Life - whose it it?

Life - whose is it?
Column: Kabbalah.info
Rav Michael Laitman ReligionAndSpirituality.com
July 9, 2007
Millions of people are starving in Third World countries, and billions others don't have enough to eat or even clean drinking water. Their lives are so much harder than Westerners' lives that it's a wonder that they even endure. In the West, people don't suffer from such problems: They are generally healthy, generally wealthy, and their futures are (generally) secured. But Westerners have their own problems, the first of which is depression. Despite the high standard of living, depression is the fastest spreading illness in the West. According to an official brochure by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): "Depressive disorders make one feel exhausted, worthless, helpless, and hopeless. Such negative thoughts and feelings make some people feel like giving up." Indeed, the startling suicide rates all over the Western world prove that more and more people are giving up, although they seemingly have everything. If we compared the lives of Westerners to the lives of those living in Third World countries, we'd expect the contrary: that those in the West would try to make the most out of the opportunities they have, and that those in poorer countries would be in despair. Isn't it strange that once we have everything, we throw it all away, including our lives? Whose life is my life? To understand this apparent paradox, we need a broader perspective. The fact of the matter is that today, as the seven-continent-wide show Live Earth so beautifully demonstrated, we are all interdependent. To save our own lives, and the lives of our children, we need to cooperate. However, we will not want to cooperate unless we know what for. We need to understand the reason we exist, the meaning of our lives, and from that derive motivation for positive global action. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, our interdependency stems from the "oneness" concept, from the fact that we are not only interdependent, but are all one entity. Our faces may seem different, but underneath our skins we are quite similar. If we hadn't been similar, modern medicine would not be possible. The deeper you dive into matter, the more similar the elements become. Thus, if you analyze the particles that make up each atom, you'll find only two basic elements — the nucleus and the electrons surrounding it. The most basic building blocks of life, all of life, are the same. And they are not only the same, but materials constantly exchange elements, electrons, which brings contemporary physicists to state that at the most fundamental level of nature, we are all literally one. If we comprehend that, we will see that understanding the meaning of our lives, as well as achieving well-being, is not so much a question of what I do for me, but more of how I interact with the whole world and for all of humanity. 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. In such a state of mind, one's own life becomes as meaningful as another's. There can be no animosity among people, because all people are one. Rivalry would be tantamount to a kidney trying to dominate the liver. In such a state of existence, each person becomes God-like, fully responsible for the whole of reality, and fully aware of everything that is happening within it, at any place and at any time. Indeed, Kabbalah states that life's meaning lies in its purpose — to make all creations be like God — eternal, omnipotent and omniscient. Kabbalists call it "equivalence of form." This is the real Live Earth show. — — — Rav Michael Laitman, Ph.D. in philosophy and M.Sc. in biocybernetics, is founder and president of Bnei Baruch — Kabbalah Education and Research Institute in Tel Aviv — and the author of 30 books on the subject. His daily lessons are aired live on global television and the Internet. He has an extensive website on Kabbalah and his email address is laitman@kabbalah.info. © copyright 2007 by Michael Laitman.
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