December 25, 2024
Archive for June, 2014
June 16, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Humanity, Quotes
The human body is possibly the most vivid example of the modus operandi of yielding self-interest before the interest of the host system in return for the system’s protection. In the human body, as in any organism, each cell has a particular role. For the organism to persist, each cell must perform its function to the best of its ability and replace the goal of maintaining its own life with the goal of maintaining the life of its host organism.
If a cell begins to act contrary to that principle, its interests will soon clash with those of the body and the body’s defense mechanisms will destroy it. Otherwise, it is likely to create a tumor of insubordinate cells that strive to consume the body’s resources for their own benefit. When such a process occurs, we diagnose it as “cancer.”
If the cancer wins, the body dies and the tumor dies along with it. If the body wins and the cancer dies, the body persists, along with the cells of the organ that did not become malignant, and the self-centered cells are extinguished. This is Nature’s failsafe mechanism for ensuring that self-centered systems will not exist. Here, too, there is nothing miraculous; it is simply that self-centered mechanisms invariably consume themselves to extinction because they end up consuming their food supply.
Thus, it is in the interest of all cells in the body to dispose of the tumor. Put differently, to guarantee the survival of elements in a system, the elements in that system must cater to the well-being of the system before they cater to their own well-being. In return, the system will cater to their well-being and provide for their survival.
The principle explained just now is valid not only for particles, atoms, and organisms, but for all of life. By applying it, all elements in Nature learn to yield their self-centered natures to an altruistic nature, which considers the good of the collective before its own good.
How can you and humanity as a whole learn examples from nature in order to best survive and prosper? This topic and more are tackled in the Free Kabbalah Course, 20 lessons that will change your life in 10 weeks. The course just started and registration closes soon. Don’t miss out!…
June 15, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Crisis
Last week, students and groups of the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute partook in an exercise of writing a one-page article describing “How Did We Reach the Present Situation and How Does Unity Bring a Solution to Any Problem?” according to guidelines given by Dr. Michael Laitman in the Daily Kabbalah Lesson of Sunday, June 8:
Below is the article submitted by the Yashar Kel Virtual Group…
Our World in Crisis
As one human family we face many serious threats to our stable and bright future. Crises can be found in almost every area of life. We worry about the instability of the financial markets and rising unemployment. Changes in global weather patterns are resulting in severe drought and storms. We struggle increasingly with rising rates of the disintegration of the family, and depression and despair has become a global health crisis. Violence plagues communities and countries. Both world leaders and experts are helpless in the face of the skyrocketing crises coming at us from every area of life. As individuals, we worry about the quality of the future we will leave to our children.
The Root of the Problem
The history of mankind is defined by the development of the ego. The desire to provide for ourselves and our children has pitted each of us against the others as we compete for limited resources. We have become accustomed to viewing the world through a lens of egoism to ensure the survival of ourselves and our loved ones. We educate our children to adopt this same self-focused and competitive attitude. However, this egoistic approach to life is becoming unsustainable in the new era of globalization and interdependence. Now, as more than seven billion people share the planet, we must face the reality that the attitude of narrow self-interest underlies all the problems we face. In our reality of tight interconnection, the use of force and domination cannot succeed in the end. The stresses between the parts of the system are now increasing exponentially. It is a law of the behavior of interconnected systems that confrontation between parts only provokes an equally strong reaction somewhere else within the system. The only viable solution to our problems is to change the way we relate to each other and to the world.
The Force That Sustains Nature
Although the enormity of the problems seem overwhelming, there is one solution that will heal them all. It is the force that sustains all of nature, the force of bestowal. Another way to describe bestowal is to call it connection with the intention to benefit others. This force of benevolent connection is similar to other forces that are more easily observed by us, like gravity, electricity, and magnetism. It is an actual force that operates according to predictable laws. When we properly align ourselves with this force of benevolent connection, tremendous powers are available to transform all types of problems for good. It’s the law. It simply happens that way. There have been those who discovered and studied this law of bestowal for thousands of years and have described and detailed its working. These scientists of the law of bestowal are called kabbalists, and a long string of kabbalists have preserved and described the workings of the force of bestowal throughout the ages to this day. Indeed, an authentic kabbalist understands how to tap into the force of bestowal, the most powerful force in nature, and direct it for good. Kabbalah has made a scientific study of this force of bestowal, or law of love. If this sounds unbelievable, consider some evidence of the power contained within connection.
Wisdom of the Crowd
The force of bestowal is revealed to our awareness when people unite. A hint of its power can be seen in such phenomena as what is called, “the wisdom of the crowd.” It works something like this: ten people can connect around a particular problem, each of the ten contributing an incorrect solution. As all ten people, none of whom have the correct answer, strive to discover the point of consensus and connection between them something surprising happens. A higher wisdom is revealed and a correct solution emerges. This principle has been studied scientifically and the phenomenon of the wisdom of the crowd is a well-established fact. In actuality, when people unite in benevolent connection, they align themselves with the force of bestowal that sustains nature and miraculous results occur.
Practical Application
While it takes an authentic kabbalist to understand the intricacies of the operation of this force of nature, each of us can easily begin to use it in our lives. Try it and see how pleasantly startling the results are. Simply put, the force of nature is the implementation of what is known popularly as The Golden Rule: love your fellow as yourself, and don’t do to another what is hated by you. When we are able to apply this attitude to every detail of our lives, we are in alignment with the most powerful force in nature and miracles happen. In order to be able to maintain this altruistic view of reality we need reeducation and practice. As we connect with others with the purpose of learning how to tap into the force of bestowal under the guidance of a proper teacher, our entire view of reality transforms. Instead of seeing reality as “me against the world,” we begin to see instead, “me for the world, and the world for me!” Our lives begin to improve exponentially. A new environment begins to be created. We are able to take our places in the intricate system of nature in its ideal state.
June 14, 2014 at 10:00 pm · Filed under Torah Portion
Numbers 16:1 – 18:32
This Week’s Torah Portion | June 15 – June 21, 2014 – Sivan 17 – Sivan 23, 5774
In A Nutshell
The portion begins with the story of Dathan and Abiram, and 250 of the presidents of the congregation who rebelled against Moses and Aaron with what seemed like a just argument: Since the entire nation is holy, Moses and Aaron should have the same status as the rest of the people. The reply they received was that although they are all equal, Moses and Aaron are the leaders that can be in contact with the Creator. Following the mutiny, the ground swallowed the 250 presidents of the congregation, as well as Korah and his company, and the people suffered from a plague until Moses asked the Creator to end it.
The end of the portion debates the question of leadership in the nation. A test was held between all the staffs (rods) of all the leaders, and the only one that blossomed was Aaron’s staff, which signaled his unequivocal leadership.
Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman
We can interpret the explanation of the Torah (Pentateuch) on two levels—the level of this world and the level of the hidden, spiritual world. On the level of our world, the story of Korah is very relevant even today.
For thousands of years, our world has been developing through our egos. 3,800 years ago we lived in what is now known as Ancient Babylon. This is when Abraham—the quality of Hesed (mercy)—rose, as well as the priests that followed him, who are also from the quality of Bina, Hassadim.
Abraham discovered that the whole world must develop and achieve a state of unity and connection, and shared his revelation with the Babylonians. While many followed him, they were only a handful compared to the majority that rejected his ideas. Abraham had to flee from Babylon, chased by Nimrod, the king of Babylon.
Abraham established a method for correcting human nature. Today we call that method, “the wisdom of Kabbalah,” whose purpose is to elevate man from the depth of egoism to the level of bestowal and love.
This ascent is in fact the goal of our development—to rise from the level of this world to the level of the spiritual world. Spirituality is bestowal and the love of others, by which we acquire eternity and wholeness. This is the meaning of the text in this portion, as well as in The Book of Zohar, which talks about freedom from the angel of death.
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June 14, 2014 at 9:00 pm · Filed under Definitions
Glossary of Terms Used in the Korah Weekly Torah Portion
President
A “president” is the quality that currently controls all the other qualities.
Counters’ Envy
This is the desire to count how much we have gained, how much we receive, how much we give, how much we advance in spirituality. We advance specifically through envy; it is good envy. Our envy of our environment prompts us to be more spiritual.
Korah
The will to receive that appears opposite (in contrast to) the quality of Moses. It is through this dispute that we advance.
Plague
A plague is a manner of correction. The correction detaches and sets my intentions to receive in order—corrects them to be in order to bestow, either on the degree of Bina, or on the degree of Keter.
Fire from Heaven
Fire is Gevurot that appear on the left line, without Hassadim. There can be mitigated Gevurot and good Gevurot. It’s a correction, the correction force that comes from the left.
Holy
The degree of Bina, bestowal.
Atonement
The light that comes and gives us the strength to atone for our iniquities, to turn them from reception to bestowal. All our iniquities, our ego, everything that was in us, has now become bestowal.
Staff (rod)
The staff is the middle line by which one achieves the goal. If we properly connect to it all the qualities, all the discernments, it blossoms.
Blossoming
The middle line that shows us we are being filled with light.
The Meaning of “Peace, Peace, to Him That Is Far and to Him That Is Near”
“What is a dispute? It is removal and rejection above and below … removal and rejection of the peace … the peace of above—the middle line, which is called Torah, making peace between right and left—and of below, of Moses. …A dispute is wherever there are two opposites … A dispute is necessary … because it is impossible to correct anything unless you know the fault. Therefore, when we know the dispute between the desires, we can make peace between them.”
Rav Baruch Ashlag, The Writings of Rabash, vol. 2,
“What Is ‘Peace, Peace, to Him That Is Far and to Him That Is Near,’ in the Work?”, p 1361
We must respect disputes but make them constructive, as it is written, “A contradiction of elders builds” (Babylonian Talmud, Nedarim, 40a), and by that we reach the goal.
June 13, 2014 at 7:30 pm · Filed under Articles, Books, Perception of Reality
Why We all Strive for Balance in Our Lives
As children, many of us believed that the world was filled with all kinds of forces, like ghosts in fairytales. As we grew, we gradually relinquished this belief, but every now and again we still feel as though these forces actually exist.
The truth of the matter is that we are searching for them every single moment. We want to know about the world we live in because if we do not, we will never be freed of the sensation of uncertainty, to live in peace and confidence. We are curious to understand the world we live in and to improve our state of being. This curiosity evokes questions such as, “Who am I?” ”Where am I?” “What shall become of me?” Such questions prompt us to strive to know the reality in which we live.
Reality is divided into two parts: the human being and his or her surroundings. Some claim that we should only study and change ourselves, asserting that by so doing, we will feel tranquil and regard the world more positively. Others, however, say that we should stay as we are, make the most of what the world brings to our doorsteps, and change the world to fit our needs. Either way, it does not seem that our lives are working very well.
The best state in which we can get along with the world is that of equilibrium. If everyone understood me and wanted exactly what I want, that would be a state of equilibrium. There is no state more perfect than the sense of being in balance with the world. It can only be compared to being a fetus in my mother’s womb: everything exists only to care for me; there is no need to erect any defenses.
Science refers to that state as “homeostasis.” The Greek word, homo, means same or similar, and stasis is Greek for condition. This is the state of being that every object in reality strives to achieve.
Here’s a Quick Way to Understand the Limits of Your Perception
The laws of physics, chemistry, and biology explain that the only reason for any movement of matter, whether still, vegetative, animate, or speaking, is its longing to be in balance with its surroundings. For us, as human beings, to be in balance with our surroundings, we must know about the nature of the surrounding world and how we can equalize with it.
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