Entries in the 'Q&A' Category

A Question On Changing Oneself

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I know and tried many times: It is impossible for me to change my egoistic being. I want to change, but do not have the power. I know this and Kabbalah says that it is impossible.

What is the next step? Go to Google maps and look up where the Creator is living and travel to Him? Knock on His door and when He opens ask and demand from Him to change my evil inclination for the good?

This drives me “crazy.” Every day I wake up and know it is not in my power to overcome this evil inclination.

Answer: If you are convinced that you are unable to change yourself, it’s a big discovery by itself. But this is not required of you: You specifically have to become convinced that you are incapable of it. By recognizing your inability to change your egoism, you will see that you are governed by the Creator so as to evoke your demand for Him to change you.
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Economics Done By The Balance Formula

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: We see that humanity is currently trying to fix and improve the world’s economic systems. But is there any point in changing anything just to become convinced that this doesn’t work and that first of all, we need inner changes?

Answer: We are already revealing the fact that our economic system is flawed. But we are still trying to correct it using the old instruments, and by doing that we only ruin it even more. Gradually it will become clear to people that they are powerless here and that the old way of thinking is no longer effective. The only problem is that we still don’t understand where to get a new mind.

And on their part, Kabbalists still do not know how to get through to humanity and how to transmit this new way of thinking to them in order for everyone to work together to create new systems. The economy is the foundation of our material life, of production and trade, and the provision of all goods. In the material realm there is nothing more important than the economy because this is the program of connection between us, which worked entirely egoistically until today, based on reception of the optimal benefit in every regard.

This is the simple economics formula that has to be realized in every place. Clearly, people are still trying to steal here and there if they can, but this approach no longer accords with the formula. In the ideal form, economics tells us about how to organize relationships in society so everyone would receive the optimal, maximum benefit. This is the economists’ dream.

However, now we need a completely different formula. We have to keep redefining the meaning of “the necessary living standard for a worthy life” and taking care to provide it for everyone. We have to educate people so every person will aspire to attain this level, with some people rising to it from below (meaning, those who are beneath this level) and others—descending to it from above.

This necessary level is not the minimal poverty line, but much higher, one that supposes a normal life. Some people rise to it, while others come down to it, but they do it by their own desire, which has to be achieved by upbringing. All of the remaining excesses should be distributed to the general needs of the government, which can include defense or anything else.

However, if we are talking about the world that is entirely moving toward correction and does not need to spend money on defense, then we can enormously reduce production. According to our similarity with nature, we have to reach the state where we exist like organs of a human body in which every person receives only to the degree it is necessary to live for the sake of bestowal to others. Therefore, we will approach life where production and trade will gradually become more and more restricted until reaching a level where everyone ends up on the level we decide on, and won’t grow from there anymore.

Thus, we will help nature restore itself and will not be sucking its last remaining resources. We will leave something to our children and grandchildren. We will use the natural resources in a way that lets us always be in balance, harmony, and circulation with nature.

This is our responsibility, and if we do not achieve this, nature will teach us by very harsh methods. There won’t be water or oil left around us, not any other resources. In a few decades we will be left with nil. Then, everything we have built will become useless and all production will come to a halt because it won’t have anything to work on. There won’t be lighting, heating, or refrigeration—nothing. That’s because we will have wasted all of the resources on ourselves, on unnecessary things that are beyond the necessities. And there will be no one to blame besides yourself for the fact that your children don’t have anything to exist by.

However, for now we are still trying to snatch as much as we can and suck as much as we can out of the earth. We are even starting to mine in the middle of the ocean in order to extract oil. We will exhaust everything, even reaching the North and South poles. But at some point these resources will have an end, and then we will finally understand….

However, I hope that we will nevertheless manage to develop new a formula of economics whose objective is not immediate egoistic gratification, but the attainment of balance. We have to discern what the new economy has to be within a nation that exists among other nations that have not corrected themselves yet. And then this formula will spread to the whole world.

I think it will be much easier to implement this formula than what is happening today because in essence, we have to simplify everything, achieve balance, and restore the normal circulation.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/6/11, “The Nation”

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You Won’t Believe What Kind Of Group This Is

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What do you do if you feel that you’re not giving enough to the group, as though you’ve exhausted your strength?

Answer: Indeed, strength does run out, decreasing with every moment. And it’s good when you feel that your strength is running out. Typically we don’t even realize it is happening, but simply relax and fall asleep, losing our desire. And it’s only because we don’t care about our awakening. We must help one another since that is the only way to wake up!

If you don’t invest in others so that they care about you, you will not receive the strength. And it doesn’t matter what level the environment is at or what they do. The key is for you to start acting and investing in them, and you will see the result. You won’t even believe how much this group and the friends can give to you. Everything depends on the investment of the individual and his sensitivity.

And if you invest in the group, you will suddenly discover that they have also awakened and are acting toward you. Even if you hadn’t noticed it before, you will now, thanks to your investment. And this is called the mutual guarantee.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/2011, Shamati #17

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The Whole World Unites Around Toronto

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What is the best way for us to use the Toronto Convention that is coming up in order to bring us to the level of mutual guarantee?

Answer: I hope that I will come to Toronto where we will discern things together, study, have discussions, and participate in all kinds of events simultaneously with all of our students around the whole world, who will also take part in everything. Then we really will be able to make the jump onto the next level in our dissemination.

I very much hope that all of our friends from America will finally connect with us and will come to the convention. We have to understand that our good future is already very close, and now everything depends on how we accelerate the time.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/11, “The Nation”

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Which Way Will The World Scale Tip?

Dr. Michael LaitmanToday it is difficult to tell what the role of different countries will be in the new global world. Everything depends on how Israel will operate in the spiritual realm and which way it will tip the scale – what kind of balance will America, Russia, and the Arab world settle into.

Europe is losing its influence. The main forces remaining on the world map are the Arab world, America, and Russia. China will not manage to come out of its concealment, its place at the far end of the world. The crisis will not give them enough time to develop. They will soon begin to feel that the world does not need what they produce. That’s because the world will only need the bare necessities, but China does not produce objects that are vitally necessary.

However, right now it’s impossible to predict anything with precision because everything depends on our freedom of choice. If we act properly and well, then these forces will settle down into a balance. Then Americans won’t be using the Arab countries to cope with everyone else and to rule over the world, which is what they aspire to do today.

That is why Israel became an obstacle for them, which they wish to remove in order to then move in the direction of Russia and China. And to accomplish that they want to use the force of the most extreme Arab fundamentalism by allying with it, together with all of its terrorist branches.

This phenomenon is already well-known and has been described in many sources. I do not say a word of my own opinion here. Therefore, we have to understand that all of the good changes that can be made in the world can only happen above nature – only with the help of the method of correction! There are no chances here to achieve anything by force, especially in a country like Israel. By the recent disorder we see how the American program is being realized.

All of these demonstrations and demands are part of big politics, whose objective is to level this entire area and establish the power of Arab fundamentalism here. Americans expect this to become a powerful weapon in their hands, and this tendency or program has existed for a long time now and is gradually being realized.

America perceives Islam as an external force that enables it to control the world. But this is all arranged for Israel from Above in order to push us toward a spiritual solution. However, Russia and China have to feel that they are our allies in this situation because they are also in danger. We are just a “small obstacle” on America’s path, whereas they are the real goal.

This is the balance of forces that Americans want to establish in the world. And indeed, what other force is available today that can be manipulated and used for fighting, that has oil backing it as well as the pressurizing force of fundamentalism? Europe has gotten old completely, and Russia has also grown very weak and has gotten old over the years. It does not have the energy it once did, which is obvious even by the dynamics of the national gross product.

China also lacks real power because it is occupied with producing “toys.” This activity does not provide it with a powerful influence. It is a center of great financial and human resources, but this country has not built itself yet. And its psychology is to stay on the sidelines, as it did for millennia. And even though the Chinese have now dispersed all over the world, this still isn’t an “incursion” because their inner psychology has not changed, and it stops them.

All of this is finely calculated, and it is arranged from Above. Everything unravels by a strict program, which you can read about in the Prophets, which describe what will happen to the world in the end of days. And Israel is precisely at the very tip of the scale’s indicator, determining the direction and the steps that the world will take.

This tendency is very precise and it is already clear to many. I am not revealing anything new here. In the end, we will gain greater awareness of a simple fact: That we have nothing to rely on besides the upper force. But that doesn’t mean simply screaming “Save me!” into the sky, but rather, we have to make real actions and attract this force to us. Just as America attracts foreign forces to itself and operates through them, so we attract the upper force and operate with its help. I think that the success of the good forces is guaranteed to us. We only have to keep working and do what is necessary.

All other attempts and big plans are worthless. Only by acting correctly will we muffle all of this evil so it will choke by itself.
[53721]
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/5/11, “The Nation”

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In-Between The Heart And The Mind

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Why is egoism related to “teeth” in spiritual work, as it is written that we need to “break egoism’s teeth?”

Answer: We have 32 “teeth” (Lamed–Bet), the fundamental qualities that “grind,” meaning explore food or fulfillment. This happens after we learn about the kind of fulfillment we can and cannot accept, the amount we can accept for the sake of bestowal and its form. This happens after the final evaluation done by the “lips” (one on top, the other on the bottom) and the tongue in the middle (called the “holy tongue”) that is in the middle line.

Our entire structure reflects the distribution of forces that examine our desires and thoughts. This determines the human form in this world, the imaginary form.

Examination of the fulfillment that we can accept for the sake of bestowal is the “teeth’s” special work, which separate and masticate the desire to receive pleasure as they collide. The mouth is located in the middle between the heart and the mind; it examines and works with thoughts that come from the brain and the desires that come from the heart. And we learn through the proper relation between them what we can accept in the form of the Inner Light as “flavors” (Taamim).

The heart contains desires that have not yet been evaluated finally for correction. The place where correction happens is the mouth. But its most special area is the throat located above the body but below the head, in the place of transition from one to the other. This is why the throat (Garon) sounds like the word “Ger” (one who crosses and joins Isra-El).

It is as though the entire difference between animal and man is contained in the throat, the so-called “speaking” degree that follows the still, vegetative, and animate levels. It’s as if this part I use to speak, the throat, separates me from an animal and makes me human. The entire mind, clarifications, thoughts that stem from the reason, as well as the desires coming from the heart eventually land in the throat, where the entire human essence is concentrated.

The throat contains a special mechanism controlled by the brain by virtue of which we perform clarifications, speak, and sing—essentially, we thus  express our human degree. Everything that exists in our heart and mind is expressed through speech, meaning the throat. One could think: What’s so special about it, considering it simply consists of a pipe, several strings (cords) and muscles?…

But it’s not as simple as it seems. This mechanism of speech needs to understand everything that exists in our mind and heart, and execute it by expressing it. It’s activated by the “five lung areas” from below upward, then it reaches the “five sources in the mouth” (tongue, palate, throat, teeth, and lips). It’s a very complicated spiritual mechanism.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/2011, Shamati #101

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A Prayer Is A Desire For Connection

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If the Creator is my inner property, then who do I raise my prayer to?

Answer: You are raising it to that perfect property which you need to reach. To pray means to desire to obtain some connection with something you want to become closer to. A prayer is a desire, a need for connection, as it is said: “I desire!”

The connection can be external, meaning from a distance, or it can be close and more internal to the extent that there is no difference between us. In either case this is connection. There is nothing else in our reality besides being further or closer to something. I want to distance myself from something bad and be closer to something good to the extent that I become included in him or he becomes included in me.

The way that we feel our connection depends upon the spiritual degrees where we exist. If we sense the upper degree, then it is a more inner connection, where the AHP of the upper one exists in the GE of the lower one. If we sense the lower degree, we enter its inner part and act there.

However, there is nothing other than drawing further away or closer. My entire prayer and all desires are about this: to either become closer to something or distance myself from it.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/1/2011, The Zohar

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Questions On The Zohar And Spiritual Life In A Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In the post “It Takes Preparation To Tune Into The Book Of Zohar” you wrote that “The Zohar is not revealed unless studied in a group. It’s impossible to study The Zohar alone because The Zohar was written by a group of Kabbalists who formed a complete Kli. All of the ten authors of The Zohar formed a complete Kli, the ten fundamental Sefirot. Each one of them represents a specific Sefira, a unique force that the Creator created as a complete Kli.”

Does listening to and reading The Zohar alone also attract the Surrounding Light?

Answer: Any contact with the text, even if you simply read it not knowing how to attract upon yourself its influence (see “Introduction to TES,” Item 154), nevertheless works on you but to a lesser extent. We always strive for the maximum effect of correction, and this is achieved either virtually or in a physical group.

Question: I live in the desert of California. There are no Kabbalah groups to study with out here. I do not want to give up the study of Kabbalah. It found me when I was empty and deeply yearning for answers and God. So much has been given so far, but what am I to do? It is said I must study with a group. I only have my books, the web, and this bothersome yearning inside. What can I do? To stop my study is as to say to a thirsty man, you have had a cup of water, now forget drinking here; go back into the desert and die. Please help.

Answer: I assure you that a virtual connection with us during the lessons and a physical presence at the conventions in the U.S. will suffice for your spiritual progress!
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Whoever Is Integral Will Come Out On Top

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Do people have any choice left once they’ve heard the explanation of the laws of the integral world?

Answer: No, because these laws do not depend on us. Imagine a fictional scenario where an alien ship is approaching us and is warning us in advance that by the time it reaches us, we have to reach mutual guarantee. And whoever does not is “doomed.” That is exactly how the laws of nature operate: They suddenly become revealed to us and force us to become aware of what is happening.

Nature’s condition is invariable. We have reached the phase of the single system, whose law is the interconnection of all the parts. This is the mutual guarantee, or in other words, mutual support, the proper participation in the common life, mutual understanding and respect, friendship. You can put it any way you like. Say it warmly and pleasantly, but don’t forget to inform people of the fact that this is an invariable law and there is nowhere to run from it.

Today and tomorrow depend on our explanations. The need for mutual guarantee will not disappear. It will only increase from one day to the next and will require us to realize it. The common system will become increasingly more closed and fused together, the interconnection will become tighter, and the transfer of information via communication lines between us will gain more power, pressure, and intensity.

We will become more aware of these processes and whoever understands and recognizes them will come out on top. In any part of the word, in any society, in manufacturing and trade, in children’s upbringing, and in any other area, success will come to those who are able to use this integral system correctly, who become integral on the inside. These people will gain the right approach and the right calculation, will draw up agreements the right way, and will succeed in everything by virtue of having an inner copy or mold of the external system.

Today we lack this correspondence, which is why we are in crisis: I am an egoist on the inside, while the system is already being revealed to me as united, as all-inclusive. As a result, I cannot treat anyone or anything correctly.

Thus, nature places us before an inevitable necessity. However, when we explain it to people, it is nevertheless better to soften this harsh message. Our task is not to take a person’s freedom away or to tie his hands, but to wrap him in warmth despite the inevitable changes.

The process changes fundamentally if we bring ourselves into similarity with the system. Imagine that the nation tries to attain mutual guarantee, mutual empathy. This will give us an enormous desire to help people. They are like children, and even though their pleas are not turned to us, we will be imbued by their desire, which we won’t be able to satisfy. It will tear us apart on the inside like birth pangs, and that is how we will evoke a tremendous force in order to conduct it to others. And then, the Creator will become revealed—for us and for them.

It doesn’t matter that they still don’t feel that this is Him. At the initial stages, this does not appear as the upper force but as an understanding of things and forces that operate in the world, the expression of the universal interconnection and mutual interaction. The air will suddenly become thicker and a person will acquire the general understanding, a common sensation together with others, unity without words.

And that is already a revelation because a person acquires a new mind, a new feeling. He opens up a new perception and suddenly notices things that did not exist for him before.

We are standing at the threshold, and this is a very exciting period. I am very anxious because this has never before happened in history, but today we are being obligated to do it. I am waiting for you to finally attain what you desire. This is a chance for the whole world: Today we can already accelerate and reduce the entire process. Let us hope that we will achieve success.

Until this time we did not advance by our own mind or our own correct decisions, but with the help of the upper force. And still, we have been brought to this. And that is very important.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/11, “The Nation”

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Catch The Thief!

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In our world it is customary to lower yourself before a person you deem important. Why is it so difficult to lower yourself in the spiritual world?

Answer: In our world we lower ourselves before an important person because by doing so, we profit. Our egoism always carries out actions that are profitable for it. If a person is influential, powerful, and wealthy, then it’s worthwhile for me to lower myself before him and to be next to him, to serve him, because I know that usually a small person receives from a big one, and I expect to receive something as well.

That is how we usually act in this world. And if we don’t act that way, then we receive blows that make us learn this principle. Suppose I don’t want to listen to what a policeman says to me. Then I receive a fine or get called to court where I receive a punishment. So next time I will listen. That is, in our world it is egoistically profitable to listen to a powerful person, and if I don’t understand this, then life will teach me with blows.

However, this does not work in relation to the Creator because He is concealed! After all, if His quality of bestowal became revealed to you, then you would run after Him like a thief who runs ahead of the crowd, yelling, “Catch the thief!” It would seem that you love the Creator from the bottom of your heart because you can receive so much from Him. Who wouldn’t want to cleave to this force, which controls the whole world? It’s clear that this is what every person does.

That is why the Creator cannot become revealed to us as great, mighty, and generous. He can only become revealed as an example of the quality of bestowal, which we have to acquire on our own. But then you won’t want Him and will run away from Him. That is why He cannot become revealed to you—not from the good side nor from the bad, not from the side of fulfillment, nor from the side of intention.

The only thing that remains for us is to work with the environment. The Creator gives us a small desire for bestowal, but everything else has to be revealed by us in the environment that inspires us to bestow, to build our desire for the upper force. We receive help and awakening from above only to the extent of our exertion in the studies, the environment, and dissemination.

It’s impossible to advance in any other way. Otherwise we would chase Him, wishing to swallow Him up, or would run away from His quality of bestowal, being scared of the possibility of becoming that way ourselves.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/4/11, Shamati

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