New Life #1060 – Critical Thinking And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah

New Life #1060 – Critical Thinking And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Summary

Accurate critical thinking requires measuring one unit of falsehood against one unit of truth. The intensity and depth of my criticism depend on the strength of my connection with the principle force of nature. I must detach myself from the still, vegetative, and animate forms of life and adhere to the inner force that is at the foundation of nature. When I discover this force within myself, I can then test my thinking against it. In the past, humanity engaged in critical thinking in an incomplete way due to egoism and self-absorbed interests and opinions. In order to overcome doubt and find out what nature really requires of us, it is necessary to continue to ask, investigate, and clarify the truth within a special group of people who want to acquire new qualities.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #1060 – Critical Thinking And The Wisdom Of Kabbalah,” 9/20/18

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My Thoughts On Twitter 10/26/18

Entry into the spiritual world, crossing the Machsom, is a special stage. It’s like the eye of a needle that one squeezes into. I must restrict myself to a state of wanting only spirituality, bestowal to friends. With this desire I can pass through the needle’s eye into the upper world

The main thing about the Guarantee is to start feeling a need for mutual action.

Mutual Guarantee is mutual support of friends in the group to evoke the general light of correction OM (Ohr Makif) from the center of the group.
Together we sprinkle ourselves with the life-giving rain of Hassadim and each other’s example.

At the World Film Fair in New York—a major event in the film industry held in October 2018, the movie The Social Network in the Age of the Third Reich by my student Michael Rozenshtein, was awarded Honorary Laurels.

The Times Of Israel: “Rising Anti-Semitism In New York: Animosity Turned Into Violent Attacks“

The Times of Israel published my new article “Rising Anti-Semitism in New York: Animosity Turned Into Violent Attacks“

“He started to punch me. I screamed ‘What do you want from me?’ ‘Help!’” describes an Orthodox Jew about the moment when he had been viciously assaulted without provocation by a Pakistani immigrant in Brooklyn, NY. The video of the aggression went viral, putting a face on a growing problem in the US and the world: verbal hostility toward Jews transforming into physical violence.”

This was the second attack of its nature in two consecutive days. In the other incident, a teenager carrying a stick chased after an Orthodox Jewish man in Brooklyn and beat him on his back and shoulders.

These types of violent actions against Jews are certainly not coincidental, but rather, a recurring pattern that’s increasingly becoming the new norm. Just this year alone, organizations monitoring hate crimes tracked 11 assaults against Jews in New York State, 8 of them in Brooklyn. Statewide, the Anti-Defamation League reported a 90% increase in anti-Semitic incidents in 2017 compared to the previous year.

Why the Jews?

How many times have we asked ourselves, “Why Jews?” How can a drop in the ocean of the world’s population be the subject of such visceral hatred and scrutiny? It usually manifests as inflammatory rhetoric openly expressed without consequences, like the recent comment by the well-known American anti-Semite, Louis Farrakhan, who compared Jews with termites.

So, again we ask why it is that 15 million Jewish people, around 0.2% of the total world population, draw so much attention and arouse so many emotions? Why has there been this special treatment of Jews throughout history? When we think about how humanity has progressed with all its hi-tech developments, communications, education, culture, how has this backward behavior and attitude toward Jewish people persisted?

No one wants to deal with answering these questions because there is no logical explanation. Foremost Kabbalist, Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Baal HaSulam, in The Writings of the Last Generation, Part One (Section Nine) stated it this way: “It is a fact that Israel is hated by all nations, whether for religious reasons, racial reasons, capitalistic reasons, communistic reasons, or cosmopolitan reasons. It is so because the hatred precedes all reasons.” In other words, although the hatred and blame of the Jewish people takes on many forms, from the idea that the “Jews run the world” all the way back to being seen as responsible for the “Black Death” epidemics and even the death of Jesus Christ, none of these are the actual causes of the hatred, but its symptoms. The cause of anti-Semitism is rooted much deeper beyond our usual understanding and reason.

What Is the Cause of Anti-Semitism?

In order to find the root of anti-Semitism we need to look into the profound and special role of the Jews, a role they cannot escape.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, anti-Semitism is not an accident or a whim, but a subconscious and instinctive reaction of the world that feels the Jews hold the secret to pave the way for a better society, to be a “light unto nations,” the role they were chosen for.

Around 4,000 years ago, the Jewish nation began to build its life in accordance with the idea of unity and love, under the tenet, “one man with one heart,” in mutual care and solidarity, being responsible for one another. Jews are expected to reclaim and implement this principle that was lost due to internal divisions and conflicts. The world waits for them to set an example and bring unity to the world by uniting and then extending the positive force of unity to all human society.

Until the Jews carry out this task, the animosity and accusations against them for all the world’s problems will only increase, and this is precisely what is happening.

The unique role of the Jews is explained in the book, Sefat Emet [Language of Truth],

“The children of Israel became guarantors to correct the entire world… everything depends on the children of Israel. To the extent that they correct themselves [and become united], all creations follow them.”

The Midrash (Bereshit Rabah, 66) also refers to the important role of the Jewish nation: “This nation, world peace dwells within it.” Jews cannot escape from carrying out this mission, everything revolves around it. Becoming the conduit that radiates light and goodness is what the world really wants from us. If the Jews repair their broken relations and help the rest of the world achieve this state, the hatred toward them will be canceled. It is my hope that we will acknowledge and accept this great responsibility sooner rather than later, as the well-being and happiness of both the Jewish people and the nations of the world depend on our unity, and spreading that unity to the world.

“The prime defense against calamity is love and unity. When there are love, unity, and friendship between each other in Israel, no calamity can come over them. …When there is bonding among them, and no separation of hearts, they have peace and quiet … and all the curses and suffering are removed by that.”
– Rabbi Kalman Epstein, Maor VaShemesh“

Everything Descends From The Upper Program

Question: Is the source of all renewals at the same time also the place of renewals?

Answer: The place of renewals is always determined from above and comes from one source. Everything that exists in the upper worldgradually blurs, descends, and reaches us.

As they say, there is nothing new under the sun; everything descends from the upper program, which is set initially, from the beginning of creation to its end. We are fulfilling this program either involuntarily like all people or as Kabbalists who already understand it, adapt themselves to it, and then adapt it to themselves and thus advance.

Renewals are revealed in people and not in the world. Yet, in accordance with our inner changes, we see a different world every time. It’s as if there is a white screen in front of us and depending on the way we project our thoughts and desires, we can see any picture on it.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 7/1/18

How Does The System Of Negative Forces Affect The World?

Question: How does the system of negative forces affect our world?

Answer: In our world there is no system of either negative or positive forces. Both systems affect only the person who is destined to spiritual elevation.

This does not affect the common man. He lives his normal material life and gradually moves toward the time when he will begin to receive the right impact from both sides and develop.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 6/17/18

According To The Advice Of A Kabbalist

Question: Is it impossible to explain the method of Kabbalah to a person who doesn’t have a point in the heart? He only understands corporeal logic, group psychology, but not higher psychology.

Answer: Kabbalah does not deal with explanations because it initially works at a level where there are neither human thoughts nor desires. It makes no sense to explain anything. It is the same as sitting in front of a dog interpreting philosophical canons to it as it wags its tail responding to your affection, and what you say doesn’t matter.

So it is with a Kabbalist. When he tries to convey anything to people, they nod with an approving smile, as if saying: “Keep babbling,” but they don’t delve into anything.

Time passes, and if they keep studying according to the advice of the Kabbalist, then gradually they begin to understand where this is going. They feel various changes in themselves; they begin to feel, according to the terms spoken, some adequate response to higher actions that they had not previously felt. They enter a field where there are completely new definitions, and thus continue moving forward.

But this is not because they absorb everything with their minds, but because they act according to the directive of their teacher.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation,” 4/12/18

Anti-Semitic Flyers In The US

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/23/18

“Are you sick and tired of the Jews destroying your country through mass immigration and degeneracy? Join us in the struggle for global white supremacy.” These were the first words on a flyer that was placed this week in mailboxes in Cary, North Carolina.

This flyer is not the first and certainly not the last. Just two weeks ago, Jewish students at UC Davis were surprised to discover anti-Semitic posters on campus that read “every time some anti-white, anti-American, anti-freedom event takes place, you look at it, and it’s Jews behind it.”

The posters on campus at least blamed Jews for something specific. They accused them of trying to thwart the appointment of Supreme Court Justice, Brett Kavanaugh. However, you’ll find a different reason in every flyer: Jews are guilty of mass immigration, destroying the economy, corrupting the government or what have you.

Throughout history, Jews have been persecuted and accused of almost anything. Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag writes about this phenomenon: “The fact is that Jews are hated in all nations, whether it is due to religion, race, capitalism, communism, cosmopolitanism etc., the hatred precedes all of the reasons.” Why is that? Because the Jewish people have an obligation to fulfill towards the world. And as long as we ignore it, we will be hated and persecuted.

Unfortunately, most Jews are not aware of their unique function in the evolution of society. As Kabbalah explains, the Jewish people act as a central “hub” within the network of humanity. This is why they were integrated with the world throughout history. When Jews from all walks of life engage in unity above all differences, they enable positive connection across the whole of humanity. On the other hand, when they succumb to conflict and separation, they hold humanity back from its next level of development.

Subconsciously, anti-Semites recognize the unique function of Jews within the human network. However, like little children, they find it difficult to explain their feelings and formulate their demands. Thus, they push, harass and even attack, as they try to call for attention to their distress. We call it anti-Semitism, but in fact, they seek pain relief.

What we see and feel in our world are only consequences that come from a deeper layer of nature. Kabbalah uncovers the natural laws that shape the evolution of human society and how they manifest in the relationship between the Jews and the rest of the world.

To learn more please see >>>>>>>>

 http://bit.ly/yjews

New Life #89 – The Healing Power Of The Mind, Part 2

New Life #89 – The Healing Power of the Mind, Part 2
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

We can use the power of our minds to heal ourselves and the world. We are living in a tightly connected battlefield, bombarded by subconscious, evil thoughts and painful conflict between neighbors. We affect one another, either positively or negatively within this integral system whether we like it or not. We can, nevertheless, create goodness by installing a mental antivirus or a positive attitude toward others so that we treat them in the same manner we would treat our beloved children. By acting artificially in this way as though we were playing a game, we work against shame and resistance and reveal love between us.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #89 – The Healing Power Of The Mind, Part 2,” 10/24/12

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Virtual Kabbalah Convention: “Many Sparks Of Sanctity”

From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/22/18

“You should know that there are many sparks of sanctity in each of the friends. When you collect all the sparks of sanctity into one place, as brothers, with love and friendship, you will certainly have a very high level of sanctity from the Light of Life, for the time being.” Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag

Faith, Fear, And Adhesion With The Creator

Rabash, “Love of Friends – 2”: Yet, to acquire faith, fear must come first, as it is related in the introduction to The Zohar: “Fear is a commandment that contains all the commandments in the Torah, since it is the gate to faith in Him. According to the awakening of one’s fear (in His guidance), so one believes in His guidance.”

It ends there: “The fear is lest he will lessen the giving of contentment to his Maker.” This means that the fear that one should have with regard to the Creator is that perhaps he will not be able to give contentment to the Creator, and not that fear will concern one’s own benefit. It follows that the gate to faith is fear; it is impossible to reach faith by any other way.

Question: It is unclear: how do we reach fear without faith? Yet at the same time, it turns out that faith cannot be achieved without fear? We have a vicious circle.

Answer: This is a vicious cycle. Both faith and fear are forces that exist above us and represent changes in the internal parameters of our system.

Therefore, reading Rabash, we can only agree that probably this is the way it should be. We then study the description of the actions we must perform. Through such actions we attract the influence of the upper force, the so-called “Light that returns us to the source,” upon ourselves. It changes us and creates the quality of faith, the quality of love in us.

Comment: Nevertheless, by the end of the article, Rabash logically sets out what should be first, in the middle, and at the end.

My Comment: Everything is arranged by itself, even if you do not know it. The point is not to know, to do, and to receive. In the spiritual world, you have to perform certain actions that attract the upper Light and it gradually makes such changes in you that are called faith, fear, and adhesion with the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 4/12/18

New Life #88 – The Healing Power Of The Mind, Part 1

New Life #88 – The Healing Power of the Mind, Part 1
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

People can invoke an enormous healing force through the power of the mind. More specifically, we attain mental health when we manage our desires with the power of thought and achieve balance between the two. This can only occurin a supportive environment that will protect each person from confusion and harmful competition. Africans, for example, are generally happy because their society doesn’t pressure them to achieve more and more. Let’s imagine that we are all connected together and that the whole world is peaceful and, in this way, build the healing power of the mind through the group.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #88 – The Healing Power Of The Mind, Part 1,” 10/24/12

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Breaking Israel News: “How a Virtual Jewish Nation Can Bring About Tikkun Olam“

The largest portal Breaking Israel News published my new article “How a Virtual Jewish Nation Can Bring About Tikkun Olam“:

We’re all familiar with “the cloud.” But have heard about “cloud nations”?

If you ask futurists and visionaries, such as Dr. Roey Tzezana, they will tell you that in the coming decades we will no longer need the territorial institutions of the world. Instead, most of the government and civil services will be provided automatically and from anywhere in the world through newly developing technologies such as Blockchain.

Essentially, “cloud nations” are a virtual way for a large number of people to unite under a common identity, and easily program their own “smart contracts” that will transparently oversee the conduct of a large number of individuals. And at the same time, enjoy all the rights and services that currently only exist in the physical world.

Cloud nations are not bounded by territory, they have no borders, and citizens can leave and enter these “states” freely. Cloud nations can replace a large number of institutions and governmental bodies, and even transfer the power of decision-making to citizens, gradually rendering governmental functions obsolete.

Cloud nations will provide immediate and decentralized systems of justice, so most of the functions of courts won’t be necessary. Citizens will receive prompt justice anywhere and at any time, and have an effective government that will act for them on their own behalf.

In addition, cloud nations will allow for a cooperative economy that doesn’t concentrate power in the hands of greedy economic tyrants. And obviously, the artificial intelligence of the cloud nation will know how to answer any question, as it will analyze all the information that exists from the dawn of humanity, and also calculate the basic needs of every human being to provide him with what he wants with a push of a button and 3D printing.

As mind bending as this future scenario sounds, Dr. Roey Tzezana doesn’t stop there. In his recent book, “Rulers of the Future,” he takes the idea of cloud nations another step further.

Together with Jewish thinkers and researchers, the futurist is working on the “Jewish Cloud Nation” project – a virtual state that will finally unite all Jews around the world, regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliation, and provide services to all of them “in a fully decentralized way with no geographical limitations.”

The core values of the Jewish Cloud Nation will be determined by a committee of Jewish sages that will include the great thinkers and social scientists who will meet physically and virtually to decipher and define common values for all Jews around the world.

According to the “Jewish Cloud nation” website, the aim is to realize the momentous Jewish value of “Tikkun Olam” – an old-new principle according to which Jews carry a responsibility for the entire world. “The code of the Jewish Cloud Nation will be open and transparent, and will be shared with everyone to allow for further creation of other cloud nations, to serve the needs of citizens of the entire world without the involvement of dysfunctional governments or corrupted regimes.”

It is nice to see that experts who recognize the imminent technological future, also envision the emergence of a cooperative society and even take steps to realize the vision. Such a vision corresponds directly with the social teachings that appear in the authentic writings of Kabbalah. About a century ago, Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag wrote: “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.”

The process that we’re about to enter is no less than the birth of a new humanity. From day to day, we are witnessing the culmination of a multi-faceted global crisis that will necessitate us to reorganize human society. We will have to adapt to our interdependence, as well as our interconnection with the natural system. And technology experts are certainly among the pioneers to identify this trend. What’s more, they recognize the practical tools to create an infrastructure that will enable a new social order at every level: economic, social, political, educational etc.

And yet, smart contracts are not enough to bring people together. Technology does indeed upgrade our abilities, but it doesn’t upgrade our inner qualities and the way we relate to each other.

If the “Jewish Cloud Nation” aspires to be an exemplary society based on mutual concern, it must begin from an educational process that is welcomed by its initial citizens. They will have to encourage mutual consideration and build new norms and values for positive social engagement. Ultimately, they need to develop a new way to sense each other, as pieces of a single whole. This is a conscious development that requires people’s willingness to change themselves and upgrade their perception of life.

A prime example of such a change is the issue of privacy. To futurists such as Tzezana, It’s clear that no matter how much we discuss the right for privacy in our time, in the technological future, the struggle for privacy is a lost battle. Also, the renunciation of privacy will help the system benefit the individual.

Privacy in cloud nations will have to be reduced to a minimum, but the willingness to give up one’s privacy is a matter that requires great preparation and adoption of new values that will exchange the need for privacy with real benefit. This is just one example of the need to change human consciousness and nurture human connection.

As we move towards the structure of the future society that our technology is weaving before our eyes, we will have to adapt to values and concepts that today seem utopian or simply delusional. Therefore, rather than expecting our technology to direct us, we should educate ourselves towards the change we have to go through – becoming interconnected human beings in a society that promotes unity and rewards mutual concern and consideration.

If the pioneers of the Jewish Cloud Nation train themselves for this, rains of blessings will come down from the Jewish Cloud Nation to the entire world.

To Achieve The Goal, Talent Is Not Needed

Rabash, “Love of friends (2)”: Now, we must understand what these three above-mentioned things qualify us for. Faith, confidence included, gives us a preliminary belief in the goal, which is to do good to His creations. We must also believe with certainty that we can promise ourselves that we, too, can reach that goal. In other words, the purpose of creation is not necessarily for a select group. Rather, the purpose of creation belongs to all creations without exception. It is not necessarily the strong and skillful, or the brave people who can overcome. Rather, it belongs to all the creatures.

We are all parts of the general system of Adam, and therefore, each of us, to the extent that he is in this system, is obliged to achieve connection, bestowal, and support for the entire system, and with this he fulfills his mission.

Each individual will be obliged to realize himself to some extent as the Creator. No one can escape from this.
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From KabTV’s “The Last Generation” 3/22/18

How Does A Kabbalist Relate To Our World?

Question: What are the manifestations of our world’s deep understanding by Kabbalists if they acquire have the most developed part of the upper world?

Answer: The fact is that both worlds are constantly connected with each other. Everything that happens in our world comes down from the upper world. Therefore a Kabbalist understands the origins of what is happening in our world.

However, as a rule, he is not interested in it because sooner or later all the necessary changes will occur in our world. Also, if something changes in our world, it is only by people’s education.

Thus, a Kabbalist does not pay much attention to our world. He would like to change it, but for this, he needs to spread the wisdom of Kabbalah and teach people. It is through this that he can change the world. That’s what we’re trying to do.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 6/3/18

New Life #87 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 2

New Life #87 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 2
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

Social, mental, and physical healing and health occur when we are part of a supportive environment. Groups of people can transform anxiety into feelings of security, happiness, and relaxation through various games and exercises. Everyone impresses the others by being “smaller” and influences the others in a positive way by being “greater.” Everyone elevates the general mood in the group with jokes. Hypersensitivities are alleviated by absorbing opposite impressions of relaxation from others. By playing with one another as though we are safe and secure, what we act gradually becomes our new reality.
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From KavTV’s “New Life #87 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 2,” 10/21/12

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A State-Of-The-Art Inner Connection

The feeling of connection of the hearts above the differences and borders, a common ground where there was no small or big group, new or veterans, participating as equals, everyone included as in one body. Barriers of distance and language disappeared to get the taste of one Kli around the world, a new degree of connection, building a mutual deficiency in our shared vessel. That is the goal achieved in our first World Virtual Kabbalah Convention this weekend where thousands of my students connected in their local groups and virtually from all around the world.

We began to feel the spiritual qualities not in each of us individually, but between us, men and women aiming at the same exalted goal of the revelation of the Creator in our time. This convention has strengthened our Kli. It has brought us one step further to grasp and implement the concepts we study during the lesson, becoming closer to one another and discovering a new reality, the renewal of our common Kli. Let’s continue this ongoing effort until we attain the purpose of creation!

The Times Of Israel: “Why The World Never Gets Tired Of Hating Jews“

The Times of Israel published my new article “Why the World Never Gets Tired of Hating Jews“

As he did every morning, Leopold Schwartz (62) walked to the Borough Park synagogue in Brooklyn. At 7:30am, as documented by security cameras at the neighborhood junction, one of the drivers got out of his car and brutally attacked Schwartz, who was stunned and couldn’t do much to defend himself.

“I tried to protect myself, I tried to run away” says Schwartz. “I screamed: ‘What do you want from me?!’ And as Schwartz fell down, the attacker continued to beat him with all his might until a man who passed through the area came and tried to help Schwartz. Later it turned out that he, too, was attacked and wounded.

This outrageous incident is not even the first case of violence since the beginning of the week. In a shocking video, another Jew appears to run for his life in the streets of New York as he is chased by a bully who is beating him vigorously with a cane. In London, an elderly Jewish woman who protested anti-Semitism got kicked in the face. And these are just a few of the reported incidents.

Surely, these violent acts are a direct extension of ongoing anti-Semitic propaganda. Not a day passes without defamation and hatred expressed towards the Jewish people in one way or another. This flier, for example, was posted on four US college campuses just last week.

A glance at Jewish history reveals that a blaming finger was always pointed at them. It’s as though there is an unspoken consensus, transcending time and culture, that “Jews are guilty until proven otherwise.”

Numerous times the Jewish people were facing annihilation, beginning with the mass slaughter of Jews during the great revolts against the Romans and the Greeks, through the pogroms and persecutions carried out under the guidance of the Church, the blood libels throughout the Middle Ages and the modern era, and of course, the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. No other nation was threatened to be erased from reality so many times.

What we’re witnessing today is merely another expression of the recurring pattern of inherent, natural hatred that has always haunted the Jews. At every stage in history, hatred of Jews takes on a different form and has a different justification, be it economic, religious, political or what have you. Anyone can find the reason that works for them.

The authentic wisdom of Kabbalah has an unorthodox explanation to this phenomenon. Firstly, Kabbalah views all of humanity as a single organism, or a single network. Within that network, the Jewish people is designed as a mini-model that reflects the whole of humanity, and acts as a central “hub,” responsible for the connection throughout the network.

The Book of Zohar portrays the connection between the Jewish people and the world to that of the organs within the human body: “Israel is like a heart among the organs, and as the organs of the body could not exist in the world even one moment without the heart, so all the nations cannot exist in the world without Israel.” (Pinhas, 152).

Hence the instinctive, deep-seated demand from the Jews, which can easily manifest as hatred in our world. With every accusation, persecution, rejection, or threat – the world calls upon the people of Israel to fulfill their natural duty and enable a new level of connection across the whole of humanity.

Subconsciously, the world feels that Jews carry a certain responsibility for all of the world’s problems and hold the key to its better future. Thus, the world’s pressure on the Jews is embedded in the evolution of human society. As written, “there is no calamity that comes into the world but for Israel” (Tractate Yevamot, 63).

Sooner or later, the people of Israel will have to accept their responsibility towards humanity, and usher in the next level of human development. Jews of all walks of life have to set the example of unity and connection above all differences for the sake of the entire world. Until we do that, the world will not get tired of hating Jews.

New Life #532 – Participate In A Kabbalah Convention And Jump Into The Purpose Of Creation!

New Life #532 – Participate In A Kabbalah Convention And Jump Into The Purpose Of Creation!
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary

Participating in a Kabbalah Convention provides a person with an opportunity to jump forward into the purpose of creation, into complete connection and mutual love. If each one comes with an open heart and makes efforts to unite with everyone else, we can discover the Creator, the ultimate force of nature. We can create a situation in which bestowal, love, giving, and wholeness exist between us and we feel like one family. We can transcend our instinctive nature and reach a common prayer when we open our hearts to love others, and through this reach love of the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #532 – Participate In A Kabbalah Convention And Jump Into The Purpose of Creation!” 3/1/15

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New Life #86 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 1

New Life #86 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 1
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Summary

Anxiety and concern are essential to our existence and fulfillment. Since the foundation of all life is the desire to enjoy, we are in a constant state of anxiety regarding how we will fill ourselves. The only way to change direction and eliminate self-absorbed fear is through education regarding the importance of one’s environment. The positive influence of one’s environment can transform our egotistical and competitive worries into concern for the well-being of others. We can build a protective, balanced, and calm system around us through positive human relationships.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #86 – Overcoming Anxiety, Part 1,” 10/21/12

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Medium: “The Secret to Freeing Yourself from the Shackles of Time”

I published my new article “The Secret to Freeing Yourself from the Shackles of Time” on Medium.

Why do the minutes drag when you’re in a rush, running late for an appointment, and waiting for what feels like forever for the traffic lights to turn green? How can it be that the young driver in the car ahead, who gets distracted while waiting for the same green light, is astounded that the light has turned green so fast when your impatient honks interrupt him? One minute went by, but each feels it differently according to each one’s personal perspective and circumstance.

This illustrates just how subjective time is. If our experience of time is subjective, could there be a way to become masters of time instead of feeling that time controls our existence? How could we relate differently to our past, present and future and take control over time?

The Science of Time Perception

Scientists have discovered that the perception of time involves processes linked to memory, attention and emotional states. Time flies when we are busy or doing something we consider exciting. In contrast, minutes drag when we are bored and unimpressed.

Our experience of time depends on the amount of pleasure we receive. Changes in our desire for gratification create a sensation of time passing. This is how every moment of our lives is grasped and measured. Every sensation is divided into three states: what we did, what we are doing, and what we foresee doing in the future. How we relate to this partitioning influences our entire life. It defines the way we think, our ability to sense our present, and the framework we develop for facing daily tasks and strategizing for future events.

“There is no single, uniform time, but rather multiple times which we experience. Our temporal distortions are a direct translation of the way in which our brain and body adapt to these multiple times, the times of life,” concluded French scientist Sylvie Droit-Volet, after multiple studies on the subject.

Human beings constantly dwell on the past, thinking if only they could have done things differently the outcome could have been better. How often do we drag these examinations into the present at the expense of living life to the fullest? Wouldn’t it be better to learn how to seize the moment, live here and now, enjoying life like there is no tomorrow? Also, what about that unknown territory called “the future”? Is it better to take each day as it comes or to worry about what will happen tomorrow or in the next moment?

What Exactly Should You Examine in Your Past?

When you look into the past you should have no regrets or self-blame. The way you are is how nature created you, with a desire to enjoy that controls you at every moment. If you, for instance, harmed someone in the past, it was because you were unaware that harming them meant harming yourself, since you did not feel your oneness with them.

However, the world is one complete whole. All of nature is connected and interdependent. Therefore, if we hurt someone on the way to our personal enjoyment, it will boomerang on us. Conversely, if we create connections of friendship and mutual love with everyone, we assure ourselves a good life from now until the end of our days.

Therefore, our only purpose when we evaluate the past is to recognize the evil in us, but never to regret and blame. We should then look into the future and set an intention to correct our attitude from that moment onward, to do only good to others just like we would do for ourselves.

Our Existence Above Time

We can live above time’s calculations because there actually is no time. The wisdom of Kabbalah states that time does not exist. Time is only a series of actions taking place in our desire to enjoy, the internal changes we undergo during the day and throughout life. Those different states give us the sensation of time, and we measure them according to our corporeal existence.

We have a sensation of time passing rapidly or slowly when we ponder about things that happen to us and when we reflect on consequences and emotions. However, time is not experienced according to the number of seconds that have elapsed, but instead by the changes from one state to the next. Therefore, a unit of time can last a minute, an hour, or a year, but the unit remains the same: the change from descent to ascent or vice versa. The actual calculation is over a feeling of more or less satisfaction in our desire. It turns out that everything depends on us, on our subjective perception.

Until not long ago, people thought it impossible that time is relative to subjective perception. Then Einstein’s scientific breakthrough of his Theory of General Relativity backed up this notion of time. Our sensation of time depends solely on whether we get more or less pleasure. Changes in our desire for pleasure create our sensation of time passing. Without these changing states, we would lose not only the feeling of time, but the sensation of life in general.

For instance, if we were to feel “only this moment” it would be the equivalent of dying. Why? It is because the dead are free from the perception of time’s movement and don’t feel its changes. However, this is not the kind of freedom a person looks for since it doesn’t fulfill the purpose of our lives.

Looking into the Future

If being above the sensation of time is not our goal, then what is? What should the purpose of our lives be? We need to discover the development of our personal timeline of development, and how to control the full spectrum of our lives. This means that we need to understand and learn how to manage the internal states we undergo. We need to clarify how we can manage and control the past, the present, and the future via what influences us from an external source.

What is this “external source”? It is the source that controls the whole of creation, the force of nature, which is a force of love and bestowal. If we learn about its fundamental attributes — love and bestowal — and equalize with them by changing our connections from egoistic to altruistic, we can then create a positive environment similar to the primary force of nature, one that is good and eternal, truly above time.

It turns out that all we must do is change our senses, our tools of perception. We need to replace our egoistic program, our current operating system that feels the changes of time, and begin to function differently, to run on an upgraded altruistic program. If we rise above our need to fulfill our desire for pleasure and live in the desire to fulfill others, we become masters of time, masters of our lives.

In order to make this change, we must know the entire timeline of the development of our desire: how it is created, how it changes, and what form it needs to become. We can discover all of this if we rise above our selfish desire, stop depending on it, and become completely free from it. When we do that, we stop feeling the past, present and future as a corporeal, limited life.

Every object in the world has its past, present, and future, i.e. its cause and effect. We need to learn how to always refer to the root cause in order to be able to easily investigate and see all the consequences. If we recognize the cause, then we will already know what will happen next, even though we don’t see the result as yet. The future forms of all results are already latent in their cause. As explained by my teacher, Kabbalist Baruch Ashlag (Rabash), in his article, “The Purpose of Society”: “and although we have not yet achieved this goal, we have the desire to achieve it. And this, too, should be appreciated by us, for even though we are at the beginning of the way, we do hope to achieve the exalted goal.”

In this manner, if we research the most important questions about life — “Where is life’s origin?” “Where do we come from?” “What is a person?” “Who or what created us?” “What kind of force controls us and what goal is it leading us to?” — then we could realistically hope to answer these questions. Then, knowing the entire timeline of our desires’ development, we could manage and control our lives, liberated from the shackles of time.
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