The Influence Of Intention On The Earth’s Ecology

Question: Does a person’s intention to inflict harm on another affect the inanimate and vegetative levels of nature? Kabbalah says that destructive hurricanes and other natural disasters are a manifestation of our actions toward each other. How we should understand this?

Answer: Since all nature is integral and completely interconnected, our impact on any of its parts affects all other parts. The higher the level of nature that we influence, for example, people, the more it affects all the lower levels: animals, vegetation, and the inanimate.

In contrast, if we exhibit some attitude only toward inanimate nature, it has a lesser impact on vegetative nature, an even lesser one on animate nature, and still less on humans.

It turns out that my bad attitude toward another person permeates the entire pyramid. This is the source of ecological problems and of everything else. We ourselves cause hurricanes, natural disasters, and other problems.

Previously, we were unable to affect anything with our intentions, but everything changed at the beginning of the last century. Look at what we did during the 20th century! Kabbalists say this is because humanity entered a completely new state.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the world population was two billion people, and this is about as much as the planet can sustain. Today, it has grown to eight billion. This suggests that over the past 100 years, we have really driven our system out of balance.

Question: Does this mean that two billion people cannot endure the current level of egoism and therefore there has to be eight billion?

Answer: If we were developing correctly, we would not need eight billion people.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 03/25/18

What Is The Difference Between The Revealed And The Concealed Torah?

Question: What is the difference between the revealed and the concealed parts of the Torah?

Answer: The concealed part of the Torah is the part that is revealed to a person when he works on his spiritual development. The Torah is completely opposite from what people think.

Question: So, is it always revealed and it only depends on us if it is concealed or revealed to us?

Answer: The Torah is the control system of the entire system of creation. It is concealed with respect to a person individually. However, to the extent in which we are able to participate in this system intelligently and productively, it is gradually revealed to us.

Question: But how is the Torah, as a system of the world’s control, connected to the book that was written 3,000 years ago? Is it the written Torah and the oral Torah?

Answer: They both describe the system we need to enter, learn about, and engage with.

Question: What is the oral Torah? It seems that there are some laws that were possible to describe on a piece of paper and there are laws that could only be passed down by word of mouth?

Answer: The oral Torah is a system of laws that was passed down from teacher to student: from Adam through 20 generations to Abraham and then through all the rest of the generations to Rabbi Shimon, the author of The Book of Zohar. Then it all became hidden. The knowledge about the world, about the individual’s work in drawing closer to the Creator is called “the Torah,” from the word “Ohr” (Light). This knowledge was gradually passed down through a small group of people in each generation. Only now, beginning with the Ari (17th century) and onward, everything began to be reborn.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/18/18

Laying The Foundation For A Good Future

Kabbalah is the science of connection. We have to unite because nature is pushing us toward this, pushing us to be together. If we do not want this ourselves, then nature will obligate us by force. There is no doubt that nature will win, since a person is very weak against the blows of nature. This is why it is not worth waiting for the blows, which will constantly grow stronger, because there are heavy clouds on the horizon already.

Our worldwide Kabbalistic group is in the vanguard of this movement, advancing ahead of everyone and opening the doors to unity for the entirety of humanity. We are testing how to achieve unity on ourselves because this condition has never before existed in the world. Once, thousands of years ago, this kind of unity existed but under completely different conditions, among people who did not resemble us in any way.

Our group, called “the last generation,” living in the world of egoism, serves as a laboratory for all of humanity. How to arrive at unity in the easiest and quickest way is tested on us. From our experience, we are building the foundation for those who will follow in our footsteps after us in the very near future. This can take another ten to twenty years, but in the end, all of humanity will come to unity. Therefore, let us hope that this advancement will come by a merciful path and not by the path of suffering.

Nature is a single system. All of its parts develop from a single desire as from a tiny grain of sand. The upper force, the Light, exploded this tiny grain of desire, from which emerged the Big Bang, and from this began the development of all matter: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and people on the planet Earth. Today, we are already at the very end of this evolution.

Along the way, matter moved through multiple metamorphoses and shatterings, and we need to correct them. After all, by correcting the shattering, we achieve the quality of the Light. The Light shattered the grain of desire and we must collect those broken pieces of desire and sparks of Light. Then, the whole Light will be able to enter the desire, and instead of a tiny grain, it will become enormous. That is why it is so important for us to achieve this unity. It means rebuilding the shattered soul of the first human being, Adam HaRishon.

Europe today testifies to how much this shattering is starting to be revealed. Kabbalists during the last several centuries wrote about our time, about our “last generation.” The world has moved toward the revelation of the evil of the egoism so much that in the next several years it will be obvious to everyone that a global crisis is occurring not because of problems with technology, economics, or ecology, but only because of the poor relationships between people, which prevent us from uniting. Humanity is forcing nature out of equilibrium because there is no balance or unity among us. This balance is what we need to re-establish.

Baal HaSulam wrote in the article “The Arvut” (“Mutual Guarantee”) that the final correction of the world is only possible after the unification of the whole of humanity. Nothing other than this is needed. We are learning about huge systems, about the shattering that took place in the upper worlds, but in essence, we are learning how to unite the single desire that was shattered into a multitude of opposing pieces.

We are those broken pieces that must unite, not physically, but in our desires and thoughts. We must unite these spiritual sparks within us into one system, we must feel how we complete each other, think about the one goal, help each other become one desire. This mutual desire consists of many different parts, but it is these differences that create the possibility for fulfillment. No one part looks like any other, but by uniting together, they create perfection.

By making a laboratory  of ourselves in which we practice this connection, we gradually reveal within it the manifestation of the power of unity, the upper force of nature called the Creator.¹
From the Convention In Italy, “All As One” 7/26/18, Preparatory Lesson

New Life #1026 – Freedom And Slavery, Part 3

New Life #1026 – Freedom And Slavery, Part 3
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

Summary

Humans are different from beasts because we want to understand everything. The wisdom of Kabbalah does not give us answers directly but rather, explains how to reach a state where we reveal the upper worlds . All questions are answered in the state of true connection between people, which is in the upper worlds. The freedom of each person rests in his choice to correct his egoistic nature by changing his attitude to life and people.
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From KabTV’s “New Life #1026 – Freedom And Slavery,” Part 3, 6/26/18

Medium: “The Pursuit Of Happiness And The Fading American Dream”

The portal Medium published my new article “The Pursuit Of Happiness And The Fading American Dream”

It is embedded in the deepest layers of American society. “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” is the founding creed from the Declaration of Independence that aims at fulfillment in life to all. In reality, however, this ideal does not even scratch the surface of the American society. Despite spending astronomical amounts of money and working very hard to find happiness, the US has the highest rate of antidepressant use in the world. What is the reason and what can be done to invert this phenomenon?

Per-capita income in America has more than doubled since 1972, but its citizens’ well-being is sending unsettling signals of decline. The US is ranked only 18th out of 156 countries measured by the World Happiness Report 2018, significantly below other wealthy nations. The report’s editor, economist Jeffrey Sachs, stated that “the trends are not good, and the comparative position of the US relative to other high-income countries is nothing short of alarming.” He attributes this divergence to obesity, drug abuse and depression, problems associated with dissatisfaction in life.

The pursuit of happiness is constantly motivating people to seek the source of happiness. A well-oiled American industry of self-help products and services that sell the illusion of joy and satisfaction is estimated to be worth more than 10 billion dollars a year. A significant amount is also spent on traveling abroad, around 118 billion dollars, among other astonishing expenditures in leisure and indulgence.

If such exertion is not bearing fruit, is it possible that the problem is how and where people in this pursuit of happiness are seeking it?

How We Measure Happiness

The valuing of hard work to achieve success in life is usually interpreted as the accumulation of materialistic possessions, focusing on things that bring us joy and satisfaction, everything that money appears to buy. Acquiring as much money as possible also provides a sense of self-worth, as the person gaining wealth also gains respect and recognition from others. We live under the impression that being rich is equivalent to being happy, so we are ready to do whatever it takes to get rich.

This aim motivates people to work longer and socialize less, and thus experience the opposite of the desired effect: more loneliness and dissatisfaction due to the overwhelming investment in time and efforts to achieve this goal. The more we focus on the things that bring us pleasure, the faster the feeling fades and loses its importance.

Buying a new car, an impressive house, the ultimate electronic device, getting a prestigious job, will give us short-lived satisfaction. We will eventually adapt to these new acquisitions, thus returning to our starting point and ending up in the same state or even unhappier than we were before. It’s the same old rat race, where we are constantly chasing new sources of pleasure as the old ones expire.

Happiness Depends On Other People

In contrast to the common perception that “wealth = happiness,” various long-term studies have also reached the conclusion that close relationships, not possessions, hold the key to happiness.

When asked to summarize decades of research in the field of positive psychology, renowned psychologist Chris Peterson replied, “other people matter.” One of the world’s longest studies on this subject, of nearly 80 years, has been conducted by Harvard researchers. They have tracked the personal evolution of 268 sophomores to identify factors influencing a healthy and happy life.

The study found that friendship and social connection, more than money and fame, is what makes people happy. Furthermore, those who had warm relationships and belonged to a community not only lived happier lives, but longer ones. As part of the study’s conclusions, its director Robert Waldinger stated that “loneliness kills. It’s as powerful as smoking or alcohol addiction.”

The wisdom of Kabbalah has discussed this principle over thousands of years: true happiness can only be found through positive human connection, in our collective unity, where each person is outwardly-focused toward friends and society. Moreover, Kabbalah states that connection-based happiness is limitless in potential.

But why? What is it about giving and positively connecting with others that can make our happiness unlimited? Also, what limits our happiness?

Self-Concern: The Happiness Limiter

What limits our happiness is our self-concern, when we try to enjoy individually and at the expense of others. According to Kabbalah, human nature is a desire to enjoy. Our every nature-given motivation is to enjoy, feel good and be happy. However, although our every desire is constantly working to make us happy, our problem is that we don’t know how to enjoy. As the above-mentioned examples showed, we interpret this desire to enjoy in terms of desires for gaining wealth and material acquisitions, honor and respect, control and knowledge.

Such corporeal, material forms of enjoyment all share a common denominator: we try to fulfill ourselves individually at the expense of others. The problem with enjoying in this mode is that the desire to enjoy is made in such a way where self-aimed pleasure extinguishes the moment it enters us. Like when we eat, we extinguish our hunger, and by the end of the meal we don’t want to eat anymore, so it is with our other corporeal desires: they all fade away upon their fulfillment. This is the reason for the paradox as to why, although we have built a Western society abundant with material pleasures, depression and loneliness abound.

The founders of the wisdom of Kabbalah realized this problem with human nature, and sought to find a solution. What they found is that when the desire to enjoy is redirected, when we stop aiming to fulfill ourselves individually, and start aiming to fulfill others, although we don’t see any direct benefit from such an inclination, it actually is the key to enjoy and be happy limitlessly. Kabbalists discovered that behind what we envision as happiness, there is a source of happiness, an opposite desire to our own nature, which is a quality of giving, love and connection. When we try to emulate this quality, by trying to give, love and positively connect with others, then it influences us and changes us, bringing us more and more into balance with it. And the more we balance ourselves with nature, the happier we become.

Happiness Science and Positive Psychology Confirming What Kabbalah Has Been Stating for 1,000s of Years

Only recently, in the last 20–30 or so years, happiness science and positive psychology emerged to study what makes us happy, and what stands in the way of people’s happiness. These fields reach the conclusions that the wisdom of Kabbalah stated 5,000 years ago: that giving actually makes us far happier than receiving. The stronger our relationships with others, the happier we are. If our desire is focused outside ourselves, on giving to others, then we will not feel empty all the time.

The expectation of happiness depends solely on us, and only we dictate the scope of our future happiness. It can inflate, expand, and be enjoyed all the time, and thus a person has the potential to enjoy boundlessly. Instead of trying to enjoy detached from others, and finding ourselves empty-handed time after time, we can build ever-increasing happiness through our efforts to positively connect, coming closer and closer to balance with nature. Then, complete fulfillment will be a tangible reality and not only a dream.

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Actions And Commandments

Baal HaSulam, “The Teaching of The Kabbalah and Its Essence”: Indeed, there is a common opinion that the prime goal of religion and the Torah is only the cleansing of actions, that all that is desired concerns observing the physical Mitzvot(commandments), without any additions or anything that should result from it. Had that been so, those who say that studying the revealed and practical actions alone is sufficient would be right.

Yet, this is not the case. Our sages have already said, “Why should the Creator mind if one slaughters at the throat or at the back of the neck? After all, the Mitzvotwere only given to cleanse people.” Thus, there is a purpose beyond the observance of the actions, and the actions are merely preparations for this purpose. Hence, clearly, if the actions are not arranged for the desired goal, it is as if nothing exists. And it is also written in The Zohar: “A Mitzva (commandment) without an aim is like a body without a soul.” Hence, the aim, too, should accompany the act.

The physical actions convey nothing on their own. Clearly a person can do them, but he may not be aware of with what motives. Then what? What is achieved by these actions?—That is what’s most important. It is called an intention.

Question: It is written in The Book of Zohar: “A commandment without an intention is like a body without a soul.” What does this mean?

Answer: If any physical action is performed without the correct intention of uniting for the purpose of revealing the Creator, then this action is dead, like a body without a soul.

Question: Baal HaSulam writes that there are only two laws or two commandments: reception and bestowal. It follows that there is an interaction in human society that consists of two actions: either I receive or bestow. They have to be properly balanced. How should we understand this? What does properly balanced mean?

Answer: It is quite easy to balance: bestowal for the sake of bestowal is the quality of Bina and reception for the sake of bestowal is the quality of Keter.

Question: How can we know how much to receive from society and how much to give to it?

Answer: Do it so that it would be solely for the benefit of the society, for the sake of bringing it to the similarity with the Creator.

Question: And who decides that?

Answer: You decide. You have to integrate yourself into society in order to absorb all of its desires and raise them to the Creator. You have to become an intermediary link, a channel of connection between the society and the Creator.

Question: Is it only possible when the Creator reveals Himself to a person?

Answer: How else can you interact with the society? Only in order to help it.
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From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 3/18/18

All As One In Europe

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

We are beginning to feel this already today. But it will become very apparent when the world begins to fall apart, which will happen soon. Then we will understand that we cannot be together in the same egoistic form that used to work until now; we cannot remain in this union. It is impossible to disperse or to unite.

This is a very dangerous state, which can lead to a war. Imagine that the European Union falls apart, all the countries break the ties with each other. No country will be able to exist in isolation and to satisfy even its most basic needs. This split will affect all of humanity, society, and families, all social, economic, and government systems in each country.

People will then understand that unity is required not only in order to supply food, clothes, and all other needs. Nature is compelling us to unite internally. If we do not unite internally and do not complement each other, all other systems that we have built will be unable to function.

This is a very difficult lesson. If we learn it with the help of the wisdom of Kabbalah. It will not require too many inner searches and efforts, wars, and bloodshed. Conversely, if we do not spread the knowledge of Kabbalah in the world, if we fail to implement the inner connection in the Kabbalistic groups throughout Europe, then there will be a complete and very painful disintegration in Europe.¹

We must build an inner spiritual connection between our groups in Europe that will act as an internal spiritual government on this continent. Everybody will feel that there is something special in these people: there are principles, an upper goal, a method, and they can answer the pressing questions.

After all, they understand why there is a crisis: not because of monetary policy or ecological problems, international trade, or increases in import duties. None of this will lead to a solution. The only solution is to start building correct and kind relationships between everyone within the common human system.

And nobody can do this but Kabbalists. Therefore, a correct outcome of the congress is to organize a European group that will become an internal, spiritual, and ideological basis for the entire European continent.

It may seem fantastic and unrealistic, but once ten or fifteen years ago, my forecasts about the coming European crisis also seemed unrealistic. Today, this crisis, which erupted due to the fact that the union was created without the correction of the human nature, is obvious to everyone. And its next stage will be revealed much quicker.²
From the Convention In Italy, “All As One” 7/26/18, Preparatory Lesson

Why Does The Creator Need Contentment?

Question from Facebook: Why does the Creator need contentment? Isn’t He self-sufficient?

Answer: The same can be said about parents and children. You are connected with your children, you gave birth to them, they are very important to you. This is natural and it comes to us from the Creator in accordance with His attitude toward us.

Question: But isn’t our task to return this, to give Him contentment?

Answer: If a child correctly understands how to treat his or her parents, then he must act so that the parents will receive pleasure from him. And then he certainly will not be mistaken, because he otherwise will not have guidelines in this life. Therefore, setting himself up to give pleasure to his parents, he will always act in the most optimal way for himself.

And so are we with the Creator: giving Him contentment is a guideline to do the right thing for ourselves.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 6/5/18