From My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 10/23/20

Patrick Vallance, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Government of the United Kingdom, recently told the National Security Strategy Committee in London that “it’s unlikely we will end up with a truly sterilizing vaccine, something that completely stops infection.” As daunting as this estimate is, chances are that Vallance is underestimating the impact of the virus. The more likely scenario is that the virus will spread from humans to the animal kingdom, to plants, and from there back to people. It will be impossible to defeat it using regular methods. Our only option is to revolutionize our way of life.

Already, a report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences confirms that cats and dogs can be infected by the novel coronavirus, and that humans are the ones giving it to the pets. Although so far, there has been no evidence that animals infect people, experience shows that the coronavirus changes all the time and we can’t be sure it won’t become transmittable through pets tomorrow.

Even more alarming, the Qingdao Health and Health Commission in China reported that positive samples of seafood were detected in the port of Qingdao, and two workers unloading the conditioned cargo have been infected. Without a vaccine for a virus that can infect us even through our pets and food, how will we protect ourselves? We can’t protect ourselves from the virus, but we can eliminate the cause of its emergence, and that will eliminate the virus.

Over the past several decades, a number of viruses have migrated from the animal kingdom to humans. The HIV AIDS, Ebola, and SARS are just a few examples, and scientists warn that many more are “in the tube,” since we have ruined animals’ habitats, which brought them closer to us. At the same time, we have weakened our immune system with our corrupt way of life, making us more vulnerable to unfamiliar pathogens.

If we want a healthy future, we have to transform our way of life. We cannot maintain an attitude of exploitation, ruthless competition, hatred and alienation among people, nations, races, and faiths. This hatred is the reason for our mistreatment of each other and the earth. We are transferring the battles between us to the world we live in and destroy our planet with our struggles for dominance.

We have become too powerful to act as if our misdeeds have no consequences. We are mutually responsible for one another. We are dependent on each other whether we want it or not. Whatever we do affects all of humanity. If we choose consideration and concern for one another, it will save the entire world. If we choose to keep on hating, we will inflict extinction on ourselves and everyone. We’re in a sink or swim situation, and we’re all tied to one another by strings we don’t want to recognize. If we drown other people, these strings will pull us down with them.

Discover a new worldview during times of crisis.
New book by Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

[PA via Reuters Chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance, during a media briefing in Downing Street, London, on coronavirus (COVID-19).]

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Medium published my new article “Trouble in Paradise, the World in Peril”

Natural disasters have doubled globally in the last two decades. The world is in danger of becoming “an uninhabitable hell for millions of people,” warns the UN, unless actions are taken on climate change — floods, hurricanes, heat waves, earthquakes, fires, and now a pandemic. Calamities are more intense and more frequent than ever before. What does this acceleration mean? Humans look at nature as a force that is out of balance, which is out of control, but feel it has always been like that since catastrophes have been constantly omnipresent, as if this attitude would make our life easier. It will not work. Nature is precisely pushing humankind to take responsibility and fix the mess it has created once and for all.

More than 7,000 major natural catastrophes were reported between 2000 and 2019, affecting 4 billion people around the globe, according to a recent UN study on the human cost of disasters. That is almost twice the number of calamities registered from 1980–1999, an extraordinary rise mostly due to the climate crisis which threatens our very existence.

We need to understand that all the plagues and increasing suffering appear for one reason: to guide people to find the actual cause of what is happening and tackle the problem at its source, since it’s obvious that the efforts of scientists and politicians are ineffective and have failed to stop the avalanche. Why now the rise of unfortunate natural events? Kabbalists who study the details of the structure of reality provide the answer. Foremost Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag succinctly explains it:

“Nature, like a skillful judge, punishes us according to our development. For we can see that to the extent that humankind develops, the pains and torments surrounding our sustenance and existence also multiply… the right conclusion must be drawn — that nature will ultimately defeat us and we will all be compelled to join hands in following its laws with all the measure required of us.” (The Peace).

Simply put, as the world has evolved to this point, it has now entered a new stage of development, a completely different level in which humanity must fully recognize the unity of nature as a holistic system, one whole.

However, there is a bug in the system, an exception that is the source of the problems. Inside this system stands the human species, the center of the world, who is given the freedom to choose to do as it pleases in spite of the consequences, and who is currently acting as a negative influence in opposition to the trajectory of the rest of nature which is global, integral, and united. Therefore, it is the human who is throwing the system out of balance, transforming its well-oiled operation into a disjointed machine whose pieces are constantly colliding and grinding against each other, a network that needs urgent repair to continue functioning before it falls into total collapse.

If we want to save the planet, and ourselves as a consequence, our task is to rebuild human society to bring human activity in balance with the laws of nature. If we were to see in depth the intricate interconnections of the network of nature, we would realize how we, as the rational element in creation, can and does drastically affect the rest of the parts.

Thus, now comes the time when each of us must look in the mirror and say, “Enough blaming others for my problems; I have to take responsibility.” How can this be done? It can only be done by all of humanity deliberately uniting to achieve equality, interconnection, and mutual understanding. All of our development, where human innovations ripple through and transform the lifestyle of each and every one, demonstrates the extent to which we are interconnected. When we understand this, we will understand the true meaning of balancing ourselves with nature and thus, we will balance nature. We cannot escape from this requirement that we must synchronize with nature.

Thus, now comes the time when each of us must look in the mirror and say, “Enough blaming others for my problems; I have to take responsibility.” How can this be done? It can only be done by all of humanity deliberately uniting to achieve equality, interconnection, and mutual understanding.

However, we should not have high hopes for any leader. Each leader ultimately only cares about honor and is inherently selfish, even more so than the rest of us. That is how and why each one of them managed to climb to the top of the political ladder. But once they reach its peak, the nice words promoting the common interest become hollow promises. So we, as the general people, must work together to repair the planet, through our unity, from the wounds we have inflicted and demand from international organizations to advance a global plan for the creation of positive qualitative connections between human beings of all countries, all societies. Only such a protective and luminous ring of light as this surrounding the planet can save it from the impending hailstorm and transform our lives to paradise on Earth, just as was conceived for us in the thought of creation.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does ‘I think; therefore I am’ mean?“

Our universe is a thought. Our world is a thought. We live in thought.

Our perception constantly develops, and the more it transforms, the more changes we observe in the world.

It is very significant to note that we can control our thinking. Why is that so significant? It is because by controlling our thoughts, we can create a certain kind of world to live in.

On the surface, our thoughts seem involuntary. However, if we pay closer attention, we will see how they appear as a result of our environmental influences.

We imagine to ourselves all kinds of visions, sounds, smells, tastes, and feelings; thinking thoughts and ideas inputted from our environment.

What the environment projects, we think about in one way or another.

Therefore, we would be wise to take caution with what and whom we surround ourselves, since our positive or negative thoughts—and thus, world—will be influenced by the kinds of inputs we receive from our environment.

Positive influences would portray examples of unifying communication and values of mutual responsibility and consideration:

People discussing problems and reaching resolutions that unity is more important than their conflicting opinions, even though they each feel adhered to their differing opinions.

Art, entertainment, media and events that promote values of mutual responsibility and consideration.
Today’s divisive messaging filling mass media spreads swathes of divisive thoughts in society, and these negative influences and thoughts give us a picture of our world where we see hatred abounding more in more in society. Also, those delivering divisive messages throughout the media believe that it serves them to do so, but on the contrary, it acts to both theirs and society’s detriment.

We have reached a major transitional point in history where we experience crisis on one hand—polarizing attitudes tearing society apart—while on the other hand, we increasingly feel the negative effects of living divided.

In addition, today we have the means to unite above division: to implement a method of connection that has the capability to secure our livelihood for generations, as well as raise us to a completely new kind of perception and sensation of our world. In other words, in order to feel that we live in a perfect world, we need only figure out how to unite above our divisive drives, and there is a method available that can unlock this revolution in human attitude and perception.

A central aspect of this method is environmental influence. By taking charge of our environment—choosing the kinds of social, media and educational influences that we absorb—we can guide our thoughts to think about creating a perfectly unified society, which “clicks” into balance with nature’s interconnectedness, and by doing so, experience total harmony.

Photo by Andy Li on Unsplash

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The Times of Israel published my new article “From Ingathering Exiles to Escaping Clans”

Israel, the land that was meant to host the ingathering of the exiles and reunite the Jewish people, is tearing at the seams. There has never been real unity in Israeli society, but we always knew how to rise above our partisan interests in the moment of truth. We cannot do this anymore; hatred and division have taken over. It seems as though we are going to split into myriad groups and clans, and many will seek asylum elsewhere, and I am not sure they will be welcome anywhere.

The truth of our makeup is surfacing; we are not a nation, but a horde of ruthless, selfish individuals, descendants of the most anti-social individuals who lived in ancient Babylon, whose self-absorption was so intense that they escaped, or were chased away, from their birthplace. Those ancient outcasts met Abraham, who taught them about love and caring, and forged them into a new nation whose kernel was unity above hatred. After all, they had nothing else in common.

Since then, the Jewish people have been in one of two states: unity and love, or division and hatred. For the past two millennia, the latter has been our mindset, and the recent turmoil in Israeli society exposes it more vividly than ever. If we do not muster the strength to rise from our low, society will disintegrate and the State of Israel will dissolve.

Abraham’s entourage followed him because they knew what kind of people they were. They were highly developed, intelligent and sensitive, but their development manifested in negative expressions. They wanted to transform themselves, and Abraham offered them an outlet from their meanness.

Today, we are once again together, but there is no Abraham among us. Instead, we must be our own unifiers. We have to help each other rise above our egos and establish mutual responsibility, our people’s motto throughout the ages. We must teach ourselves how to care for one another despite our differences, how to see that our nation is in fact a fabric made of contradictions, and whose strength lies in its diversity. We have to help each other see that our unity makes us “a light unto nations,” and our division makes the world despise us. We have to help each other because no one else will, because our lives depend on it, and because choosing whether to unite or separate means choosing between existence and extinction.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the definition of altruism?“

Altruism is egoism’s opposite, and egoism is self-centeredness, or a desire to enjoy at the expense of others.

Altruism is thus giving from oneself to others, to what is outside of us—humanity and nature.

Egoism is an inward direction—a desire to receive—and altruism is an outward direction—a desire to give.

After the definition of altruism arises the question: How can human beings become genuinely altruistic?

Becoming altruistic requires participating in a supportive social and learning environment where we can learn how nature operates altruistically, and practice how to think and act similarly to nature, together with others.

Genuine implementation of altruistic attitudes in a certain environment awakens forces dwelling in nature that can instill in us an altruistic perception and sensation of reality. That is, by regularly influencing one another in a certain social setup with the greatness and importance of altruism—how it is a nature-based quality, and how our becoming altruistic can solve all of our problems and lead us to much happier and more secure lives—we can then invert ourselves from being naturally egoistic, to acquiring a second altruistic nature.

We would then become beings with outwardly-aimed thoughts, desires, actions, intentions and goals—opposite to our current inwardly-aimed egoistic operating system.

Preceding participation in an egoistic-to-altruistic transformation process is a conclusion that more and more of humanity is reaching: the understanding of our egoistic nature leading to no positive outcomes, and the realization of the need for a shift to altruism, that altruistic forces that could grant us secure our survival, and even more so, invigorate, energize and enhance our lives.

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Remark: If we turn to history, the people of Israel were created on an ideological basis from dozens of tribes of Ancient Babylon. Therefore, Israel is those who have a desire for spiritual attainment.

My Comment: This is true, but not only them. There are even people who have absolutely nothing to do with Israel, with the Jews, with our ancient stones, and still they experience a special feeling when they come to this land.

The fact is that we are all fragments of a broken soul called Adam, which was once one. It is a spiritual structure that contains absolutely all the peoples of the world, all people without exception, wherever they are, wherever they live.

Since all of humanity is constantly evolving, people, even those who are still at a rather primitive level of development in their small, closed societies, still begin to feel that some special phenomena are happening in this place in the world, and they are drawn here.

These may be people from the depths of Africa, Australia, or Oceania who have never encountered Jews or heard anything about Israel. But suddenly, something pulls them here, and they come.
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From KabTV’s “System Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel” 11/25/19

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“In one window looked two. One saw the rain and mud.
Other—green foliage ligature, spring and the sky is blue.
In one window looked two.” (Omar Khayyám)

Question: Why today do we only see one thing by and large?

Answer: We were educated in this way; this is not our fault. We were educated in this way by kindergartens, schools, universities, and by our attitude to people. The mass media makes such a leveling of everyone that there are absolutely no personalities left in humanity.

We need to look for our personal point of view of the world. This is not easy. We need to find our own thing and not to go with the flow and not be interested in what others are interested in. We see such children here and there who somehow reveal themselves in this way. We need to support them a little, to raise special individuals who have their own view of the world. They are usually different from others, maybe they seem a little strange.

Question: Do you mean such children who have some kind of talent?

Answer: No, they may not even have any talents. They just have their own view of the world. They may sometimes even seem less developed than others. It does not matter.

Question: Do we need to single them out?

Answer: Yes. Each person should be given an opportunity to develop according to his or her features.

Remark: We need to recognize this, it is not a simple task.

My Comment: No, there is no need to recognize this. It is just that in our society everything should be prepared as follows. Let everyone develop as they want. The main thing is not to push. And not that they come, stand in one line, sit down, get up, leave—assessments, slogans.

Remark: Then school is a big problem.

My Comment: School is not a big problem. There should be no schools, that’s all! Schools destroy personality.

A real school is when a person is given an opportunity to develop himself the way he by himself sees fit. This is a very serious, long-term, and gentle approach to everyone. It is not necessary to learn by heart all the writings of the classics and read dozens of all kinds of books. We have to do everything in a very, very unique way.

I would allocate more time, as it is written in the Torah, to the arts: dancing, painting, and music. It is due to the fact that they develop the inner world of a person more, and he feels where he is drawn, how he can express himself.

In addition to this, of course, a little bit of mathematics, a little bit of physics, astronomy is a must. Most of the time, however, should be dedicated to arts, but not formal ones, rather drawing, sketching, anything the child wants. To begin with this and advance more and more. Let the child develop himself in this way.

Question: What will grow out of the child if we live in this way?

Answer: The child will grow.

Question: So, I should not think what’s going to grow out of him? Is this approach wrong?

Answer: No, we do not have the right to churn out people.

Question: Then why did we churn out all of them like that? All this system is about churning out. You and I have been through all this! Does it mean that in fact, we killed something in a person?

Answer: We simply destroyed one’s “I” in the bud, that’s all.

This was what they wanted to do anyway. What should we be for those who rule this world? Just the performers, that is all. It means that we need to perform what they want. As a result, now what they want is all going nowhere, and so are we.

Now begins the formation of real humanity!

Question: “I” will break out from the concrete. Will it work out?

Answer: There is no escape; this is the law of nature.

Question: Then will it really be my “I”?

Answer: Yes. For each and every one.

Question: What is this “I”?

Answer: This will be my personal participation in the common humanity. Everyone will have to take their place. It will be individual, personal, only mine, the only pure one. I will think about how to complete this entire picture, the entire humanity, with myself.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/17/20

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Question: Throughout history, people have asked questions about the meaning of life. In the Abrahamic religions, the goal of life is the knowledge of God, obedience, and service to Him; in Buddhism, the end of suffering; in Hinduism, the achievement of supreme bliss, and according to Confucius, building a perfect society in the likeness of heaven.

It is interesting that science does not study the question of the meaning of life at all. It examines only the conditions for the emergence of life on Earth.

Should the meaning of life  be the same for all mankind or does everyone have their own?

Answer: The fact is that we are like children who are constantly developing, and gradually as they grow, their views on the world and life change. This is natural. Therefore, this is how we treat a child. What he understands at the age of five is different from what he understands at 10, 15, and 20. They are in a way completely different people. We see that as a child grows up, awareness of his existence grows in him. It’s the same in humanity.

Thus, we cannot talk about something common to all of humanity. We must tie it to the level it is at. If, for example, we take two people arbitrarily, and start comparing them, then first you need to understand why each of them thinks and believes like that and not otherwise, and only after that can you form a correct attitude toward them.

Question: So the highest goal of human life is to comprehend oneself, to cognize nature is also not finite? Surely, there are some other goals further?

Answer: In principle, if we comprehend what we exist for, this is already a transcendent threshold where we begin to study the force that created us. This is initially higher than us. We will rise to the next level of consciousness and reach a new level.

And what will happen next to those who ascend to this level, I cannot say. This is the same as, for example, a five-year-old child who does not understand the reasoning of a ten-year-old, and a ten-year-old who does not understand a twenty-year-old.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 2/7/20

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Question: Some studies say that our brain perceives any new information as stress. It must adapt to this information. Is there a technique for effortless adjustment? How can we help a person assimilate new knowledge as their own?

Answer: Only with the help of the environment! If the environment pushes a person to do this, motivates him in some way, then it will be easier and more interesting for him.

Question: The environment gives importance, this is clear. Yet, in addition to that, are there any techniques for more successful perception of information?

Answer: Only if a person absorbs information not only through the brain but through the heart, through all their channels of perception. This is revealed in the group, in the course of studying in the correct environment.

Question: Scientists say that an unfamiliar word can block the perception of information for several seconds. Thus, the next words that a person hears, are simply not perceived.

What can you recommend? Most of the time we do not feel the laws of the integral world.  This is like new information.

Answer: There is quite a broad number of techniques built on combining the development of the individual and the development of a group up to all of humanity. However, this is an independent science.

Question: How do you teach? Let us say that there are simple tips: speak slowly, with pauses, give some examples, draw analogies, and give definitions. Encourage questions because other students can connect to them. Memorize terms so that there will be the correct association with them. What else could it be?

Answer: That is true, but this is not enough because these methods do not say anything about collective perception. We, however, strive to increase perception, to take it to the next level so that it becomes a collective one.

Here we need a completely different method when a person does not try to grasp and absorb the material in his mind, but wants to connect with others through feelings and perceive the material in these common feelings. It has almost nothing to do with the mind. However material that is perceived is cognitive material.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/24/20

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