News Report (from BMJ ): A national survey of US internists and rheumatologists shows that half of American doctors regularly prescribe medications that are known to be useless in treating their patients’ illnesses. The doctors use the prescriptions as a placebo, having no affect on the patient’s organism.

My Comment: This psychological effect - which uses the force of belief to get results - has been the basis of shamanism, faith, religion, and our daily beliefs in thousands of “valuable” things in life for thousands of years now. In contrast, Kabbalah elevates man above his nature where he loses his attachment to empty “values.” This gives him the opportunity to become attached to the Upper Force instead.

Related Material:
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Laitman.com Post: Health and Kabbalah

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Three questions I received on Kabbalah’s attitude to health and healing:

Question: During one of your lesson you said that when you weren’t feeling well, your teacher would ask you to study with him, and after some time this produced a positive result. I have a problem with my heart. Can I ask the Creator to heal me while studying Kabbalah or doing dissemination? And is this method effective for women?

My Answer: Yes, if it is done along with and in order to achieve the goal of creation.

Question: When I try to unite with other souls and add the intention, my blood pressure drastically raises. Why?

My Answer: Instead of getting tense, you should relax. After all, this action should bring you pleasure, shouldn’t it?

Question: I heard that Baal HaSulam once said to his students, “I don’t care where the sack with my bones will be buried.” I have never visited my parents’ graves since the day they died, about 50 years ago. However, I had a stomach pain that lasted for 10 months, and medicine did not help. I went to an alternative medicine practitioner and he advised me to visit my parents’ graves and ask them for forgiveness. How does this connect with Kabbalah, which says that the physical body is “ashes and dust?”

My Answer: There is no connection, but it may have a good psychological effect and may even heal you, since there is also a psychological aspect to your pain.

Related Material:
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Kabbalah Today Article: The All-Purpose Remedy
Article: “Spirit and Body”

 

 The Human׳s Environment [03:55m]: Play Now | Download

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A question I received: I hear a lot of talk in the mass media about large scale charity projects aiming to help terminally ill children. There are entire sites being created just to help one person who’s dying from a rare disease. I also see that there’s a big response to this from society. Meanwhile there are hundreds of people dying every day from hunger and AIDS in Africa, but this does not bother anyone at all. I’d say that this is one big imbalance.

Is there any way we can make the world understand that all the “charity” only slows down the general development and creates an illusion that we are acting altruistically?

My Answer: We can only explain the positive things that Kabbalah gives to the world and what it adds to people’s lives. However, we can’t criticize any actions people make, especially “charitable” actions, because then we will only evoke their hatred and greater misunderstanding. People will see for themselves that charity doesn’t really help and that temporary relief is misleading and only causes bigger problems later on.

Related Material:
Laitman.com Post: The Solution – Excerpts from the Writings of the Last Generation by Baal HaSulam
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Baal HaSulam Article: “Peace In the World”

 

 Giving and Receiving [4:48m]: Play Now | Download

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Questions I received on mental disorders and studying Kabbalah:

Question: I have been hospitalized in psychiatric clinics many times, and I am still taking medication. Can I study Kabbalah, and if yes, under what conditions? Will I be able to join the Bnei Baruch group?

My Answer: You can study Kabbalah only under the condition that your mental state is completely stabilized, and you are absolutely certain that the medication is keeping you “normal.” If this is the case, then you can study Kabbalah, but in limited portions of time and material.

People are accepted into the Bnei Baruch group only after completing preliminary courses at “Campus Kabbalah.” We have had cases of people like you joining the group.

Question: Why can’t someone who is mentally ill, with Bi-Polar disorder, study Kabbalah?

My Answer: His existence in this world is his correction in this life cycle (Gilgul). Just like any other person with a mental disorder, he is correcting his soul with his sorrowful existence.

Related Material:
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Kabbalah Today Article: “The All-Purpose Remedy”
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I had a conversation that was recorded on the topic “Child Nutrition and Obesity.” I spoke with:

Tali Amsalem – an expert in alternative medicine,

11 year old Amit and 13 year old Ela, who have been studying Kabbalah with us for several years.

If we really loved our children, we wouldn’t allow the food and advertising industries to become so powerful, because they force our children to consume harmful products and develop an addiction to them. Our love is blind and egoistic, and this is why it hurts our children. We have to change ourselves and our society as a whole, and rise above egoism. Until we do so, our inner and outer problems will continue to reflect on our children, their behavior, and their health.

Related Material:
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Questions I received about the relationship between the body, the mind and spirituality:

Question: What’s the right attitude to have to your body? The body is the most perfect machine in the world. Every cell in it works like a perfect system, maybe even like the entire cosmos. This is why it’s difficult for me to think of it as just an “animal.”

My Answer: You should think of your body as a valuable animal that’s meant for doing work. You have to take care of it (but not pamper it!) - wash it, feed it, and so on - and demand for it to work.

Question: Should a person solve all or most of his psychological problems before turning to Kabbalah?

My Answer: If a person is mentally sane, then Kabbalah will solve his psychological problems. But if he is mentally ill (his brain does not function properly), then he cannot study Kabbalah. In this case I would advise doing more things to relax the mind, as well as more sports and physical work.

Question: You say that there is no connection between spirituality and corporeality. Then how can a corrected intention affect the health of one’s physical body?

My Answer: It’s because everything in our world is a consequence of the Upper Light’s (Ohr Makif’s) influence. Man is a part of the integral system of Adam, the single soul. Therefore, even if he is righteous, he can get sick and suffer, because he is contained within a single organism with others who are not yet corrected.

Related Material:
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A Talk with Rav Michael Laitman: Exodus - From Physical to Spiritual
Body and Soul - a Booklet

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