Question: Once upon a time there lived a man who lived very badly and sinned. He decided to come to his senses and began doing good deeds, but he did not notice any significant changes for the better.
One day he was walking down the street and saw that a button from an old woman’s coat had fallen off. He looks at it and thinks: “Should I lift it or not? She has a lot of buttons.” He decided to pick it up anyway. He caught up with the old lady, gave her the button, moved on, and forgot about the matter.
When he passed away, he awaited judgement to hell or to heaven. There were scales: the left side of the scale, Libra, was full; it is the evil side, The right side, the side measuring good, was empty. He thinks he is on his way to hell when an angel arrives, puts a small button on the right scale pan, and it tipped the scale to the side of good.
The man was amazed: “Just one button tipped the scale!” He heard the angel say: “Because you thought that you were doing good deeds, they disappeared. But it was precisely this button that you forgot about that was enough for you to be saved.”
The question is that since it is natural to think you have done good, you find yourself constantly thinking about the good you did each day. But it turns out that this is not really good at all and what you didn’t think about at all, but just forgot about, was some kind of good deed. Why is this so? Why can’t yo count the good deeds in this world?
Answer: This is simply because you should do it based on an inner, pure desire for good. But you do it just to check off that you have done good deeds.
Question: So if I am keeping track in my mind, “I did a good deed,” it is actually not a good deed at all?
Answer: There are many people in the world who wake up in the morning and start counting how many good deeds they have done.
Comment: And by the end of the day, they come with such a righteous feeling.
My Response: Try recording good deeds in a small notebook and keep it with you, at the bus stop, at work, etc.
Comment: When you shake someone’s hand, help an old lady cross the street, and so on, and so on.
My Response: Yes-yes-yes.
Question: And in your opinion, are those not good deeds?
Answer: You are living with the fact that you are accumulating good deeds for the future.
Question: But are they still good deeds?
Answer: No, you are doing it solely for yourself. Remove your own benefit from here, and you will ignore everything and will not do anything.
Question: What is my benefit then? That I feel good, that I am doing good deeds?
Answer: No, it is that you are making the Creator obligated to somehow repay you.
Question: I see. So it is like I am earning my place in heaven, but this cannot be done. So how am I supposed to live? How do I count my steps, based on what? It turns out that my seemingly insignificant acts like picking up a button, catching up with an old lady, and giving it back…
Answer: You cannot! If you do not overcome your egoism and do not act against it; you will not perform a good deed. It will be pre-sold.
Question: So I am bribed all the time?
Answer: Yes, this is what Kabbalah is about.
Comment: That is why this science is not easy. There is always something beyond reason. Always! And I cannot live without reason.
My Response: You have to calculate if it is worth doing something or not, how much do I gain with each action, interaction.
Question: So I live like that? Is that how everyone lives?
Answer: Yes.
Question: But I shouldn’t?
Answer: No, you should not. But how do you do that? That is why it is said that everything must be done in faith above reason.
Question: Can you explain in simple terms what faith above reason means?
Answer: If a person imagines that he is doing very, very good deeds that he will benefit from later, then it is all a failure from the start.
Question: With what intention should I perform deeds then?
Answer: Absolutely selflessly.
Question: So that I get nothing, no benefit?
Answer: Unselfishly. There will be benefit to the world and people, and to me—nothing. As if no one knows about it and will never find out.
Comment: So my name is not anywhere. It is not engraved in stone, not in the credits, my name is nowhere.
My Response: No.
Question: So I do it and that’s it?
Answer: Yes.
Comment: Right, and artists, and not only artists, will faint when they hear this. The whole copyright system is built on the idea that “This is my music, my creation, if you use it, you must pay,” etc. The whole world is built on this! And we are going against the world.
My Response: Yes, you can write in your notebook just for yourself and then burn it. But all the same, even in such actions when a person thinks about what he will get for it, saving up for a rainy day, it is still good to act that way. It does not really give them any real benefit, but it is still good. There will be less evil in the world because of it. And good deeds will start from a higher threshold, from a higher level.
Comment: What about the actions when a person really tells himself: “I did a good deed”? He is not thinking: “Will I get to heaven for this or not, I am just doing a good deed.”
My Response: He elevates himself to a higher level and should start working from there.
Question: You know, we just saved the world. Because the world looked and said, “This is impossible to achieve—faith above reason.” But have you just given a step: Do these things anyway; they will not be good deeds, but they will be a step toward good deeds?
Answer: Yes, and then a person should get used to doing such actions, not for himself, but for the world. And that is when their soul begins to open up toward the world.
Question: What is this space called the soul? What kind of space is it?
Answer: It is an absolutely empty space that a person must fill with his desire.
Question: Toward the world? From him? And nothing for himself?
Answer: Nothing.
Question: Is this the stage that humanity is heading toward?
Answer: Yes.
Question: And can it reach it?
Answer: Of course!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/8/24
Related Material:
Joy—The Result Of Good Deeds
Why Do You Want To Be Good?
“How Do you Define Good And Bad?” (Quora)
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Question: If we come to the common desire to delight the Creator, in what way is our individuality preserved?
