Self-interest vs. Altruism in the Global Era by Michael Laitman

Author:Michael Laitman [Laitman, Michael, PhD]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781897448670
Publisher: Bnei Baruch, Laitman Kabbalah

THE MAGNA CARTA

Since the desire to receive is a perpetually evolving force, Abrahamic faiths were not the only phenomena that evolved during the Middle Ages. Especially during the late Middle Ages, more and more people began to strive for personal emancipation and personal expression—in art, erudition, as well as economic independence.

In 1088, the first European university was established in Bologna, Italy. Then, between 1150 and 1229, universities appeared in Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Salamanca, Montpellier, Padua, Naples, and Toulouse.

In civil law, too, the budding of momentous shifts were en route to change the face of European society. The Magna Carta Libertatum issued in 1215, and subsequently the habeas corpus, provided a first-ever protection of subjects, even fettered ones (albeit a limited one, at first), from the whim of the hitherto all-powerful king. And although these changes were initially applied only in England, they laid the foundations for democracy and the Age of Enlightenment through the whole of Europe.

The invention of the hourglass in the 11th century, and the compass, invented circa 1300, allowed for navigation across seas and oceans. This enabled Europeans to explore the world and to bring Christianity to such remote continents as America and Africa, thus spreading the Abrahamic tenet to even more nations.

Further assisting in the spread of knowledge and ideas was the revolutionary invention of the Gutenberg printing press in the mid 15th century. While literacy became prevalent only in the 19th century, when the price of paper became more affordable, the relative ease of printing books helped spread knowledge and ideas throughout Europe. As a result, the concepts of the Renaissance, which started in 14th century Italy, could be circulated much more quickly, which set the stage for a new era. And while the populace was still under the arbitrary rule of feudalists, many people’s minds and hearts were beginning to mingle and reciprocate in an evident, almost tangible manner.

In his “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,”7 Baal HaSulam describes how at its end, each stage prepares for the onset of the next. In much the same way, the developments and changes during the late Middle Ages mark the end of the era, as well as the beginning of the next—the Renaissance. And since, as Kabbalah explains, events in our world are triggered by the evolution of the desire to receive, these events demonstrated that the world was now ready for the next stage in the evolution of desires—Stage Three—whose onset is marked by the next seminal composition in Kabbalah, The Tree of Life.

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