our forefathers underwent the process of uniting, saving themselves from ruin in the process. Today, as the finger of blame is on us for all kinds of reasons, it’s up to us to identify the root reason for all that blame—that out of all people, we have been given the keys to unite above all differences, and this is what the world really needs from us. It’s as if the world pays no attention to all the technology, culture and medicine we bring to the world. However, if we do as our forefathers did, then we’ll realize what we were put here to do, and we’ll see how the world’s attitude to the Jews will change to one of respect and appreciation.

I hope that we will start paying attention to the root causes and tendencies behind the world’s problems and that this Passover, we will make a step toward their ultimate solution—unity.

Happy Passover!
[224216]

Filed under: Holidays, News - No Comments →

Remark: American and British scientists submitted an official report to the National Academy of Sciences of the United States that the Earth will become unfit for life by 2200-2400, regardless of the estimated decline in population growth by 2100.

Experts point to the danger of climate change, unavoidable due to the increase in energy consumption, which will continue even with the greenhouse gas emission reduction into the atmosphere. In addition, there are other global risks. (Kathmandu Tribune) Following in the same direction, Stephen Hawking has recently suggested finding a new home for humanity in space. (NBC News)

My Comment: The problem is that such projects are unrealistic. People are inextricably linked with this planet by an invisible “umbilical cord.” We are a single whole, we are intertwined with it with an infinite number of threads and we cannot function without it.

But let’s say, for example, that we moved to Mars. What happens next? We will pollute it or squeeze out all of its resources, just as we did with the Earth. And besides, we will face personal and social problems because having changed the place of residence, we would not have changed our nature. So, what will we do? Will we roam from planet to planet escaping ourselves? It won’t help.

We bring death around us because this is our nature. “Death” is the egoism that wants to devour everything. It enjoys that it destroys everything around. We will not survive on any planet. After all, we do not know how to take into account the global nature and its basic laws.

We take into account only what is beneficial and convenient for us. This very attitude is already destructive for the Earth because it poisons the common planetary system.

The negative charge of egoism is what really shakes the noosphere. Growing imbalances in society, among people, undermine the balance in everything. What is the future preparing for us? In the worst case, after going through the hardest suffering—up to nuclear winter and other anti-utopian “delights”—we will finally realize the need to get rid of egoism.

Then people will finally rise above their egoistic nature and correct this Earth, ceasing to pollute and ruin it in all kinds of ways. After all, the Earth has great regenerative potential. It can recover if people stop harming it and if they accept the laws of nature that establish interaction, harmony, and homeostasis.

In other words, having risen above egoism, we will be as if on another planet, which heals the wounds and relates to us benevolently. Then we would not have to go anywhere. We will find that if we give up self-love, then everything will serve our prosperity. And there is only one question left: Why not do it right now?
[223433]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/23/18

Related Material:
Earth Can Be Heaven
“I Do Not Believe Hawking”
Hawking’s Error

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, News - No Comments →

In the News (Business Insider): “Bill Gates has funded genetic research into how to create the perfect cow — one that will produce more milk and be able to withstand temperatures beyond that of the average cow.”

My Comment: I think the problem is not in how much milk is produced, but how it is distributed and marketed. For example, Israel is first in the world in the production of milk, but milk here is by no means cheap, because the market is completely regulated.

There are many obstacles in the marketing of the milk, which includes dumping, customs, duties, monopolies, and so forth. They undermine any efforts of the “benefactors.” Because of the mutually corrupt relationships, humanity is unable to take care of anything useful and really effective for those in need.

Attempts have been made, but self-interest ruins everything and clings to everything. That is why, even if at some point super cows will produce four times more milk, it will not make it to its African and Asian addressees. As a last resort, it will be dumped so as not to knock down the market prices.

Before we invest in these kinds of projects, we need to invest in the connection of humanity. Without it, our good intentions are powerless.

It is unnecessary to invent something new if the appropriate conditions for it are not created first. By just saving the excess produce, which goes to the garbage dumps, we could provide for a large number of those who are starving. However, with our current economic and social relations, this is unrealistic.

Therefore, the problem is not in the production, but in the people. More specifically, in their dissociation and disregard for each other. By uniting, we will see how to utilize resources appropriately, which right now we actually have in abundance. If humanity becomes one family, it will find real ways to distribute produce and then it will be possible to think about production. Until then, milk, as all else, will disappear in the bottomless pit of our egoism.
[222321]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 1/30/18

Related Material:
Don’t Destroy!
The Curse Of Useless Abundance
Half Of The World’s Food Is Wasted

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization, News - No Comments →

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 3/19/18

The Scandinavian countries are on their way to becoming the first countries in Europe to ban circumcision and kosher slaughter. And you can add rejecting five Israeli choreographies from the art festival in Norway to this newsflash.

Do not let politics fool you. Hatred towards Jews is building up in the hearts of Europeans, creating tremendous pressure with no means of letting up. Even if they are not aware of this, haters of Israel sense that we hold the key to their good future.

According to Kabbalah, anti-Semitism is not a passing phenomenon but rather a natural dynamic: when Jews unite above all conflicts and differences, a positive force of unity spreads throughout human society. On the other hand, when we are emotionally separated and distanced from each other, we evoke negativity in the world, which repeatedly strikes us as a burst of anti-Semitism.

But our ears will not listen. The irrational hatred that arises as it does today and which takes on the form of new laws directed at the Jewish community, reminds us the hard way that we have a role, and even though we would be happy to shake it off, it is impossible.

We are a people that carries within it a spiritual potential – the seed of love for all people of the world. We have become a nation based on the tenet of “love thy neighbor as yourself,” and only the return to this tenet can eradicate the world’s hatred towards us.

The Book of Zohar explains that the Jews shape the fate of the world: “Just as the organs of the body cannot exist for one moment without the heart, so all nations cannot exist in the world without Israel.”

When we unite, we drive the world towards unity and a great abundance begins to flow. Division between us, however, creates division in the world and blocks the channels of abundance, leading to wars and hatred. As written by the greatest Kabbslist of the 20th century, Yehuda Ashlag: “The Israeli nation has been established as a ‘conduit,’ which at the same rate that Israel themselves are unified, so they transfer their power to the rest of the nations.”

Filed under: Facebook, News - No Comments →

Researchers of the project “Our World In Data,” backed by numbers in their hands, ascertain that there have been significant improvements in the world over the last two hundred years. For example, at the beginning of the 19^th century over 94% of the world population were destitute, while today this number is 9.6% (OurWorldinData.org).

One in ten people over the age of 15 could read, while today 85% of the people are literate. Two hundred years ago 43% of newborn babies made it to their fifth birthday, today the world child mortality rate is down to 4%.

Indeed, we have learned to take care of our bodies and we achieve great success in doing so. But what is happening to the body is not quite what is happening to the person.

Before people used to fight for daily survival and seldom questioned its meaning. Today when developed countries are practically guaranteeing everyone their basic necessities, the question arises: “What is the meaning of my life?”

There is no answer.

With time, some people become really bothered with this question. No matter how much we try to escape it or mask it, the emptiness remains. Behind it there is not just a simple obscurity, but a problem for all of humanity: the absence of the meaning of its very foundation.

That is why, even though life becomes easier, it also becomes harder. Subconsciously we carry this burden of unspoken truth inside us, the blunder in the foundation of our consciousness.

We can certainly brag about our statistical indicators, but in reality we are becoming lonelier, even in our families, we interact with each other less and less. There’s a vacuum around each person. Instead of common happiness and prosperity, we are wandering in the dark among the shadows. As we prosper materially, we become indigent spiritually.

That is why people stopped believing in a better future, despite the increased standard of living. No wonder the percentage of optimists fell below ten percent in some places.

Unfortunately, not everyone realizes that the reason for it is the lack of meaning. But at a certain point this question will become paramount for everyone: “What is this all for? What am I for?” Then people will hear what the science of Kabbalah, which studies the higher level of the system of governance, says. There is no other answer, everything else is just a runaround and postponement.

So the question of the meaningless of life and lack of its goal leads us to the real revelation and ascent. When we penetrate the view of the upper system and start to consciously interact with it, our lives will truly become productive. We will actively participate in our own development, and from an unfortunate, lonely, small people, we will grow into a great, eternal, perfect creatures.
[222269]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 1/30/18

Related Material:
Where Should One Seek The Meaning Of Life?
Discovering The Meaning Of Your Life
Understanding The Goal Of Life

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, News - No Comments →