Human egoism increases every generation. But we cannot fight it directly and force people to love one another. We cannot force love. That is why we have to utilize the power of society over individuals. Each and every one of us is greatly affected by society: each of us wants respect from society; each of us is influenced by the opinions of society. If we can make it so that the most appreciated thing in the world will be giving-more appreciated than any other act of man, then people will want to give, they will want to bestow and to share, because they will want the respect of society.
We live in a world we know only partially. There are many rules in Nature, some of which we discover easily because they are evident from our own existence. The law of gravity, for instance, is evident because when we try to fly without the proper instruments we fall right back to Earth. Some laws apply only to Earth and some also apply to space. Some of these rules are perceived through our senses and our bodies, but there are other laws, such as the laws of radiation, whose action we cannot feel. We can only see the phenomena they produce. We cannot perceive, hear, or see waves, but we do recognize their effects.
If we were aware that there was a law of reality that determined that if we stole, nature would respond with a negative reaction, we would not do it to begin with. If we knew that the penalty for stealing was illness or that something terrible would happen to us or to our loved ones, we would avoid stealing. Thus, where one does not see the law and the consequences of one’s actions, society helps determine the rules one must follow, along with the system of reward and punishment.
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth” refers to making of two properties: egoism and altruism. The egoistic property of “earth gets corrected with the help of altruistic property of “heaven”. The correction process consists of seven states, called “seven days of creation”. Naturally, this is a conditional name. It has nothing to do with the seven days on earth; it does not refer to either day and night or light and darkness on earth. Rather, it refers to the spiritual states and spiritual sensations of a person who passes through these stages of correction. It talks about the system in which one’s soul is corrected while existing at the level called “earth”.
If we honestly examine our lives, we will discover that all that remains of everything we have done so far are memories. We chase pleasures that seem to cross our path, but as soon as we obtain them, they slip between our fingers.
When we are in kindergarten, we want to be in school. We think of it as such a fun place to be, where older kids “have a great time” and learn new and exciting things. But once we get to school, we can’t wait to get to high school. At high school, the new craze is college, and in college, it is a successful career. The next phase always seems better and more appealing. But is it really so?
And there is another issue: Once we get what we want, the pleasure slips between our fingers and leaves us as thirsty as wanderers in the desert, dreaming of a glass of water. And even if we find water, we tremendously enjoy the first sip, but the more we drink, the less we enjoy. In the end, we even forget that we were ever thirsty. In short, we spend our whole lives chasing phantoms of delights. And even when we catch a phantom, it takes no more than a minute for it to slip away once more.
We bring our children up to be kind to others because we subconsciously know that being unkind to others eventually hurts the unkind person. We want to give our children security, and we feel that we can succeed only by means of altruistic education. Thus, a person’s confidence does not depend on the individual, but on the environment. Because one’s environment reflects a person’s attitude toward it, all harm comes to us from the environment. However, by promoting altruistic values, we will increase the chances that society will not harm us.
Each society, in each country, throughout history, has wanted to impart altruistic values to its children. Only a very powerful individual, such as a tyrant whose army stands ready to enforce his will, can afford to teach his children to be ruthless, inconsiderate, and merciless. But the children of such people will need great protection to survive. They will have to stand guard against everyone else, and protect themselves through the force of arms.
Religions may remain even when the end of correction comes. A person may pray to Allah or Jesus or some Jewish immaterial image or some Indian Buddha. This doesn’t matter at all. They are traditions or beliefs. For those who study Kabbalah it becomes unimportant, absolutely. But if somebody wants to continue to observe traditions as a part of his culture, he will be able to do it; it doesn’t hinder anyone. A soul has nothing in common either with an earthy body or with our earthy notions. It is an absolutely different construction located out of our world.
