Entries in the 'Society' Category

What Will Help Change a Person’s Ego?

214Question: Baal HaSulam writes that education will not help to teach 90% of the egoists to take care only of the most necessary things for themselves and spend the rest of their time taking care of others, since education does not change the egoistic nature of a person.

What will help to do this if not education, not the opinion of society?

Answer: Disseminating the idea itself will. Show all of humanity its historical path, its foundation, its roots, and the goal that it must achieve.

Thus, it will be clear to everyone in what state they are, in what nature they exist. This will help humanity to begin climbing out of the egoistic pit in which it finds itself.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

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Two Tendencies of Human Nature

571.03Question: Kabbalistic books describe two tendencies that exist in nature: Igulim and Yosher—circles and a straight line.

Therefore, we see a tendency toward globalization to completely erase a person’s personality so that everything would be one whole.

On the contrary, there is also a tendency toward nationalization, some kind of national values, individualism, and so on. How can both these trends be linked?

Answer: We still have to realize and go through this, but in principle, by no means should we sacrifice the individuality of each of us, but rather we need to allow it to develop.

We must understand that the future of humanity lies only in the complete unity of everyone with each other, but not in the sense that it pressures a person and forces them to be like others. That is, there must be a combination of these two tendencies.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

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Effective Altruists: Results from Donations

271Question: We know that approximately 10% of the world’s population are altruists. Among them, there are effective altruists who aim to track the results of each donation, every dollar spent, and make it as effective as possible.

How do you feel about this approach to altruism and donations?

Answer: It is good. Naturally, I welcome it. Humanity, at the very least, will know that it is investing in its future, and this future is real. The result is what matters here.

Question: Unlike other types of philanthropic activities, how important is connection to the result when giving? Let’s say I donated money to charity and do not know what happens to it. But my ego is at peace, I have no moral dilemmas about whether what I did is right or wrong.

In this case, however, I constantly have to think: was it effective, was it not effective, did it bring benefits, or did it not? Is this attachment to the result normal?

Answer: Yes, it is necessary. To achieve some more or less positive result, we need to calculate its possibility.

Question: If we talk, not about achieving a result, but about the act of giving, about charity from the point of view of human egoism, is it still normal?

Are additional formulas or calculations needed? Or is it like a regular business?

Answer: I think it is enough to use the principles of regular business. Although, many additional tools will appear to determine the effectiveness of the contribution.

It is still unknown how much investing in science and culture gives a positive result. Here it is necessary to clearly think through how the right answer will come.

Question: In what direction should we at least direct our thoughts?

Answer: In the direction of what we desire from our investment, what the gain should be: in resources, in money, in increasing connections, and so on. We need to clearly define what we consider a positive result.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/30/24

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Will We Live Under Communism?

229 Sergey writes:

Is communism bad or is it good? I see how my parents yearn for the old times. And I, looking at today, am not very joyful either. Why couldn’t we build communism? We really wanted it!

Answer: Communism cannot exist without the prior education of society as a whole. Therefore, it is just an illusion, a dream, but quite achievable if people want it.

Question: What was the mistake?

Answer: The mistake was that people were forced to live as if under communism.

Question: How should it have been? What is preliminary education?

Answer: People need to be educated first. And when people want it, then it can be gradually introduced.

Question: How many people need to want it so that it would not be a bloody revolution?

Answer: It does not have to be a revolution at all. It could be a small group of people, like a Kibbutz, that shows it is possible to live this way.

Question: And if they start living this way and suddenly it works, what happens next? Does it start spreading across the world?

Answer: It depends on those in the group.

Question: But do they want it to spread across the world?

Answer: Yes and no. They might want it, but they understand that on a large scale it is still impossible.

Question: So it is not time yet?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What determines if the time has come for equality to spread across the world?

Answer: It is the moral level of society. How society itself desires to bring all its members to unity, to a common level, and so on.

Question: So, here you say, not by force? Everything should be by consensus?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Someone who lives well, earns well, and lives well under capitalism, for example, will he really want to come to this society of equals and so on? What do you think?

Answer: It depends on education.

Question: So he might have such consciousness?

Answer: Yes.

Question: So in conclusion: first education, then non-revolutionary transition?

Answer: Of course. Absolutely!

Question: You have already answered a bit, but still Sergey asks this question: “Still, will communism happen, or is it utopia?”

Answer: I think it will happen, let’s call it communism, but it will not be what we think. It will be a special, wise society where everyone will understand that in such a state it is better for them.

Question: And still, will it be a society of equals, or is it not correct to call it that?

Answer: Equals, yes. But in what?

Question: Yes, that is the question. And what is true equality?

Answer: True equality is that each person is given the opportunity to achieve their dream.

Question: So, you move toward your dream.

Answer: Yes. And what dream he wants to fulfill depends on the education.

Question: That is beautiful! So, you move toward your dream, everyone does that, and then you are kind of equal with them?

Answer: You hold onto it and move forward.

Question: Sergey also asks you: “Dear Michael, what would you say to elderly people who really believed in the ideals of equality, fraternity? Was that correct?”

Answer: It was correct. It was such a time. So there is no need to worry that you were forced or taught some nonsense and you believed in it, and life went on. No. We will still come to this gradually. I think people will come to it.

But communism must be based on education, mutual respect, love, and connection with each other. That is what is said in the Torah: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And all problems are solved by this.

Comment: Just come to this point, and then everything will roll on.

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/13/24

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The Time of the Messiah

556This is the great revelation that will be revealed in full only in the days of the Messiah (Baal Hasulam, The Writings of the Last Generation).

Question: What revelation is Baal HaSulam talking about? What period of time is this, the days of Messiah?

Answer: The time in which we will be able to suppress, annul, our egoistic properties and replace them with the properties of bestowal and love in order to be like the Creator is called the time of Messiah.

This is not a specific time with a date that can now be named, but a period when humanity begins to strive to change itself from the properties of reception to the property of bestowal.

Question: Should a certain mass of people come to this or is it just a few people?

Answer: There must be a certain mass of people who understand that this is necessary.

Naturally, in accordance with this, some external forces will act to push humanity forward, but not those that are influencing us today. We will have to continue teaching Kabbalah so that it will help people get closer to the Creator by means of similarity of properties.

That is, the idea is, in principle, simple. The Creator, who is altruistic by nature, created us as egoists, and we ourselves must want to acquire His altruistic properties.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

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Become Like the Creator

610.2Question: In the article “The Last Generation,” Baal HaSulam writes that the purpose of creation is to adhere to the Creator in terms of qualities from a state opposite to Him. This is why our world and everything that happens here exists.

What does it mean to adhere to the Creator in terms of qualities? How can this happen?

Answer: First and foremost, it means that the qualities opposite to the Creator, which He does not have but we do, we must annul within ourselves, wish not to use them, and make sure they do not manifest. This is the most important thing.

To the extent that a person makes their qualities similar to the Creator’s, they feel Him.

Comment: But the Creator is concealed; we do not have such a model to observe and check ourselves against.

My Response: The Creator is the quality of bestowal and love. If we can change our egoistic qualities, which are opposite to the Creator to qualities similar to His, then in them we will feel what the Creator feels. Practically, we will feel Him Himself.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 7/11/24

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Learn to Recognize Evil

626Question: What is the process of realizing evil? Let’s say the first stage is when I begin to separate: there is me and there is my ego that I have received from above. I no longer associate myself with it. The second stage is when I start feeling ashamed by it and feel its evil. The third stage is when I want to get rid of it. Is this correct?

Answer: Yes, but these are long processes. There are many more steps here and we have to go through them.

Question: Is it possible to learn the realization of evil or does it happen naturally within a person?

Answer: It is possible and necessary. If we do not study it, then we will be going through all of this by the forces of nature. It will start forcing us, pushing us, and beating us, and we will still have to change

Question: Where in society can one get an example of ideal relations?

Answer: There is nowhere in society that one can get such examples. We have to start from zero. After all, there are four types of egoism in every person. We gradually have to correct each type from zero to the fifth level.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24

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What Could Be the Standard of a Correct Society?

229Question: If you look at the process that is happening now in the development of humanity with slightly different eyes, is it correct? We see how people’s lives have become easier. Society limits egoism. If earlier you could go out and do whatever you want with impunity, today the individual is very much protected. In principle, this is correct, is this progress?

Answer: This is progress, but of course it is still not enough.

Question: Yes, this still does not lead to the recognition of the evil of human nature. From the point of view of what Baal HaSulam writes and what we study in Kabbalistic sources, recognition can only exist when there is some kind of standard. What could this standard be? What should we look up to?

Answer: Kabbalists describe this as an example of the last generation, as an example of human society reaching some new milestones so that we climb them like degrees of a ladder, and at each degree we master new rules, new obligations, new types of connections between us.

We cannot yet implement the principles set forth in Baal HaSulam’s article “The Last Generation,” but we can compare our current state and relationships in society with the way it should be.

Question: In other works, Baal HaSulam writes that the Creator Himself is the standard. But we cannot take Him as an example since He is concealed and everyone deciphers the Creator as they wish.

Therefore, I ask: How can a person come to the recognition of evil if he has no standard, no society with correct ideas from which to take an example?

Answer: No, we will gradually build such a society, starting with nurseries, kindergartens, schools, and ending with higher educational institutions and society. We are trying to introduce an educational image, an educational force into all these institutions, to give them the right leadership. Still, the world is changing.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24

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Do All People Deserve Help Equally?

533.01Question: Effective altruists deny the view that some lives are inherently more valuable than others. For them, all lives are equally valuable. It makes no difference whether I help a person survive in Africa or Latin America, a small person or a big one, of any race, nationality, or religion.

Is this correct? Do all people on Earth equally deserve help?

Answer: I believe that no, they do not. There are people who can bring enormous benefits to others, and there are those who no matter how hard they try, they will not succeed. We need to identify such people in advance as positive or negative for the development of humanity and somehow take their future into account.

Question: What are the criteria for this assessment? Should we start from the goal?

Answer: First, start from the goal. Second, we need to clearly understand how much we can invest in these people, and what they represent as a valuable resource for humanity.

This cannot simply be about making donations. There must be a clear definition of what we wish to achieve from our investment. I think we still have a lot of work to do in this regard.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/30/24

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Why Are We Created as Egoists?

115.06Question: Let’s assume that there is not just blind nature, but the upper force, the upper mind, that develops us. What is the problem with our narrow egoism in relation to the upper force?

Answer: The fact is that we are not trying to break out of it. We wish to use it every moment to solve every issue and dominate others.

Comment: But the Creator Himself placed this narrow egoism in us.

My Response: Yes, but precisely so that by correcting it we would thus attain the nature of the Creator in relation to the nature of egoism and rise above ourselves.

That is, the egoistic nature was placed within us so that we would feel it for ourselves, realize it, and want to change it. This is the purpose of creation.

Question: Should all of humanity realize the evil of egoistic nature or only special people who should lead humanity?

Answer: In the end, absolutely everyone.
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From KabTV’s “Era of the Last Generation” 6/27/24

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