Entries in the 'Society' Category

Going Out To Establish Interpersonal Connections

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What does a strong family, a strong home, mean for a Kabbalist?

Answer: A strong family is a family that lives in a strong environment, and since an environment like this is good for them, this is a strong home for them.

A home is a human environment, not the stone walls or physical structure. Nowadays, the concept of a home has gradually changed its meaning, and it is understood that stone walls no longer can protect us from anything whatsoever and don’t provide any sense of security. This is because security is found in the good relationships and incorporation into all the circles of human society.

Today society is the next circle for a strong family home, and for society, a wider circle is the nation, and so on.

This means that the concept of a home as a cave, tent, tabernacle, apartments, etc., no longer exists. A home is about going out to establish interpersonal connection.

So here all of the physical borders have been destroyed and only internal contact between people remains. Walls, seas, and oceans cannot separate us, as we must be connected. The development of the Internet clearly shows this to us.

Question: Can Europe, which opened the borders between the nations of the European Union, serve as an example for us?

Answer: Unfortunately, Europe took this step from the point of view of egoistic benefit for itself, to make more money, avoid war, and exploit the weaker nations.

The nations of the European Union connected only the banks. In their program, the integration of all of humanity and the mutual penetration of cultures with each other did not enter into the plan. Only today are they beginning to understand how far they are from integration.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/23/14

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Who Is To Blame And What We Can To Do About It

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: In Israel Arabs are rioting. Are all of our efforts around the world don’t help?

Answer: I know only one thing; everything that happens is a result of our efforts. If the efforts are successful, one thing will happen; if they are less successful, something else will happen.

We are the only ones who determine what will happen to the nations of the world abroad and with our neighbors here. Everything is determined by the efforts that the people of Israel must make. Are they investing them? This is the problem. According to what is happening, we really haven’t been ready to direct events in the right way so that it will be good both for us and our neighbors.

One way or another, we determine this and nobody else. It isn’t Nasrallah, Ahmadinejad, Rohani, or Abu-Mazen. Why do we ascribe any actions to them? There isn’t and there won’t be anything from their side. Everything depends on you, you are the only one in the world who has freedom of choice. You determine everything that Israel encounters internally or externally. It is as if you are sitting in some machine and are running it. And nothing more.

We are always drawn to hear the news: what is happening in our country and abroad, what are the world leaders doing. But everything depends on you, so why should you know about them?

You need the news about which groups connected, which events happened, where we distributed materials, how many threads we have passed between Jews through television and the Internet so that they also will understand that everything depends upon them. This is what you need to know. This is the real news. After all, they don’t determine what will happen either today and tomorrow, nothing.

And so, when you are horrified about the Arab riots, know that you have a part in them.

Comment: The problems of Israel are not only the Arab riots. There is also corruption.

Answer: I am not talking only about security, but also about the economy, politics, health, and more. You alone determine everything, including all the phenomena of nature: the still, vegetative, animate, and human. Who are you? You are the people of Israel.

And who else are you? You are the Bnei Baruch group, which is the main culprit in what is happening. After all, the spiritual center of action is found here. Imagine that the whole world will get up and point at us, will discover who we are and say, “They are to blame for what is happening.”

Regarding corruption, you haven’t only involved in it, but have also awakened it. You have implemented the model of corruption in its root, and after that, someone realized it by traditional means.

Question: What must I do today to remove all the faults that I see in front of me?

Answer: Everything depends on you. You can build a wonderful life that will bring the Light that Reforms to the world. Do you want a good world that will return you to the good? This is what the Light does. So, attract the Light that will turn everything towards the good. Only you can do this, together with your friends.

Organize a strong event and connect, consolidate a shared idea, reach a common decision, do something. You are ready. Otherwise, neither you nor we will discover the power of evil that we feel today. If we feel its influence, it is designed to arouse us. And this testifies to our lack of work and our lack of precise correspondence to this force.

In other words, everything is simple. If there are riots in Israel, this means that we are constantly deteriorating backward. We have not completed our part, but instead, the opposite. The process demands much greater advancement, agility, and acceleration from us, and, on the contrary, we have slowed down. Otherwise, would we have discovered the problems as they are today?
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/12/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Problem Number One

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe problem with education is the biggest problem in the world. It is thought that a human being is differentiated from animals specifically because of education. But If we compare how humans and animals raise their offspring, to our great sorrow, we don’t have anything to boast about or be proud of.

Animals educate their offspring until they learn how to live correctly, protect themselves, develop, and reproduce. While we educate our children in the same manner, when they mature, they withdraw and kill themselves.

This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the educational results of the present generation can only be seen twenty years later. And if, after twenty years, something begins to change, the future changes will be revealed and appear in another twenty years and even later.

According to the example of my generation, one could say that we didn’t devote any attention to sex education and mutual relationships between young people. They didn’t teach us how to educate children and how to build the right relationships in a family between parents and children, in society, or with our neighbors.

We didn’t learn the psychology of the person, or the society in which we live, or the psychology of the world. This negligence in education cannot replace intelligence.

Education is the most important thing in life, but we don’t get it in kindergarten, in school, or in universities. Even those who finish their studies in psychology remain undeveloped psychologically because their education is not appropriate to their age. This is in contrast to what usually happens with animals that develop and naturally connect with nature. Humans don’t have this.

Most adults don’t differ from children in any way. They don’t know how exactly what is necessary to behave, how to interact correctly with their surrounding environment or in the family. Men are not familiar with the psychology of women and women are not familiar with the psychology of men, so they don’t know how to communicate correctly between them.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says very simply that if we want to live normally, even simply, we must organize our material home life, and that first and foremost we must pay attention to education. And it is not important on what level of technological development we exist as the main thing for us is the good organization of human life and a normal, healthy family. This is what we are missing so much.

It is specifically on this that the wisdom of Kabbalah places an emphasis, in that it is explained that from a person must be made a social component included in a communications circle, to create the possibility of the right mutual cooperation with other people, and show in what manner he can come in contact with them so that human society will become one family.

Only in a case like this will we feel ourselves in safety, comfort, and pleasure and be able to comfortably pass on to our children the safe and comfortable world that we have prepared for them.
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From KabTV’s “Short Stories” 10/23/14

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Ten Kilograms Of Effort

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Money is associated with various aspects of our lives. These connections are so many that they create a special structure: money and status, money and tradition, money and self-esteem. A person defines himself with the help of money. Will all of this go away someday?

Answer: No, only the form will change. Once a person walked around with sacks full of gold; today we get what we want everywhere by presenting a plastic card. Even though this is not obvious, a person will soon understand that his investment in society gives him the ability to fulfill himself. And it is possible to measure this.

By developing in this direction, a person acquires measuring tools. I invest ten kilograms of effort in society, and in response, I receive the same number kilograms of fulfillment from society. Together with this, a person feels free and isn’t obliged to anyone. According to what he invests in society, he receives in return.

Do you want to be satisfied solely and only on the physical level by filling yourself with what is necessary for existence? Go for it! All the rest of your needs and fulfillment depend on your degree of inclusion in society to the degree that you feel it and to the degree you invest effort.

You are not limited, you don’t expose yourself to danger and you don’t participate in competition with others such that if you take, nothing will be left for others. The more a society becomes cohesive, the more a person receives inner fulfillment.

Question: If, thanks to science, we discover inexhaustible sources of energy and instead of a car, everyone will have their own flying machine, do you think this will be negative?

Answer: I am not against technological advancement and I welcome every modern development in the field of nanotechnology. It will be good if cheap energy is developed and we purify the Earth. But what I am saying is that through the development of his desires and aspirations, a person will begin to feel that worldly things are limited they don’t fulfill him.

Question: How do we evaluate our success? Generally we connect it with some kind of attainment: a person acquires, builds, or conquers something.

Answer: There are many professions and businesses that don’t bring a person money, but self-awareness and self-esteem. And this is more important. For example, the work of doctors is very difficult, yet they don’t receive a high salary. So what keeps them in their profession? It is the respect for the profession and the importance society gives to the profession. And that is how it will be with everyone.

So why not be competitive?  You will be. There will be the same encouragement and respect. They write about me in the newspaper and children treat me with respect. A sense of importance and fulfillment will remain, but it won’t have a physical form.

Question: This means that we are talking about a process of a fundamental change in our perception?

Answer: It won’t be much, because we already live like this today. It is necessary only to change the values. This will happen because it is inevitable, since nature compels us. So it is not worthwhile for us to oppose it; on the contrary, we must help it.
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From the program “A New Life” 8/30/12

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The Resolution Of The Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanIt is very important to check yourself: “What worries me?” Every moment that I feel alive and well, I am full of worries. So what do I worry about?

Am I worried about my own well-being, tranquility, achievement, what will make me happier, peace and quiet, security, food, and family welfare?

Or am I worried about friends, like a mother with a baby, searching for what they are missing and what should be done for them?  Do I worry about the group like a faithful nanny? This means I must check the intention of my worries.

The whole of creation gradually descended down to our world in which we exist in physical form and in the most inferior situation. We feel as if we are detached from the spiritual world, when in fact that can’t happen. So this world is called the imaginary world.

We suppose we exist in a vast world filled with lots of physical objects. However, in fact, it is all spiritual, but we don’t recognize or feel this.

So it is very important to check what I am worried about at every moment. Entering the spiritual world means continuing to be concerned about what is essential and vital in life: food, sleep, health, money, and relationships with people, but subconsciously, I am always troubled by the thought of how to organize the group so that it will become the Shechina (divinity), a place for discovering the Creator.

I must get used to being happy about my concern for the group. If I stop worrying about it, then I am worried about why am I not concerned about the friends. This must become habitual. In our world, habit becomes second nature.

Suppose that they give me a baby who is a stranger for whom I have no feelings. But I have no choice; I am compelled to worry about him day after day. I begin to be concerned about him and he becomes important for me. Ultimately, I begin to think about him all the time. It is the same thing in relation to the group. We must attain this state that is possible thanks only to determination and constantly returning to my thoughts about the group.

And after all these nice plans about taking care of the group, about my supporting it, attracting Light into it, about the Creator and giving Him satisfaction, I must ask myself, where He is and where I am subconsciously. I must always clarify what I am doing all this for. Certainly I hope to receive some reward, but what exactly?

It could be that in the meantime, I am not ready to imagine a reward for myself. It could be that I understand that afterward, for my effort I will demand control, respect, and transcendence of life and death, something tangible and very important for me. And here I must examine what is more important for me: Is it my reward or the ability to give satisfaction to the friends and the Creator?

Can I forego the reward, or at least part of it? And when I forego a reward, won’t I replace it with something else other than fame and the pursuit of honor?

What does it mean to give pleasure to the Creator? By what means can I do this and with which desires do I feel it? Through what will I feel that the Creator gets pleasure from me? It is necessary to try to separate my desires and perception into as many parts as possible and see how to work with them. The more parameters that I have, the more I will develop my perception.

This is like pixels on a computer screen that determine its resolution: In one square centimeter there can be two hundred pixels, there could be a thousand, or there could be ten thousand. The more points there are, the better and clearer the picture becomes.

The same thing happens also happens with our desires. The more we scrutinize them, the closer we come to the truth, to true perception.
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From the Convention In Los Angeles “Day Two” 11/01/14, Lesson #4

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The Children Of The Universe, Part 4

Dr. Michael LaitmanPeople who study the laws of the universe feel that the entire universe is a program, a thought. The most significant feature of this system is that it is unified. All of its parts are interconnected. This is true even in the framework of our current rational minds.

Each part of the system originated by the Big Bang continues to develop in various directions, thus giving birth to a multiplicity of phenomena. However, all of its elements acted in accordance with the laws of the system.

There is no such thing as a coincidence. Lawlessness, that is so typical in human society, is not possible in the structure of the universe. Everything that exists has causes and consequences. It means that according to the law of interaction among numerous elements and forces, the after effects of the Big Bang constitute a unified, closed system.

It’s not an accident that in ancient time​s, ​people knew how to predict their destiny, foresaw ​large-scale events that occurred on the face of Earth, predicted the weather and other phenomena that took place under the earth and in the air by just looking at stars. It means that experiences over thousands of years of exploring the sky, nature, climate, and humans allowed them to trace connections that existed among all elements. They were able to create various tables that reflect numerous fields of knowledge such as astrology, astronomy, and many other sciences.

In the long run, we all are looking for connection since, knowingly or unknowingly, we acknowledge that everything that exists constitutes a unified, global system.

We admit that the progress of the universe is not just about giving birth or spreading particles of matter that still exist today. To be frank, it is our subjective perception, whereas the most important question is completely overlooked: Is it really so or is it something that we imagine in our organs of perception?

One has to judge in accordance with what one’s eyes see. So, the spreading particles started assembling in clusters. With time, the initial energy generated various types of clots and objects. It doesn’t’ matter if they were clouds of gas, stars, or planetary material, etc.. All these particles were drawn together by a force of concentration and attraction among the substances. In other words, on one hand, the process of the spreading of  elements continues, but on the other hand, they gather and bond together.

The spreading tendency is meant to fill the universe. The Big Bang created the place, i.e., the space that we consider endless (even though there is no justification of this fact). It’s as if we look into a dark hole and state that it is bottomless. The question remains: Does our universe really expand or does the inflation model only reflect our perception of it? We should always keep this nuance in mind.

The problem is that when we take measurements of the universe, we don’t add the caveat that we do it only in accordance with our human perception.

So, there is a tendency to fill the space in which the particles were created by the exploded energy according to the basic universal program. As we see, the process of creation of  matter is about particles, pieces of matter, collecting in bigger blocks and taking various forms (both positive and negative) by getting closer or disconnecting and moving farther from each other.

It goes without saying that we are simply using the terms that are a part of our current lexicon. By now, this process demonstrates a rapid dynamic that continues at a speed that is far beyond our comprehension.
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From the program “A New Life” 3/02/14

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Fame With A Peaceful Purpose

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Many children and teenagers dream of becoming famous. Their appearance is extremely important to them. How is this desire born?

Answer: Obviously, these kids include all feasible pleasures into the notion of being a celebrity. We know that food, sex, and family are the basic desires that refer to bodily needs.

They are supplemented by the desires for fame, wealth, and knowledge. The quest for popularity is understandable and specific to our time. Our desires for wealth, fame, and knowledge continually change, but for a young person they are very common and natural. It has always has been; we just don’t realize.

Today’s youth has much wider opportunities. What were they dealing with previously? Becoming a little bit more skillful in their fathers’ crafts? Moving from a village to a city or from a province to a capital? In any case, their opportunities were very limited. Now, it looks like the entire world is in front of them. They think they can embrace the whole world and that they are connected to it.

Question: Can the aspiration for popularity be useful in any way?

Answer: The inclination to reach celebrity status is very common for kids nowadays and we can show them which properties are necessary to achieve fame. The desire to be famous obligates them to work on themselves, change for the better, and reveal new qualities within themselves.

Children attend dancing, drawing, and theater classes in order not to grow up as little animals and to understand that behind each star, there is hard work. Just watch Michael Jackson’s rehearsal videos and you’ll see how much exertion and hard work it takes to reach the lightness that he demonstrated on the stage. There are no stars that just fly upwards, but there are numerous incidences of falling at the start. These issues should be explained to the young generation by the mass media.

Question: Let’s say, your grandson tells you tomorrow that he wants to become famous. You are the wisest grandfather in the world! What field would you advise him to concentrate on?

Answer: In the future, those who are capable of creating good and kind relationships among people will be in huge demand and will be extremely valued by society. I am not talking about virtual relationships; I mean a real system of communication among us that is similar to the one that exists in nature.

Only this profession will really be needed and other occupations will remain only to the extent of meeting immediate human necessities. Those who work in the field of establishing correct relationships, creating the methodology of interconnection among people, and preparing educators in this field will be the most popular and respected in future society. This is what I would tell my grandson.

Question: Can specific, individual talents in painting, dancing, or singing be helpful to society?

Answer: The talents through which one plans to advance and become popular have to allow for self-expression in an enjoyable way.

For that, one has to study psychology, sociology, philosophy, and laws of communication. By expressing him or herself, they will have to help others unite. By doing so, they will fulfill themselves and fulfill others.
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From the program “A New Life” 2/12/14

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Soon Everyone Will Want His Own Planet

Dr. Michael LaitmanRegarding money and questions about the economy in general, countless books have been written by Nobel Prize winners in this field. Interestingly, despite this, they are frequently mistaken.

The ability to profit from a connection with other people, to buy and sell and create special relationships with them changes a person into Adam (human). Before this, people acted only through the use of force.

But today, anyone with money is found at the top of the social pyramid.

If I don’t have money, I cannot get food, establish a family or buy a house. In exchange for money I buy power, respect, and all my means of communication, because everything depends upon how the amount paid. It turns out that money is a cover, with it I can fulfill any desire.

There are some things that I cannot buy, for example, wisdom, or other kinds of characteristics I receive from nature. But it is possible to acquire them with money by buying people possessing those characteristics. For example, I can pay a person to write a book that will be signed with my name.

Not long ago, there was no substitute for money. But in the 1960s, a community of people appeared who related to wealth with contempt. They wanted to be happy about other things and wanted to be happy internally.

And even though the ego thirsts for fulfillment, many today no longer agree to a life of constant tension. A poor person has no happiness because he has no money, and a rich person has no happiness because besides money, he has nothing. And this is not a problem of money, but a problem of the society that gives us these values.

When a person has the possibility of getting everything, he loses his desire. In this sense the poor are more successful than the rich. If I have a need that I can cover through effort, if it pulls me forward, if I see pleasure through working for it in a future that shines for me from a distance, then I am happy.

A wonderful example of this need is the yearning of lovers to meet each other. This illuminates their entire lives; they wait for this meeting and are ready to overcome all difficulties for it.

If we could exist without dependence on society, let’s say, on some deserted island, and we could educate our children as we truly want, then we could get them accustomed to a simple way of life. Then they would live without tension, without crises and tragedies.

Today the world is experiencing an economic crisis. But essentially this is an ideological crisis: We have developed artificial desires in people, and after that, it turns out that we cannot satisfy them. With our claims and demands soon everyone will want his own planet. But even then he will not relax because he will immediately envy a neighbor whose planet is bigger.

The time has arrived to scrutinize how to utilize the power of covering, the power of money. On the one hand, it is necessary to educate a person such that he will bring his needs to a necessary level that we can satisfy.

On the other hand, it is necessary to think carefully about how to organize the economy so that it will be ready to create everything needed and a system of education that will move a person towards rational needs and ways to fill his spare time.

It follows that in the new economy people will be involved with the creation of money coverings for the rational balance of physical desires as well as the higher spiritual desires that will be discovered in them. This is how they will advance.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/11/12

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The Children Of The Universe, Part 5

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe encounter many surprises when we study the physical attributes of the universe. If we first supposed that radiation and particles could not penetrate solids, we know now that this isn’t so.

The microcosm has opened a truly amazing picture before us. A lot has changed in our understanding of the universe and of man’s place in it.

What is more, it is all because we refused to follow a whole ideological approach, agreeing that we don’t understand, feel, or know the creation at all and that we have to study it from the beginning. Thus science has drawn away from religion and left its limitations, which was very helpful.

This struggle lasted for centuries and until this very day the echoes of the church and other religious institutions’ objections to a wide variety of scientific approaches are still heard. Although this study did not go along with their faith, the basic beliefs were accepted since they helped control people and things. Our knowledge of the universe is very limited, and lately we have come to the conclusion that our view of reality is partial and fragmented. Even if we would be able to grasp it as a whole, the data from research indicates that there may be parallel universes. We simply see that without assumptions, our formulas do not agree, and so we have to take this possibility into account.

Then there are questions about the connection between the universes, and about the passage from one to another on a higher level that surrounds us but which is not accessible in our perception. Otherwise our current data does not line up.

Of course, we are looking for intelligent life on other planets. In my opinion, it’s not there,  and our poor planet is the only one where intelligent beings live, polluting and ruining the still, vegetative, and animate nature.

What a wonderful planet it could be if it were simply covered with plants. We could also add a few animals, but a few people is already too much.

Seriously and generally speaking, life on this planet is indeed a rare phenomenon. For life to appear there had to be very specific combinations of different parameters and forces of nature that enabled particles to connect into new forms and to acquire new, unique attributes of procreation in the process of biological evolution. This is a totally new level compared to the rest of the universe.
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From the program “A New Life” 3/02/14

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Happiness For Money?

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The emergence of money in our world is not accidental. What is its impact on our development?

Answer: Money means the ability to cover desires. At some time in history, we used a variety of substances for this such as golden sand, coins, and other materials.

Recently, humanity has had a critical attitude to the ability to cover its desires. We see that we cannot satisfy our needs in terms of the environment; the Earth just cannot withstand our extravagance.

We have created too many artificial needs for which there is no necessity. The planet is not able to provide every luxury and so many power plants. It is like the owner of the field consuming all his harvest, leaving nothing for the new crop. He used all his fixed assets and the following year died of starvation.

In human society, we have such a monetary problem we cannot cope with it. We need to change this process and play into something less threatening.

Of course, man cannot live without his needs for development. A person receives his needs from childhood. Growing up, he looks at the people around them. The desire to be like them creates needs, which advances him in life. If we organize an environment that develops not material desires, then we will constantly have needs and their fulfillment.

We will develop, strive forward, and hopefully enjoy attainment and grieve its absence. We will not remain at the animate level and our advancement will be in the area where we are able to develop needs without threatening our physical life.

What needs can we develop that have no end? It is written simply: “Go and make money from each other.” In addition to the interpretation on the material level, this proposal could be understood so that we can create new needs in the area of various kinds of connection between us. These connections will produce new needs, and we, like in a mosaic, will constantly create new forms of their combinations.

As these needs will consist of many individual desires, then we will have to fulfill them together. Our lives will become a collective game of establishing needs and fulfilling them. It will be literally endless among 7 billion people. We will never be disappointed in that because everyone will always have an opportunity to be hungry and be filled again.

We become included in the internal, hidden layers of nature and through the connections between us, begin to feel what is happening inside us. This is in fact, a true pleasure because a person is created for these internal layers, and that is why attaining them gives him true fulfillment.

Then his connections with other people in order to achieve these fulfillments is called real money. After a long historical development, we finally come to this true covering, a collective screen, with which we will really be able to cover all our needs.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 10/11/12

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