News Story: Cultural Tolerance for Divorce Grows to 70%

The Gallup service published the results of a traditional survey where Americans were asked to evaluate the moral acceptability of various actions. The survey results show that U.S. residents regard divorce as the most morally acceptable act from the list, while adultery receives the most disapproval.

My Comment: Why is it considered “moral” to break up a family and separate its children in order to satisfy people’s individuality, their egoism? It’s because the society that judges such values as morally acceptable is the same society that places most of its value on the individual. Simply put, divorce and destroying the family is much easier than building the family and developing it, so people view divorce as being something normal.

On the other hand, animalistic affairs, relationships without any deep feelings that are forgotten about as soon as they’re over with, and that take place much more often than divorce, are for some reason looked upon as being the most morally unacceptable acts.

Is this a high level of morality? Is it self deception? Or is it a special institution in a deceitful society? It’s quite possible that any kind of a moral evaluation of behavior has been replaced by whatever people find most convenient. In this same manner, all the “honest” men and their “faithful” wives together scoffed at Clinton! Could it be that people really can’t judge themselves properly? People’s egoism blinds them.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Avalanche of Divorces Can Only be Stopped by the Ultimate Reward
Kabbalah Today Article: Man, Woman and the Snake Between Them

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Two questions I received on the worldwide dissemination of Kabbalah:

Question: At a recent lesson, you said that it’s important to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah to the nations of the world, to people who live in America, Russia, and Europe. Is it also important to disseminate Kabbalah to Muslims, both distant and near?

My Answer: Of course it is, and in addition, there are many points of contact for doing so. The problem is that there is a wave of aggressive Islam sweeping over the world today, but nevertheless we have students from Arabic countries. Obviously we don’t reveal their identities, besides our friends from Turkey. We have a practical website in Arabic, and there are lessons translated to Arabic. Several people in the central Bnei Baruch group are fluent in Arabic and they disseminate Kabbalah in Arabic, as well as in Persian.

Question: Do you think that now is the most appropriate time to disseminate Kabbalah newspapers in China?

My Answer: I think that we should put disseminating in China on hold for now. For the time being, I have a book being published there.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: Echoes of the Future
Kabbalah Today Article: The Freedom to Know – an Interview with Michael Laitman
Kabbalah Today Article: Time to Act
Lesson: Baal HaSulam’s Article “Time to Act” [56:07]
Lesson: Baal HaSulam’s Article “Time to Act” [56:07]

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The vanity of modern life, the myriad changes and trips, and abundant opportunities of communication, do not solve the problem of loneliness. It’s becoming more and more difficult to make new acquaintances, especially in order to create a family. About half of the people living in cities live alone, a tendency that’s only growing.

In the era of total freedom, it has become harder to make new acquaintances. Globalization and individualization are leading to a disintegration of social networks. Cell phones and the Internet are increasing the distance between people. People are increasingly communicating anonymously and virtually, instead of meeting face to face.

This is only the beginning of the expression of egoism – a cancerous tumor that is consuming us little by little. It is digging its own grave, as written, “Egoism is a help against you,” and “The Pharaoh will bring us closer to the Creator.”

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: You Have a New Message 🙂
Kabbalah Today Article: Facebook – What’s All the Fuss?
Kabbalah Today Article: Second Life – Better than the Virtual World!?
Kabbalah Blog Post: The Internet Prison – the Influence of the Internet on Our Lives

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A question I received: Why are there still so many conflicts between representatives of different ethnic and religious groups? Sometimes even the official religious communities support these aggressive views and actions. What is it about people that makes them want to practice superiority over other nations and ethnic groups, and to do all this in the name of the Almighty?

My Answer: Religions were created after Kabbalah became concealed, by people who fell into egoism. These people took Kabbalistic ideals and passed them off as their own. They couldn’t, however, abide by these ideals, and as such, they could only instruct others to uphold them by threatening them with punishment in the world to come.

Because of how egoism provokes mutual hatred in people, all religions mutually hate one another, but they conceal their hatred, and on the surface, summon the world to peace and love. However, they’ve never had an aspiration for peace and love, and if it were in their power to do so, we would still be destroying each other in religious wars, following their call to make them stronger, like we’ve done in the past.

Related Posts:
The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
The Cracks in the Floor of Supposition, and the Firm Base of Attainment
What Is Religion?
Religions are Expressions of Culture, Not Absolute Higher Knowledge
More Muslims than Catholics
The Solution to the Clash of Civilizations

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Earth & Universe, a web portal containing information on the global crisis and fundamental issues of existence, sent me a questionnaire as part of an effort to gather answers from people recognized in certain fields on various pressing global questions. The following is the questionnaire with my answers:

What is the most important thing to you in life?
Disseminating the method of correcting egoism throughout the world. Man’s egoism is the root of all the evil in the world, and only its correction will bring people happiness.

In your opinion, what is the meaning of life?
The meaning of every person’s life is to correct oneself – to attain love toward everything around you.

Do you believe in evolution? Why or why not?
I believe that human beings evolved from apes, as explained by ancient Kabbalistic sources written long before Darwin. However, this evolution was not triggered by spontaneous, natural development of apes, but rather because this species of animals had initially contained informational data about the species that would develop out of it in the future – the human.

Do you believe in UFOs?
It’s possible that there is life outside Earth, but I won’t believe in it until it is discovered and ascertained as a fact. As a scientist, I rely only on facts.

In your opinion, what or who is the reason for the existence of pedophiles, homeless children, hunger, hatred, war, terrorism, corruption, poverty, national and religious extremism, and other forms of injustice? And why has no one been able to defeat these evils?
All the evil that exists in the world is caused by human nature. Throughout history, man’s egoism has constantly increased and developed, urging man to develop society, and to master and rule the surrounding environment. We don’t have the power or means to tame our egoism on our own.

What can save the planet from ecological disaster?
Our planet can be saved from ecological disaster only by changing our attitude to the environment, people and nature – from hatred and the desire to use everything for our own narrow benefit, to universal bestowal and love.

Over two million people from 57 countries currently study with the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute. Our daily lessons and broadcasts are simultaneously translated into nine languages. We have to create a committee for saving the planet as soon as possible, and gain access to the mass media in order to provide education to everyone on the planet about the correct way to co-exist.

How do you see the future of the world and humanity, and what would you like it to be?
In the future, all people will clearly discover that they are absolutely connected elements of a single system, dependent on each other like cogwheels within one mechanism. As a result, all of their actions and thoughts will be determined by the total inter-dependence that they will have revealed. This will compel everyone to reach a common opinion, plan and action to transform the world.

What’s your favorite quote?
Life is possible only on the condition that there is full harmony among all its parts, just like in a single, whole organism. This is defined by the Biblical verse, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.” This verse is not talking about a high moral level, but the law of life’s existence.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: The Freedom to Know – An Interview with Michael Laitman
Laitman.com Post: 7 Ways to Approach Globalization Correctly
Article: A Kabbalistic Interpretation of the Economic Crisis
Lecture: A United New Civilization – given by Michael Laitman at the 4th World Spirit Forum
Lecture: A United New Civilization (transcript)
Article: Crisis and Resolution
Article: Hope for Peace

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The Corrected Society
Accepting the law, “Love your friend as yourself,” word for word.
Just division of the profits so each will work according to ability and will receive according to need.
Public opinion should be based on “Love your friend as yourself,” so one who receives more than one’s needs will be considered a killer.

Transformation
The will to receive, imprinted in every creature, is in disparity of form from the Creator. Hence, one’s soul is separated from Him, since disparity of form separates in spirituality. It is therefore clear that what the Creator wants of us is equivalence of form, at which time we will cling to Him once more, as prior to our creation.

This is why Kabbalists said that one must cleave to the attributes of the Creator – “as He is merciful, so you are merciful” – so all our actions will be only to bestow upon our fellow person to the best of our ability. This is how we achieve the goal of cleaving to the Creator, equalizing with Him.

What one must do for oneself, in the necessary measure for the sustenance of oneself and one’s family, is not considered disparity of form, since “necessity is neither praised nor condemned.”
All these conditions will arise in the days of the Messiah. And when they accept this lesson we will be awarded complete redemption. [Read more →]

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The following is a translation of an article about the global food crisis that was recently published in one of Israel’s leading newspapers, Yediot Aharonot:

What Does a Fallow Year Have to Do with Rice?

Next Sabbath we are going to read Parashat BaHar (a weekly Torah portion), which deals with one of the most ancient and complex precepts that were entrusted with the people of Israel – the precept of a fallow year. Once every seven years the people of Israel are commanded to rest from cultivating the fields and leave the fruit to whoever wishes to pick it. What will we eat in the eighth year? The answer is that in the sixth year there will be enough crops to feed on, and even in the ninth year.

It may be symbolic that precisely on a fallow year, when we are promised to have no shortage, we are facing the beginning of a serious global food crisis. Even if we overlook media spins, which were probably meant to raise the price of rice, we cannot keep ignoring the fact that the American and global economy are already in a deep crisis. This crisis is likely to plunge us all into a deep recession, affect the structure of society, and shake relationships between various nations and economies.

But what is causing this crazy turbulence, and how do we curb the erosion? Or in other words, what does a fallow year have to do with the stock market in Chicago? Here is the gist of the Kabbalistic explanation to the crisis, along with suggestions for a solution.

In economy, just as with any social system, interdependence is the name of the game. Crises where one factor “infects” others and brings the market to the verge of collapse are part of the symptoms of modern economic globalization. However, the attempt to predict economic crises using sophisticated models has failed time after time. It turns out, that the economic system cannot be controlled or predicted accurately, and an action in one place causes far reaching changes in other, unexpected places. [Read more →]

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News Story: Vatican – It’s OK to Believe in Aliens

“‘Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God,’ the Vatican’s chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones … Funes said that such a notion ‘doesn’t contradict our faith’ because aliens would still be God’s creatures.

Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo’s persecution four hundred years ago, saying the incident has ’caused wounds.’

In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.

‘The church has somehow recognized its mistakes,’ he said. ‘Maybe it could have done it better, but now it’s time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration.'”

My Response: Kabbalah says that relative us and this program of actions, we are the only ones in the universe. This is because humanity constitutes one created soul, and by attaining ourselves and the Upper World within this soul, we discover that we are united into one whole with the Creator. We cannot discover any more than this (see the related material below on the attainment of reality). It explains that everything we attain, everything we perceive as existing, is what we reveal inside us, and anything we don’t feel remains outside us, as if it is nonexistent. Everything exists relative the observer. The religions will experience such setbacks again and again, because they are based on suppositions rather than attainment.

Related Material:
TV Program: Perception of Reality – Lesson 1 of 2 (25 min)
TV Program: Perception of Reality – Lesson 2 of 2 (25 min)
Article: Baal HaSulam on Our Perception of Reality
Article: “I Saw a Reversed World” – What Is Reality? How Do We Perceive It?
eBook: Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life

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News Story: Inmate Count in the U.S. Dwarfs Other Nations

Information released in this recent article on U.S. inmate count in comparison with other countries’:

* The U.S. has less than 5 percent of the world’s population, but almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners

* The U.S. has 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation

* China, which is four times more populous than the United States, is a distant second, with 1.6 million people in prison

* The only other major industrialized nation that even comes close is Russia, with 627 prisoners for every 100,000 people

* Americans are locked up for crimes that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. In 1980, there were about 40,000 people in American jails and prisons for drug crimes. These days, there are almost 500,000.

‘The simple truth is that imprisonment works,’ wrote Kent Scheidegger and Michael Rushford of the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation in The Stanford Law and Policy Review. ‘Locking up criminals for longer periods reduces the level of crime. The benefits of doing so far offset the costs’

* The reason for the crime? “It could be related to economies that are more capitalistic and political cultures that are less social democratic than those of most European countries,” Mr. Tonry wrote. “Or it could have something to do with the Protestant religions with strong Calvinist overtones that were long influential.”

The American character – self-reliant, independent, judgmental – also plays a role.

“America is a comparatively tough place, which puts a strong emphasis on individual responsibility,” Mr. Whitman of Yale wrote. “That attitude has shown up in the American criminal justice of the last thirty years.”

My Comment: All the world’s pains are in one country.

Related Material:
What Follows American Dominion?
America – Optimistic, and Why?
Who’s the Judge?

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News Story: UN Urges Biofuel Investment Halt

“The UN’s new top adviser on food, Olivier de Schutter, has urged a freeze on biofuel investment, saying the blind pursuit of the policy is ‘irresponsible.’ He also wants curbs on investors whose speculation is, he says, driving food prices higher.

UN officials liken the rise in food prices to a silent tsunami, threatening 100 million of the world’s poorest.”

My Response: What comes to mind is “Cannons instead of butter!” – Goebbels’ proclamation in his 1937 New Year’s Eve speech. As usual, we’ve wanted to do what’s best, and it’s turned out like it always has. Furthermore, we will continue ending up with unfavorable results every time, because our egoistic intentions are in disharmony with the force of Nature controlling us. While aiming ourselves egoistically, any “good initiative” we can come up with is destined to fail from the start, and moreover, as a result of our “great minds” and “good intentions” throughout history (since the time of Ancient Babylon), we are today witnessing an avalanche of collapses all at once.

It’s time to realize that we can no longer act against Nature. On the contrary, we need to study Nature and act in harmony with it. For this purpose, Kabbalah reveals Nature’s Upper Governing Force to us.

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