A question I received: In the article, “Building the Future Society,” in item 18 of section 3, “Principles of the Future Society,” Baal HaSulam lists three fundamental principles of disseminating Kabbalah in the world:

1. Satisfaction of Desires; 2. Proof; 3. Circulation.

From your lessons I’ve understood that in our time of an escalating crisis, the method of “Proof” is the most suitable. But what is your opinion about the method of “circulation” (agitation and propaganda)? Is it necessary in order to accelerate the dissemination of Kabbalah?

My Answer: When we’re dealing with a patient who has a deadly illness, we use any means possible to save him. Similarly, if we are in a situation that threatens the world’s existence, we must use any means possible to prevent the suffering, ruin and death. However, in our case, circulation (agitation and propaganda, as you put it) must be a non-coercive explanation of the fact that we won’t survive without using the method of Kabbalah. The dissemination of Kabbalah must be general, directed at everyone rather than at specific individuals. We cannot try to scare people into it, because in order for a person to correct himself, he must gain an awareness of the reality.

The correction of one’s egoism (one’s nature) is the only truly conscious act a person can make in this world, because he does it through understanding and comparing this world with the spiritual world! All other actions are made only from one’s understanding of the egoistic world and false gain, where one is entirely controlled by one’s egoism, like a puppet.

Hence, it is written about people who haven’t yet begun analyzing their nature and comparing it with the Upper Nature: “They are all like beasts.” It’s because “Man” (Adam) means “To be similar to the Creator.” It is also written, “Let us make man in our image and likeness” – from the beginning. After this man’s ruin (the downfall of sin) occurred, and this is what we must correct.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: What Happened?

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

News Report (from Federal Highway Administration): “Nearly 10 Billion Fewer Miles Driven in May 2008 than May 2007” U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters said that Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer vehicle-miles traveled (VMT) in May 2008 than in May 2007, according to the Federal Highway Administration data. … This continues a seven-month trend that amounts to 40.5 billion fewer miles traveled between November 2007 and May 2008 than the same period a year before, she said.

My Comment: This will not only put an end to a completely excessive production, but will also help clean up the atmosphere. This is one example of nature using alternative methods to force man to become an ecologically integral part of it.

News Report (from The Wall Street Journal): “An Ode to Oil” by Roger Howard: While there are, of course, circumstances in which oil can exacerbate tensions and be a source of conflict, it can also act as a peacemaker and source of stability. … Leonid Fedun, a top official at Lukoil, Russia’s No. 2 oil producer, admitted … that “the period of intense oil production [growth] is over.” Without foreign money and expertise to extract offshore oil and prolong the lifespan of existing wells, Russian production will fall dramatically.

My Comment: And that’s how we get operation “forcing peace” – through oil! The Russian economy is based on oil production, and from now on it will be dependent on foreign investments and technologies. This will force Russia to make peace with other nations.

News Report (from The Economist): According to Google’s annual list of popular search terms, even in these times of economic crisis, people are most concerned with working out what love is.

My Comment: This shows the truth of the verse, “Love and hunger rule the world.” The forces of nature (Reshimot and the Light) acting within us will force us, in accordance with nature’s plan, to ascend from the animate love and hunger to the spiritual ones: hunger for unification, and fulfillment by the common Light of love.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Who Will Be Most Affected by the Economic Crisis?
Laitman.com Post: Oil Instead of Bread
Baal HaSulam Article: The Peace
Kabbalah Today Article: “Love Is the Way”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Three questions I received on using the internet as a means to connect:

Question: Research indicates that 11 out of 100 global citizens have access to computers and Internet. How can we feel like one society when just a few of us in the world can actually connect virtually?

My Answer: Initially, the connection between people was not created by the Internet, but by the Creator. Our souls are rigidly connected in one system. Thoughts and desires pass directly from soul to soul, and not through the web. Regardless of having the Internet or not, everyone will feel that they belong to the entire world in equal measure.

Question: If the global crisis harms the Internet, what will happen to our dissemination and the virtual groups?

My Answer: We must do everything we can to ensure that our friends all over the world can stay connected to us. If the world will need us, then we will certainly retain the opportunity to connect to the world. Perhaps we will receive even greater opportunities to do so.

Question: I had an idea during the Blackpool Congress: I was thinking about old people, who are unable to use computers. I think it would be great to give them the possibility to feel unity. We could also tell them about reality, freedom of choice, and how to see the world from the point of view of Kabbalah. This could lead to more actions made by this group of “aware old people.” If I try to develop this kind of thing with the “old people group” of my town, do you think it could be useful?

My Answer: One’s age is completely irrelevant when it comes to studying Kabbalah, because the soul has no age. Uniting with the idea already corrects the soul. Try it! I hope that once we reach a certain level of success in our dissemination to the masses, the television channels will become interested in our TV programs.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Internet In a Time of Global Crisis
Laitman.com Post: The Kabbalah Channel, YES 66, Brings Good Changes
Kabbalah Today Article: “The Soul Is Ageless”
Chapter from Book Kabbalah Revealed: “Adam ha Rishon – The Common Soul”

Filed under: Internet - 1 Comment →

The following quote is attributed to Scottish history professor Alexander Tyler in 1787, who foresaw the development of the USA as follows (from Financial Sense):

A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.

The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:

• From bondage to spiritual faith;
• From spiritual faith to great courage;
• From courage to liberty;
• From liberty to abundance;
• From abundance to complacency;
• From complacency to apathy;
• From apathy to dependence;
• From dependence back into bondage

My Comment: Prof. Tyler was right about the process, but not its outcome. He did not foresee globalization – humanity’s complete interconnection. But it is precisely the need to survive, to exist in an interconnected system, that will compel humanity to seek a method of curbing every person’s individual egoism. And when we search for a method to correct egoism, we will find that Kabbalah is the only adequate method.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Financial Crisis Is for Our Own Good
Laitman.com Post: How to Overcome the Global Crisis
Kabbalah Today Article: Globalization 101
Lesson on Article: “Attaining the Unity of the Universe”

Filed under: History - No Comments →

A question I received: I have been studying with you for four years already, and I disseminate Kabbalah on the Internet. But there is one question that has been bothering me for a while. Many of the sites that I connect to don’t want to hear anything about Kabbalah, and they say awful things about me and about you. They don’t understand what crisis we are talking about. After reading these comments about us, I feel empty and lose the desire to disseminate. What should I do?

My Answer: You are lucky to be living in a generation when it is permitted to disseminate Kabbalah. Imagine how the great Kabbalists of the past felt! You should read about them: how they were beaten (physically and otherwise) by their own kind.

You have to understand the level of your opponents’ development and patiently wait for them to mature. (“Ma Laasot Im Yeladim She Hizkinu – What can we do with children who have grown old but stayed children?”) However, in our time the crisis will hit everyone, and it will force everyone to wise up and to accept Kabbalah as the means of salvation. They simply don’t know what Kabbalah is, because they have been scared off and deceived. Give them time to suffer and figure things out.

As for where to get emotional strength, read what Kabbalists write about the need to disseminate Kabbalah. Personally, I tell myself that I am obligated to follow their instructions, and this frees me from thoughts such as, “Is this really necessary?” – even if the only things I receive in return are hardships… The Goal obliges a person! For centuries, Kabbalists dreamed of the opportunity to disseminate, and we have been given this opportunity. Must we even ask for anything in return?

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Only People With the Point In the Heart Can Feel that Kabbalah Is the Salvation
Laitman.com Post: We Raise the Entire Universe Up to the Creator
Kabbalah for the Student: “Kabbalists Write about the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Every Sunday, I give a virtual lesson from 4:00pm to 5:15pm Israel time. This week’s virtual lesson was lesson #5 on Baal HaSulam’s article “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot.”

Filed under: Notices - No Comments →

News Report (translated from chaskor.ru): The concept of ecovillages has gained popularity because people are hoping to escape the trap of civilization that has cornered them. Only yesterday such communities seemed extremist and sectarian, but today they’re regarded as a way to survive the global crisis, which is turning into global chaos. In addition, it’s easier to survive a crisis in a commune.

My Comment: Separating from the global civilization to save one’s own neck will bring any commune to a terrible crisis – one that’s greater than in the rest of the world. It’s because a commune will isolate itself from everyone in order to survive on its own, and this goes against unification, globalization, and Nature’s plan to unite everyone. These aren’t eco-villages, they’re EGO-villages!

News Report (from World Net Daily): …the U.S. is moving closer to a Nazi-style totalitarianism, warns a former German member of the Hitler Youth in a new book. “Every day brings this nation closer to a Nazi-style totalitarian abyss,” writes Hilmar von Campe…

My Comment: According to Kabbalah, if we’re not moving toward global integration, then we’re moving toward mutual isolation and the emergence of Nazi regimes in the developed countries.

News Report (from National Post): More singles are turning to the Internet as a cheap, convenient way to find love during trying economic times. A poll by Opinion Research Corp. found that 57% of Americans said the credit crunch made them worry about their love lives… similar surveys in Australia and Britain came up with the same results.

My Comment: Suffering and fear are showing us just how fragile we are and how much we need the support of the environment. We were created as social creatures and we have to create a friendly and supportive society around us. And if we don’t want to, nature will force us to. Then we’ll want it and therefore build such a society!

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Reflections on the Crisis
Laitman.com Post: Where Is the World Going – Nazism or Global Unity?
Kabbalah Today Article: The Divine Conspiracy

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

My blog is now available in Chinese. It is called “Kabbalah, Science and the Meaning of Life”:

卡巴拉、科学和生命意义―――迈克尔•莱特曼博客

There are only a few dozen people currently studying with the International Academy of Kabbalah in Chinese, because many of our Chinese students reside in North America and study in English. However, we hope that with the release of my new book in Chinese as well as this blog, we will find many new friends.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: A New Site In Chinese – Just In Time for the Olympics
Laitman.com Post: Kabbalah News Around the World

Filed under: Notices - No Comments →

News Report (from ABC News): …a bailout drama is playing out inside the closed-down Republic Windows & Doors factory in Chicago, where more than 200 angry workers have hunkered down after they were abruptly fired … without final pay or benefits. The union workers believe they are victims of a bungled bailout and that Bank of America, which received $25 billion in the federal rescue package, stands between them and their paychecks.

My Comment: The tensions that have erupted in Greece show us that the world is balancing on the brink of an explosion. People’s discontent is ready to erupt at the slightest cause, and it’s always easy to find an instigator of tension, even war. It is necessary for us to stop and think about the fact that it is impossible to curb our egoism using the conventional measures. The explosion may happen anywhere and at any moment.

News Report (translated from utro.ru): The financial crisis has brought about a recession in tourism and dining, transportation and financial services industries. However, communication via mobile connections is the last thing people are willing to cut back on.

My Comment: The crisis will affect all aspects of our lives, forcing us to wise up. It will force us to search for an inner communication – “soul to soul.”

News Report (translated from utro.ru): The legal sector of Russia’s alcohol market faces a catastrophic shortage of raw materials. By the beginning of next year, two thirds of all the alcohol factories in the country may have to cease operation.

My Comment: This is a serious threat to the nation’s health. In fact, it may bring it to the brink of extinction.

Conclusion: The crisis will influence us and people will feel it in every aspect of their lives. It will be felt differently in different parts of the world, but no one will be able to escape. In the end it will force us to create good connections with each other. We can do this now or after a period of exacerbation and wars. If mankind will accept that the things taking place are the Creator’s request for us to correct ourselves and ascend, then the crisis will turn into a joyful revelation of a perfect world.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Countries Closest to Integration and Globalization Will Suffer Least from the Crisis
Laitman.com Post: What’s the Surest Bet to Save Your Money In Time of Crisis?
Laitman.com Post: Why Are People Turning More Pessimistic?
Kabbalah Today Article: The Financial Crisis: Diagnosis and Cure

Filed under: Crisis - No Comments →

Questions I received on men and women:

Question: Why does a woman desire to be “the one and only,” and for the Creator to reach only her alone? Does this have a spiritual root? A man also shows that he wants to be the one and only: to be the best, the strongest, to show that he can do anything, and so on.

My Answer: A woman wants to be connected to the Source, whereas a man wants to become the Source himself.

Question: All I can think about half the time is making love to some beautiful woman studying Kabbalah. Is this normal?

My Answer: This will force you to become interested in Kabbalah in order for her to like you. But then you will discover so many new and attractive things in Kabbalah that your attention will shift to it instead. Meanwhile, the beautiful woman will remain, but just as someone who accompanies you, instead of being the main reason you study.

Question: What is the best solution for me: to marry a man who does not aspire for spirituality or to stay single until the Creator will want me to find a partner in life?

My Answer: Try to find a partner among those similar to you.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: Man, Woman and Divinity Between Them
Laitman.com Post: Woman = Desire
Article: Why Are We So Preoccupied with Sex?
Booklet: Relationships

Filed under: Women - No Comments →