Opinion: (George Soros, billionaire investor, Chairman of Soros Fund Management and of the Open Society Institute, project-syndicate.org): “The process of European integration reached its apogee with the Maastricht Treaty and the introduction of the euro. But the euro was an incomplete currency: it had a central bank but no central treasury….

“German Chancellor Angela Merkel insisted that there should be no joint EU guarantee; each country would have to take care of its own institutions. That was the root cause of today’s euro crisis….

“As the largest creditor, Germany could dictate the terms of assistance, which were punitive and pushed debtor countries towards insolvency. Meanwhile, Germany benefited from the euro crisis, which depressed the exchange rate and boosted its competitiveness further.

As integration has turned into disintegration, the role of the European political establishment has also reversed, from spearheading further unification to defending the status quo. As a result, anyone who considers the status quo undesirable, unacceptable, or unsustainable has had to take an anti-European stance. And, as heavily indebted countries are pushed towards insolvency, nationalist political parties – for example, Finland’s True Finns – have grown stronger, alongside more established counterparts elsewhere in Europe….

“The European elite needs to revert to the principles that guided the Union’s creation….

“We should look for a European solution rather than national ones. ‘True Europeans’ ought to outnumber true Finns and other anti-Europeans in Germany and elsewhere.”

My comment: It is amazing how much money was invested in advertising the unification of Europe, and how little care was taken to educate Europeans about the spirit of integration. Egoism is growing, contradictions are being manifested, but there is no strong goal-oriented promotion of the need for integration. Obviously, the basis of this union has always been and still is the desire for individual, near-sighted profit.
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Question: Baal HaSulam writes that the whole world has to enter the boundaries of the mutual guarantee. What does that mean?

Answer: Indeed, right now the whole world is entering the conditions of mutual guarantee. Stated differently, in our times all of the conditions have come together for mutual guarantee to be accepted in the whole world.

Obviously, this is a gradual process. Until now we have developed inside of our egoism, which increasingly grew stronger, and we operated only by using our environment for our own benefit. We constantly “modified” the external environment, while in the meantime, egoism grew bigger.

And today, a very curious occurrence has happened: the environment which we constantly wanted to change to suit ourselves became a rigid, fixed, interconnected, wholesome system. We cannot change it any longer. On the contrary, it is letting its temperament come through, is putting pressure on us and is ready to elicit changes in us by means of disasters and problems.

The external environment consists not only of ecological, natural factors, but it is also the human society, the interconnection between us in different areas and aspects: in economics, education, family life, healthcare, and so on. Every one of us lives in this environment.

Previously I changed it as I wished, in whatever way was most comfortable for me. Stated differently, I changed by nature, and I changed nature. But now nature is appearing as an integral system to me and I have to change myself. In the past I changed this natural system, but now it is pressuring me and changing me. It is becoming increasingly more integral, cramped, wholesome, and soldered together, and because of that, it squeezes me in its clutches, forcing me to take on its standard whether I want it or not.

After all, I am inside of it, and when it comes right up to me, “skin to skin,” I don’t have a way out and I suffocate. I have to change.

I perceive nature’s communication with me in the form of crises, suffering, and great problems. This is the path if we go through it by the pre-scheduled program. However, in nature’s globality and integrality, I can see something good and desirable ahead of time, and then I will be happy to take on its form and “put it on” myself, becoming similar to nature.

In any case, it is necessary to observe the law of equivalence of form between myself and the environment, between us and nature. In order to be similar to the form that nature demonstrates to me today, I have to be wholesomely connected with all humanity, and all of humanity—with the still, vegetative, and animate levels. This is the meaning of existing inside the single nature.

First of all, I have to take care of the human society, including its attitude to the ecology. And for that it is necessary to change man so that people, countries, and ecological circles would unite with one another, so upbringing would become unified, so equality would set in all over the world.

It’s not equality of religion or faith, culture or customs. They can remain the way they are. But above them there has to be a common equality in which everyone are united. And even though differences are preserved inside, they do not interfere with what’s important. It is written, “Love will cover all sins.”

Besides, we have to care for the still, vegetative, and animate nature so we don’t destroy the earth, which is intended for all of us, and so its important resources won’t run dry.

We have to think about the future, but we are not doing that today. We mine oil from the earth, which is the basis for 90% of our production, be it plastic parts, energy, or others types of production. If we simply burn oil for the wrong needs, then we are robbing our grandchildren. Nothing will be left for them. And therefore, we must already think about how to act.

Thus, unification should not be limited by the current moment, the short-lived desire to mollify the situation and avoid problems. Unification must involve a vision into the future, a program for the future, an inventory of what we are leaving to our children.

We have already passed “the oil peak” and have shifted to the phase of exhausting the remaining reservoirs. So what will we leave to our descendants for an inheritance? After all, oil is necessary not only for burning, but also as raw material for the production of various goods. And on the other hand, we don’t have any comparable source of energy.

Unification between us will bring us to unification with nature, and then we will understand how to properly use the natural resources, how to make the transition to equality, to a normal, balanced economy with fair distribution.

Otherwise there is such a great meltdown in store for us that we will not be able to come out of it. If we exhaust the natural reservoirs, we will be simply left with nothing, and we won’t have anything by which to keep living. We won’t have a wealthy relative who can help us in an emergency situation. We will not survive this crisis with the previous means because it does not have alternative solutions.

What’s at stake here is not just oil, but many other resources of the earth. We think that there is no end to their abundance, but that is not so. Over several decades of reckless high rolling, we have discovered the bottom of the “bottomless barrel.” The time has come to shift to a new, global approach.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/18/11, “Arvut”

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Question: Over the last few days couples in Israel began a protest against the housing crisis. They are starting up tent cities in public places to protest against the skyrocketing housing prices. Will this lead to correction?

Answer: This is a good thing. However, what can our poor government do for them? We ascribe great capabilities to it, thinking, “They’ll decide something today and will carry it out tomorrow.” But that’s not so. Didn’t the government know about these problems? Don’t the ministers just want to get together for a conference and make a decision so that starting tomorrow, new, cheap houses will start being built?

This can’t happen because we are dealing with a great complex of interconnected social problems, and this is just one of them. We cannot correct any one of them unless we correct the connection between the people in the country. No one will be able to help: not the prime minister or the government, not the parliamentarians, and not the people who are sitting in tents on city streets.

It’s good that they are sitting there, and it’s good that the Prime Minster is concerned. It’s good that he’s afraid and they are making demands of him. Maybe this will finally push them to reach the right conclusion: that correction will not come from the Prime Minister. And even money won’t solve anything. There is a bigger problem concealed here. Even if there will be enough money in the country, the authorities won’t be able to make any useful decision.

We have to understand that in our times there are no separate, problematic situations. Now, when nature has closed us inside of an integral net, everything depends only on the connection between people. There is not one social problem, not even the smallest one, that could be solved without a social interconnection, without a connection within the nation and within the world. Without resorting to this means, you won’t be able to do anything.

The task might seem secondary or purely technical, “What’s so hard about it, really? Just give out an order, free up some land for construction, and let them start building.” But they cannot do that because they will come up against insurmountable barriers on the inside. That would be the same as demanding pure bestowal from a person when he is simply incapable of it. He just can’t do it.

So know this: Today there is just one solution to any problem: mutual guarantee. If there is no mutual guarantee, there is no solution. This is exactly what we have to bring to the people’s understanding. We can be sure that we will attain success and will overcome all the problems only by means of the force of the mutual guarantee.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/17/11, “Arvut”

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Question: What does it mean “to maintain the intention”? I get an impression that one does not move or develop this way. How can one develop the intention?

Answer: While reading The Zohar, I play a game with my friends. It doesn’t matter how well we understand or fail to understand these words, whether we hear part of a phrase, a quarter of, or the entire sentence, all of the words, and whether we delve to a greater or a lesser depth—everyone does what he can. The game is in correlating all these words with the connection between us.

Indeed, The Book of Zohar tells us about the way we should connect with one another. I don’t know what this connection is like, but it is described here. And for this reason, while I am reading The Zohar, I try to think about what it’s like to be connected one way or another, in one form or another.

For example, it is written: “‘Time to act for the sake of the Creator’ …since ‘they have transgressed against their Torah.’” What does this refer to? When a person forgets about the intention for the sake of bestowal, it means that he has “transgressed against the Torah.” And then “time to act for the sake of the Creator” means that you must once again return to the same intention, the same strong connection with your friends in mutual bestowal, because this way you aspire to build a “place” for the revelation of the Creator. And you do this to give Him the opportunity to reveal Himself. He receives pleasure from this like a Host who reveals treats to his guest.

So why do you read The Zohar? Where do you realize what you have read and reveal it? It can only be revealed in the corrected relationship between us. There is no other “place.” It is only revealed if we are able to create a correct connection in mutual bestowal.

For this reason I try to find the threads, the net that connects our desires, thoughts, and the strength of the aspiration between us. What forces operate this connection? What is the formula of this network? I want to know about it! And The Zohar specifically tells us about it.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/12/2011, The Zohar

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Question: When a person starts listening to us, he naturally starts asking: What should I do?

Answer: You have to receive more and more information about the fact that the world’s well-being depends on the good connection between people. And it depends on that absolutely. Money, your place of work, pension, vacation, health, ecology, weather, education, marital relations – and anything you can only imagine cannot be built or corrected “head on.”

What seems to be the problem? If we have a financial crisis, then we’ll print more money and will give it out to whomever we have to. There’s a problem with Libya? Then let’s put pressure on Libya. This is nonsense, but not the kind we can laugh at. It is very bitter nonsense.

No matter what the problem is, today it is impossible to solve it head on, directly, even though this is precisely how we acted in the past. How easy everything used to be: Something happened here so we corrected it here, something happened there so we corrected it there. But that won’t work anymore. Now this is impossible.

We have ended up in a closed system, and while you are fixing one of its parts, another part breaks down. Today you have to know the whole system. Today you have to include it inside of yourself, think globally the way it does, and sense it globally. That is the only way you can achieve success.

Why are the G7, 8 or 20 meetings useless? Why doesn’t a single government program to come out of the crisis work? This is the whole reason.

We have to understand that mutual guarantee is the solution and the right approach to any problem.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/14/11, Arvut

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Question: It is very difficult to explain to people that the solution to the burning problems lies in the interconnection between people.

Answer: No, it’s not. After all, we are supported by many specialists—not just theoretical physicists, but scientists who research nature and current problems, including economists, politicians, sociologists, psychologists, bankers, and representatives of large companies.

Today everyone is talking about the economy because it is a connection between us: how much do you owe me and how much to I owe you. This is not culture or art, religion or ethics. It is money, a precise measuring device of our mutual bestowal. This is a net of the correct, egoistic, healthy, solid connection between us. We have ruined it with our “bubbles,” but by itself it was surprisingly adequate.

And so, we have to explain to people that this network is no longer working. And this has to be explained by the experts whom we will attract—thousands of people who stand at the head of the world: bank directors, corporate analysts, and so on. Let them talk while we will stand on the sidelines. After them the word will be passed over to the scientists, and then to representatives of the education system. Go ahead—take others and use them.

That is how I see it happening today.

Question: The average person will be curious to hear them out in his free time, but this is still far away from his personal cares and the troubles he encounters in life.

Answer: There is no other solution. We have to give time for the initial phase to transpire, until we convince man that this is where the problem lies. In order to understand the world’s troubles, it is necessary to study what is happening. It’s like a sick person who “plows” through the internet searching for information about his illness and the means to cure it. Thus, we only have to give people a “link,” a connecting cord between what is happening now and the solution.

This task is incumbent on scientists, and we have to act in this direction without any further delay. We will implant and disseminate their, not our, explanations, which are weighty and well-founded. In principle, we have to become an “advertising machine” that quickly brings the rush of information from the experts to the masses. Without mentioning ourselves, we will raise them in the ratings, publish them on sites, and promote them on networks.

We don’t even need our own portal. We don’t want to “win people over” to it from the territory they are used to. This is real work on dissemination.

Question: What should a small person understand from this who does not understand anything and eats whatever he is fed? Is it enough to give him the message that together is good and apart is bad?

Answer: Yes. And a “big person” also has to understand just this. You’re not really planning to tell him about the altruistic intention Lishma, are you? He is not ripe for this on the inside yet. It is written, “Raise a lad in his own way.”

Question: Does this mean that similar to the people who used Facebook as a means to force manufacturers to lower prices on their products, we should simply push governments to unite?

Answer: Yes. We are looking for experts, those who not only understand the idea, but are able to put together a working action and then to make it happen. There are several million people in the world who would like to and are able to join this work that will have to be carried out. This “army” only needs to be organized to carry out the task.

In the meantime, we will remain behind the scenes. Today we don’t need the television anymore. After all, all of humanity is on the internet already. That is the only way we will be able to organize ourselves and that is what our dissemination enterprise will be doing as well. These are the changes we have to start making now, without any further delay.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, “Arvut”

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First of all we have to change our paradigm, our outlook on life and the world. I have to change on the inside, change the boot disk, renew my standard for evaluating myself, the world, and society. Without changing man, we will not be able to change the world. After all, the world is his copy.

Human nature is the basis upon which society, the environment, learning, culture, economy, and all other spheres of activity are built. The world is an external projection of what is concealed inside a person. Therefore, it is precisely man who needs to be changed. All the efforts have to be concentrated precisely on this.

The problem is not the economy, production, or education. Everything will normalize when man changes. And for that he has to be educated. Education or upbringing is, in essence, man’s inner transformation. No external “band-aids” will help.

Maybe this idea should be presented to the UN, UNESCO, and governments, explaining that our only objective is to change man. After all, without that he will not change the world.

That is why today humanity’s best minds do not understand what to do and what to change. We have entered a level that demands new, qualitative changes from us. From now on we have to act in our world with the help of a quality called “guarantee.” We can only do it together. By yourself you won’t achieve anything.

For example, a person who opens up a business will discover that it is connected with all of the businesses of the world and therefore they must also be taken into account. Otherwise there won’t be any success.

From here on you cannot take one step without considering the common, global system. And therefore, you have to be global and united with everyone yourself, on the inside.

But I’m not global. So what should I do? Could it really be that I will never see success without that? True, I won’t see it. This is an immutable law. Without an integral interconnection you won’t achieve success in anything. Take a look: We are already immersed in multiple crises. And there is only one way out: To change ourselves.

How can we change? How can we reformat ourselves? How can we brainwash ourselves? How can we un-install the old program and install a new one? After all, from now on I have to have a common sensation and mind with everyone so my actions will naturally correspond to the new state. My very nature has to change.

This can be done by the “Light that reforms.” People will discover it anyway. Maybe they will do it by the path of great suffering, but there is no other way to go. You have to change in order to change the world, and you have the means for that.
However, you have to get to that Light by means of the realization of evil in order to understand what you lack, “I have to change!” But how do you know? And how exactly should you change? Do you have a desire that’s formed? Not yet.

That is why you have been given a field in which to work (the group), a means (the science of Kabbalah), and instructional advice (the teacher). Go ahead, act, start becoming included in the system of guarantee, playing it in order to discover the flaw that you have to correct. Then you will have something with which to turn to the Light for correction.

You won’t even have to go anywhere: To the extent your desires become formed and clarified, the Light will begin to act by itself. After all, you are inside of it, and therefore it immediately works in conformity with your efforts. As soon as you build something inside of you, the Light immediately influences you. This way, gradually, you change even without seeing the little wheels that spin inside of you.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, “Arvut”

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Opinion (Steven Staples, President, Rideau Institute on International Affairs, Canada): “Economic inequality is growing: more conflicts and civil wars are emerging. It is important to see a connection between these two situations.

Proponents of global economic integration argue that globalization promotes peace and economic development in the Third World. They assert that ‘all boats rise with the tide’ when investors and corporations make higher profits. However, there is precious little evidence that this is true and substantial evidence of the opposite….

Economic inequality between Northern and Southern nations has worsened, not improved. The mainstream media frequently oversimplify the causes of war, with claims that they are rooted in religious or ethnic differences. While such differences are made use of in conflicts, a closer examination reveals that the underlying source of most conflicts is economic in nature….

Globalization is driving a global war economy and creating the conditions for tremendous loss of human life. Many writers and researchers have documented the decline in human rights, social justice, environmental standards, and democracy caused by globalization.”

Comment: Globalization in itself is not a breakthrough but a demonstration of unity in our world, its complete mutual dependence. But a union of robbers (countries-egoists) is evil, both for them and for the entire world. That is why the crisis continues. Globalization shows that there is only one solution: a change of our nature by educating an integral human being. This will lead to changes in the global economy and the entire social order.
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Question: Egoism shrewdly and inventively depicts various pictures before me. How can I discriminate the lie in them, which appears like love for others? After all, all kinds of religions and methods also talk about love.

Answer: In our world “love for the neighbor” is a simple, primitive game of small egoists. Can you really find real, exalted love for the neighbor anywhere, which is really practiced on an ongoing basis?

True, people create separate settlements in order to live in love with one another: There is a village like that in Italy, one in India, and an entire city in Asia. But if you look a bit closer, you will see that they are still the same egoists who just decided to introduce more comfortable social customs. This is more comfortable and pleasant for them, and therefore, they have united in order to make their lives nicer.

Once upon a time kibbutzes flourished in Israel—agricultural settlements with collective property similar to a collective farm. People decided that it was worthwhile for them to live together because this brought them more benefit. “Let’s give up some of our egoism and then we will feel good.” Everything’s clear about this, but is this really altruism?

Humanity supposes that conceding to the neighbor makes a person an altruist. However, people who are slightly more informed about human nature or who study the science of Kabbalah know that any concession has to come with a profit. No matter what a person is giving up, you can find what he is gaining by that. Even if the profit is concealed, it is definitely present.

For example, I am willing to live in a kibbutz because this removes my worries about how to arrange my life. Is that not a profit? I have no worries. I simply do what I am told. But development follows its course and with time kibbutzes became outdated. As a whole, these kinds of communities have no future.

We already see that all forms of interconnection between people have to change due to the egoism that grows in them. Changes continue to take place, and this inner dynamic has to be realized in some way as there will be an explosion otherwise.

This happened over the course of history to various religions, faiths, and methods. Today they are undergoing a worldwide outburst because man has set out on a search once again. He is conducting the final revision: Can these methods offer anything real?

After this analysis these practices will fall for the last time. After all, today we are checking them in relation to the integral mechanism that nature places before us. We have never had this criterion yet. People are once again turning over the pages of all sorts of practices, confessions, and mystical teachings, trying to understand: Can they help us in the new, integral world?

This process will take a short time and will quickly come to an end with all the expectations crashing down. Everyone will see that it is pointless to wait for help from them. Any subject that is checked will persist for a few years at most after which it will reveal its inadequacy.

After all, if you don’t change man’s nature so he becomes just as integral inside of him as nature itself, then no recipes will help him. The only method that makes man global, integral, and united with others is the method of attracting the Light that reforms, the science of Kabbalah. Every person just needs to be given the opportunity to realize his evil. Then all the means and their combinations will turn out powerless, and this entire business of “spiritual” tricks will end up non-existent.

Man will not be able to calm himself down because the world has changed and the problem is no longer how to calm down, but a “conflict of interests.” No one will be able to survive in the integral system without becoming fit for it.
From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/7/11, Matan Torah

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Opinion (Lester R. Brown, World on the Edge: How to Prevent Environmental & Economic Collapse): Can we change direction before we go over the edge? The world is in trouble. Plan A, or business as usual, is not working. Changes must be implemented at wartime speed to avert multiple catastrophes that feed on each other as each one tips the next one over onto a path of no return.

My comment: He wrote about it a few years ago, but in the meantime nobody is listening to him, although he is a famous publicist. Evidently, only shocks will force people to pay attention to it, but will it not be too late—not for the total destruction of civilization, but for reaching complete correction in a peaceful way?
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