Entries in the 'Unity' Category

A Good Place For Developing The Soul

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe reincarnation of the souls is like the recycling of water in our world. This is a constant exchange that takes place between different energy levels in which are found our energetic characteristics called the soul.

A soul is something ephemeral, an energy state of a person that is constantly rising and falling. Cycles like these are necessary to realize the constant blending, adhering, and division of all the souls with each other. They constantly create mutual correction, mutual integration, and bring all the individual souls into a single, generally shared state of one single soul.

This state is called the completion of correction, and we must attain it soon. Therefore, both the wisdom of Kabbalah and the crisis have appeared in this world. Not much time is left for us to reach this state, either through the blows of nature, through huge problems, or through learning and proper use of the method of  the wisdom of connection (Integral Education).

Question: In our world are there any energetic places that can fulfill the soul?

Answer: No, there are no places in the world with such unique characteristics. They influence our mental, physiological, and even our emotional attributes, but not the soul, not spirituality, meaning not the ascent of a person to the characteristic of bestowal and love.

Only in a strong group that is created correctly and in which people mutually cooperate in the right way is the focus of a state like this to be found where a person can enter this society and develop very rapidly.

This is not a geographic location; rather, it is simply an energy that is accumulated by many people yearning to discover the central force of the world. Only a Kabbalistic group is a good place for developing the soul.
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From the International Summer Camp In Bulgaria “Day Two” 7/12/14, Lesson #4

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The Science That Reveals The Secret Of Creation

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe are living in a very interesting times that are very unclear. Humanity has always been accustomed to making plans for 10 and even for 50 years ahead. People knew why they were alive and in what direction their nation was developing. But around 30-40 years ago, we lost our direction in life and and we now no longer know why we are living and developing.

Every person, family, and nation is in a situation like this. It dominates us so much that we no longer want to learn since we don’t see any results from it. Children are not connected to their parents and don’t want to marry, create a family, or give birth to children.

They don’t have any particular, clear purpose in life, such as building a home, raising a child, and so on. Pople have lost the taste for life. Many people in the world are depressed, and to forget, use drugs. The percentage of divorces is rising at a dizzying rate.

This strange time shows our distancing from each other, our loosing connection with our nation, with our family, and with friends  There was a time when there were very strong ties between relatives. Today this is not so, people can travel to another land and live in a society with a different culture.

The sensation of meaninglessness in life has spread everywhere in the world in different forms. We don’t set any unique goals for ourselves and don’t think about what will be in another 30, 40, 50, or 100 years. In the past this was interesting, if not for the individual person, then at least the nation, but now this doesn’t interest anyone. Everyone lives only for today since that is easier and simpler.

Never has the world been in such a state, which is a sign of a period of transition. We must pass from this state to a new state, meaning that we must begin to search for new values that make life worth living. Today there are no such values for people.

This meaninglessness is appalling. Even if person has a desire, he or she cannot realize their hopes and goals. Everything is falling apart on all levels: materially, spiritually, culturally, physically, in families, and in society.

It is precisely at this time that the wisdom of Kabbalah has been revealed to us. It originated 3,800 years ago in ancient Babylon. It says that once we were in the same state of mutual rejection that we feel today. Our ego reached such dimensions that we lost the connection with each other and were scattered throughout the world and distant from those strong societal connections in Babylon where we had lived and worked. Much cultural evidence has remained for us that reminds us of the separation that we experienced in Babylon.

Today we are beginning to enter into a similar situation, except on a new level. Today our planet is becoming smaller, as in ancient Babylon, and like the Babylonians, we don’t know what to do. Again, it is not clear to us how it is possible to get along with each other. We also don’t want to get along, so we divorce, separate, and disconnect. Each one feels himself an individualist.

Kabbalah speaks about this, and that today we must rise above our ego and understand that the same problem that is being discovered today in us, in our children, the family, society, the nation, and  the world has been awakened so that we will rise above ourselves and begin to develop connections between us.

This connection raises us to the next level of existence. Through the system of connection between us that humanity is creating, we are beginning to feel a new world, an absolutely new state. After all, today we perceive creation through our five corporeal senses, but we are ready to feel it via an additional, integral sense that we can develop if we connect to a system of communication and cooperation between us.

That is, instead of perceiving my egoistic, private world, I will feel the world as integral and connected. I will then begin to feel the entire system, the whole of  creation, and the interaction between its parts to such a degree that I will feel the world and myself in an absolutely different way.

Today we feel that we exist in the world for the number of years in a web of interactions between us. But if we begin to connect with one another, in spite of what our ego dictates to us, we will acquire a new system of communication and discover ourselves existing on another level, in an integral dimension in which there is no beginning or end. After all, the connection between us will make it possible for us to see the world through others, a multidimensional world and not linearly the way we see it today.

It is not easy to explain this to a person and for them to reach a perception of this world. But as a result of unique exercises, according to the method of the wisdom of Kabbalah, we can reach this and see an absolutely different creation.

The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that whether we want it or not, we must reach this. So we are found in a state of crisis in all of nature, which shows us that nature itself is integral and all of its parts are found in complete harmony with each other, and a person is not ready to exist in such a harmonious picture because the ego takes him out of it.

Since we are the opposite of nature, we constantly damage it and don’t want to be a part of the integral picture. And so we feel the confrontation with nature in the form of a crisis.

The present crisis will continue until we reach the same direct integral cooperation in a good connection with nature like all of its other components.

The still, vegetative, and animate nature are in harmony, homeostasis, equilibrium. Man, using his egoism and devouring with this egoistic nature more than is necessary for his existence, violates this harmony and eventually leads to the crisis itself.

Therefore, the confrontation with nature will continue and will lead us to such a shock that we still have to find a way to continuing existence. Indeed, despite the technological advances, we can not live a normal life without the proper interaction and harmony with the environment.

Harmony can be found only if we pass through a certain period of re-education, through efforts to remake ourselves, rising above our selfish nature and arriving at the correct interaction between us.

This is the main subject of the wisdom of Kabbalah, which tells the history of man’s appearance on the planet and about reaching the end of his egoistic development, when he is compelled to change himself. The wisdom of Kabbalah explains how we can change ourselves to emerge from the crisis, which will be felt on a more and more brutal scale by the individual, the family, society, the nation and the world.

So we are obliged to learn how to interact between us. For this there is the method of integral education that allows an easy way to implement this: gradual, correct interaction between us with the help of special exercises.

Very rapidly, other forces of nature will be revealed before us that are opposite to the negative, egoistic forces that cause conflicts between us. A person will feel that he can balance them with the altruistic forces to the extent that he will begin to feel the world as good and not cruel.

He will begin to understand the forces of nature, why nature behaves like this with him, and in what form he can use the forces of nature for his own good and truly benefit from his very existence on the planet.

When a person begins to interact correctly with other people, meaning that he begins to connect with them correctly, he will begin to feel himself in the unique network of communication that connects everyone.

He will feel that he is exiting the framework of time, space, and motion and existing in an absolutely different dimension in which the main thing is not our individual bodies, but our one collective body and collective existence where we begin to pass to another state, another dimension.

Together with this, the world will dissolve from our feelings, and in its place we will begin to feel what is called the higher world, meaning a shared existence in which all concepts of time, space, motion, birth, aging, and death will disappear.

We will stop feeling the world as it is now and will enter into its inner comprehension. After all, we now feel it only through our five corporeal senses, and so we only feel the world as long as our physical body exists. And if in its place we create another body, which is the connection between us, then through it we will begin to feel our entire environment in its true form that is not distorted and limited by the body.

A person who is involved with correction of himself, according to the method of integral education, will gradually pass from feeling our world to feeling a double world: both our world and the inner, higher world. And when his body dies, he will continue to exist only with the feeling of the higher world, the world that he discovered and acquired while in his physical life.

This is the goal of the wisdom of Kabbalah: to bring a person to the perception of the integral world. After all, the crisis through which we are passing is created by nature specifically to bring us from a perception of the limited world through our bodies, to the integral perception by way of a general connection between us.

Today many people in the world are engaged in the wisdom of Kabbalah. In its time, Kabbalah predicted that humanity would reach a state where it could not fulfill itself with anything, that people would feel emptiness and lose the goal and the meaning of life. All of this would bring a person to the question, “What is the meaning of life?”

People would gradually discover the secret of the meaning of life. It is not latent within our bodies and not limited by its framework; rather, it is much higher above this. The entire universe and the whole of creation is a completely different system and not as we perceive it today. The sciences of this world already speak about this.

In the framework of our organization, we are making all efforts to give to everyone who wants it, an opportunity to be engaged with the wisdom of Kabbalah, and to gradually acquire the sensation of the higher world.
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From the International Summer Camp In Bulgaria “Day Two” 7/12/14, Lesson #4

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A Direct Mutual Connection

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: If we speak about the connection of the levels of the upper, the middle, and the lower, then the upper is the teacher, the middle is us, and the lower is the 99% of humanity. Sometimes we manage to feel the unity between us and sometimes we don’t. How can we constantly hold on to the point of unity in order to convey the importance of unity to the people?

Answer: In the articles of Rabash it states that the friends should gather and speak about the greatness of the Creator and the greatness of the teacher. Of course, neither the Creator nor the teacher needs that, but it is necessary in order to raise the students.

If we raise those through whom we receive the Light, we thus connect to the upper source and begin to receive bestowal from Him. Then the understanding of unity and the connection with the upper source are revealed among us.

When we go out to the external circles, the feelings and understandings of this unity and the connection with the upper are conveyed to them.

Just like children who learn many things from their parents, whether they want to or not, and imitate them in different ways like their characteristic behaviors and habits, and their positive and negative responses, so will the external circles receive our feeling of unity and connection to the upper source. This happens in a natural manner.

The wisdom of Kabbalah doesn’t speak about anything that is supernatural, but only about how to learn to be one whole in order to be in harmony with the still, vegetative, and animate levels, to learn from nature, which is what everyone is calling for today.

People used to believe that we had to conquer nature, that we are above nature and smarter than nature. Now everyone is beginning to understand how stupid and much more limited we are than nature. Nature is perfect!

The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us how to learn from nature and how to reach a state in which we will discover its total integrality, the deep and total mutual connection. If we attain that, the masses will also accept it and perceive it since our thoughts and feelings will flow unto them. They will begin to think like us and also perceive everything as we do.

Why is it that what people think that whatever happens on one side of the world is suddenly understood on the other side? It is because we are all mutually connected.

Therefore, when we go out to people and connect to them, the direct mutual connection works. We will perceive their different yearnings and they will perceive ours. Their shattered yearnings and their egoistic desires will force us to yearn for unity in order to correct them. Our unity and connection to the upper will help them perceive it and focus themselves in that direction for correction.
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From the International Summer Camp In Bulgaria “Day One” 7/11/14, Lesson #2

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A Burning Question And The Solution

Dr. Michael LaitmanComment: The method of correcting the relationships between people, which is the remedy for every illness, nullifies all of modern medicine.

My Comment: But we don’t need it either. The current health care system doesn’t care about a person, but only about itself. The media conveys information that arouses fear, and no one cares about people.

What is the actual problem? Humanity has long reached such a level in its development that it can fully provide for all its needs. This was true in the 70s of the last century, but everything has come to a halt since the questions of “What’s next?” and “Why should we go on living?” have come up.

But man didn’t think about that and new problems have to be created in order to make it will be clear that we live in order to solve them. Otherwise such questions will come up and will make both the elite and our leaders feel bad.

Thus everything began to revolve around creating different imaginary needs, and health issues are not imaginary at all. Consequently, medicine has gradually reestablished itself by creating new symptoms, so that by using medicines that help heal certain symptoms, people will stay busy spending money on medicines and traveling from place to place in order to seek treatment, etc.

Question: Was this scenario laid in advance? Did people consciously examine this option in advance?

Answer: Of course. We can see advertising on TV for products that are 99% absolutely unnecessary. We have no need even for the one percent that is left, but we only think that we need them. After all, we have become used to advertising, are nourished by it, and the ideas it sells us have already become an inherent need. Therefore, we look for what else we can buy. We cannot manage without these things anymore, just like a drug addict who cannot manage without drugs. We are used to being obliged to watch commercials and implement what they advertise.

A few years ago I was in the hospital after a car accident and I saw how patients behave. One of them constantly spoke to the doctors like they were old friends. When I asked him why he spoke to them that way he answered proudly that he had had 12 operations. It is as if he wanted to say, “Look I am your loyal patient, I am yours!” and subconsciously, they treated him as if he was one of theirs—”He is one of ours!”

This means that it reached the state that they were making a living off one another. It is just like cops and robbers who cannot manage without each other. The police have to solve crimes or conspiracies and therefore cooperate with the mafia so that it will give them some clues or sacrifice one of its accomplices. The police arrest the victim and present it as their achievement, but usually it is the mafia that gives them the lead.

It is the same here. It has become a custom, and it is very interesting to observe the beautiful work of the ego from the outside.

Society imposes its values on us and feeds us these values as if they are a business dinner. They teach us to love, have children, raise them, build, play societal games, consume certain medicines and to be connected in a certain manner. It is all based on the notion of how to fill our day with worries, work, tasks, and not allow us time to think about the meaning of life.

But humanity has already developed to the point where this issue becomes vital. In order to make sure that we don’t engage in it, the authorities have denied us of all our free time, down to the very last moment.

The point is that the question about the meaning of life is much greater. If a person doesn’t find this answer, he becomes so depressed that he cannot overcome it. He doesn’t feel pleasure in anything: not in food, sex, family, his children, in nothing. Therefore the elite suppresses this question.

But the time has come to reveal the meaning of life to the masses. On one hand, it is as if we are playing on the edge. But on the other hand, we say nice things such as, “Let’s live in unity, let’s begin to love one another so that everything will be good.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah is not intended to arouse revolutionary passions in any one, neither in the elite nor in ordinary people. It doesn’t call people to fight but offers to make a soft revolution in a peaceful manner. This is the true spring, when after the long frost, after the inner emptiness, the gradual return to life begins.

Question: Will the elite agree to that?

Answer: The leaders will also change along with the masses, since we all change together. They will begin to realize that, first of all, the environmental situation doesn’t allow us to remain on the same level. We can see what is happening to us.

Disrupting the ecological balance involves a much greater imbalance of the whole earth. No one knows how many billions of dollars have been invested this year and are still being invested in order to overcome the environmental disasters all over the world.

Along with ecological and climate problems, we will also encounter nutritional problems since we have polluted the soil even at the level of thoughts and feelings. But when the authorities begin to change, they will see that everthing has a limit and it is nature that limits us.

They will realize that we have to acquire a totally new perception, and instead of money that has lost its value, a new coin will appear that is related to the communication between people.

Money is a method of connection that emphasizes how much greater you are and how small I am compared to you, and how we can satisfy each other’s needs. In Hebrew the word “money” (Kesef) stems from the word “cover” (Masach), which means that I cover the difference between us.

New methods of communication between people will emerge instead of relationships that are based on money. They will become popular, because society itself will begin to change. If it were only the environment that changed, we would still remain the same puppets and the authorities would continue to endlessly play with us. But because everyone will change, the perception will also change, and the authorities will operate in a totally different manner.

I believe that this will happen in the near future and I hope to see at least the beginning of this change. This is what I am living for.

We assist in the hastening of time. Our ideas automatically flow into society since we are an integral part of it. Accordingly we hasten the development of the elite as well.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/18/14

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The Relevance Of The Torah In The Modern World

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe section Kedoshim is the main section of the Torah and is translated as “Holiness.” Holiness is the level of Bina, the level of absolute, complete ascent above all egoistic desires. Therefore the right fulfillment of all the laws described within it should bring us to a state of bestowal.

Comment: But the system of prohibitions is examined in this section and tells us what will happen if we sin.

Answer: The prohibitions are not in order to scare us. Fear doesn’t help a person. We are made so that nothing can stop us. Moreover, it isn’t about fear of rulers in this world or fear of being punished by the Creator as considered by religions.

This specifies the option of sin and the punishment. We should understand the whole chain of spiritual actions so as to prevent any movement toward sin and to avoid committing acts that are prohibited. It is by such acts that you detach yourself from the ascent and by which you harm no one but yourself.

The correct understanding of the whole system, meaning the entrance, the exit, the inner part of the system, the way it works, etc., isn’t just a condition but the concealed laws of nature, which we don’t feel. Therefore it says, “Don’t behave that way, don’t do that.”

These are basically internal laws, which means they relate to the the desire, the intention, and the mind and heart. They are explicit and relate to the general system of nature, but they are concealed from us and we cannot see them unless we begin to implement them.

We begin to feel part of the laws of nature from birth by trial and error, just like a baby who finds that some things work while others don’t. He looks at others and repeats their actions, gets stuck on something and cries, which means that he gets used to what is allowed and what is forbidden.

There are laws of mutual relations between people that say, “This is allowed and this is forbidden,” but a person still doesn’t see the hidden meaning within them. Gradually, he begins to understand that he can be punished for some things and in regard to others, he is allowed to continue. He begins to realize that some things are not nice, and here the shame, envy, and the desire for control stop him, which means that different desires guide and direct him.

There are also laws that he doesn’t feel at all, when he doesn’t feel giving or bestowal from the environment and society, and these are also laws of nature! These are the laws that the wisdom of Kabbalah teaches us and this is the reason it is called the concealed part of the Torah.

On the whole, these are the same laws and the same morality, but they are felt on a level that humanity has to reach in order to fulfill. Today we have reached a level that we have to fulfill the laws of general life on this planet, which has become a small, all inclusive area.

We see how borders are nullified and no matter where we go, it is the same mass culture everywhere. People are beginning to realize that everything is collective. If there are any unique local characteristics, they do not stem from the depths of history, but are artificially created in order to attract tourists.

We have changed internally and have become cosmopolitan, living in one common space. We preserve what existed before only in order to profit from it. The unique attribute of our times is a pragmatic approach to everything that once seemed holy and that we considered our legacy.

Now we have to keep the laws of unity, but unfortunately, we don’t feel the actual unity, nor living on one planet like one family totally dependent on one another.

The Torah tells us how all of humanity should attain the correct, cooperative life. Previously very few knew the essence of the Torah, but today its revelation to the world in its true light is required.

Thus, the nation that was given the laws that tell us how to live in unity penetrates the nations of the world like a river and begins to raise them to that level. At the same time, we need to constantly remind people that we did not invent these laws, these conventions and customs, and neither did anyone else. They are simply the laws of nature. Now we have simply arrived at a new level of our development from the still, vegetative, and animate levels to the human level.

Before that we lived and grew like animals, instinctively fulfilling what developed within us. Now, however, and despite our animal level, we should consciously begin to somehow get closer to other people even though we are repulsed by it. This is the human level that is opposite in every way from the animal level. This is the level we are now reaching.

Therefore, the Torah is becoming increasingly more relevant today.
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From KabTV’s “The Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/23/14

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We Must Embrace Nature In Order To Move Forward

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe early elections in Israel are accompanied by a serious crisis of confidence between the public and its elected representatives. It is no accident that one of the headlines in the newspapers was “The Knesset has Dissolved.” Yet the members of the Knesset voted for dissolution because they understood that the confidence of the public has dropped in recent years.

The public feels that politicians are cut off from them and this arouses disappointment, especially among young people. Many don’t see a reason for going to vote because they don’t expect any change for the better. Few think that the elections will truly help us solve the issues of housing, the cost of living, social relations, and security.

When people hear the campaign promises, they know that immediately after the elections everyone will forget about them until the next election. All we have left is a feeling of bitterness due to the lack of the ability to influence anything. Even the [Israeli] president recently expressed his concern about people not not going out to vote.

Clearly, a lack of faith in the leadership of the nation and the party that is elected undermines the foundations of democracy and has serious consequences. In the last decade, this phenomenon has spread among many nations in the West. And accordingly, fewer and fewer citizens go to the polls to vote, with the percentage of voters going down by double digits, which is a significant change.

Question: How did we arrive at a situation like this?

Answer: First of all, we must understand that the development of the world is subject to a particular program. Even though we are not aware of it, the course of history indicates this.

Sure, there were prominent figures like Napoleon, Lenin, Hitler, and Einstein who contributed greatly to history. That is, there are people through whom this program has been revealed in the world. But in general, the program continues to work, and it makes no difference who sits in Congress, in the Duma, in the Knesset, in the Majlis, or any other elected parliament.

After all, we are within a system called nature, and to the degree that we investigate it, we discover a rigid immutable law, without any concessions to anyone no matter how much one is sorry or concerned. Ultimately, nature relates simply to the levels of the still, vegetative, animate, and human, and has activated them to bring about a specific purpose from the beginning of creation until its end.

So when we choose people like these or others, it is up to us to understand that, in fact, this doesn’t change the program of nature. Rather what is important is how much these people understand the general program of nature and know how to bring the society to accord with it. This is precisely the place to introduce change, to transform our lives to become easier and more pleasant. This is because if we accommodate ourselves to this program, we will have fewer troubles.

But on the other hand, if we don’t understand the program, or even deny its existence, we will always stumble across unpleasant phenomena. And it is no wonder. Can we go against nature? Because of our lack of knowledge, we try to go against it, and we decided to build Communism and are quick to perform social experiments, but all these steps must be derived from nature. Without recognition of its laws, we are almost surely wrong in all of our activities. As a result, we waste a lot of energy, money, and resources, and, in spite of it all, we cannot realize our programs because they are not adjusted to the program of nature.

Question: What happens when we go against nature?

Answer: We find ourselves in trouble. For example, the politicians suggest completely contradictory solutions and one doesn’t listen to the other, leading us to a crisis. This is not to say that the elected public officials don’t want to or cannot help, but that they don’t bring their programs into coordination with the program of nature. This is particularly so in our time. For in the last 30 to 50 years, humanity has gradually reached a state in which it must intentionally and independently participate in its development. It is up to a person to be aware of the program of nature, to investigate it, and accordingly organize himself and society.

For thousands of years and up until the last half of the previous century, nature didn’t ask us how we wanted to develop and didn’t obligate us to develop according to its goal from an understanding of the program and its purpose. Rather, we were like a herd that advances with the help of blows, problems and pressures of various kinds like natural disasters, wars, social conflicts, the high cost of living, unemployment, family problems, and so forth.

But now we have reached a situation in which we must rise to the level of Adam (Man), who is a creature whose head begins to be similar to the program of nature. He begins to understand and attain creation, and from beginning to end, he sees the causes and effects and the possibility of proper participation in a process that runs through nature. Otherwise, this process will pass over us like a steamroller, “in its time,” and we will have no escape.

Therefore, it is up to us to learn the program and advance through the way of “I will hasten it,” and accordingly we take proactive measures.

This means that we ourselves will change, reaching a level in which we understand what nature demands from us. Then, according to the pressures of nature, we will respond immediately, time after time, and advance in a harmonious embrace with it.

In principle, this approach has been relevant since the end of the 19th century, but from the middle of the previous century, it was necessary and in the last 20 to 30 years, it has become obvious.

As a citizen, who can I vote for? Can I rely on someone when I see that the ritual of elections in the world brings nothing but new problems? Every leader promises that he is ready to help people in every way possible. Let’s say this is right, and he is truly ready, but he doesn’t know how to do it.

So advancement will be in a particular direction that is independent of the prime minister or some president whom we curse. The crisis of confidence among the people towards their leaders is a natural phenomenon. And the problem is not in the leaders themselves. Even if they were truly committed to the people and their welfare, their plans still aren’t feasible.

There is only one way to succeed, and that is if leaders and the people will learn the essence of the question: towards what are we advancing under the pressure of nature? Then we would understand that it could be that it is not worthwhile for us to fight directly against the cost of living, the deterioration of education, the crisis in the family, and against corruption. It could be that we find a solution on an absolutely different plane. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, in such a , we would solely and only take care of the social issue.

Even today in the parties and in many organizations social issues are their top priority. But even if they understand that the leverage found here possesses immense potential, where can they find how to activate it? This is possible only if we open nature up and investigate it deeply.

So, even someone who wants to make changes for the better doesn’t succeed. As usual, the intentions are good, but the actions and their results are the opposite. We see this in regard to the last term of the government. A number of ministers were determined to succeed, but at the end, they entered into such great crisis that today all of the people ridicule and despise them.

The time has come for the people to understand the reason for the despair, why they despise their leaders and why there is a crisis of confidence in those who represent the people. We are already approaching this understanding.

For this, people must know what is really happening. It is up to them to understand that it is not right to punish and reject the politicians who sit in the Knesset, in the government, and in the various organizations. First of all, it is up to us to go back to school and learn the program of nature.

Humanity, and in particular the people of Israel, is entering into a new era. Today we must understand how nature is leading us and toward what goal. What is the shape, pattern, and model that our society must accept; how do we adapt ourselves to it, and accordingly, how must society change year after year?

We will change society ourselves and not through the blows of nature. In today’s situation, people must purposefully participate in these changes.

There is no escaping this. We cannot be released from this burden by holding the leaders and elected representatives accountable. None of them are ready for this task. First of all, it is up to us to learn what nature requires from us. There are people who call this force the divine or higher power because it is higher than us. This is because if a tsunami were to come, it would be beyond our abilities to deal with it. In other words, it is up to us to know how to behave in regard to it.

Our goal is to begin to learn, understand, and become familiar with the situation. This belongs to the officials elected by the people and those who elected them. We will then see which of us are ready to connect. Indeed, studies show that we need to connect “as one person with one heart” and not divide into many camps that devour one another.

There must be a completely opposite trend and a new perception that inspires people who are ready to correctly answer the questions that nature presents to us. In fact, all of the questions that nature places before us are solved through connection.

But if we continue to act according to the old methods, we can expect many more difficult problems than before. For the process is moving forward, and if we still have not adapted to the program of nature, we will endure much more suffering.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/09/14

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Introduction To A New Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The Jewish people are very complicated. On the one hand, they are called “stiff-necked,” meaning that they are the most egoistic. On the other hand, they must achieve and reach love, mutual cooperation, and positive qualities. How are these integrated together? How do people look that have a connection with the higher power?

Answer: People who are connected with the higher power are unique people. They are connected as one person with one heart thanks to mutual love above the ego that separates us. There are forces among us that distance us from each other, but instead of staying separate, we connect above those forces.

That is, we are under pressure from forces of separation and build unifying forces above them. That is how we strengthen ourselves under tension. Thanks to the separation and difference between these potentials, an enormous force appears within us.

After all, there is a force that separates us from our desire to be together and another force that connects us and overcomes our resistance. As much as the tension between these forces grows, the more strongly they reveal to us the higher power, the Creator. He is discovered specifically within this pressure, in the tension between the two forces.

Within this unity and connection that is built above the separation, we discover the higher power, the characteristic of bestowal and love that exists around us. From these two forces of separation and connection we shape a new sense for discovering the Creator called the “soul.”

The soul is the condition for detecting the force of bestowal and love that is hidden in nature. Today we haven’t discovered it because we don’t have the necessary sense organ to do so. If  we  want to discover it, we need to learn like the people who gathered around Abraham did who were taught to construct this new sense based upon great separation. Those who came to Abraham were not naïve children; rather, they were great egoists demanding real explanations and discovery, an understanding of the meaning of life and the ways of attaining reality.

We see that our civilization has exhausted itself: We have reached the peak of development, but have not yet attained happiness. We are beginning to tear each other apart from desperation, from misunderstanding.

It was Abraham who taught people how to discover the force of connection that exists in nature. By studying this force of connection and unity, we begin to see that our lives on the face of the earth, in this world, are only an introduction, a preparation, for a completely different life!

In this new life we stop feeling the world of the still, vegetative, and animate, physical objects and bodies, and this universe. We understand  that we have come into this world only to create a network of connections between us built from our natural power of reception, from the ego, and from the bestowal and love from above that covers it.

Through our building a network like this, we begin to live within it. And this is called the “world to come.” It is then that the perception of our previous physical reality, which we now feel, will disappear and we will enter into a completely different reality in which life is eternal, infinite, and perfect.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/25/14

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The Departure Of 2014

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: What are we leaving behind in 2014, and have we advanced during this past year towards building a more just society in Israel?

Answer: I think that good changes took place in Israel. People finally began to realize that we cannot expect positive changes from anyone but from ourselves.

If we begin to get closer to each other to better understand each other and unite, in this we will find the key to salvation, greater strength and greater justice.

After all, by uniting we can solve practically all problems, even up to the level of security problems. Everyone was talking about this for several months after the operation “Protective Edge.”

I feel that this year was something special. Even the people of Israel are beginning to say that unity is power.

And today, when the people of Israel are preparing for elections, I see that what prevails are not questions of security and finance, but questions of people’s unity. Although the politicians try to raise these questions in order to direct people at what is beneficial to them, instead the people ask, “What is happening to us, why are we today still in a fragmented state?”

Who Should We Elect?

Question: Which events of the past year could you define as the most joyful and the most terrible?

Answer: I judge a little differently than everyone else because I look at what is happening in terms of the system that manages this world. I think that it was a pretty good year. Peoples’ minds started to change radically. People began to understand that they cannot expect any favors from anywhere.

Question: Even from the politicians who are faced with new elections? How do you relate to them?

Answer: In no way. I know that it is not in their power to do something good for their people, and people rely on them because they do not understand that to be a politician means to be the greatest egoist. Indeed, our entire society is purely egoistical.

And those who reach such a height, by using others as stepping stones, are the greatest egoists. Therefore, we cannot expect anything from them. Maybe before the election, they will remember the people, but in principle, they think only about those who support them in order for them to remain in power longer. So, I do not see anything new in their flirting with the people before the election.

I see the results of the departing year not in terms of the politicians’ actions, but in how much we were able to explain to people what the wisdom of Kabbalah is, what it says, how it sees the future of humanity, and how through it, we can truly manage the world.

Indeed, politicians rule over nothing and no one. It was even said in the Torah that the hearts of the rulers of the world are in the hands of the Creator. Therefore, it is unreasonable to link our future with them.

But the people, to the extent of the connection between them, can really change their destiny. But it depends on their unity.

Anti-Semitism Forces Us to Listen

Question: During this year, how much did you manage to do for the unity of the people? What goals do you consider fulfilled and which are not?

Answer: This year we achieved good relations with Jewish organizations around the world. Since anti-Semitism put serious pressure on the Jews living abroad, many Jewish communities began to listen to us.

Previously, this had not happened. But due to increased anti-Semitism, they changed their attitude towards us because they saw how effectively we work with the masses.

In September of this year, we visited the American Jewish Congress. Prior to that, I appeared on several US television channels, had an interview with Larry King, the main subject of which was anti-Semitism. This is a very sore subject, especially for him.

It comes down to the role of Jews in the world: how they will be able to play a positive role in it and protect themselves from growing anti-Semitism.

Also this year, prestigious newspapers in England, France, Germany, Italy, the US, Canada, and other leading countries of the world published my article “Who Are You, People of Israel?”

This is also a breakthrough, after which it is much easier for us to speak to the press. Now, Time magazine is waiting for our next article and other publishing houses have offered space for our publications in their newspapers.

What Does the Well-being of the World Depend On?

Question: Why did the interest of the world’s key publications in your materials appear this year?

Answer: In principle, the world is in a state of deadlock and no one has a plan of action. We see that governments of all countries do not know what to do.

They are trying to find some reasonable path in the world and humanity’s existence. But neither philosophy nor science gives an answer. Everything humans are engaged in is in a strange state of crisis.

The crisis is a very interesting phenomenon. At first, it appeared to be more or less clear, but now it is not. The problem is that humanity has not risen above its egoism, and here a manifestation of the crisis occurs at different levels: in the collapse of the family, the falling birth rate, unemployment, and in the general decline in all spheres of human activity.

There are no happy countries. On the contrary, everything is disintegrating and gradually crumbling like a house of cards. The well-being of the world depends on how well we start to interact with each other and with nature. This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah tells us.
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From KabTV’s “The New Year” 12/25/14

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About Elections And The Great Benefit Of Unity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Naturally there are many political parties and many opinions in every country, but the constant struggle between them over power harms society. How can people who have different opinions be united so that they can work together?

Answer: Unity is possible only among people who have a common goal, such as the wellbeing of society or the actual existence of the country, which is stronger than any disagreements and self-interests. If we are under an enemy attack and there is an external threat, we all unite, thus forgetting the hatred we felt towards one another previously. It is because the external threat extinguishes all our differences and we all fight against a common enemy.

But the moment the war is over and we have managed to defeat the enemy and remove the threat, our ego wakes up and once again we begin to fight with one another.

Question: How is it possible to unite in the absence of an external threat, in peacetime, despite the differences between us and the disputes over different opinions and interests.

Answer: This is possible if we see such a great advantage in unity that without it, our lives would be doomed to absolute failure just like when facing a ruthless enemy. In that case, we will be able to unite all the political parties into one.

We can either be saved from one of two things: either to be saved from a common disaster or looking forward to a great benefit that is perceived to be greater than our lives otherwise it would be impossible to unite. This means that people will fight for what is most crucial for them, and will see it as the greatest success in his life.

People should realize that without unity, everything will be ruined. However, this is currently possible only when there is an external threat in the time of war. If one of the major parties wins an election, like in America, for example, where there are Democrats and Republicans, the victory of one party means that the other party has lost, and they can only unite in order to defeat a common enemy.

But such unity can be sustained only on one condition. The moment it is clear that the enemy has been defeated, the struggle between them would immediately restart. In order for them to unite not under the fear of an external threat, they must be shown that there is a lot to gain, a bright future that promises unity and the end of a destructive struggle.

It is due to their overcoming their quarrel and coming to mutual agreement that they can reach a special level of life, pleasure, honor, power, profit, and the greatest gains.

A person must see a great advantage in unity. He will agree to it only if he worries about his existence in the face of an enemy or in expecting a huge gain through unity.

Therefore, people must be introduced to integral education so that they will see that by behaving in a certain manner, by suppressing the ego and uniting with others in order to work together, they will all receive an amazing infinite gain.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/23/14

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The War To Attain The Light

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom Rabash, Volume 1, “The Miracle of Chanukah”: The Greek domination is opposite from the Jewish way. The matter of the Greeks means that they work only within reason, which means in the heart and the mind. Clearly at a time when the nation of Israel wanted to work above reason and disregard what the external mind obliges us to do, they couldn’t do so.

This is called the Greeks’ war, which is when the real work begins, which means that the nation of Israel wants to get on the track that leads to adhesion with the Creator. This path is called faith above reason. The Greeks, however, want to control the body, so that it would not give up anything if the mind doesn’t agree to it.

Indeed there are many materials in the wisdom of Kabbalah that are consistent with reason, logic, and a rational approach. Take Baal HaSulam’s articles about nature for example, about the upper Providence and the system of the upper worlds.

When we explain that to scientists and intelligent science lovers they are thrilled and immediately declare that it isn’t about religion but first-class science. Science is based on intelligent understanding, rational analysis, and facts. Science offers the opportunity for debates, research, and data analysis. How does that go along with faith above reason?

According to our current logic, the scientific approach is right and justified. But when we want to transcend the boundaries of the human mind and feelings, to expand them to greater dimensions above time, motion, space and above the sciences of this world, which are based on corporeal thoughts and feelings, there is no one with whom we can argue in our rational search for the truth.

In order to ascend, we must first connect new vessels of perception to our natural vessels. Expanding the mind requires special actions on our part, and here we should listen to the advice of Kabbalists who achieved this themselves and tell us how we should act.

If I want to enter a new dimension, above my human mind and feelings and to acquire new vessels of perception, I have to work against my nature. After all, I aspire for the “space” of the desire to bestow, and so I have to develop vessels of bestowal, which I don’t have.

The whole Torah, which means the Kabbalistic method, is meant for that. It is only in these new vessels that I will be able to perceive the upper reality, to understand and attain the forces, plans, programs, and reasons for everything that also happens in my world.

I discover these new attributes and everything that takes place in them according to my advancement in formatting the vessels that operate in order to bestow and not in order to receive. Thus I learn the actions of the upper force, which we call the Creator, since this force created my corporeal world.

I live in the corporeal world and at the same time develop additional vessels of bestowal that operate in an opposite manner. In this way, I discover the upper world and advance towards a perfect, eternal reality. I fight so as not to stay on the corporeal level but to ascend to the human level, to resemble the Creator.

I have to acquire vessels on the way, the attributes and discernments that are totally in bestowal, which means that they resemble the Creator. All the wars fought in order to ascend and to format ourselves on the new level that resembles the Creator are called God’s wars and we conduct them in order to get closer to the Creator and adhere to Him.

Some of these wars are Maccabean wars when a person concentrates his powers and tries to adhere to the Upper Light by connecting to other people who want to reach the same goal, despite his ego. This connection is so strong that the attribute of bestowal is revealed within it. The connection between them is ignited by itself and burns like the burning bush that burned before Moses’ eyes.

This is a totally internal war and its only goal is to transcend the forces of separation and to reach connection in which we will discover the Light for the first time. In other words, using the terminology of Chanukah, we will find the jug of oil for the candles and it will bring us the Light.
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From the Lesson “The Importance of Chanukah” 12/18/14

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