Entries in the 'Internet' Category

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The Fork-Lift Truck

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: How can we measure efforts? History shows us that for some Kabbalists the path was easy and others suffered greatly. How can it be that one passed the Machsom (the barrier) in five years, another in thirty years, and still another made great efforts and achieved nothing at all?

Answer: We cannot compare people’s efforts. After all, we don’t know their starting position and their place in the general system.

Suppose someone is on the top fifth position in the pyramid of souls. However, accordingly, he is born with the worst desires, with the most corrupt attributes, and he has to work on them many years—say not just thirty, but thirty years times ten live cycles. How long does it take for him to reach the states that allow him to reach his “place” and to attain the root of his soul? In the meantime, you feel sorry for him: “Poor soul!” But another person may belong to the middle layers and do his work easily in a couple of years.

As far as we, people with the point in the heart, the souls that belong to the category of “Israel,” are concerned, we have to work very hard. First, unlike the “nations of the world,” we were at the top already and went through shattering. Their desires to receive were always that way, but our situation is much worse, and hence our corrections are much more difficult. The hatred towards the nation of Israel and the troubles it went through over the course of history attest to it.

Even the spiritual path, the ascent to the mountain, is much more difficult for us than it is for the rest of the world, for whom the ascent will be easy. People will just join us: “Yes, we want to, we are ready.” They will really feel that it is worth it. The evil inclination, the shattered desire, hides in us, and not in them. They only bring their “weight,” the load that is tied to your feet. Now you have to invent the mechanism that will lift this heaviness.

How can we create such a “fork-lift truck”? How will it operate? What blocks and ligaments does it need? We have to decide this. People bring us their luggage and leave it at the terminal, like in the airport, and we have to load and deliver it.

There is no reason to be outraged by it. Moreover, no one can claim that his path is easier or more difficult, compared to somebody’s else. After all, you do not “clothe” in the other, and hence you can’t compare or complain. By nature, you are absorbed in yourself, and you cannot measure efforts.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/21/2011, “One Commandment”

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On A Little Raft

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Which incentives will the new economics provide people with? What will drive them forward?

Answer: We need to create an environment around a person that will turn pleasure, which today seems to be abstract, into “candy.” Everyone says: “This is tasty,” and he begins to look around. Everyone exclaims: “This is great,” and he starts searching. “This is amazing!” and everyone screams with excitement. Then a person begins to suspect that they really have something worthwhile, something that he needs.

This spurs a person forward: “Why don’t I have it? Why am I not in the same position as everyone else?” Social influence is a powerful factor. Ninety-nine percent of all our actions are its consequence. Man came out of a cave and acquired his modern form only due to the environment that constantly goaded and pushed him, pointing to the things he lacked.

In general, the cave was a wonderful, very environmentally-friendly dwelling with a great climate. It has a stable temperature year round. There was meat, fire, and a calm, peaceful atmosphere, which did not inspire any desires other than those for basic needs….

Everything in excess to the animal level is exclusively caused by the environment. Man’s calling to develop agriculture, crafts, and commerce does not appear out of nothing. Society rouses these desires.

And now, with the invention of advertising, we don’t have a choice but to convince the world of the need for a system of education that explains what tomorrow will be like, a system that models what the future will be.

We need to promote the good life. But government is slow to make changes. So what is left for us to do? We are to develop this system on the Internet with our own strengths and spread it via every accessible channel.

I have had meetings with the UN and UNESCO executive representatives, and my opinion remains the same: We must do everything on our own. After all, we can bring the Light that Reforms. In this case, our individualism is not a flaw, but an advantage because we are not limited by external limitations. We can do exactly what we are capable of doing and what we consider necessary. We worry for the success of our enterprise, and in the end, we will simply be obligated to evoke the Light that will flow through the system we have built.

Even if the system appears to be weak, like a little raft on the waves of a virtual ocean, it doesn’t matter. Everyone will hear its call letters because the force of the Light is in it. Let the Light do its work. This is what our approach should be.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/18/2011, “Peace in the World”

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What Is Required Of Us In Dissemination?

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe must create our own educational media agency: television, radio, newspapers, and the Internet. We must build a system for children’s education, as well as the women’s organization. The women are ready to work. They feel the problems that are being revealed more than the men do. And they have a huge force of influence that is not being taken advantage of correctly. This is very important.

We need to turn to governments. The contacts that exist today with the UN, UNESCO, and other organizations are not enough. We need to do it massively, by relying on the words of the scientists.

There are many plans, but we can’t realize them because our creative forces are limited. We need to write daily articles and to distribute them on the Internet. We need to create short clips with attractive animation, which will explain various aspects of our message in a simple manner. But this doesn’t exist. We need many people with each of them creating a certain influence towards the outside.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/23/2011, One Commandment”

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An Idea Driver

Dr. Michael LaitmanWe only feel the territory of our unity when we care for the vast world. Unity must happen through caring for someone just like spouses begin to feel like parents by caring for their children.

This is why we need to put our efforts into mutual, proper, and well-organized circulation. We produce interviews, video clips, songs, and other content. We need to create an ever increasing stock of ready materials so that we could take the needed materials from there, translate them to different languages, and put them to use.

This type of concern for the world will unite us into one. The only way to fix the connection between us is by bestowing to others. This is the spiritual law. I am unable to contact, unable to move, if it does not beget bestowal toward somebody. We need to work together on this, and better organize ourselves.

Do not wait for the initiative from the center in Israel—act independently. We have our own problems in Israel right now. It is becoming a hot spot in the world. So realize your own initiatives, adapted to your conditions.

After all, we are not disseminating the wisdom of Kabbalah, but the knowledge about the true state of the world. You only need to learn the correct presentation and continuously improve it along the way. Only circulation will allow us to develop.

The main work direction is the Internet and communication with scientists. Based on their information, we go up to the government and down to the people. We act like an “idea driver” that disseminates essential knowledge in society and the Internet.

Virtual dissemination does not require enormous investment. There is no need to over-prepare materials. The main thing is to bring the ideas to the people. The key factors in these days are simplicity and accessibility. People like it when they are spoken to in a simple and unpretentious manner. Let us learn this together, and the faster, the better.
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From the 4th Lesson, Kabbalah Convention in Toronto, 9/16/2011

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Storm In The Network

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News: “Social media have been a potent force in fueling the riots that began Saturday [August 6, 2001] in London’s boroughs and later spread to other cities such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Bristol. Messages have also been sent via regular texts and on Facebook.

“BlackBerry’s messaging system was popular among youths because it’s free, compatible with multimedia and private, compared with Facebook and Twitter. Its encrypted messages give troublemakers an added benefit: Police aren’t able to immediately trace message traffic the way they can with regular cellphones.” (Source: huffingtonpost.com)

“They [Hacktivist collective] would join forces with other hacktivists with the goal of bringing down the social networking giant, and that the action would be staged ‘for the good of privacy’ – and in order to protect freedom of information.” (Source: b92.net)

“The group of hackers known as Anonymous has vowed to ‘destroy’ Facebook on November 5…. The ‘hacktivists,’ infamous for meddling with the American government and for their support for WikiLeaks, have announced that they will focus on bringing down the social networking site because of its privacy policy.

“‘Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information security firms so that they can spy on people from all around the world.’

“‘The riots are under way. It is not a battle over the future of privacy and publicity. It is a battle for choice and informed consent.’” (Source: dailymail.co.uk)

My Comment: All the revolutions, the current ones and from past centuries, will sink into history. All of them happened under the pressure of a rigid, compelling force. However, recently, we have been under the influence of a new force, the integral force of nature, which pushes us towards unity either by suffering or by the realization of the necessity—and this constitutes our only choice.

Thus, no revolution will bring us a positive result. The former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wrote that everything that was happening happened only to compel us to unite, to equalize ourselves with the global world of nature. But he could not undertake anything because unity can be reached only by attracting this force upon oneself. And Kabbalah, the science of the correction of our egoism and unification above it, describes how to do this.
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Depression In Modern Life

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion: (Jerry Kennard, healthcentral.com): “We’re more anxious and depressed than ever before and the situation is worsening rather than getting better. The argument that modern technology would one day protect us from ill-health and distress and open up a world of leisure and, by implication greater happiness, is looking decidedly dated….

“Lead author, Dr. Catriona Morrison, from the University of Leeds, in the UK., found that high internet use is associated with depression. High internet use is frequently associated with gambling, interacting in social communities or viewing sexual content. According to Morrison, ‘the study reinforces the public speculation that over-engaging in websites that serve to replace normal social function might be linked to psychological disorders like depression and addiction.’”

My Comment: We mistakenly think that the Internet can replace communication. This is the very means that pulls us into loneliness and unnoticeably isolates each of us from others to such an extent that we no longer can communicate directly.

This condition will be worsening until the full realization of it as evil, and then, society will understand the need for a good open direct communication. Only it can eliminate depression!
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At The Breaking Point

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: The protest movement in Israel is expanding. What would be the right course for its development?

Answer: Of course, at this stage it is necessary to take care of the average citizen.

But generally, the problem is that the whole world had put great hopes on the middle class. There are simple workers who are satisfied by simple pleasures in life, and opposed to that, there is a higher layer, which comprises a very big part of the population. It includes youth who still haven’t chosen their life path. As a whole, we are talking about people who want to live, to experience the world, and to live a normal life by the modern standards.

However, due to the crisis, which has actually gone on for about twenty years now, the world is starting to lose the impulse of gradual movement. Japan, which once made a gigantic leap, has reduced its turnovers a long time ago. And everyone else is also slowing down and even rolling backwards. These are the systematic processes that correspond to the program of creation, and you cannot do anything about them.

As a result, the middle class is losing hope of a good life and is descending to the level of the simple worker. This was caused, in part, by technologies, and generally, by the new turn of development. But the main reason is that we have found ourselves in a global world and societies are now being permeated by an integral interconnection. Today a family is barely able to raise even one child. All the areas of our lives are immersing in a crisis which demands new investments in order to avoid total collapse.

Thus, the middle class, including students, has no hope for the future. And this is a very big mass of people. For example, in Spain unemployment has enveloped up to 50% of the youth. Upon returning home, graduates of European universities discovered that there is nothing for them to do. They cannot get work or create a family. The time for this has come but there are no hopes. Moreover, they do not see an improvement happening now, nor in several years. They don’t even have a chance to put something away for the future because instead of economic development, we are shifting to a decline.

So what should we do? There is just one way to achieve success at the next stage: by directing the world to integral relationships. This is the only thing that will bring us success in our earthly activities. After all, we are all in an integral system and therefore it is necessary to give everyone the appropriate upbringing. People should be told, “Here’s the country’s budget. This is what we can do. We will gradually correct the situation, starting from the bare necessities, but on the condition that you begin to study.”

People have to be taught about the integral world in a form that’s accessible and clear to them, using examples and obvious illustrations. This learning has to happen over the radio, television, and Internet, through literature, theater, music, and cinema, so everyone would understand what kind of world humanity has entered. It is necessary to make use of culture and arts so people would become imbued with this and would feel where they are.

Then, no matter what we do in the nation and in the world, success will come our way. That’s because our actions will be aimed toward correction. On one hand, we will calm people down, providing them with the necessities, and on the other hand, we will educate them, and a few months later they will become different. They will become aware of what is happening and will start feeling the world’s globality, which does not leave any other solution besides a change in relationships.

When masses of people learn this, the results will correspond to the new conditions because every person is mentally connected with others and everyone influences one another even without saying a word. Besides, this message is heard everywhere. It permeates all of the mass media and conquers the Internet, “Everyone is global and you must also become global. Otherwise you don’t have any chances to succeed in anything.”

Thus, if we are talking about the right way for the social outburst to proceed, then at the next stage everyone will come home from the demonstrations, receive additional means from the government, without which they cannot do for now, and begin studying. This can’t possibly harm them, so let’s see whether the science of Kabbalah is correct. Let’s see whether we will really change as a result and by virtue of that, so will the whole world.

After all, society and the world are a product of our attitude to one another. It’s enough to work on yourself, and everything around will transform as well, becoming more effective and blossoming. So let’s try it, especially seeing that humanity has no other solution.

The problem is us: How quickly will we be able to explain to the nation and the world that this is the salvation? One way or another, all the countries are at risk and the situation will only get worse. No one besides us can give the world an explanation of the reason for the crisis and the way to come out of it. No one will reveal the actual opportunity to change the situation and show that the current breaking point is part of the program of human development instilled in us from the beginning. Kabbalists have discerned this point a long time ago and have described the exact timetable of its realization. So let’s listen to them.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/29/11, “One Commandment”

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“The Living Water” For All Humanity

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Suppose you have brought me this knowledge about a global and integral system. I listen and understand what you say. But I am not the head of government, not the owner of a TV channel or newspaper. I am an ordinary citizen. I understood your words. If I want to start developing according to this perception, in mutual guarantee between people, in balance with nature, what should I do?

Answer: Just as I brought this knowledge to you, you have to pass it to others. Perhaps, you have writing skills, and you will write an article. And today, if you can write even a few lines, the entire Internet space is open before you.

This network can accept you, and you can influence everyone through it. You do not have to be the head of government to do this. By the way, today, all the knowledge passes from one person to the other via the Internet system. Today, the media is not really able to form public opinion; the Internet forms it.

Through our entire network of friends and supporters, we can start to advertise the idea of mutual guarantee and all this knowledge, spreading it across the Internet space with all our strength. Our problem is that we are still closed within ourselves.

Day after day, from our daily lessons and talks, we should create such a media product that it would flow like the living water to the whole world, through all our friends, all our groups, and all the people who understand that this is a vital necessity without even being with us. Otherwise, the world will not survive for a long time.

We should not rely on the government and media, on well-known, famous people: No one needs that. If thousands of ordinary people worldwide support us, they can fill the entire online network with our information via Twitter and Facebook. Not a single government will be able to do this.

We see how governments fall because some rumors were spread through the Internet across the nation. People go out in the streets and overthrow the government.

That is why our work now should be directed at the circulation of information. We have to draw as many people who agree with us as possible, to gather and publish the opinions, talks, and lectures of scientists, economists, and people known in the media, in all the languages and at any level, with different approaches. But they should talk only about one trend, the same goal, and the same program. Here you have a ready education system; now, it should be injected through the Internet into the world and widely disseminated.

Then, based on the opinion of these scientists, it is possible to address UNESCO or the UN, the governments of different countries. It is not you alone addressing them, but together with others. After all, you want to put their ideas into use and think that humanity needs to know about them. Thus, you are building a global university of integral education.

The main thing is to start. And the major problem of our organization, as I feel, is that we are withdrawn into ourselves; we are closed and do not come out, do not break through to the outside. All the media that we produce is made for ourselves. We talk only among ourselves.

But if we organized thousands of our friends and supporters, our students around the world for external dissemination among the masses, I am sure that we would have received a different response from the world.

Our task now is to prepare the material about the global and integral world and our obligation to correspond to it, and do it as soon as possible. There is no need to mention the word “Kabbalah,” but rather to rely solely on scientists’ opinions and scientific data. And we have to disseminate this everywhere.

Question: If a person passes this idea to the world, what, essentially, does he change in it?

Answer: He connects the whole world to one global and integral force which governs this world, to the force of nature. He himself realizes the program of nature, along with all those who take his example and this idea and do the same thing. Everyone who does so realizes this program.
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From the Talk on a New Book 7/11/2011

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Dr. Michael LaitmanWe need the art of reaching the broad masses, and we must do it where they regularly spend time: on the Internet. We need to gain a foothold on this territory, using all sorts of means to sway the audience’s opinion.

With the help of hundreds of thousands of our friends, we will begin to change the atmosphere on the Internet, gently so as to not trigger antagonism, but steadily. There’s no special trick to it since the entire Internet is “for sale,” where all sorts of open and hidden operations are performed by public and secret organizations.

So must we make use of analogous means. We have nothing to be ashamed of. We have a goal: to correct humanity and the world.

Some believe that happiness can be achieved through terrorism. For them, terrorism is a means of correction. Their materials almost sound convincing. So, what’s so bad about our counterbalancing their message with one of unity and universal mutual guarantee?
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/2011, “The Arvut (Mutual Guarantee)”

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Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: It is very difficult to explain to people that the solution to the burning problems lies in the interconnection between people.

Answer: No, it’s not. After all, we are supported by many specialists—not just theoretical physicists, but scientists who research nature and current problems, including economists, politicians, sociologists, psychologists, bankers, and representatives of large companies.

Today everyone is talking about the economy because it is a connection between us: how much do you owe me and how much to I owe you. This is not culture or art, religion or ethics. It is money, a precise measuring device of our mutual bestowal. This is a net of the correct, egoistic, healthy, solid connection between us. We have ruined it with our “bubbles,” but by itself it was surprisingly adequate.

And so, we have to explain to people that this network is no longer working. And this has to be explained by the experts whom we will attract—thousands of people who stand at the head of the world: bank directors, corporate analysts, and so on. Let them talk while we will stand on the sidelines. After them the word will be passed over to the scientists, and then to representatives of the education system. Go ahead—take others and use them.

That is how I see it happening today.

Question: The average person will be curious to hear them out in his free time, but this is still far away from his personal cares and the troubles he encounters in life.

Answer: There is no other solution. We have to give time for the initial phase to transpire, until we convince man that this is where the problem lies. In order to understand the world’s troubles, it is necessary to study what is happening. It’s like a sick person who “plows” through the internet searching for information about his illness and the means to cure it. Thus, we only have to give people a “link,” a connecting cord between what is happening now and the solution.

This task is incumbent on scientists, and we have to act in this direction without any further delay. We will implant and disseminate their, not our, explanations, which are weighty and well-founded. In principle, we have to become an “advertising machine” that quickly brings the rush of information from the experts to the masses. Without mentioning ourselves, we will raise them in the ratings, publish them on sites, and promote them on networks.

We don’t even need our own portal. We don’t want to “win people over” to it from the territory they are used to. This is real work on dissemination.

Question: What should a small person understand from this who does not understand anything and eats whatever he is fed? Is it enough to give him the message that together is good and apart is bad?

Answer: Yes. And a “big person” also has to understand just this. You’re not really planning to tell him about the altruistic intention Lishma, are you? He is not ripe for this on the inside yet. It is written, “Raise a lad in his own way.”

Question: Does this mean that similar to the people who used Facebook as a means to force manufacturers to lower prices on their products, we should simply push governments to unite?

Answer: Yes. We are looking for experts, those who not only understand the idea, but are able to put together a working action and then to make it happen. There are several million people in the world who would like to and are able to join this work that will have to be carried out. This “army” only needs to be organized to carry out the task.

In the meantime, we will remain behind the scenes. Today we don’t need the television anymore. After all, all of humanity is on the internet already. That is the only way we will be able to organize ourselves and that is what our dissemination enterprise will be doing as well. These are the changes we have to start making now, without any further delay.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/13/11, “Arvut

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