This video animates the following quote from the book Bail Yourself Out: How You Can Emerge Strong from the World Crisis by Dr. Michael Laitman:
“Humanity, like the universe, is a perfect system comprised of myriad elements that interact with each other. Just as billions of galaxies make up the universe, billions of people combine to make up humanity. And just as there are stars, within each galaxy, there are people within nations and states. And the organs, tissue, and cells within each person’s body are like the planets, comets and asteroids orbiting their suns.
Expansion and contraction form the endless ebb and flow of life, propelled at one moment by the desire to give, and at the next moment by the desire to receive. Whether it is galaxies, suns, and planets merging to form our universe or cells, tissue, and organs combining to form a human being, this interplay of desires is at the heart of creation
As with the stars, Planet Earth evolved by expansion and contraction through the interaction of desires. When Earth was first formed, its surface reflected the flow of expansion and the ebb of contraction. Every time the desire to give prevailed, Earth’s sweltering interior would burst into rivers of malted lava. And every time the receiving force prevailed, the lava would cool and form new swaths of land. Eventually, a strong enough crust was formed over the Earth to allow for the emergence of life as we know it
If we search deep enough, we will find the same two forces—giving and receiving—within every being ever created, weaving their magnificent garment of life. In the weaving process, the desire to give first creates matter, as with the Big Bang or a newborn baby, and the desire to receive gives the matter shape, as with the stars and the differentiating cells in organism.”
Originally, all people were internally connected. We felt and thought of ourselves as a single human being, and this is exactly how Nature treats us. However, despite our initial oneness, as our egoism grew we gradually lost the sensation of unity and became increasingly distant from each other.
Kabbalah books write that Nature’s plan is for our egoism to keep growing until we realize that we have become separated and hateful to one another. The logic behind the plan is that we must first feel as a single entity, and then become separated into egoistic and detached individuals. Only then will we realize that we are completely opposite from the Creator, and utterly selfish.
Moreover, this is the only way for us to realize that egoism is negative, unfulfilling, and ultimately hopeless. Our egoism separates us from each other and from Nature. But to change that, we must first realize that this is the case. This will bring us to want to change, and to independently find a way to transform ourselves into altruists, reconnected with all of humanity and with Nature—the Creator.
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…
Kabbalah for idiots, genius’s, the poor, the tired…
A person can be old or young, have all sorts of qualities, be smart or foolish – this is not important. His soul operates beyond all these properties and its functioning does not depend on them. A person may not have a sharp mind, and still be a great Kabbalist, yet he also can be very successful, clever, but at the same time be an angry and rude person. more…
Happiness
Happiness does not always mean some event that puts a big smile on our faces. It means moving toward goals that help us live the kind of life we think is in our best interest at the time. So that is the sense in which our actions are always aimed at making ourselves “happy.” (p. 35, “The Pleasure and Pain Principle” from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah)
Do You Really Want Spirituality?
A famous story about the Ari’s students demonstrates just how ripe the Ari believed the time was. One day he said to his students, “If we all go to Jerusalem [they were in a different city then], we will bring the end of correction, and reach the highest degree. We need only do it together.” Alas, most people couldn’t come: one had a sick child, another couldn’t come to terms with his wife and she wouldn’t let him go, and another just didn’t have the energy for such a long walk. They stayed in their town, and the end of correction stayed away from us. But the Ari believed that it was possible. (p. 55, “Debunking the Myths” from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah)
Self-Examination
Kabbalists explain that all creations are sensing beings. In other words, all we have are our feelings and emotions. This is because the purpose of creation is for us to feel pleasure. Even our rationale exists only to justify, to rationalize our feelings. Therefore, if you want to study yourself, examine your emotions. See what gives you pleasure – you’ll be surprised, and not always pleasantly. (p. 160, “Kabbalah and Your Life” from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah)
In all this havoc of egoism, we are forgetting the roots of creation. We are one soul. It doesn’t matter how many innocent people die; we will still be one soul.
In writings that were given the name “The Last Generation,” Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag wrote that if we don’t change the course of events, we will experience a third and a fourth world war. The relics, he wrote, will still have to do the job and correct our egos. We must realize that there is a crisis, and we must deal with it in the only way possible: through rising to the level of nature’s altruism. (p. 245, “The Malady: Trapped in the Ego Cage” from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah)
Following are some quotes of prominent Kabbalists to help inspire you during your day or before you go to sleep. Read them one at a time, then contemplate. There is no rush; these quotes work best when you think about them for a while.
“All of man’s engagements are guided by a single, intrinsic premise, and the internality dresses within all people. It is what they referred to as “Nature,” whose numeric count is the same as Elokim (God). And this is the truth that the Creator concealed from the philosophers.”
—Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lutzato (The Ramchal) (1707—1747), The Book of the War of Moses
“Man’s future will indeed come, in which he will evolve to such a sound spiritual state, that not only will every profession not hide another, but every science and every sentiment will reflect the entire scientific sea and the entire emotional depth, as this matter really is in the actual reality.”
—Rabbi Abraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook (1865—1935), Orot Kodesh, A (Holy Lights, A)
“One who feels within, after several attempts, that one’s soul within is in peace only when engaging in the secrets of Torah, should know for certain that this is what one has been made for. Let no preventions—corporeal or spiritual—stop one from running to the source of one’s life and true wholeness.”
—Rabbi Abraham Yitzhak HaCohen Kook (1865—1935), Orot Kodesh, A (Holy Lights, A)
“The Torah was given to learn and to teach so that all will know the Lord, from least to greatest. We also find many books of Kabbalists alerting of the importance of the study of the wisdom that everyone must learn.”
—Rabbi Yitzhak Ben Tzvi Ashkenazi (???—1807), The Purity of Sanctity
“Indeed, if we set our hearts to answer but one very famous question, I am certain that all these questions and doubts will vanish from the horizon, and you will look unto their place to find them gone. This indignant question is a question that the whole world asks, namely, ‘What is the meaning of my life?’”
—Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) (1884—1954), The Study of the Ten Sefirot
“Even when one does not have the vessels, when one engages in this wisdom, mentioning the names of the Lights and the vessels related to one’s soul, they immediately shine upon us to a certain measure. However, they shine for him without clothing the interior of his soul for lack of the able vessels to receive them. Despite that, the illumination one receives time after time during the engagement draws upon one grace from above, imparting one with abundance of sanctity and purity, which bring one much closer to reaching perfection.”
—Rabbi Yehuda Leib HaLevi Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) (1884—1954), The Study of the Ten Sefirot
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