  |
|
|
|
Mark Zimmerman's BlogPosted by Mark Zimmerman Jim Hopkins of the New Zealand Herald, in his article "Human Nature Root Cause of Crisis" supported the notion of egoism, or "self-interest" as he put it, is the cause of the financial crisis: "As fat cats fell like hail from the upper storeys of Wall Street skyscrapers, they voted to save their own skins and to hell with the economy. There's something strangely comforting about this, if only because it demonstrates the reliable consistency of human nature. Just like the oft-condemned and much maligned financial wizards who'd precipitated the crisis, the men and women of Congress had, predictably, put self-interest first. As most of us do almost all of the time. That's why we have moral codes. It's why the exceptions to the rule are so notable. And why they privately shame us - just a little - when drawn to our attention. Like it or not, disquieting as we may find it, self-interest is what drives human behaviour. We're big enough and ugly enough to handle that, surely?" Michael Laitman, in his blog post "What Caused the Current Financial Crisis?" continues by discussing Kabbalah as the method for correcting human nature: "What difference does it make “Who’s to blame?” (supposedly!) or who is trying to hush up the financial crisis? The crisis keeps progressing regardless. We have to find its true cause - the quality of egoism inherent in man’s nature, and an effective way to overcome it. It can only be overcome by the force that can correct egoism – the force of the Light that created egoism in the first place. This force is evoked when we study it – by studying Kabbalah. This is what we should do instead of looking for for a scapegoat - “who hushed it up” or “who is trying to hush it up now.”" Posted by Mark Zimmerman KABBALAH TODAY (Issue 3, May 2006) - Click here to view e-version Kabbalah Today (Issue 3, May 2006) talks about love as the source of all sensations, as the source of life, and as the ultimate goal for which we will all strive. The feature article "Love, Love, Love" has Chaim Ratz discussing Kabbalah's take on love - that in Kabbalah one strives to attain the love of the source, the love of the Creator, as expressed in the word "Dvekut" ("Adhesion"). The issue also features a picturesque Kabbalistic story by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD "The Omnipotent Magician Who Could Not Be Alone," and a Kabbalistic story series by Michael R. Kellogg depicting the journey of Desire and Desiree in their pursuit of the Creator, as well as other Kabbalistic concept articles, with a piece on The Zohar, the technical study of Kabbalah, Kabbalah and human evolution, and a story on the life and times of Baal HaSulam (Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag). This entire paper is available as an e-version, as well as in PDF and MS Word formats from the Kabbalah Today website: www.kabtoday.com Posted by Mark Zimmerman Google, in their new "Project 10 to the 100th," are giving away $10 million to help materialize ideas of helping other people. Reading through the introductory paragraph of Google's "Why this project" page was much like reading through the first part of an introduction to Kabbalah - that, in Google's words, "beyond a certain very basic level of material wealth, the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people." Kabbalah would put it like this: We cannot find true fulfillment by only trying to fulfill ourselves, we can only find true fulfillment by fulfilling others. 99% of the world's population would agree with this statement, but in terms of "How do we do it? (i.e. How do we help other people?)" - that is the point where the problem lies. Google claims that they don't know the answer to "How do we do it?" - and that's why they're asking the public, to give ideas on how we do it, and Google is providing the cash to put these ideas into action. In terms of an idea for this project, I was immediately inspired by Kabbalist Michael Laitman's statement from his 2-minute "The Needed Shift in Human Consciousness" speech at the 2005 World Wisdom Council meeting: that we create a non-stop global-scale marketing campaign, which focuses on promoting altruism as the "in-thing" - that we can be respected in society only by our altruistic actions toward others (and that we treat all actions where people put importance upon themselves with indifference). Moreover, this question of "How do we help other people?" should continually be raised to the public through this promotion, so that this question constantly resonates in people's thoughts, and so that people will start thinking more about how to fulfill other people and less about how to fulfill themselves - that true fulfillment is only through the fulfillment of others. I am very happy to see the Bnei Baruch Kabbalah Education & Research Institute taking the initiative to put efforts into this project, with their own Project 10 to the 100th page. They have put a callout for ideas on their blog, and it will be very interesting to see what people interested in authentic Kabbalah will come up with for this project. Posted by Mark Zimmerman Everyone interested in developing their understanding of Kabbalah's basic concepts and fundamental principles is invited to join Bnei Baruch's upcoming Kabbalah course for beginners. The course starts on September 3, at 8pm EST. It will go for 24 weeks, with 2 lessons per week. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask the lecturers questions, and get them answered live. Moreover, if one can't make the lessons, one can download them free at their convenience. For more information about the course, and to sign up, continue reading at the course's information and registration page. Posted by Mark Zimmerman When Pope Benedict XVI had addressed large crowds, ending with his remarks to approximately 350,000 young people at Catholic World Youth Day, he told those in attendance at a Mass in Sydney that "In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading: an interior emptiness, an unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair." He called for young people to become "messengers of love" to counter a world that was becoming increasingly spiritually barren. These words reflect with great clarity, the sensations of so many people on this planet-around us is prosperity and wealth but no sense of joy in life and great fear of the future. It is due to this emptiness that there is a renewed interest in spiritual matters, as evidenced by the hundreds of thousands in attendance in Sydney. There is also a growing interest in authentic Kabbalah, as well. The wisdom of Kabbalah can not only help us understand the underlying reason for this "spiritual desert" and why there is so much fear, despair and emptiness, it also shows us how to escape this desert and become "messengers of love" to the world around us. Related Material: Posted by Mark Zimmerman On July 4, American celebrated their Independence Day, a very important holiday to Americans, as they remember this day to commemorate their break with England, the "mother" country who so heavily taxed and oppressed them. Most countries celebrate such a day of freedom, a day in their histories that signifies freedom from occupation, oppression or slavery in one form or another. What does independence really mean, not just in terms of a country, but also in terms of personal freedom? Depending on where you live, you may be controlled by some governmental regulations, religious or cultural tenets, or societal customs, but can you be free, even though you may have to follow the rules and regulations of the physical structure in which you live? There is much talk about freedom, and it seems that everyone wants it, but the fact is that we really don't know what true freedom is, much less how to achieve it. There is a way to find this freedom of choice within, and only through the achievement of this goal can we realize global freedom. Here's a list I put together of some resources exploring this topic that each of us so fundamentally yearns for: Videos * Do We Have Free Will or Is Everything Predetermined? Articles Posted by Mark Zimmerman European MTV host Eden Harel asks Rav Michael Laitman, PhD whether or not a Kabbalist can also live as a Buddhist, which led to an explanation of two approaches to the ego. In short, Rav Laitman describes the difference between the two approaches as that of diminishing the ego (in Buddhism) as opposed to increasing the ego (in Kabbalah). The aim of increasing one's ego in Kabbalah is not to make more money, have more power, honor and knowledge etc., but to aim one's desire for the greatest thing that we can ever achieve: spirituality. Watch this Video at Kabbalah TV [03:53] |
|
|
|
