August 16, 2009 at 10:35 pm · Filed under Events
UPDATE (27.08.09): DUE TO THE SUCCESS OF THE FIRST Q&A CELEBRATION, WE WILL BE HOLDING ANOTHER ONE THIS COMING WEDNESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER, AT 8:00pm EST (U.S.). YOU’RE QUESTIONS ON THIS BLOG POST WILL GO TOWARD THE UPCOMING EVENT, OR YOU MAY LIKE TO POST THEM ON OUR UPDATED PAGE… JUST CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING BANNER TO GO THERE:
Kabbalah LIVE Video Q&A Celebration
Wednesday, September 02.09 – 8:00pm EST (U.S.)
We at the Bnei Baruch Education Center are so excited about the upcoming Kabbalah introductory course, which begins on September 9, that we can’t wait to get started!
So on Wednesday, 26 August, we’ll be holding a free public preliminary live Q&A session with you to celebrate the upcoming course.
We invite you all to post just one question that’s itching away at you, and get it answered at the live event. Maybe you have a question about Kabbalah itself, or how Kabbalah can help you in a certain situation you’re facing, or how Kabbalah explains all kinds of events occurring in our world, or any variety of concepts, such as whether we have free choice, how we perceive reality, why we feel pain and pleasure, or countless other things…
Kabbalah encourages the asking of questions to progress, so here’s an opportunity to ask your first question and get it answered live!… Just write your name, e-mail, and the question you have in the comment form below, and you’ll get reminder e-mails with a link to the live event where we’ll answer your question.
AND… By sending us your question using the comment form below, you’ll go into the draw to win a number of book & CD giveaways!
UPDATED TODAY (26.08.09) – CLICK HERE TO GO DIRECTLY TO THE LIVE EVENT!!! – 8:00pm EST (U.S.), Wednesday, 26 August, 2009
We’ll be updating about this event regularly on this blog, and providing new Q&A material leading up to the event to help you prepare. Here is the first of many of these: a free PDF for you to download, containing a top 5 Q&A on free will taken from Michael Laitman’s personal blog: (PDF) Kabbalah on Free Will – Top 5 Q&A Series from Michael Laitman’s Personal Blog.
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August 15, 2009 at 1:55 am · Filed under Articles, Music
“We are here to create a better world…people who care enough, can change the course of history…”
Abby Hoffman, 1967
Precisely forty years ago, in the summer of ‘69, in a void between the Vietnam War and Neil Armstrong’s small/giant step/leap on the moon, an exceptional event changed the face of the world. Or at least it meant to.
It all began with an “innocent” ad, featuring a guitar and a little dove telling of an upcoming music festival. The rumor rapidly spread throughout America, and thousands of youngsters began flowing to the green fields of Max Yasgur, a Jewish farmer, north of New York State. Something took place, which no one had imagined, including the original festival’s organizers.
What actually happened? Superficially speaking, not much. No historical battles, no extraordinary speeches, no victims or dead (except for one poor hippy who was run over by a heartless tractor). A few thousand people sang together, bathed nude in the lake and slid down sticky mud the rain left behind. But for the most part they united, becoming one giant, hairy ball, sweaty, wild with a spark in their eyes.
It may have been for a short period of time, but that was enough to turn the Woodstock festival into one of the most impactful and important events of the 20th century. What has changed since then? Was Woodstock just a nostalgic, passing episode, or a significant event, with relevant ramifications for our time as well?
Separately Connected
“Everything is connected together, breaking and coming together, it becomes complicated and straightens itself out again, with no connection, there’s no connection…”
Rami Fortis, “No Connection”
Undoubtedly, we are clearly in a post-Woodstock era now. It’s an era steroid-pumped with technological super-connections and high traffic information flows: reality TV, SMS, Twitter, Facebook, and auto-answering messages “connect” people. Naïve romanticism and flowers in the hair have been swapped with sarcastic realism, and if you’re lucky, a flower-themed cellphone case or screensaver. Is there even one person around anymore who believes passionately in some power-shifting revolution? And is there even any “institution” left to fight? That’s just painting a small part of the picture…
In the last ten years, probably the most significant development is that one called “globalization.” People, money and technology have crossed national boundaries, and a global community has been created. On the one hand, people are becoming connected with one another in every realm of life. But on the other hand, the ever-growing ego is ever-active in separating people, making it difficult to accept that interconnection is a fact of life. Instead of consciously choosing to come together, human “togetherness” is involuntarily evolving and pressuring people to object and to deny that which ties one another together.
This is a result of two opposite needs operating simultaneously: (1) the need to be with everyone, and (2) the need to remain in each one’s own safe haven. People feel negative sensations like pressure, stress, insecurity and paranoia as a result of these two clashing needs, and in particular, as a result of holding tight onto the second of these two needs when the first is the one demanding attention. In short, the time has come for a true connection between people to form, one beyond that felt at a Woodstock – one that incorporates humanity as a whole.
Woodstock proved that a few thousand people equipped with a strong social agenda can arouse media buzz and widespread social response. It also proved that it’s not enough to truly better the world. For that, people must become equipped with a deeper understanding of the essence of their connection. It’s insufficient for people to simply be spectators of this grand performance of the world unfolding before them. Now’s the time for people to start participating in this process, to get backstage tickets and see the making of every personal, social and global event they find themselves in. And unlike a major music event, the backstage tickets for life are free…
The Wisdom of Kabbalah – Life’s Backstage Tickets
“We are stardust, we are golden, and we’ve got to get ourselves back to the garden…”
Joni Mitchell, “Woodstock”
According to Kabbalists, humanity was initially joined as one soul, an immense body composed of infinite cells that sustained a mutual and continuous connection among them. At a certain point, that collective soul shattered into an infinite number of parts, which are you, me, and the seven billion other people in the world. This shattering brought about a complete loss of a sense of connection, and since then, people have been constantly engaged in the search for substitutes of that feeling of wholeness that each one had experienced. Woodstock is but one of the many subconscious efforts people have taken to replicate that lost connection, that gone memory. But the feeling experienced at Woodstock was short-lived, just like all efforts humanity has made toward achieving that ultimate feeling of wholeness.
The human ego has been growing and expanding over the years and is now reaching new heights. The ego leads people to impressive achievements, but in addition, opens a deep void in people’s hearts, and it successfully destroys any warm, human connection people attempt to establish. Today’s global age, Kabbalists explain, is the last phase of humanity’s preparation toward evolving into its final, preprogrammed state: its reunification as one soul, above the ego that divides one from another.
Kabbalists throughout the generations have developed the method of attaining true connection among people precisely for its use in our time, when the destructive nature of the ego would be reaching its heights of development. At the innermost core of this process is the need to change the person’s inborn egoistic nature to its opposite: the quality of giving to others.
But to anyone inexperienced with Kabbalah’s method, this would very much sound far fetched. How can people possibly give up being concerned about themselves? If anything, now more than ever it seems like each person needs to be on the lookout for him- or herself more than in any other time. If someone isn’t concerned for him- or herself, so who else will be?
With A Little Help From Friends…
“When humanity reaches its goal by attaining the complete degree of loving others, all bodies in the world will be joined into one body and one heart – only then, our desired happiness will be revealed before humanity in all its glory.”
Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”
The renowned Kabbalist, Baal HaSulam (Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag), claimed that the only way people could ever give up their self concern would be if others showed concern for their welfare, one for another, just like in a small family where each one takes care of the other. He called this warm relationship “the mutual guarantee,” and through such mutual consideration and dependence, the force that once united everyone as one soul will become revealed from its concealment. The establishment of this mutual guarantee will grant people freedom – freedom of concern for themselves, and the experience a new, perfect reality.
Sliding in Woodstock’s slippery mud, growing long hair and singing freedom slogans with a dry throat are unnecessary for achieving this new reality, and moreover, the human ego has expanded to such dimensions that interconnection based on slogans and acid simply cannot be achieved. The united feeling at Woodstock will never be revived, at least not in its original form. People are now required to connect with awareness, insight, and with open eyes. It’s time for everyone to take off his- and her mask, and truly connect in heart.
And it is at that point, of all places, that the world of culture and music in particular, play a major role. Why?
The Power of Music
“Each of us has a huge ego, and the only way to survive together for 31 years is to create a situation in which the group’s ego is bigger than that of each of its members….”
Bono, on the secret of the group U2’s survival for many years
Music is the deepest and most direct artistic expression. It can cross boundaries, touch people’s hearts and carry them away, and connect them beyond their differences. Music has the tendency to reject and be free of existing customs. In addition, music has become the most popular and successful artistic platform in recent times. It flows with ease through modern media pipelines – the Internet, mobile devices, radio and TV – and is available everywhere and at all times. Famous artists and musicians are still cultural heroes who greatly influence the public. The only question is, of course, how is this all translated into actual changes in the real world?
In the initial phase, people began pointing their arrows in the right direction. In the 60s, the musicians’ revolution was mainly directed against the institution in all its forms. However, as time passed, people realized that the real problem is not with the institution itself, but with the inner force that operates and motivates all people: man’s egoistic nature. The true walls needing to be broken down are those between people, the walls in people’s hearts, walls of detachment and separation from one another that tear away at each other, causing all suffering and torment in the world. That doesn’t mean that the belligerent spirit flowing in the veins of rock music should be packed away. On the contrary, that spirit needs to be used all the more forcefully, sending new arrows of revolution, sharper and smarter, towards the true enemy residing within each and every person. In other words, the ego should not be cancelled or decreased, but used with a new intention – with the intention of attaining a true and complete connection with others, a connection that presents humanity with the opportunity for a higher and more elevated existence.
Music must return to its source, to individuals, to people – as a tool that connects and glues people together, making them feel truly closer to each other. If the guitar and the dove, meaning human culture and Kabbalah’s spiritual concepts, join together, they will be able to develop a feeling of eternal and complete life in people’s hearts. This time, as opposed to the past, all knowledge, awareness and necessary internal maturity are in people’s hands in order to succeed in reconstructing a universal, internal Woodstock, the Woodstock of the souls.
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August 9, 2009 at 3:18 am · Filed under Articles, Education
With the world in crisis, parents everywhere fear for their children’s future. Yet, if we rise to the challenge, we can set them on the path to a future far brighter than any we ever dreamed of.
As I sit at my computer, the neighborhood rings with the laughter of children playing tag. It brings back memories of my childhood, and I can’t help but wonder what the future has in store for them.
Mankind has always invested superhuman efforts to assure that the next generation will have an easier, more fulfilling life. For many parents today, this dream may forever remain a fantasy. Economic uncertainty, environmental collapse, and violence promise to be the legacy we will leave our children. A Rasmussen Poll in January found that only 47% of American parents believe their children will be better off than they are.
This gloomy outlook should be a clarion call to action for people everywhere. But if we are to have any hope of finding lasting solutions, we must first retrace the developments that led to the problems we face today.
Did Someone Press “Fast Forward?”
Mankind’s needs were simple once: If there was adequate food, shelter and security from predators, life was good. But time marched on, and the necessities were no longer enough. People wanted more from life, and so the relentless quest for new pleasures began. By the time we reached the 20th century, everything had accelerated, as if someone pressed “fast forward.” We went from horses to trains to jets; from telegraphs to phones to the Internet. With each generation, the luxuries of the parents became the necessities of the children.
This continuous escalation of selfindulgence has finally caught up with us, bringing our world to the brink of collapse. Our culture of excess reached its culmination with ego-maniacs like Bernard Madoff, who swindled investors of $50 billion. And while it’s easy to put the blame on the likes of Madoff, the reality is that we all bear a share of the guilt, even if our excesses are on a much smaller scale.
If we are honest, we’ll see that success in our society is defined as more money, fame or power, no matter what the cost to others. So what can we expect for our future if these are the values that we promote?
If egoism is the root of our problems, then the solution is to transform our values to altruism and sharing. But how? After all, mankind has prospered with a “Me first!” mentality for thousands of years. Yet, in today’s globalized society, where everything that happens on one side of the world has an almost immediate impact on the other side, “Me first!” no longer works. In the words of Britain’s PM, Gordon Brown, “In this global age, we need solutions that can no longer be defined in terms of us and them, but can be achieved only together – as us with them.”
New Problems Call for New Solutions
We can’t buy our way out of the current crisis with taxpayer dollars or consume our way out through increased shopping. We have to approach life from a new perspective, taking advantage of three powerful tools.
• Education
People today are lost and confused, wondering: Why is this happening? What should we do? But we are resourceful, and if we understand the problem, we will perform miracles to solve it. This is why a public education campaign about the globalization of our economies, the interdependence of all people, and the benefits of cooperation could guide us to the solutions.
Our best hope for the future lies in educating our children. NY Times columnist Nicholas Kristof recently classified education as “our greatest national shame.” And he’s right: we are not providing our children with the knowledge they need to succeed in the new global era. If we offer them an education about the natural laws that govern interconnected systems, they will be prepared to easily navigate the stormy seas that are so baffling to us.
• Media
Most of our behavioral patterns come directly from TV and the Internet. As long as news, entertainment and sports glorify the pursuit of wealth and a “win at any cost” mentality, we will see greed and exploitation dominate our society. If, however, we insist that these venues reflect the values of compassion, we will turn today’s destructive media force to our advantage.
And in fact, the tide is already starting to shift. A recent series of ads bears titles such as, “In an Absolut World, Currency will be Replaced with Acts of Kindness.” CNN’s series on economic survival features stories about people who find happiness through the renewal of family connections, sharing with others, and a simpler lifestyle. We just need to give things a push!
• The Power of Society
The most powerful instrument for change, however, is us. Throughout history, social change has been driven by the people. The 14th century Renaissance is just one example of a cultural movement that led to exponential advances in all areas. And today, the desire for change among the American people was so strong that it swept an unlikely candidate into the highest office.
This is the force we can harness to make the changes in today’s society. But how can we transform our approach to life from egoism to altruism when all we know is “taking care of #1”? Actually, our children can show us the way! When a child decides to become a doctor, he “plays” doctor, even though he has no idea what he is doing. Only when the child becomes a doctor will he know what it really means, but each of his imagined notions along the way is a necessary preparation.
So to begin with, we can “fake it until we make it.” Our first “altruistic” efforts will be purely egoistic: done to escape the crisis. Over time, however, an amazing transformation will occur: our simulated joy in altruism will give way to the real thing, providing real relief from the crisis.
Arne Duncan, the new Education Secretary, commented, “We have to continue to think differently and do everything we can to put our students … on the path to pursuing the American dream.” Let’s pressure our government to use part of the $150 billion education stimulus to create a new American dream, one that values activities that benefit all and frowns upon personal success at the expense of others. Let’s use the power of our collective will to show politicians and businesses that we are no longer buying into a consumer oriented society. Let’s encourage media to promote values of generosity and sharing, while shunning egoistic glorification of individuals. In this way, we will leave a lasting legacy to our children, and they will have the wisdom to know how to use it.
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