Opinion (Andrew Walker, BBC World Service economics correspondent): “More than five years after the onset of the financial crisis, you might have thought economic policy makers would know what to do next.

“Well they don’t. Or at the very least, there is nothing like the kind of consensus that prevailed before the financial crisis. …

“There were plenty of ideas for sure. But this is how the IMF’s chief economist Olivier Blanchard put it at the end of the conference: “‘We don’t have a sense of our final destination… Where we end I really don’t have much of a clue.’”

My Comment: This is the beginning of insight. It is now possible to search for the true cause of the crisis and then for its solution. More and more people realize that the problem is not in economic policy, but in the human being himself—or rather in our relationships, and even more precisely in the fact that we, society, exist in a completely interconnected, integral world. However, we do not correspond to the structure of the world because we remain egoists, protectionists, who compete with each other.

The single system of the world that manifests today requires us to be in complete cooperation. Of course, through its development, the crisis will lead us to the realization of the need to unite all the nations and countries, but it will be a long and dramatic path. We must learn from nature its interconnection and emulate it. The method of Integral Upbringing exists for this purpose. It will help us create the right relationship between us quickly and easily and thus eliminate the crisis.
[106045]

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Opinion: (David Griggs, Director of the Monash Sustainability Institute [MSI], Australia): “Albert Einstein once said that if he had just one hour to find a solution on which his life depended, he would spend the first 55 minutes defining the problem. Once he knew the right question to ask, he could solve the problem in less than five minutes.

“Today, humanity faces such a life-threatening problem: How are we to provide adequate nutrition and a decent quality of life to a global population that is set to surpass nine billion by 2050, without irreparably damaging our planetary life-support system? To find a solution, we must start by clarifying the problem.

“The process of identifying the Sustainable Development Goals, which are intended to enter into force in 2015, has begun in earnest. Last week, representatives from 69 countries met at the UN in New York, and an expert group meets this week. …

“This week, my colleagues and I published a report called Sustainable Development Goals for People and Planet, which outlines what is required. We identified six universal goals for sustainable development: lives and livelihoods, food security, water sustainability, clean energy, healthy ecosystems, and good governance. … Genuine progress in any of the six target areas will require a comprehensive approach, with policies that span the economic, social, and environmental domains.”

My Comment: It seems to me that these people didn’t act like Einstein; otherwise, they would have discovered the cause of the crisis, which has not been uncovered yet. It is in the egoistic nature of man. And it needs to be corrected. Without this, no aspect of the crisis will disappear. The objectives are correct, but there are no solution to them. And a reminder to identify the cause indicates that now, by referring  to Einstein, they can ponder about the cause of the problem as long as they want, without rushing to solve it….
[105537]

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In the News (from Global Post): “Unemployment in Arab countries rose to 16 percent in 2012 following the revolts which erupted the previous year, Arab Labour Organisation chief Ahmed Mohamed Luqman announced on Sunday.

“‘The unemployment level in the Arab world was 14 percent in 2010, which translates to 17 million people out of work,’ Luqman said in Algiers.

“‘This increased by two points by the end of 2012 to 16 percent, or 20 million people unemployed,’ the ALO director general added.

“Luqman said the upheavals that swept the Arab world in 2011 and 2012 had caused the rise, particularly because of a plunge in foreign investments and the number of tourists visiting the region.”

My Comment: Only after the elite and the peoples of these countries realize that what is happening is inter-Arab conflict will they be able to change their state. The migration of young people, the best productive force, to non-Arab countries weakens their homeland. The takeover of Europe can become a boomerang. The world is round, mutually dependent, global, and integral. It’s neccessary to take this into account!
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Question: What can you say about the Independence Day that the nation of Israel is celebrating?

Answer: If we are speaking about Israel, we are not independent. On the contrary, we absolutely depend on our neighbors, on America, and on the entire world. In general, today, no nation is independent. On the contrary, we see how much they all depend upon each other.

So, what is true independence? It means that we have attained a good unification between us. The better this unification, the more independent each will feel within it. If one has good relationships with others, they don’t oblige him to do something that he doesn’t want to do, and he also behaves in this way with them. Therefore, logically, everyone is independent and yet interconnected.

Today we are already unable to cut off ties between us. The world has become like a closed system, all its parts are connected, and it’s impossible to sever this connection even with the help of world wars. Mutual dependence will remain and only grow.

So what are we going to do? The answer is the same: Only a good connection between us will give us all a feeling of independence, even though all of us absolutely depend upon each other like cells or organs in one body. It is possible to feel independent only when there is a mutual balance, when we understand that belonging to the system is a constant search for harmony and complementarity between us.

A healthy person doesn’t feel his body. A healthy body makes it possible for us to act at full force, without any limits. In a good connection, too, we will free ourselves of any limitations and find our independence. This is the only possibility, there simply is no other.

If some nation supposes that by rising above others it will become more independent, the opposite is true: It becomes more dependent on all. The best example is the United States, which is immersed in various conflicts and confrontations, and is unable to get out of a tangle of problems. This “concern about the world” costs the United States many billions, and they cannot rid themselves of this until they understand that it is necessary to correct relationships with everybody. This is exactly what the United State, as a great power, should take care of. Namely Americans have to introduce integral education to the world. Otherwise, they can expect trouble from the entire world.

In fact, the entire world is one family, and in every good family, there is a head that is concerned about everyone and takes care of them. This is a simple rule.

Baal HaSulam writes in the essay, “Peace in the World”:

“Do not be surprised if I mix together the well-being of a particular collective with the well-being of the whole world because indeed, we have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society. Meaning, because each person in the world draws his life’s marrow and his livelihood from all the people in the world, he is coerced to serve and care for the well-being of the whole world. …

We should not discuss further something that is known to all, and the aforesaid is only to show the drawback, the place that needs correction, and that is that each and every individual will understand that his own benefit and the benefit of the collective are one and same thing. In that, the world will come to its full correction.”
[105156]
From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, “The Israeli Nation”

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In the News (from the United Nations): “On 20 March, the first ever International Day of Happiness will be celebrated worldwide. The day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly to promote happiness as a universal goal and aspiration in the lives of people around the globe.

“The initiative to declare a day of happiness came from the Kingdom of Bhutan – a country whose Gross National Happiness Index takes the view that sustainable development should take a holistic approach towards progress and give equal importance to non-economic aspects of well-being.

“The International Day of Happiness recognizes the efforts of other nations and groups who work to measure prosperity that go beyond material wealth. By designating a special day for happiness, the UN aims to focus world attention on the idea that economic growth must be inclusive, equitable, and balanced, such that it promotes sustainable development and alleviates poverty. …

“In addition, a special event arranged at UN Headquarters on 19 March at 6 pm, will also mark this occasion. There will be a launch of the audio book by Sri Chinmoy, Founder of the Peace Meditation at the United Nations. …

“Ban Ki-moon affirms that, ‘On this first International Day of Happiness, let us reinforce our commitment to inclusive and sustainable human development and renew our pledge to help others. When we contribute to the common good, we ourselves are enriched. Compassion promotes happiness and will help build the future we want.’”

My Comment: Like everything that humanity creates, the UN is a representation of our egoism…
[104763]

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The location of the land of Israel is initially a desire that belongs to the nations of the world. As a corporeal result of the spiritual root, a group called the nation of Israel comes to this land and conquers it, freeing it from the peoples who are living in it so that it can be called the land of Israel.

This happens thanks to the connection of the corporeal branches with the spiritual root, since otherwise we would have no right to exist on this land and no right to inherit the land. Only if we are adapted to this land in the spiritual sense and are worthy of it according to our correction can we live on it.

Thus, Baal HaSulam says that in our world we have received the state of Israel as an opportunity from Above. First we come to the land of Israel totally unprepared and not united as the real Israeli nation. By constantly going through the correction on the account of a person’s work, the correction of the intention, through this, he could come and conquer the desire called the land of Israel.

This is what happened with the group of Abraham who left Babylon and who later returned to this land after the exodus from Egypt. Before that there was the gathering before Mt. Sinai and the forty years of exile in the desert, and then the wars of conquering this land, the land of Israel and the areas around it that were part of the conquests of King David.

But it was all on the condition that they first corrected the human level in them and then the rest of the lower levels. It is because the intention precedes the desire: First the desire should be corrected and then it conquers the intention and dominates it.

It is the desire that is called human or the nation of Israel. When the desire is corrected after the intention in all its levels of the still, vegetative, and animate nature, it is called the land of Israel.

So in the past we came prepared for the corporeal actions on this land and then after having conquered it we called it the land of Israel. But this time we return totally unprepared internally. Therefore, these wars are not in order to conquer the Holy Land, not in order to free it from the ego, but rather an opportunity to discover the need for the correction of man. To the extent that we correct ourselves, we will really receive our land of Israel.

Otherwise, it will never be ours. If we are late in our correction, we will hear more and more complaints from the nations of the world, from those who are next to us and those who are far from us, claiming that this land doesn’t belong to us. It will be very difficult to stand against that, and no one will listen to our excuses since they are really very weak. We will not be able to convince anyone with excuses about events that took place two thousand years ago, and if the nations of the world start to blame us, it will make a big noise all over the world.

There is a feeling that this place doesn’t really belong to us, among the nations of the world and also among the Jews themselves. It is because the corporeal branch should reflect the spiritual root, and so far, we have not been awarded with a connection to the root. Therefore, the nations of the world don’t feel our connection to the land.

We were given such a chance from Above once, and we were hopeful and so were the nations of the world; there was a kind of an illumination. But unfortunately during the last decades of the existence of the state of Israel this illumination has disappeared. I have not heard anyone, except for the Bnei Baruch group, crying out for the spiritual correction of the Israeli nation and for the corporeal correction.
[105069]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/15/13, Writings of Baal Hasulam “Inheritance of the Land”

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Question: I want to ask in regard to your blog post “The Israeli Nation In The Modern World” posted on December 6, 2012 at 12:23 pm. What is the root of your negative attitude towards American Jews? After everything Jews have gone through, you say we cannot even call these people Jewish? Despite the fact that almost all Jews living in the US came from Europe and their grandparents suffered in the Holocaust, yet you say they cannot be called Jewish?

On the one hand, Kabbalah does not blame a person for his desires, yet somehow American Jews are to blame for not living in Israel, or not being focused enough on Israel? Keep in mind, the majority of American Jews have never even been to Israel and don’t know nothing about it because their ancestors as emigrated from Europe to the US before the State of Israel was established. Are you only a Jew if you live in Israel? Why don’t you mention of Russian Jews, or French Jews, or anything else, only American Jews.

What do you see as the duty of American Jews from the spiritual point of view? What must they do to not receive such an attitude from you? Must they all move to Israel and then they will be Jews in your eyes? Please give some insight to all this. This is one of many times you have expressed such an attitude toward American Jews. At least in my eyes, as a Jew from America (whatever my opinion is worth), these comments have been hurtful, frustrating, and made without any explanation whatsoever. Thank you.

Answer: Kabbalah does not blame, but points to a person’s mission in this world. And importantly, the mission of the Jews is to correct the world; the mission has not been canceled. And the fact that the majority of Jews do not know about it, it is the task of Kabbalah to give them this knowledge.

After all, a phrase that lawyers are so fond of, “Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it,” is true, as it is also true with respect to the laws of nature. And the mission of the Jewish people in this world is the law of nature.

The roots of the attitude toward the American Jews is that living in the most egoistic country of our world, they actively promote conservation, ossification of the egoism of this type, and precisely in our time, when persistent support of the egoistic basis of relationships between people leads the entire world toward death.

That is why, despite the fact that the majority of Jews do not live in the land of Israel, because of the key role of the US in the system of the egoistic relationships in our world, namely the American Jews are reproached.

As it is known, in the system that is in a transitional phase of development, like now with human civilization, the range of actions is sharply reduced and clearly indicates the place of the application of forces in order to bring the system to the next, sustainable, better state with minimal losses. This requires very little effort to be applied in the right direction.

That is why the spiritual duty of American Jews is to get acquainted with the method of integral education and upbringing, to understand its meaning quickly and correctly. You have to keep in direct contact with us to clarify and verify the meaning, content, and purpose of the method, and implement it in your life and of the society you live in.

Let’s face it. The American Jews have recently become active opponents of Israel as they want to gain legitimacy and approval of anti-Semites. They become more active in this than non-Jews. They want to hide from their origin in every possible way.

I grew up in a hostile environment and know how it goes. I also understand them when they justify their opposition to Zionism in every way. What they had just 20-30 years ago has gone. Today, they are no longer the descendants of Holocaust survivors; they are the people who want to erase it from history. If I were in their place, I would have become like them.

I do not blame them, do not call upon them to come to Israel; I just wish for them to know about their purpose and predetermined mission and destiny, which they cannot escape. They must unite according to the laws of nature, in the property of bestowal, mutual guarantee, and to set an example to other American nations, not to be absorbed as the German Jews wanted to at one time, but on the contrary, to unite and be an example, the light for the nations in the exit from the crisis.

Anyone who decides to move to Israel should know that simply moving his body and possessions here will change little. If you come to live in Israel, bring here the demand to change to the people of this state, to unite and realize the words of the prophets. Require them to change the basis of their lives because Israelites listen to the opinion of “America”; teach them that.
[104055]

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Question: The method of the integral education is one of the ways to convey the wisdom of Kabbalah. However, most people who study the wisdom of Kabbalah don’t understand how it is related to the wisdom. For them the two exist separately: the inner work and the method of the integral education.

Answer: But don’t we engage in the method of the integral education between us? After all, in order to reveal the upper world we fulfill it on ourselves, we hold workshops, conventions, friends’ meetings, we hug and dance together, study the articles of Rabash about the society and about the work in the group.

We do the same thing, but for us there is an additional part that unifies our connection, the general connection to the system that is called the “Ten Sefirot” or a “soul.” There is a certain hierarchy in this system of the forces that influence us. How can we activate them? By connection.

Ordinary people will simply fulfill the integral method, and while they do that they will correct themselves and all of nature not knowing how it works.

We (like a brain) also have to understand the principle of the connection and to actively participate in this system, trying to organize one network among us, to minimize ourselves, to accept the group as higher than we are, to support one another and to be in mutual guarantee.

We fulfill everything that Rabash says in his articles in the relations between us, but beyond that we also study how this structure is created among us.

Suppose we are ten people sitting here, and there are “Ten Sefirot,” the connection among us. We study how they begin to work among us and how we work on them mutually, how to act exactly, what is going on right now, how to rise from the “circles,” Zeir Anpin, Aba and Ima, Arich Anpin, Atzilut, etc. that spread from us into the actual center, to the state of whole connection.

They are all in the network between us and we study about all of them when we study TES. There is nothing but these “Ten Sefirot.” Even now we feel them, on a minimal level that is called “our world.” The moment we begin to connect we will begin to feel the upper state of the connection and there in the connection between us the force that determines and that sustains everything is revealed—the Creator.

So I don’t see any difference between the spiritual method and the method of the integral education. We are simply like computer experts for example: We know the software and understand what its mechanical parts are.

When you call your mother, for example, you press the cell phone button and your mom receives the call and tells you something in response. After all, you don’t know what is happening inside: Everything is coded in pulses and the pulses are transferred to another place where you mom deciphers them (although she is not aware of them herself).

So we, the experts who know this whole system, know how to get people used to it, how to teach them to use this instrument as all of humanity. After all, 99% of the people don’t know anything; they live automatically.

In order to rise to a good normal level of life today we need to start raising all the 99% of humanity. This is what we have to do. So like experts we study everything thoroughly and then bring people to courses and explain to them how to use this instrument, which means this world, so that the changes in it will take place in a good way.

So there is no difference between the wisdom of Kabbalah and integral education except for those who aspire to attaining the system and who actively participate in it and reach the wisdom of Kabbalah. Those who will follow them will use it simply through workshops. They will gradually understand as things will be explained to them to what extent it influences them for the better and also the whole world, their families, their profits, the prices in the stores, etc. They will use it like all the other people.

An ordinary person earns money and then buys food and then rests at home in order to go out again to earn his living, to buy food and to rest… It is the same here, he doesn’t know the mechanism of the system, he knows the limited angle that we have to present to him.
[104646]
From the Virtual Lesson 4/7/13

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In the News (from New Scientist): “Hurricanes usually form in the western tropical Atlantic and head north-west to the US. Occasionally they make it to Europe by piggybacking on the jet stream.

“To simulate future hurricanes, Reindert Haarsma of the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute in De Bilt and colleagues ran a detailed climate model for 2094 to 2098, assuming modest future greenhouse gas emissions.

“They found that future hurricanes formed further east in the tropical Atlantic, as that area had warmed sufficiently to provide enough heat and moisture to power them. As a result, many didn’t hit the US and instead struck Western Europe. The storms weakened once they left the tropics, but powered up again when they entered cold and windy areas, becoming hybrid storms like Sandy, halfway between winter storms and hurricanes.”

My Comment: Catastrophic climate change should appear not at the end of the century, but in the coming years. Disturbing the balance with nature will lead to huge losses. But the problem is not in the environment, but in the human being because of all the levels of nature, still, vegetative, animal, and human—only the human being by his social behavior, rather than by the impact of technology, is capable of influencing the balance of system, for better or for worse.
[104067]

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Question: In what way can each of us invest effort in the common Kli; what do we need to do?

Answer: Every one simply needs to think about what he would want to have happen to him, to the group, and to the entire world: men, women, children, the old, all the peoples, all of humanity. Today, we are all in the same boat, a real Noah’s Ark.

It is said about Noah’s Ark that all were stowed in it and nobody ate anyone else, rather all lived in peace. For this ark is the characteristic of Bina, which encompasses and holds everything within itself. And therefore they were saved from the deluge, from the great ego, that erupted outside the walls of the ark and appeared in all its terrible forms: volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, tsunamis, blizzards, and burning fire.

The ark protected all who were found within it, for they wanted to save it. The more we protect the ark, the more the ark will protect us. For the ark is the characteristic of Bina. Entering the characteristic of Bina is like entering a womb, into an ark that will protect you from all bad and harmful external influences; nothing can harm you anymore.

This is what specifically needs to be explained to the world—that all the problems of humanity are derived from its raging ego. But if we all build an ark for ourselves and do not eat each other, instead, all of us will dwell together within it, in our small closed world; if we make an ark from our small closed world, then we will be saved. Otherwise, what happened to all those who remained outside of the walls of Noah’s Ark will happen to us, all of us will sink into the waters of the deluge.
[103932]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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