Entries in the 'ARI' Category

A Connection Through the Times

There are two engines on the the “Kennedy” spacecraft, each engine five-feet wide. The spacecraft engineers wanted to make the engines wider, but couldn’t. That’s because the engines were delivered by railroad, and the distance between the rails was only five feet (or rather, four feet 8.5 inches). Why?

It’s because the American-made railroad was modeled after the British model, and in Great Britain the railroad was modeled after the trolleys, and the trolleys were modeled after horse-trams, and the width of the horse-trams was specifically made so the wheels would fall into tracks, and the distance between the tracks in Great Britain is five feet.

And that’s because the roads in Great Britain were paved by the Romans to fit the size of their military chariots, which were five feet wide. And that’s because the chariots were led by two horses and this was the width of two horses’ behinds!

So the size of the spacecraft’s engines depends on the size of a horse’s behind 2,000 years ago!

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Practical Application of “Love Your Neighbor as Yourself”

Physical Qualities Cannot Give You an Advantage In Spiritual DevelopmentA question I received: I am questioning the practical applications of “love your neighbor as yourself” and whether this should be more than being tolerant of your neighbor.

Let me explain. Since everything we see around us is a reflection of what we have inside of ourselves, then our thoughts and desires are just objects that manifest themselves “out there,” but actually they appear within ourselves.

I do not know about others, but I cannot say that I love all the thoughts and desires that arise within me. I am aware of most of them and tolerate them, but I do not really approve of all of them and I pass through them as though they are crowds of people. Is this how we should treat others? I understand the need to be aware of other people, be respectful of others and forgive them. But that does not mean I should love or approve of what others are doing, such as blowing up the Twin Towers in the United States, for example. I can forgive them for this action, but they still need to pay the price for killing thousands of innocent people.

My Answer: Correction starts with man’s recognition that anything correct and good can only come from the Upper Light. Hence the only thing he expects from studying, uniting with a group, and disseminating Kabbalah is the Light’s influence.

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The More You Take, the Less You Have

What Is a True Prayer?Questions I received on where to find strength along the spiritual path:

Question: Rabbi Meir rode in a carriage led by a horse with bad legs and eyes. Along his journey he met a rabbi from Lisa, who had a carriage led by four horses. Rabbi Meir asked: “Why four?” To which the other replied, “So they could pull the carriage out of sludge.” Rabbi Meir then muttered, “My horse can’t pull me out of sludge, he simply goes around it.”

Can you please explain?

My Answer: A person should only take the minimum from this world in order to come out of it. It only seems that the more you take, the stronger you are, but in fact this only holds you back. A person should move forward with humility and anticipation that help will come, rather than with force.

Question: What should one do when the “heaviness of the heart” comes upon him?

My Answer: Read Baal HaSulam’s articles, sing and dance, do sports, and best of all – have a meal with friends.

Question: Can I share this feeling with others?

My Answer: No.

Question: Why not?

My Answer: There’s no need to make their hearts heavy as well!

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All the Pictures We See Are Formed Inside Our Brains

Our "I" Is Outside of Us!Two questions I received on perception and dreams:

Question: We don’t perceive actual sounds because actual sounds are filtered by our ears and the brain receives only a part of the information – the part that the brain can perceive. Does the Creator’s Light enter the soul in the same way? In other words, is it the portion of the Light that our soul can receive without being harmed?

My Answer: Baal HaSulam explains in the “Preface to the Book of Zohar” that nothing enters our brain; everything is formed within it. It only seems to us that the things we perceive are outside of us. In reality, the only thing outside of us is the simple Light. All that we perceive is a picture that our brain depicts on the background of the white Light.

The brain depicts pictures out of Reshimo (informational data) that constantly surface, one after another, from the archive of our memory and enter our consciousness. Thus, our consciousness plays pictures and we perceive them as if they are happening outside of us.

Why does this matter? Because you can decide which movie will be played inside you! The science of Kabbalah allows a person to change the movies and even to be the director, and then the whole world will be your actors. For more on this, see the article “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”

Question: Where do dreams come from? How are they made inside people’s heads?

My Answer: When we are freed from the daytime experiences and the rigid boundaries of reality, when our mind is cleansed and prepares for new work, then the brain’s wandering currents create all sorts of strange and random pictures. This happens during the process of sorting and reloading the data inside the brain. It’s pure physiology!

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What Will Happen If Countries Draw National Boundaries on the Internet?

From Our World, to the Virtual World, to the Upper WorldNews report (translated from Utro.ru): V. Makarov, president of “Russoft,” announced that the Russian segment of the Internet must be protected from the rest of the World Wide Web with a special gateway filter. Similar gateways are already operating in China and Singapore. The gateway consists of hundreds of thousands of servers that receive information from international sites and then filter it. The project is estimated to cost 1 billion dollars.

My Comment: According to Kabbalah, everything that goes against drawing closer together, communication, integration, and globalization, also goes against Nature. Nature’s objective it is to develop man and society, to bring mankind to unity, reciprocal love and bestowal. Projects like this will bring the people who implement them nothing but crises and miseries!

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Bringing the Alienated Souls Closer to the Creator is Not a Vice

Dr. Michael LaitmanA question I received: I think that the main problem that people have with you is that you teach Kabbalah to everyone, even secular people and non-Jews.

My Answer: Here’s a quote about this by the Rabbi from Breslav in Likutei Yedut Meshulash, chapter “Emet Ve Tzedek”:

“In every generation there is judgment over the righteous. This argument is mostly about the righteous who draw closer the souls that are most alienated from the Creator, because the quality of opposition is revealed on the scale of the souls and jealousy arises in the heart of the world. Sometimes jealousy arises in the hearts of the sages, forcing them to contradict those who are righteous who bring the souls so close that it seems to them that their actions are wrong. This happens again and again, and continues, and it started back when the tribes of Israel argued with Joseph.”

So I’m not worried, and I suggest you relax as well!

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What Does It Take to Be a Prophet?

ProphetTwo questions I received on prophecy:

Question: You don’t say whether there are any great Kabbalists in our time. What about prophets?

My Answer: As my answer I’ll quote the following news report (from livescience.com): “Hours before China’s worst earthquake in three decades, animals at a local zoo began acting strangely. Three days before the earthquake, thousands of toads roamed the streets of Mianzhu, a hard-hit city where at least 2,000 people have been reported killed. The day of the earthquake, zebras were banging their heads against a door at the zoo in Wuhan, more than 600 miles east of the epicenter. Elephants swung their trunks wildly, 20 lions and tigers, which normally would be asleep at midday, were walking around, and five minutes before the quake hit, dozens of peacocks started screeching.”

Question: Are these animals prophets?

My Answer: A prophet is someone who is connected with Nature (the Creator). If one unifies with Nature, then he perceives it beyond time – not in relation to himself, but the way it truly is. The past, present, and future converge into one. So go ahead and make predictions!

A Kabbalist is someone who has restored a part of his connection with the Creator, and to that degree he understands His thought, plan, and goal. He can continue increasing his similarity with the Creator (the quality of bestowal that exists in Nature) to the level where he can fully comprehend Him – the level of a prophet.

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What Would It Be Like To Live In A Perfect World?

perfectNo one has the slightest idea of what will happen to the economy a second from now. Experts create the most complicated models to try and predict the future based on past experience, but even the most precise statistic is just a slight distraction from the uncertainty that weighs down on us. More and more, the leading economic analysts conclude their articles with a hint: as long as the global markets are uncertain, we shouldn’t bet on the future.

What’s really the problem? Why don’t we know what will happen to the systems that we have created? Experts say: “The problem is a combination of too many factors.” However, there is a clearer explanation: the system can no longer continue working by the principle of the circular firing squad. Today, in the age of turbo-globalization, you can’t sneeze without the entire system vibrating back at you. Alan Greenspan, the head of the US Federal Reserve System said: “The main reason for what is happening is human nature, which does not fit the boundaries of the economic models.” He said this back in September 2007. He also admitted that using regulation to fight crises has never been effective.

The problem is not that the unpredictable human nature makes us act for the sake of our narrow personal interests. This is what happened in the past, but today the situation has changed dramatically: we have all become an integral system, one whole. This is why all the old methods aren’t helping us.

Life demands that we bring our nature to equivalence with the new reality. Instead of repeating old mistakes, let’s use successful, time-tested models as an example. There are many wonderful examples of integrality and true reciprocity.

For example, take the human body. It completely depends on the altruistic behavior of its cells. Each cell works for the benefit of the organism, keeping only what it needs to continue performing its function. In fact, we are speaking about a precise regularity: every natural system depends on the proper interaction of its parts. As soon as one cell starts harming the organism instead of benefiting it, the rest of the cells unite to help the organism and return the system to balance.

And we are no exception. Baal HaSulam – the great Kabbalist of the previous century – writes that we need to treat the laws of nature with caution: “Every person who breaks the laws of nature deviates from the goal that nature has set for him, and hence nature will punish him.” This brief description of the mechanism of the modern crisis was written over half a century ago.

There are no appeals in nature’s court. And we are far from following nature’s laws. We live by the motto: “Get rich, be bold – no matter at whose expense.” This is what our inner voice whispers to us, and we gladly obey it.

This is where the problem lies. Imagine what will happen if one cell suddenly “changes its mind” and starts caring only for itself. Doctors have a simple name for this: cancer. Hence, the present crisis is a symptom of an illness that needs treatment.

As soon as humanity became a single system, it immediately started being governed by the corresponding laws. We are no longer “forgiven” for the things that we could get away with before. Continuing to live the old way is like jumping off the roof of a skyscraper and hoping for the best. The rules of the game have changed: now, instead of using one another, we have to take care of everyone. And until we dare to do this, the crises will continue afflicting the planet.

There is an effective method that can help us to ease the process of changing – social opinion. Everything will become much easier when communication channels, the press, mass media, and the internet will explain to people that we are all part of one system where one individual’s loss is everyone’s loss, and everyone’s gain is the gain of every individual.

The way million of dollars are being poured into the economy today is like pumping a critically ill person with pain relievers. Instead, we must fundamentally change our very approach and replace the “I” that currently stands at the center of our worldview, with “the society.” However, this society won’t be a bubbling mass of separate elements, but a family.

Just imagine: everyone around you are your closest relatives. You sincerely wish for all of them to be happy and you help them all, and they feel the same way about you and help you. In addition, we receive all the assistance necessary to maintain such a lifestyle from the financial institutions. This way we attain balance between us and with nature. It’s because the laws operating in a loving family are the exact same laws that we are now breaking – the laws of a single, integral, and perfect system.
(Written by the Bnei Baruch publishing dept. manager).

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“Wussup!?” – Eight Years Later

About eight years ago a beer advertisement in the United States became a cultural phenomenon when it popularized the expression “Wassup!?” (a play on the greeting: “What’s up?”). It was an advertisement about “living the America dream” (watching a football game, having a beer, and all the rest):

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L38wthA4Ld0]

Now there’s an updated version of this ad, showing where the “Wussup!?” guys have ended up:

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq8Uc5BFogE]

I hope that Americans – who are sobering up – will soon realize that there is no way around the law of nature – “Humanity is one family,” and will start following it.

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The Coming of the Messiah

Dr. Michael LaitmanTwo questions I received on the Messiah:

Question: The Book of Zohar says that before the arrival of the Mashiach Ben David (Messiah Son of David), the Mashiach Ben Yoseph (Messiah Son of Joseph) will come. There will be a preparation before arrival of the Mashiach. Is the world’s current condition (the crisis) this preparation? And what kind of force is the Mashiach Ben Yoseph?

My Answer: The Mashiach Ben Yoseph is the revelation of the modern method of correction by the Ari in the 16th century. The world’s present condition is the beginning of the revelation of the Creator, or the preparation for His revelation. The speed of this process depends on us.

Question: Is the Messiah the name of the Light that’s powerful enough to raise both the righteous and the wicked to the Creator – everyone together, in response to mankind’s prayer after recognizing that it’s impossible to keep living in this world? Or is it a person sent to this world with the power to attract the Light called the Messiah?

My Answer: The Messiah is the revelation of the Creator. This action (revelation) of the Upper Light takes place together with the revelation of knowledge about the nature of creation, its plan, process and purpose. This is achieved through disseminating this knowledge (“the call of Messiah”) by those who aspire toward the goal of creation. To the degree people resist this process, their intentions and actions – the forces of resistance – will elicit suffering.

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