Opinion (from Kommersant): “Valentina Matviyenko, Speaker of the Russian Federation Council: ‘Xenophobia, incitement to hatred on ethnic, religious, and social grounds, is creeping around the planet; the popularity of associations and parties whose members often hold Nazi views is on the rise.’

“Ralf-Rene Weingärtner, Director for Human Rights and Anti-discrimination, Council of Europe: ‘We are seeing right-wing extremism on the rise of the EU and Russia. These groups are linked through the Internet, so the threat of international racism is real.

“Nikolai Kabanov, The 11th Saeima member, Latvia: ‘Saeima of Latvia is considering a bill that will allow those who fought the Red Army… to receive benefits and higher pensions. The Lithuanian authorities were criticized for sanctioning the neo-Nazis marches.’

“Oleg Tsarev, people’s Deputy of Ukraine from the Party of regions: ‘The situation in Ukraine is not less alarming: The ultra-nationalist party ‘Freedom’ is in the parliament.’

“Tatiana Zhdanok, a Latvian member of the European Parliament: ‘In Europe, there is already at least one neo-Fascist regime: Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban has limited the freedom of the press, made a change of judges, and abolished the independence of the Central Bank and ombudsmen. Now the Hungarian Jews live in an atmosphere of fear. Some countries would like to equate communism with fascism.’”

My Comment: It is natural, and Kabbalah predicted this. If we do not move towards correction, we head towards the third world war.
[68780]

Related Material:
The World Is In Danger
Nazism In A New World
Unified By Love Or Hate

Filed under: Crisis, Society, World - No Comments →

We are witnessing a brand new and fascinating phenomenon: Our society is becoming integral. It’s no longer just about banks and industries establishing partnerships all over the world, exchanging raw materials, merchandise, food and so on. Today even the world’s cultures and education systems are merging into a single, universal blend. All these elements are interconnected and interdependent in every way.

It’s no accident that modern media has made it possible for us to stay abreast of everything that’s happening in the world. In and of itself the knowledge doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it already makes us dependent on one another. If this dependence exists in a good, tight family, then it’s for the benefit of all, as it gives confidence and pleasure. But if it’s not a good dependence, then the family falls apart.

The problem is we quite simply cannot divorce one another, precisely because we’re united on the global scale. We may hate and reject one another, but we’re entirely dependent on one another at the same time. Nature has imprisoned us on this earth, this tiny surface, and we have nowhere to run from one another.

With each passing day our interdependence grows stronger. When people or nations conflicted in the past, the worst they could do is kill one another. Today, however, if we begin to fight, we will take down the whole world with us, as the modern weapons at our disposal will destroy all living things. It follows that we are entirely dependent on everybody else in all aspects, both good and bad.

This is a big problem because our ego feels no fear and refuses to compromise in any way. The ego grows and develops, but our reason does not evolve with it. As our weapons grow in destructive force, we remain filled with envy, thirst for power, cruelty and the like. This mutual hatred clouds our minds, and if it continues we could easily end up destroying everything.

We see that nature is bringing us to greater mutuality and interdependence, which we cannot escape, like a family that cannot get divorced. So what do we do about it? We must find a solution. And the solution is both clear and unequivocal: to restore peace “in the family,” in our home, between all nations and all people. This mustn’t be done via aggression, but in a way where everyone does their part with complete integrity.

By actualizing this one solution, on which our survival hinges, we will undoubtedly see exactly how to organize everything in the world and the relationships between us with the globe living as one society. We will realize what everybody needs to complement everybody else. We will know how to educate ourselves, the “grown-up children,” and the actual children, the next generation, to make it easier for them to enter into a good, warm, gentle world. We will know how to make sure that no one will be able to stir humanity against itself going forward.

Many scientists are talking about the fact that the world has become round due to its interdependence, that we cannot run away from one another, and that, on the contrary, our interdependence is constantly growing moment by moment, day by day. They warn us of the dangers of adopting policies of protectionism and isolation in an effort to disconnect one nation from another.

The reason is that such attempts oppose the process we’re undergoing from the time we became human to this day. Looking at human history, it’s clear that any attempts to go against the laws of nature have never been successful, and that’s putting it mildly.

This behavior is tantamount to knowing but not observing the laws of physics; the upshot is that I cause immediate harm to myself. All the technology, science, and wisdom we have compiled amounts to us learning to follow the laws of nature. We upgrade our tools of research to discover more of nature’s laws with the aim of using them for our benefit.

The better we know nature’s laws, particularly those that pertain to the environment, society, humanity, and human and social psychology, the better we’ll be able to actualize them in our relationships, and the more we will gain thereby. The only other option is to initiate a “divorce” and all that it entails which means a world war, which could be the end of all mankind on earth.
[65974]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode 1, 12/27/11

Related Material:
Coercion or Realization?
Introductory Lecture: The Mutual Guarantee
An Altruistic “Shirt“ For Egoism

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing, Society, World - No Comments →

Question: When young people, a man and a woman, are making their plans for the future, they dream about the way they’re going to live. Could spouses discuss the ideal picture of an integral family in an integral education group so that everyone could contribute their own vision to it?

Answer: This is useful even today. When creating an image of an ideal family, we need to understand our egoistic nature and have a completely objective attitude towards it. If I can objectively open up to my group, to “dissect” myself before it, and in addition, the group could also explain to me from its point of view who I am and otherwise, then by understanding the viewpoints, habits, and motivations of one another, all the things given by nature and instilled in us, then we would attempt to rise above that into a completely new system of mutual relationships.

We wouldn’t try to break each other because we are creating something mutual: that which is comfortable and good for us. And all our negative inner egoistic impulses would conversely automatically transform into unification above them.

We begin to see that if this egoism of ours didn’t exist, then we wouldn’t have been able to enter into contact with each other. But thanks to the fact that we build this common superstructure above it, the egoism is actually our partner, friend, and helper, acting seemingly against us while in reality demonstrating that precisely through resistance to it, by turning it inside-out in our mutual relationships, we create a new family, a new anti-egoistic society.

Egoism plays a crucial role in this society because without it, we wouldn’t be able to achieve anything. It is the very fabric of nature intentionally instilled in us. What differentiates a person from an animal? It is precisely the fact that year after year, generation after generation, egoism grows within man. By using egoism, except in the opposite direction, we create mutuality between us: Instead of repelling us, we come closer; instead of rejection and hatred, there is love. Everything is contained in this.
[67241]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #6, 12/14/11

Related Material:
Create Your Own Self
Chimpanzees Can Love, What About People?
Don’t Stop On The Way To Love

Filed under: Education, Family, Integral Upbringing, Love, Society - No Comments →

Not by chance is human society becoming more compressed, closed, and homogeneous. Apparently, this is a natural process programmed in our development. We can observe this from aside, study, and analyze it, but this is a fact. It does not matter whether we like it or not, but there is a certain process of development of our nature that we must undergo, and these forms must be revealed.

Therefore, we have no choice, and obviously, we have to build a more connected, friendly, warm society, based on mutual support and participation. All the ancient sources, religions, and beliefs say that in the end, we have to come to love.

People who live in nature, far away from people, say the same thing. They feel love coming from nature and its concern about everything that is contained in it. And we, relating to each other egoistically, looking through our own egoistic perspective, do not notice this love.

I once talked with Jane Goodall who lived in the jungle for about 17 years among chimpanzees; she received the Nobel Prize for her research. I asked her what the most important thing she learned from the feeling of living among the chimpanzees in the jungle where there were no other humans, and if they were ready to accept her as one of their own. And she replied: “Love, this is what I felt among them. Although they are always trying to sort out problems and seem to shout, but this is only to awaken love. And I began to discover the same thing in the trees, forest, sky, earth ….”

Dr. Jane Goodall and Dr. Michael Laitman, Arosa Forum, Switzwerland

She made such a discovery even though she does not have a sentimental character. A person, who arrived from a U.S. concrete jungle and lived for so many years in the jungle, slowly revealed that the whole nature is filled with love.

And here we really are facing a huge problem. All religions, beliefs, and various spiritual practices speak with one voice that a human being must achieve universal unity, if not love, at least good relations, without which humanity simply cannot continue to exist.

To do that, we go through this process in order to feel the need, to want to come to love, to develop new relationships. It is impossible to force one to love! I can pay money to buy anything except love. It is possible to purchase a polite attitude for money, but love is a very special feeling, separate from all other human emotions!

For example, I feel that you have become important for me because through you I learn, understand, and attain something new in life. You become dear to me as much as the subject that I want to get with your help. Thus, a good relationship is built between us.

We may enter into such relations with each other when we need to establish trust. Because I need you and you need me, there is trust between us, to the extent that I can rely on you. But if suddenly someone comes who will pay more and bring you more content and pleasure, all your trust and loyalty disappear.

That is why, we now find ourselves in an unusual situation. Our development has led us to feel that we depend on each other and are required to establish good relationships with each other, to the extent that we should love one another! Otherwise, we will not have the correct trust that is needed to achieve a good life today.
[68431]
From Kab TV’s “A New Life” Episode #6, 1/3/12

Related Material:
The Theory Of Internal Contact Between People
The Only Law
Would You Trust Others With Your Life?

Filed under: Education, Integral Upbringing, Love, Society, World - No Comments →

Question: When we start talking about current global problems during the lesson, many of our friends take it negatively feeling that we are “missing” part of the lesson. I feel that this attitude should be changed. Without current affairs we have no right to exist. If we are not relevant people won’t hear us out.

Answer: This is also true. Baal HaSulam wrote about the Jerusalem Kabbalists who studied Kabbalah like mathematics and didn’t realize that it’s about the connection among us, about how to correct the broken vessel. Today we discover the shattering of the common soul of Adam HaRishon (First Man), and so the wisdom of Kabbalah is revealed to us in order to correct the shattering.

If we don’t examine the current events from this perspective, then why should we study the wisdom of Kabbalah? Clearly we study only for this reason. Missing the lesson means that I come out of the lesson and throughout the whole day I have nothing to hang on to so that my life won’t go by aimlessly. If my wisdom isn’t connected to real “substance,” it disappears. Even if I feel important, that I have acquired something, and that I understand something, it’s only an egoistic filling, nothing more.

Therefore, if someone thinks that we are talking about current problems just to pass the time, then he shouldn’t come here. After all, he is here thanks to the relevance of these current affairs. Only because of this was each of us brought here so that he would contribute to the correction of the world. But if a person sets himself another goal, he can leave. We don’t need him.
[68313]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Our Amazing Generation
All In Good Time
The Daily Lesson For The Whole Day

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Kabbalah Study, Q&A, Society - 1 Comment →

Question: Suppose the program to educate the unemployed is accepted. How long will it take until we begin to see changes in our country?

Answer: A couple of weeks. Of course, it depends upon the number of people who will study, but the changes will be rapid. Imagine how many hours a day a person will take part in the integral education course. This in itself will evoke great changes in him. At the same time he will be under the strong influence of the environment: millions of people who study daily from their homes, in community centers, in schools in the afternoon…this will be their main occupation, apart from the necessary part time job.

It would be enough if this lasts for several days in order for a great force to be revealed. If you hold such a day all over the country, you will immediately see the changes, and you will see how the people cut themselves off from the old life style and connect to the new one.

The changes will take place at once and in every area of our life: in crime, drugs, litter in the streets, etc. Think of how much can be saved just on municipal services alone. Even the number of sick people will diminish. We will undoubtedly feel this in everything.

Moreover, the entire economy will change too. Will we, the people, keep on buying goods in such monstrous quantities? Will we continue to subsidize the producers and the middlemen that inflate the prices? Will we pay five dollars for cottage cheese that hardly costs one dollar? We will sift out all the redundant things and leave only the necessary ones.

So you may ask: “And what about the taxes? Where will we get the money for social security and for defense?” You will see that there are the means for that. It’s wrong to build an economy on an endless cycle of enormous sums of money, from which the government takes a percentage of for itself. Just look at this ridiculous structure that produces not only goods but papers too.

The economy will be different. You need to provide security? Please, take the people and act. Everyone gets exactly as much as they need to lead a normal life. And all the rest goes to supply the needs of different systems, not financially but rather in the framework of sensible necessities.
[68307]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/1/12, “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot”

Related Material:
Integral Education Is A Quick Process
Integral Upbringing With No Sudden Movements
No To Unemployment, Yes To The Real Work

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Education, Integral Upbringing, Q&A, Society, World - 1 Comment →

Question: Why is “nature” the most commonly used word during these lessons?

Answer: It is because today we are finding ourselves in a certain sphere, which affects us and forces us to react. We are surrounded from all sides, and we have nowhere to run. Therefore, I call this phenomenon “nature,” and I clearly see one law in it that affects everyone on all the levels: the law of general equilibrium of global and integral systems.

The research of different systems shows that one law aimed at balancing the system is acting in them all. Nature tends to maximize a calmest, most comfortable, and balanced state. Like water seeks to fill the lowest level, so does nature. According to this tendency, instead of being separated, we, too, should unite and be one. Numerous studies conducted by scientists who research human society, proves this fact.

Question: It is clear that ecology and the state of our bodies depend on nature; this is our conceptualization of nature as a determining factor. However, it turns out that nature also controls the economic crisis, unemployment, and bankruptcy?

Answer: Since we are talking about the general education of humanity in an integral and global world, this means that we examine precisely this world. It represents a common system, and the concept “integral” means that all the parts of this system are connected to each other and activated by one law, one force, which directs them to connection and balance. This is what I call nature.

In other words, I don’t mean anything that does not pertain to the still, vegetative, animate, or human levels. I am only saying that all existent laws pertain to the integral global system and are under the control of one law:  the law of equilibrium, homeostasis.

We see this law in physics also: Each body strives for rest, stillness, a static state, and a minimal use of energy. This is how the difference in temperature and pressure reaches balance in order to achieve similarity. There is nothing to argue about here. These are laws of thermodynamics, which are taught in school.

I explain this to humanity so that it has a foundation for perceiving the global world where everyone depends on each other, experiences the effect of one law, and needs to follow it. My task is to bring humanity to this worldview. Thus in addition to upbringing, I also give you knowledge. People need philosophy, psychology, and broad knowledge. This learning process does not end with a short course; it continues for one’s whole life.
[67615]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #4, 1/1/12

Related Material:
Our Urgent Intervention Is Required
Two Forces – One Law
From Savage To Human Being

Filed under: Crisis, Education, Integral Upbringing, Q&A, Society, World - No Comments →

With each passing day we feel more and more that we live in a very complex and interdependent world. This is why we speak of the law that affects us all that binds us all together, and this law is called the mutual guarantee.

At first glance this law seems to pertain more to governments or large corporations. But does it also apply to the regular Joe? It turns out that it does, and from year to year we feel this truth more acutely. For example, if there’s a malfunction in one of the European or American banks, its consequences are felt in all countries, and especially in, say, China, which sells all the things it manufactures there. And this, in turn, impacts half the world. In other words, we have become so thoroughly bound by commerce, economy, and finance that we perceive these things as a threat to our existence. Indeed, they determine the availability of food, clothes, energy to supply residential heating, the function of international pharmaceutical companies, and so forth.

Today there isn’t a single country in the world that satisfies all its needs, whereas even 100 years ago all countries were almost fully self-sufficient. It all changed when India became a British colony, and the English decided that it would be easier to import fruits and vegetables from India via the Suez Canal, rather than grow the produce themselves. Instead they began to develop their industry. With time people began to realize that specialization—where everyone manufactures only certain goods —was the way to go.

In contrast, in the past, every individual factory would manufacture absolutely everything, starting with the smallest bolt and ending with the complete machine and all its components (motor, electrical wiring, etc.). Moreover, the same plant also utilized small generators to supply electricity. All these processes took place in the same location. But then began the division of labor: one plant manufactured bolts, another screws, another yet electrical components, and so on. And today every automaker receives their supplies from many different countries.

In recent years this trend was taken even further. Instead of developing the auto industry on their own land, Japan began to build their factories in Europe and America, its target markets. Japan continues to manage the production from afar; what’s more, instead of managing them directly, Japan is doing it via their representatives, which are hired right there on location.

Thus, everything became so mixed together that you can no longer tell who’s producing what. One country’s territory contains factories and gas stations that actually belong to another country. There are corporations with owners in several countries, each of which has its share. The economies of many countries have foreign investors , and the local governments don’t interfere since it’s advantageous to them. Their citizens get jobs, and everybody is happy.

And we thought that everything would continue developing in this direction…
[67799]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #5, 1/2/12

Related Material:
The Economy Of Global Mutual Guarantee
How To Live In The New Global Village
Waking Up In A New Dimension

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Integral Upbringing, Society, World - No Comments →

In the News (from CNBC): “Young people should work for free for up to two years to gain experience, youth and business leaders said at the World Economic Forum in Davos Thursday.

“A new UN resolution to enshrine the importance of a couple of years of voluntary work for young people was urged by delegates including Maurice Lévy, chairman and chief executive of Publicis Groupe, as part of a CNBC-moderated debate on how to avert a lost generation of unemployed youth…

“The world needs 600 million new jobs in the next decade to cope with a rising population and the effects of the financial crisis, according to figures released earlier this week by the International Labor Organization.”

Comment: In this way, capitalists want to put the problem of unemployment on the shoulders of society. Moreover, the state should support the unemployed. But the world will not need new workers; on the contrary, unemployment will increase. A person should be engaged, not in useless work, which costs much more than the unemployment benefits, but in what will really help the community: in educating everybody about cooperation and mutual guarantee, which will bring balance with nature and the benefit for the world.
[67981]

Related Material:
In The Desert There Is No One To Cry Out To – Only Heaven
Self-Sacrifice Above Love And Hate
The Sign Of A Developed Mind Is Caring For Others

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

We were born with only one egoistic desire to enjoy, and all else in life is not important to us. The same goes for a baby, coming out of his mother’s womb; he thinks about himself, he only feels himself and does not feel the world surrounding him. After a few weeks, he begins to open his eyes, hear, gradually activate his organs of perception, and perceive other people. And so he gets what he wants to from life, from his environment (primarily through his mother), in order to fulfill all of his needs.

We need to understand that this egoistic desire given to us at birth was received on purpose so that, with the help of habit becoming second nature, another altruistic form could be built above it: the form of bestowal and unity.

Now, we are in an opposite state; we are separated; each one of us wants to gain at the expense of the other; none of us takes anyone else into account, and additionally, we all are in opposition and disagreement with each other. However, nature has purposefully created such a negative quality in us so that by using the power we have at our disposal, we would build a positive, kind form of connection between us, precisely from this negative quality.

We will build it comprehensively and consciously. In this way, we will arrive at unity having created the image of a human similar to that general law of nature that is directed at bestowal: kind, and loving.

Then we will realize that this law is not bad, that all of those evil forces whose effects we feel in the form of adversity (such as divorce, drug addiction, terrorism, fear of the threat of an atomic war, conflict between countries, diseases, and environmental, economic, and financial crises), which seem to us to be negative impacts from nature, we realize they all are needed so that we can offset them with the forces of bestowal, the forces of our love and our unity. Today, if we perceive the impact of this one law to be negative, it is only because we are opposite to it.

This happens in our daily lives. If it gets cold or hot, I need to understand what to do in order to balance out these anomalies and bring the temperature to a normal state. If I were to submerge under water, I would feel a strong overload of pressure. If I were to ascend high up into the mountains, I would feel a shortage of oxygen, and I would find it difficult to breathe. Then, I would compensate for these deviations in order to balance myself with nature.

What means can we use to come into harmony with nature, which is demonstrating these various adversities? We feel blows coming at us from all over. Humanity feels itself united under the common threat that is befalling it.

We understand that our qualities are opposite to the qualities of nature and we must compensate for this and work opposite to our qualities.

If at the time nature exerts a negative impact upon us, we would overcome ourselves, correct ourselves, and correspond to it according to our abilities, we would perceive such impacts as positive and balanced. Then, environmental problems would be solved, family relationships would be reconciled, connections between countries would be strengthened, the economy would strengthen, and our lives would become happy and comfortable.

We are given these opportunities in order to gradually make changes within ourselves and between us. On this path, we will draw nearer to general nature and feel ourselves in overall harmony with it.
[67354]
From KabTV’s “A New Life” Episode #4, 1/1/12

Related Material:
Imprisoned By Egoism
Evil Robed In Goodness
Being Born Into A New World

Filed under: Crisis, Education, Integral Upbringing, Society, World - No Comments →