September 5, 2008
Archive for Articles
August 9, 2007 at 9:59 pm · Filed under Articles, Quotes, Thought of the Week
What is the attribute of mercy? Our sages defined it as: “what’s mine is yours and what’s your is yours.” And if all the people in the world were to behave that way, it would cancel all the glory of the attribute of truth and judgment, because if each and everyone would be naturally willing to give everything he has to his fellow man and take nothing of another for himself, then the whole interest in lying to one another would disappear, and there would be no room to speak of the attribute of truth whatsoever, because true and false are relative - and if there were no falsehood in the world, there would be no concept of truth. Needless to say that the other attributes that are there only to strengthen the attribute of truth because of its weakness, would also be cancelled.
Truth is defined in the words: “what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours.” That contradicts the attribute of mercy and cannot altogether tolerate it because in truth, it is unjust to labor and strain for another, because besides causing his friend to fail, he accustoms him to exploit his fellow man. Thus, truth dictates that every person treasure his own assets for a time of need so he will not have to be a burden on his fellow man. more…
Baal HaSulam, Peace in the World.
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August 8, 2007 at 8:13 am · Filed under Articles, Israel, Kabbalah Today
Havoc in Modern-Day Babylon
Article in Kabbalah Today Issue 6
The idea of unity among all human beings is no more to us than an imaginary children’s story. Back in babylon, someone had a way for humanity to unite. Today, our world needs such a method more than ever. more…
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August 6, 2007 at 11:07 am · Filed under Articles, Kabbalah Today
Editor’s Note
Days of Do or Die
A glance at last month’s news reveals a startling picture: floods, fires, quakes, terror, corruption, and a nuclear radiation leak are just some of the issues that made the headlines. It seems we are approaching days of do or die.
And indeed, there is a lot we can do for ourselves, but we must resolve to do it. According to Kabbalah, things do not happen by chance; they occur to show us the direction towards happiness. The faster we follow the signs, the sooner we will achieve this goal.
This issue of Kabbalah Today discusses why we are unhappy, but mainly what we can and should do to change that. The items in this issue present the solutions Kabbalah offers from multiple angles. It is our sincere hope that reading this paper will provide you with renewed sense of strength, hope, and faith in the good future of humanity.
Click here to view the e-version of Kabbalah Today Issue 6
Click here to download the Kabbalah Today Issue 6 PDF
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July 31, 2007 at 11:19 pm · Filed under Articles, Kabbalah Today
All’s Well that Ends Well
Article in Kabbalah Today issue #3
If you read genuine Kabbalistic texts attentively, you will discover that according to Kabbalah, there isn’t any ‘bad’ in creation whatsoever, it’s just that we, the fruit of creation, have not yet ripened. more…
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July 23, 2007 at 11:29 am · Filed under Articles
Dope ‘em or answer them
article by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Is your child easily distracted, restless, eruptive, or even violent? Before you try chemicals to treat the symptoms, try answering the question that causes it — what is the purpose of this life? The results can be truly astonishing.
more…
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July 23, 2007 at 7:00 am · Filed under Articles, Globalization, World Peace
Baal HaSulam
Baal HaSulam:
“Do not be surprised if I mix together the well-being of a particular collective with the well-being of the whole world, because indeed we have already come to such a degree that the whole world is considered one collective and one society. Meaning, because each person in the world sucks his life’s marrow and his livelihood from all the people in the world, he is coerced to serve and care for the well-being of the whole world.” (from the article “Peace in the World“)
Commentary by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD:
That was written seventy years ago. Do you understand what Baal HaSulam felt back then, about the world he was living in? We didn’t have the Internet, and the kinds of media and transportation that we have today; who knew about all of that?
No one dreamt about it back then. We don’t have a single book from that time that speaks in those terms. But he wrote that we can already see the whole world is one small village, with globalization and everything. For him, it was a fact; not something that was yet to come, but that definitely had come.
All the Kabbalists earlier knew it had to come, but for him it was being realized. Because of this, he became coerced to care for the whole world, because the whole world appears to us as one system.
Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, from the December 2005 World Peace Lectures, lesson #6, 22-12-07. wmv video | mp3 audio | ms word transcript | about the December 2005 World Peace lectures
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July 21, 2007 at 7:00 am · Filed under Articles, Disclosure of Kabbalah, Humanity, World Peace
And this task was said about Elijah the Prophet, because the disclosure of the secrets is always referred to as the disclosure of Elijah, as they have said, “let it rest until Elijah comes,” and also, “the Tishbi will answer the questions and problems.”
For this reason they said that three days (a known intimation) prior to the coming of the Messiah, Elijah would walk upon the hilltops and will blow in a great horn etc. You must understand these intimations, that that the horn is only the issue of the disclosure of the wisdom of the hidden in great masses, which is a necessary precondition that must be met prior to the complete redemption.
And the books that have already been revealed in this wisdom will testify to it, that matters of the greatest importance have been spread out like a gown for all to see, which is a true testimony that we are already at the threshold of redemption, and that the voice of the great horn has already been heard, though not in the distance because it still sounds very softly.
But indeed, any greatness requires prior smallness, and there is no great voice if it is not preceded by a soft sound, for this is the way of the horn, that it progressively grows.
Baal HaSulam, in his article “Messiah’s Horn,” taken from his book Ohr Bahir (Bright Light).
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July 16, 2007 at 11:21 pm · Filed under Articles, Happiness, World Peace
The Pursuit of Happiness
article by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Click here for the full article
If, according to the Declaration of Independence, we are all entitled to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ why does it so often seem that we are pursuing the unattainable?
For nearly two and a half centuries, the idea that the “American way” could grant freedom, dignity and happiness has been the basis of the American society. “The American Dream” was defined by James Truslow Adams in his 1931 book “The Epic of America” as “a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.”
Yet it seems as though this dream is fading. Clearly, Western society, which we also call “the free world,” and which (in many ways) shares the American Dream, doesn’t know what to do with its liberties. Many in the West, especially the young, are giving up on the pursuit of happiness, since no happiness awaits at its end. By consequence, many youth are giving up on life itself.
Following his definition, Adams explains the essence of the American Dream: “It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”
While this is truly an admirable aspiration, according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, this statement contains an inherent flaw that will never allow it to come true: It ignores human nature. In his article “Peace in the World,” Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, the greatest Kabbalist of the 20th century, writes that “the nature of each and every individual is to exploit the lives of all other people in the world for his own benefit.” And moreover: “[M]an feels … that all the people in the world should be under his own government and for his own private use.” more…
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July 12, 2007 at 11:55 pm · Filed under Articles, Evolution, Kabbalah Today
Soul Splitting
article in Kabbalah Today issue 5
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Each of us is a piece in a puzzle that was once a single common soul. That soul was shattered into 7 billion pieces and now it is time for correction—to regroup the pieces.
In the Kingdom of Desire
Kabbalists tell us that we all come from one soul, called “the soul of Adam ha Rishon” (The First Man), which was created by the Creator. They also explain that the Creator’s nature is that of complete love and benevolence, and that He created the soul of Adam ha Rishon with an entirely opposite nature: a desire to receive delight and pleasure.
The task of the soul of Adam ha Rishon is to become similar to the nature of the Creator, becoming as loving and giving as Him. To the extent that the soul succeeds, it will be awarded the greatest pleasure in reality. more…
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July 10, 2007 at 5:38 am · Filed under Articles, Meaning of Life
Life - Whose Is It?
by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Saving our planet has become a key issue on our global agenda. But to avoid further destruction of Earth, we must answer a much deeper question: What is life for?
The meaning of life
The oneness concept was first discovered by ancient Kabbalists some 5,000 years ago, but is today a proven scientific fact. This concept tells us that life’s purpose is not a personal thing; it is a comprehensive, “panoramic” perception of all that exists. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, only when we transcend our selves, our egos, do we achieve life’s meaning, since only then do we see the “big picture,” that is, our own place in the comprehensive picture of creation. It is only then that we understand why we are born and what we need to do in this life.
To understand the meaning of life, we need to achieve such a sensation of the universe that there will be no difference between life and death, and existence as physical entities or spiritual entities. If we could freely live in all dimensions, earthly and spiritual, and not just in our present perception, we would know that we truly are eternal. more…
Click here to cast your vote for this article at Searchwarp’s “What is the meaning of life?” article competition
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