When you get older, you will understand that you can somehow live in the world only under one indispensable condition: you must understand that selfishness is a natural property of man.
When you come to terms with the idea that everyone lives only for themselves, you will be much more lenient towards your neighbors. They will stop disappointing your hopes, and you will begin to treat them more mercifully. People strive for only one thing in life – pleasure. (Somerset Maugham,Of Human Bondage).
Comment: We need to come to terms with the idea that everyone is an egoist, that everyone lives like this, and from this everything will calm down.
My Response: Of course, if everyone accepts this condition.
Comment: If we understand that everyone lives in their egoism—and I do, too—everything will calm down.
Answer: Yes, sure.
Question: “What is yours is yours, what is mine is mine.” This is still the law, right?
Answer: This is the first law on the path to real peace, that I accept all the weaknesses of others. It is called “what is yours is yours, and what is mine is mine,” and we do not interfere with each other. We respect each other.
It is not yet talking about convergence, merging, or “love your neighbor as yourself,” but about understanding our general law of nature.
Question: So, do you think this law is fair? Is this the law of our world?
Answer: At some stage, yes.
Comment: But Sodom was built precisely on this principle.
My Response: Why do you think that Sodom is evil? If today we were offered Sodom instead of our state, then having understood this, we would gladly accept it. We would be content. There would be no war, and there would be no atrocities. We would simply peacefully coexist.
Question: Why did the Creator not like this Sodom and overturn it?
Answer: This is not the end of creation. It is not the purpose of creation. The purpose of creation is for everyone to live in caring for each other.
Comment: That is clear. And in Sodom, those caring for each other were punished. But in any case, it would be suitable for the first step.
My Response: I am not saying we need to take these steps exactly. The Torah shows us that such a society will still be destroyed.
Question: That is, does such a society have no future?
Answer: That is correct. But as an intermediate, it exists. Here we are given an example.
Question: We have not even gotten to that first half step yet.
Answer: We are still a long way from Sodom.
Question: Before “What is mine is mine, what is yours is yours”?
Answer: Yes. You see what happens between neighbors, states, countries, and everywhere in general.
Comment: “What is yours is mine” is the main principle today.
My Response: We are at the lowest stage of egoistic development.
Comment: It always seems that this has already passed, that we are already somewhere…
My Response: No way!! Look what is being done! How people treat each other, what thoughts they have!
Question: If let us say we come to this step: “What is mine is mine, what is yours is yours,” is the next step “I do not harm another”?
Answer: Yes, by no means do I harm anyone else.
Comment: Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself.
My Response: Yes, but this is also not good.
Question: This is like the second step. And the third?
Answer: The third step is to imagine myself in the place of another and do good to him as I imagine what they would do to me. This is called “love your neighbor as yourself.”
Question: That is, we have three steps: first Sodom, as you say, “What is mine is mine, what is yours is yours”; second, “Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself; third, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” And what do we come to then if we take these three steps?
Answer: To ensure we all have the same desire: to do only good things for each other.
[324055]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/4/23
Related Material:
Principle Of Sodom—Not To Help Others In Anything
Sodom—A Ban On Communication Between People
New Life 185 – Sodom And Gomorrah
Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization, News | Add Comment / Ask Question →