Laitman.com » Books

The Book, Integration: The Strategy Of Human Survival

admin_bb — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 06:45:50 +0000

I recommend the book Integration: The Strategy Of Human Survival, written by my student Mikhail Glizerin.

From the chapter “Global Integration”: “We are accustomed to believe that we exist in a world where there are nearly two hundred countries with a government in each of them. But globalization has changed this reality. In fact, we live in a world where there is one country with two hundred governments.

“That is, we are in a dangerous situation of polyarchy that needs to be reckoned with. But meanwhile, the world prefers to turn a blind eye to it. How can we exist in a limbo? And how can unification be realized? After all, it cannot not happen as even evolution itself, presented as globalization, compels us to do so.”

Click here to download the book (in Russian).
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Midwest Book Review About The Book, Self Interest Vs. Altruism In The Global Era

admin_bb — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:08:56 +0000

Midwest Book Review, one of the top five book reviewers in the English speaking world, published very positive comments about my book Self Interest vs. Altruism in the Global Era: How Society Can Turn Self Interests Into Mutual Benefit.

The book explores humanity’s existence on this planet and reveals how our collective egoism has influenced the development of our society. By understanding the ego and its origins the reader discovers a new comprehension of the global integral existence as the remedy for society’s ills. It addresses our current social and political challenges and explains how we can use our egos to resolve them, rather than continuing the downward cycle that humanity finds itself in.

Midwest Book Review is a major Internet resource for publishers, writers, librarians, booksellers, and readers. The following is an excerpt from the review:

“Stating that society’s future relies on cooperation of people to work together for society, stating that much of society’s degradation in recent decades has been the result of narcissism and greed, “Self Interest vs. Altruism” is a curious and recommended read for those who believe that optimism in human nature is not entirely lost.”
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A New Book About Kabbalah In Finnish

admin_bb — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 08:51:46 +0000

My new book about Kabbalah is being published in Finland. It’s the translation of Kabbalah Revealed from English.
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Lecture In Beijing

Lena — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:25:21 +0000

Our students in Beijing, China organized a lecture titled “Kabbalah and the Crisis.” More than twenty people attended the lecture, even though everyone was very busy with Chinese New Year preparations.

The lecture lasted for an hour and a half, and then the audience asked a lot of questions. All participants of the event received a gift: a new book in Chinese The Crisis: Do You Want to Know Why?

The next lecture will take place after the Chinese New Year.

[Show as slideshow]

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Comments On The Book, The Next 100 Years

admin_bb — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:14:44 +0000

I was asked to express my opinion on George Friedman’s book The Next 100 Years: A Forecast For The 21st Century.

My Comment: The book is written lightly, for a general audience. The entire book is based on the assumption that the world does not change and that nature has no program or goal to bring humanity to unity, by force or awareness. That is why it all comes down to “mechanical” thoughts about how to keep the US superiority in this predatory world.

It is impossible to argue with this because it is based on the author’s assumption that the world is ruled by the power of man. But if our world develops according to the laws of humanity’s similarity with the whole universe, at all its levels, then the law of social development will bring us to a society of mutual guarantee. This will happen in one of the two scenarios:

in disagreement with the need for human correction—through third and fourth world wars;
by realizing that there is no other alternative, and wars will solve nothing; that it is necessary to unite consciously so as to fulfill the law of nature in a good way and do it for our own wellbeing, quickly and without bloodshed.

This second method is proposed by Kabbalah.
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The Science About Oneself

admin.bb — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 11:37:43 +0000

Question: What should I cling to during the reading of The Book of Zohar, to the group, the Creator, or Rabbi Shimon?

Answer: There is no Rabbi Shimon, no Creator, no group, no Light—nothing. There is an inner impression of a person who is divided into such terms.

I do not know what exists outside of me. I just know that there is something called “I,” and I do not know what it is. And this “I” is impressed by something. I do not know what impresses it either.

Thus, I am in a certain state called “my reality.” I need to investigate this reality now: Who I am and what do I feel? The science of Kabbalah talks about this: how to reveal this state.

We begin from here. This is called to “grasp the meaning of life.” We are talking not about our life on earth for several decades, but about attaining the very essence of reality in which I and what I feel are namely this presence in my first realization: “I” and “feel.”

The entire science of Kabbalah is intended for a person to reveal the true reality—what happens to you when you get a sense of what it is, what this imaginary world that you see presents, and in general, the entire reality, life and death, good and bad impressions.

Why do they come? In order for you to begin to form yourself: who you are, what you feel, how and so on—until you begin to discover the point of stability from which you will be able to watch and start to organize the whole reality. This is what the science of Kabbalah is.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/2/12, The Zohar

Ultrasensitive Sensor Of Surrounding Light

admin.bb — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:43:32 +0000

Everything depends only on the intention. Anyone can open a book and study—from a philosopher to a person who sees this book for the first time and doesn’t understand anything in it. But each one will interpret it in his own way, the way he wants to.

The difference between us and all the others: the clever and the stupid, the scientists, historians, philosophers, or kitchen maids, is that, when opening the book, we want to tune ourselves in such a way that will allow us to penetrate through it. I want this book to tell me about myself, I want to reveal my world inside it.

And external readers don’t do this; they cannot see behind printed letters, they seek human wisdom in this. And that’s why they perform all kinds of studies on these texts: what they talk about in terms of notions of our world, which historic events, which style they are written in—as far as the usual material mind can apprehend.

The difference between internal and external reading is your willingness to enter the text and reveal yourself, your inner life in it. But you can’t blame people for approaching these books externally (The Book of Zohar, the works of Ari and so on). Because an inner need to reveal the internal world hasn’t developed in them yet.

The point in the heart is not present yet, the starting point of the line of connection and the beginning of spiritual revelation. If you don’t have this desire, you can’t reveal it.

When you do have the first point, the surrounding Light can already stick to it. It still cannot enter it, it only surrounds it from all the sides, but because of this we already can’t be in a state of rest. We feel that we exist in a field of forces of the Light, which shakes and swings us.

If I don’t have this point, I don’t feel any field, Light or fluctuations and I feel like everything is fine. But as soon as the Light starts irritating this point, a problem appears and we proceed….

So how can the Light swing something if it is in a state of absolute rest? This is correct, but the point is an informational gene made up of two parts: Reshimo de Hitlabshut (information about the future Light) and Reshimo de Aviut (information about the desire). They belong to two different degrees and that’s why a difference is felt between them; the difference is the delta that starts being revealed and swings us hither and thither. This takes away my peace of mind and calmness and demands me to realize this Reshimo.

But if a person doesn’t have this delta yet, he opens the book and reads it like a novel telling about history and geography. This is how people view Kabbalistic books, and especially the Torah.

If a person has a point in the heart that the Light is influencing, one has to direct himself from this point towards the Light, so that it influences us more strongly. This is the whole essence of the work.

The Light is always at rest, and its influence depends only on my sensitivity. That’s why I have to look for ways to increase my sensitivity to the Light, and nothing else. The Kabbalists give us a recommendation here: to increase exertion, in quantity and in quality. The whole wisdom of Kabbalah is to allow one to become an element that is increasingly sensitive to the surrounding Light.

This work continues until the very end of correction because the surrounding Light is the Light from the next, higher degree, which always draws us nearer to it.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/3/12, “Study of the Ten Sefirot”

ForeWord Magazine About The Book The Psychology Of The Integral Society

admin_bb — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:13:45 +0000

Favorable remarks about The Psychology of the Integral Society from a leading international book reviewer:

The book The Psychology of the Integral Society written by me and Anatoly Ulianov on the need of an integral and global education to solve the crisis, received very positive commentaries in the latest edition of ForeWord magazine, the 2nd most important book reviewer in the world.

ForeWord Reviews is a print magazine and online review service that influences the choices of readers, booksellers, book buyers, publishing insiders, and librarians. Its publication reaches an audience of 20,000; and the website receives a monthly average of 150,000 unique visitors.

The Psychology of the Integral Society explains the characteristics of an integral society in which all parts contribute to the well-being and success of the society. This one, in turn, is responsible and cares for the well-being and success of its elements, thus forming the only sustainable way to live.

ForeWord Reviews writes, “As a society, we spend so much time competing and trying to get a leg up that the concept of simply working together sounds groundbreaking in itself…”

Read the full review.
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The Book In Zohar In The The Czech Language

admin_bb — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 15:52:19 +0000

A new book, The Book of Zohar, has been published in the Czech language (translation from Russian). The book was translated by the professors at the University of Prague Nikolaj Savický and Stanislava Savická with the participation of our friends from the Prague group.

In 2011, The Book of Zohar was published in Italy as well. In Brazil, The Zohar is planned to be published for the upcoming convention in May 2012.
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Light On The Surface Of A Page

bb_admin — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 18:38:04 +0000

Question: How was Abraham able to unite a nation back in his time if there was no Torah that united them yet?

Answer: The Torah is not a book or words, but the Light that reforms, the force that becomes revealed on the condition that we perform special actions. But all physical objects and words are just symbols.

The science of Kabbalah is called the true Torah, its inner part. But a Kabbalah book by itself is still not Kabbalah. A person can use it to gain the notion called the wisdom of Kabbalah. Everything depends on one’s approach: If he wants to use this wisdom for his own sake, then for him this is abstract information. But if he wants to use it to attain love for the neighbor, it is called Torah.

And this does not even depend on the book so much. Other books, such as the Talmud, Torah, and Psalms also contain the Light that reforms. But the Light contained in Kabbalistic books is closer to us, stands out more, and is much easier to extract. That is why we should use precisely these books.

By virtue of these books, even modern people like us who are small and confused, having no understanding, can imagine that we are coming closer to another state, to a different, new world. The author intentionally placed Light that is close to us into the book.

In contrast, the Light contained in other books, such as the Torah and Talmud, is contained deep inside. But in Kabbalistic books, it shines as if from the very surface since it is closest to you.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/2/11, “The Love for the Creator and Love for the Created Beings”

The Book “The Brave New World Of Work”

admin_bb — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 10:16:14 +0000

Opinion: (Ulrich Beck, the author of The Brave New World of Work): “Those who kick up a fuss only about open unemployment fail to see the really new phenomenon that is drawing ‘ultramodern’ and ‘premodern’ countries closer together: namely, the replacement of standard with non-standard forms of work. Economic growth in today’s world-market conditions is rendering obsolete the idea of classical full employment, lifetime jobs and everything that went with them.

“It is precisely here that the civil labour model offers a key.”
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Frankfurt Book Fair 2011

admin_bb — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:41:15 +0000

Dear friends,

We need your thoughts for the success of our dissemination effort at the upcoming Frankfurt Book Fair. The fair takes place October 12-16, and over ten friends from across Europe are coming to help. At last year’s event we signed 10 foreign-rights contracts, and in 2011 we signed over 20.

Published in 2011: In Italy—three books, in Spain—two books, in Norway—one book, in Brazil—one book, in France—one book, in Germany—two books, in Macedonia—one book, in China—one book, in Sweden—two books, in South Korea—one book, in Slovenia—one book, and in Turkey—five books.

Please see some book covers below.

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Connected: Christakis’ And Fowler’s Bestseller

admin_bb — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 12:33:01 +0000

Recommended: Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, professor at Harvard University, named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2009, and James H. Fowler, PhD, an associate professor at the University of California).

From the Preface: “As we studied social networks more deeply, we began to think of them as a kind of human superorganism. They grow and evolve. All sorts of things flow and move within them. This superorganism has its own structure and a function, and we became obsessed with understanding both.

“Seeing ourselves as part of a superorganism allows us to understand our actions, choices, and experiences in a new light. If we are affected by our embeddedness in social networks and influenced by others who are closely or distantly tied to us, we necessarily lose some power over our own decisions. Such a loss of control can provoke especially strong reactions when people discover that their neighbors or even strangers can influence behaviors and outcomes that have moral overtones and social repercussions. But the flip side of this realization is that people can transcend themselves and their own limitations. In this book, we argue that our interconnection is not only a natural and necessary part of our lives but also a force for good. Just as brains can do things that no single neuron can do, so can social networks do things that no single person can do.

“For decades, even centuries, serious human concerns, such as whether a person will live or die, be rich or poor, or act justly or unjustly, have been reduced to a debate about individual versus collective responsibility. Scientists, philosophers, and others who study society have generally divided into two camps: those who think individuals are in control of their destinies, and those who believe that social forces (ranging from a lack of good public education to the presence of a corrupt government) are responsible for what happens to us.

“However, we think that a third factor is missing from this debate. Given our research and our own diverse experiences in life—from meeting our spouses to meeting each other, from caring for terminally ill patients to building latrines in poor villages—we believe that our connections to other people matter most, and that by linking the study of individuals to the study of groups, the science of social networks can explain a lot about human experience. This book focuses on our ties to others and how they affect emotions, sex, health, politics, money, evolution, and technology. But most of all it is about what makes us uniquely human. To know who we are, we must understand how we are connected.”
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A New Book On Kabbalah In Macedonian

admin_bb — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 12:18:02 +0000

My second book on Kabbalah is being published in Macedonia. The first book, Kabbalah Revealed, was published by the leading publishing house in the country and presented at one of the major book fairs, Club Matica. It is very popular with a wide audience.
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Related Material:
The First Kabbalah Book In Macedonia

Could It Be That Pharaoh Was A Jew?

bb_admin — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 18:57:15 +0000

Question: I was shocked by your statement that American Jews are against Israel and its existence as a nation. What are your words based upon?

Answer: There is a purely psychological effect: When a person lives in a certain environment, he wishes to justify his existence in it. But if he has an additional environment, that means he is not entirely loyal to the one in which he exists, and therefore the environment perceives him as “not one of us.”

For example, this is apparent from people’s reaction to the Pollard case, and from my contact with many American Jews. They are very critical of Israel because it would be more comfortable for them if it were different, more attractive to Americans. The prevailing opinion among them is, “Israel is not acting right!” Not to mention their love and support of Obama…. And what about his Jewish advisers, who are bothered by Israel’s very existence in the context of their global plans….

Generally speaking, I suggest you look at history, at how America closed itself off to emigration of European Jews, indirectly sending them to the gas chambers. Yet President Roosevelt was known as ‘President Rosenfeld’ because of the great number of Jews in his administration, and Bernard Baruch, Roosevelt’s financier and adviser, was known as the ‘unofficial president.’

A while ago there was a documentary film about the history of television, called “The President of the Jews” which showed a full blown conflict between Bernard Baruch, the State Department, and Jews in the Treasury Department and the courts. Finally, the State Department created additional bureaucratic obstacles, such as a requirement to present a certificate of good behavior from the German police.

See: Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization, Nicholson Baker, 2008

Page 83: “Millions of strong, courageous European refugees could settle, proposed Baruch, in a place to be called the United States of Africa—a large nondenominational republic assembled from pieces of Kenya, Tanganyika, and Northern Rhodesia… ”

Also see: American refugee policy and European Jewry, 1933-1945, Richard Breitman, Alan M. Kraut, 1987

Page 233: “Baruch would be more likely to consider colonization of Jews on some undiscovered planet rather than Palestine.”
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A New Book: Psychology Of An Integral Community

admin_bb — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:51:33 +0000

My new book Psychology of an Integral Community has been published in Russian.

Excerpt from the annotation of the book: “The world in which we live today is global and integral. It means that all of its parts are completely interconnected, and each part determines the fate of all. This is the result of progress.

Starting from this moment on, there is no place for discord between parts of the world because everything that contradicts integration goes against progress, evolution, and the law of nature. We have to recognize an absolute connection between all parts of the world as a fact.”

The book is currently being translated into English.
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The Four Names Of Man

bb_admin — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 09:47:24 +0000

From the book The Source of Living Water (Ki Tetze, Chapter 21): Man is called by four names according to his deeds: Adam, Ish, Gever, and Enosh.

Enosh (אנוש) points to the lowest, smallest level. This kind of person spends his whole life pursuing bodily passions and forgets about the source of his soul, where it is from, and where it will return in the end. He is called “Enosh” according to the verse, “God has made me forget (Nashani)….” (Beresheet, 41:51) because he forgot about his end.

Gever is a person who slightly overcomes (Mitgaber) and does not follow his lust like a beast, but is satisfied by what he finds. However, he does not limit himself out of the fear of the Creator, but because he understands that man has to be higher than a beast and not follow the urges of the bodily desires. He is called “Gever” because he slightly overcomes the evil lust. However, this is insufficient for the Light to clothe upon him because he does not aspire to the Creator, “When will I see the Creator’s face in order to give Him pleasure?”

Ish is the next level of development. It contains a hint at unity with the Creator through the qualities by which the world was created. This points to the good that is hidden inside a person, the reason why his soul desires the Creator’s teaching and the observance of His covenant in order to merge with the Light of life and give Him pleasure. But he is still motivated by egoism, which throws him off the path toward the Creator.

Adam is the highest level, originating from the words “I will become similar to the upper one” (Edameh le Elion) (Book of Joshua 14:14). This person has already come completely out of the three lower categories, in which he is similar to an animal, and he merges with the Creator. He unites his plans, words, deeds, and movements, concealed and revealed, in unity with the Creator, truly and sincerely, without any unrelated thoughts.
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A New Book: A Kabbalist’s Useful Tips

admin_bb — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 07:01:43 +0000

My new book A Kabbalist’s Useful Tips For Men, Women, Parents & Children has been published in Russian. The book is compiled from my talks.

Excerpt from the annotation of the book: “It may seem that this book is about creating a successful relationship, about responsible parents, their naughty children, and the unusual methods of proper education and upbringing. And indeed it is. But at the same time, this book will reveal to you something completely different.”
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A New Book In Swedish

admin_bb — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:51:01 +0000

My new book on Kabbalah is being published in Sweden. It is the translation of my book A Spiritual Quest originally published in Russian.
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A New Book: The Development Of Man From 0 To 20

admin_bb — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 10:18:11 +0000

My new book The Development of Man From 0 to 20 has been published in Russian. The book is a part of “The Method of Integral Education” series and is based on my conversations with child psychologists.

From the annotation to the book: “Children are our future. They will be the masters in the world of tomorrow, and we will not be able to change anything, but today their development largely depends on us.

The book The Development of Man from 0 to 20 traces the growth of a human being, beginning with prenatal development and concluding with the age of 20, the moment of entry into adulthood. The book demonstrates an unusual and very interesting approach to questions of education and the perception of the surrounding world.

It is about the laws of nature, which we must respect, whether we like it or not, in order not to harm ourselves. It all depends on how well we know these laws and their consequences.”

The book is currently being translated into English.
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A New Kabbalah Book In Slovenian

admin_bb — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 09:27:19 +0000

My book Kabbalah Revealed is being published in Slovenia.
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About The Book “Zohar For The People”

bb_admin — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:52:51 +0000

Question: When you simplify The Book of Zohar, aren’t you afraid of ruining it?

Answer: No, I’m not afraid because I know for sure that I’m ruining it! The text of Zohar for the People is compiled from the original text of The Book of Zohar and the Sulam Commentary, weaved together and simplified.

Therefore, it is definitely ruined compared to the source. Many words (such as Behina and others) that underline precision, were removed from the sentences in order to make the text easier. The resulting text is coarser, less precise, but more concrete.

We had to take this plunge in order to bring The Zohar’s text closer to an average person’s level of reading and understanding. Of course, this kind of text does not replace the source under any circumstances. It is intended for mass reading of The Book of Zohar.

Some study Kabbalah as mechanics, some study Kabbalah as a wisdom, some study Kabbalah to memorize things, some study Kabbalah to write books, some study Kabbalah to teach—but some study Kabbalah in order to change. Under the influence of the upper Light that descends upon a person in the process of reading The Book of Zohar, one starts feeling the upper world, and then, from the sensations, he begins to understand it. This is the real study of Kabbalah. And the book Zohar for the People is intended for these kinds of people.
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A New Book In Chinese

admin_bb — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 10:27:16 +0000

My book “Kabbalah Science and the Meaning of Life” is being published in China. In the next few months, we plan to publish two more books in Chinese.
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Kabbalah Insights – Book Author Story

admin_bb — Sun, 08 May 2011 11:38:48 +0000

A New Book In Portuguese: The Point In The Heart

admin_bb — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:01:47 +0000

My book The Point in the Heart (gift edition) was just published in Brazil. The book is a compilation of selected excerpts from my daily writings published on Laitman.com.
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