In the News (Huffington Post): “Your friend gets a dream car while you’re still driving a piece of junk. Or your nemesis is marrying Mr. Right while your love life is anything but a fairytale. Whatever the scenario, we’re all bound to feel jealous at some point or another. And it’s not a fun feeling.
“But a new study says we can look forward to seeing green less often with each coming birthday. Indeed, researchers from the University of California, San Diego say envy is more common among younger people. …
“Overall, the majority of people reported feeling envious in the last year — but jealous feelings fell after age 50. Around 80 percent of under-30s recalled feeling envy in the past year but that dropped down to under 70 percent for people over 50. …
“Across the board, people seemed to be jealous of those similar to them — of the same gender and around the same age. But there were differences between young and old. Younger people were more likely to envy another for their looks, educational accomplishments and romantic success. Older people were more likely to be envious of things like wealth and career success. For example, around 40 percent of younger people reported being jealous of someone because of their romantic conquests, but that number dropped down to around 15 percent for people over 50.
“Researchers say the findings show that envy reflects the things we value. For older people, that seems to be wealth and being established.”
My Comment: First, this is incorrect. Scientists have understood correctly that one can envy someone who is more or less equal to you because he shows you what could be yours, but isn’t.
If I live in a certain place, I think of others who live in the same place and if my neighbor buys a new car, I will envy him. But if I look at the son of a king, I realize he is the son of the king.
This means that everything is assessed in my feelings as profit or loss. But if it is on a higher or lower level than my own, I don’t focus on it. Everyone feels envy. It is the major basic attribute of the ego.
Comment: Scientists emphasize that envy is a nasty trait.
My Response: It isn’t nasty. You might say that about all of our nature: the desire to enjoy is disgusting and terrible. And it is expressed in everything, no matter what and how.
You can educate every person to envy both kings and common people. After all, we see how nations rebel even against their kings. This means that you can go up or down this “elevator” as you wish.
Question: Is envy an important attribute?
Answer: It is an essential attribute! You cannot advance without it. A person even envies himself: he compares the way he was yesterday to the way he is today. Yesterday, for example he was healthy and today he feels a bit worse.
Envy is a feeling of one state compared to another and if I cannot compare, I feel very bad because I cannot build any protective systems or systems that will help me advance and develop.
Comment: According to Kabblists, envy helps a person enter the spiritual world.
My Response: Of course, if we don’t envy Kabbalists who describe what heights they have reached, how will we be able to attain them?
This is white envy, because they want to share their experience with us. There cannot be black envy here. I know it from my own experience; when I was by the side of a great Kabbalist, I did not feel black envy toward him because he had something I didn’t.
After all, he revealed and gave me everything that he could to push me to the level he had reached and even higher.
This is the reason that there must be envy, but it is Light, because the Kabbalists are calling us, drawing us, helping us, and holding us like babies. Every teacher wants his student to attain his level. The student must envy the teacher and know that he can attain much more.
So you should be envious!
[199065]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/7/16
Related Material:
Envy Is Not A Flaw
Envy That Helps Us Advance
Jealousy And Envy Are Unique To Man
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