Our Environment – The Collective Soul
Our true environment is one of total interconnection with others, but we don?t feel this interconnection. Why? What should we do about it? 04:07

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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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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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The Pursuit of Happiness
article by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD

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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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Everyone’s Pursuit of Happiness
An article linking themes from the film The Pursuit of Happyness to everyone’s life.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and inalienable rights; that among these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

“The idea that it’s ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,’ and not ‘life, liberty and happiness’ is that the elusive nature of happiness is such that all someone can ever give to you is the opportunity to pursue.”

Will Smith on Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness (taken from The Pursuit of Happyness official site)

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Pursuit of Happyness is a film about Chris Gardner (played by Will Smith), a man who in unfortunate circumstances (homeless and financially insecure) struggled to earn financial and domestic stability for himself and his son. The Pursuit of Happyness has been received warmly by the American public as an inspirational tale of determination, courage and hard work (i.e. the pursuit of happiness), that by using these qualities one can achieve a better life (i.e. achieve happiness).

“Happiness” is portrayed in this film as a better state than what we already have, and “the pursuit of happiness” is the path we must endure to achieve happiness. In particular, Chris Gardner defines happiness as a state of financial and domestic stability for himself and his son. We can all relate to this goal, especially if we already have these comforts, and look upon being homeless as a lesser standard of life that must be overcome.

The Problem with the Pursuit of Happiness

A major problem with us today is that many of us already have these comforts, but still aren’t happy. We have our security, and simply living securely isn’t good enough and we want more.

Ironically, if Chris Gardner were already living securely, with a comfortable home, good job and family, and strove to make more money for a bigger house and a flashier car, and then if he continued fiercely striving for more power and respect, we would no longer consider this an inspiring story of determination and courage, but one of ambitiousness and greed.

Such a story is more characteristic of The Godfather than The Pursuit of Happyness! However, in both cases and in every area of human life, we can conclude that everyone is involved in this very same aspiration to a better state of life, in the pursuit of happiness.

What is at the Source of the Pursuit of Happiness?

This common pursuit of happiness is that we all view our current situation as lacking something, and need to work (we need to pursue…) in order to fulfill this lack (we need to pursue happiness). Right now, take a moment to think about what you want. Just by thinking about it, you’re already feeling that you are lacking this thing and you need to do something to achieve it.

This brings us to the question: What is at the source of this pursuit of happiness? What makes us happy?

That one person pictures to himself a secure family life as happiness, and another pictures love for another person as happiness, and another pictures a huge amount of wealth and power as happiness, and for another it’s a new dress, CD, car or gadget… to all this we can pose a conclusion: that it is not the money, the respect, the power, the food, or anything that we picture to ourselves that makes us happy… that before all these things, we have desires for them—we want them—and only the moment when we fulfill our desires is when we feel happiness.

Now that we understand that it is not money, food, family, sex, knowledge, honor, power or any physical thing we can picture to ourselves that makes us happy, but the act of fulfilling our desires, we can start learning how to also take part in this pursuit of happiness, directly at its source—desire and its fulfillment.

Where am I and Where are Others in the Pursuit of Happiness?

The thing with all these desires is that none of them leave us with a true feeling of happiness. Why? It is because precisely at the moment when we fulfill them, they disappear. New desires then enter us and force us to pursue their demands. It is as if we are constantly in the pursuit of happiness, and we either never reach happiness, or the moment we do, it immediately slips through our fingers.

The reason for this is because the whole time we are only trying to fulfill one person—me. In other words, our desires are all self-aimed, and can never be lastingly fulfilled. However, we constantly find ourselves yearning toward something better, something lasting and eternal, and feel that somehow, somewhere, it has to exist.

The trick to achieving true happiness is precisely the opposite of what we’re accustomed to thinking: we cannot achieve true happiness by trying to fulfill our own desires, but only through pursuing the fulfillment of others’ desires. In other words, we need to feel that the more others are happy, the more we are happy. We need a desire that grows and expands when it is fulfilled, drawing more and more fulfillment, and through this desire I feel happiness from making others happy. This is a desire for unlimited, endless happiness. We all have this desire, but we just don’t know how to fulfill it yet; we don’t know how to pursue it.

If we return to what Will Smith said at the beginning of the article, that “the elusive nature of happiness is such that all someone can ever give to you is the opportunity to pursue”—the wisdom of Kabbalah is the method which gives us the opportunity to achieve unlimited happiness. It is a time-tested method of discovering happiness fulfilling others, and guides us in learning how precisely to fulfill others so that they will become happier and happier. Our happiness then multiplies by the amount that we are able to fulfill others and make them happier.

To find out more about this desire for unlimited happiness and how to fulfill it, check out the following videos and links:

Why Am I Never Satisfied? 04:37
Our inborn egoistic state never allows us to be completely satisfied. Perceiving Reality describes what we should do with our ego in order to experience boundless, complete and ever-expanding satisfaction.
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Development of Desires 04:59
An outline of all the desires we have, and how our desires develop.
Click here to view the video at Kabbalah TV

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