Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do you think crossing the Red Sea by Moses really happened?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the crossing of the Red Sea describes an inner spiritual state of leaving one’s egoistic desires behind, and entering into spiritual desires for love, bestowal and connection. It is essentially the crossing from this world to the spiritual world, and it is a process that unfolds in any person who applies themselves to the method of spiritual ascent.

When we exit the egoistic boundaries of this world, i.e., the desire to enjoy for self-benefit alone, we have to leave it once and for all. The boundary we cross in such a transition is described as “crossing the Red Sea.”

The process of exiting the ego requires powerful egoistic resistance, which is expressed as a desire to return to Egypt (i.e., living under the control of our self-aimed demands) in order to be slaves of the ego as before. The nation, which are desires that want to exit Egypt, still have no idea how to progress in order to become more altruistic, giving and loving.

These states play out inside each and every person and in a group of people as they try to rise above their ego in order to connect with each other. The parting of the Red Sea takes place by a process that kabbalists call “faith above reason,” symbolized by Moses’ rod. In general, “faith above reason” means the elevation of the importance of progressing on the spiritual path—a path of love, bestowal and positive connection—over the importance of remaining servants to our egoistic and materialistic desires. By default, the importance of spirituality is lower than the importance we naturally hold for egoistic pursuits, and thus raising the importance of spirituality requires a supportive environment of like-minded people aiming for spiritual attainment.

The Red Sea parts for those in the state of faith above reason. Crossing the Red Sea means that we shift from the corporeal transient world that is under the control of egoistic desires, into the eternal spiritual world that runs by an opposite altruistic operating system. Pharaoh’s armies represent the inner state called “below reason.” Their drowning represents the ego that is left behind as we shift into spirituality.

This action is symbolized by Nachshon’s jump into the sea. Why does Nachshon jump into the sea first instead of Moses? It is because Moses is already beyond that state, in the quality of Bina. In other words, the spiritual qualities of love, bestowal and connection already govern Moses. His connection to these spiritual qualities leads the nation, i.e., desires aimed at exiting the ego and entering into a spiritual connection, gradually releasing them from the ego, and leading them to spiritual connection.

The desires that have no desire to advance by way of faith above reason, but which want to remain in the ego, are put to death by the condition of faith above reason. This means that they cannot cross the Red Sea into spiritual attainment, as they cannot obtain the quality of love and bestowal above their ego. The egoistic desires die at sea, causing a split between egoistic and altruistic desires.

The sea, or water in general, represents life—the quality of Bina, bestowal and love. We are born in water. Water is life’s foundation, but there are good and bad waters. When the water is still within the ego’s bounds, it is harmful, drowning those who are in it.

The entire story about crossing the Red Sea describes the acquisition of a supernatural ability, the quality of caring about others with no self-interest, and the shift to a completely different system of existence in which benefiting others becomes more important than self-benefit. We cross a boundary, and where we previously lived only for ourselves through the ordinary ego, we shift into a life of love for, and bestowal unto, others.

Crossing the Red Sea thus describes a complete inversion of our attitude to life— from egoism to altruism, corporeality to spirituality, division to connection, and reception to bestowal—and it is driven solely by the aspiration to become as loving and giving as the Creator: a force of pure bestowal with no shred of self-interest.

Based on the program “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on Friday, April 1, 2021. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Where should Israel invest its gas royalties?“

In 2020, Israel received the equivalent of around three billion US dollars in gas royalties. Part of it was supposed to go to a Israeli Citizens’ Fund for the benefit of Israeli citizens, but the fund is not yet operational. Indeed, what is the best investment for these royalties?

It is unlikely that the Israeli Citizens’ fund will be created, as nobody is genuinely looking in such a direction. If, however, it would miraculously come to fruition, then education should be its number one priority. Even though a major portion of Israel’s budget currently goes to education, it is not the kind of education that people need.

The education people need should teach how to live harmoniously with one another through developing positive and warm connections, and implementing mutual responsibility. In its current definition, education is only about acquiring knowledge and skills. All problems in Israel are thus education-based.

Education is a widespread problem concerning every person. The best investment of Israel’s gas royalties would be in a wide-scale project that educates people, with the aid of the media, how to upgrade connections to become more positive and harmonious. An upgrade in people’s connection means an upgrade in attitudes to one another, so that around the clock, we would be concerned with how to increase goodness, benevolence, happiness, confidence, support, encouragement, kindness, altruism and positivity in society.

Such education is opposite to human nature, which is selfish at its core. In other words, the essence of education is to elevate us above our self-centeredness in order to develop positive connections. This is why it is necessary to educate everyone. In order to do so, education does not require any big budget. Instead, it requires clear and consistent explanations that without upgrading our connections to become more supportive and encouraging of one another, then a truly harmonious life will always elude us.

By prioritizing, investing and engaging in this new kind of education, a new positive atmosphere would envelop society. We would feel a new goal open up before us, and a new kind of motivation, which would urge us to become more united. It is especially in a highly egoistic place like Israel that such a revolution in education needs to come about. Moreover, it is not only about improving Israeli society, but by improving the connections among the people of Israel, the foundation would become set for positive connections among humanity at large to unfold. As such, we would fulfill our destiny (“Love your neighbor as yourself”) and pass on the method of connection to the world (to become “a light unto the nations”).

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Comment: Today many countries are faced with the question of what to do with the impending mass unemployment. After all, this is a huge layer of people who will need to be supported.

My Response: There is already work for them: to learn how to gather themselves into one single collective, how to be satisfied with exactly what is necessary for existence in corporeality and in spirituality, to unite with each other in love your neighbor as yourself, and in this movement friend  to friend, to begin to comprehend the upper force.

So, there is work for all to unite. It is better if it is broken down into a large number of individuals. I believe that people need to do just that. Therefore, the most important thing is social work, which should be carried out with everyone.

Question: What benefit will the elite see from this work of the masses?

Answer: The elite, of course, must also reorganize. There will be many more problems until they, delirious with the desire for profit, power, comfort, supporting each other, creating the so-called “Hollywood,” and so on, do not pass the realization of the evil of their nature, the worthlessness of their existence.

I think that for this we need to show them that they are deceiving themselves. They not only distribute drugs to the masses, but, in principle, are themselves under the drug of wealth, power, and vanity fairs.

We need to shake them up with the fact that their life is temporary, worthless. Well, they will live 10 to 20 years longer than the rest, and then what? Rot? Here they are offered something completely different, to exchange their false freedom, power, and vanity for eternity and perfection.
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From KabTV’s “Challenges of the 21^st Century” 4/24/19

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Zohar for All, Shemot, Item 81: He took that arrow that the bird had thrown from the left wing and smelled it. Then black fire came out of it, which is the color of the left, designated to Nukva, and is not included in the three colors of the rainbow—white, red, and green—which come from the three lines HGT, and there is no black in them. He said that they revoked the government of the Egyptians, who extend the light of left from above downwards, and that a Roman king would traverse the whole of the land of Egypt and appoint ministers and warmongers in Egypt. Also, he will destroy buildings that were built and extended from the left side and build the ruins that were ruined because they were from the right, for which the Egyptians have no desire.

Egypt is the main egoistic property. Israel, descending into Egypt, manifests itself there in order to plunge into this egoistic property with its altruistic property and as if dips itself into it to collect egoistic desires from there with the help of which one can ascend further.

The fact is that humanity and man cannot rise and grow spiritually if they do not have inner egoism. You can grow by developing the ego, but only using it for bestowal and love. It is said: “I have created the evil inclination…” because you cannot do without it. Therefore, all creation begins from the serpent, from the disclosure of egoism; otherwise, it is impossible. This is human nature, this is our essence.

Then this egoistic principle called “Egypt” constantly manifests itself in a spiritually growing person. But it has nothing to do with Egypt as a modern state or the ancient kingdom. Egypt means egoism into the various properties of which a person plunges each time in order to rise.

Suppose, being at a certain level, I fall into a certain type of egoism and rise. This is called that I was in Egyptian slavery and rose from it. Next time, I fall into a different type of egoism called Babylonian or Nebuchadnezzar. Having risen from it, I then as if fall into “Ancient Rome” and rise again. And then I fall into the final exile.

These are portions of egoism that are revealed in man, which I must use in order to rise above them.

As a result, it turns out that the property “Israel” (straight to the Creator) in us is constantly rising and growing thanks to the use of various types of egoism.

This continues until each of us uses all the egoism, all human striving for life in this world, in order to rise above it in unity, in love your neighbor as yourself, in an effort to comprehend the Creator, embrace Him, and merge with Him. This is possible only during four plunges into egoism and four ascents above it.

Each person is obliged to go through this, get out of all these states, and eventually achieve complete correction of the soul. The exit from this world to the upper world is the goal of our creation.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #8

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Question: When an artist paints a painting or when a scientist works on a problem, they don’t relate to the problem or the task they are facing as something bad. Why do we relate to problems we encounter in a negative way?

Answer: This only indicates how miserable a person is when he cannot ascend above himself and start to look at the world and at himself from the perspective of the Creator who leads him to eternity and perfection through all the states he undergoes.

So, the most important thing is to break away from our present selves and adhere to the Creator, to be His partners in His actions, and then to enjoy everything that happens, just like the Creator. Then you will not feel even a moment of suffering because you will begin to feel that all these moments lead you to attainment, to true happiness.

Question: Do all unpleasant states of a certain attribute seem like parts of one problem?

Answer: Of course. And we must grow up in order to understand this. A small child, for example, feels only one state, like sweetness or warmth, but we understand that we also need other states in order to achieve the goal.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 1/20/19

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Question: Can a person reveal spirituality by himself through inner reflection?

Answer: No. It is very difficult. It takes years and years of searching. I do not believe it is possible. In principle, there have been such cases in history, but I would not hope for that.

Only the method prescribed by those who have attained the positive force of nature can help us here. You need to follow it and reveal it in yourself.

Question: A single person is not capable of doing this, but can a group of people connect to the upper nature?

Answer: Yes. They find this positive force in the search for harmony between them.
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From KabTV’s “Challenges of the 21st Century” 4/24/19

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Question: On one hand, the younger generation has a goal because they are developing in a certain global direction. In a study when students were asked to report what the meaning of their chosen profession is, 99% said they wanted to help people. In doing so, they want to create a different world. They immerse themselves in virtual reality and say: “This world is not interesting to me, it is cruel and dirty, and here I have my own world, and I am not alone in it.”

How can they fulfill this goal if they have such an attitude?

Answer: You will not do anything. Everything is specially arranged so that they become disillusioned with our world and understand that it really should be different.

It should be based not on some material objects and earthly relationships, but on deeper, inner sensations and relationships. This is what the current generation needs.

This generation is very special and somehow makes me admire them.

They are ready to be taught the method of spiritual elevation, but the method may not yet be ready for them. It takes some time for them to adapt to the method and the method to adapt to them. Therefore, they need to talk about it, show it, suggest. I hope this connection will happen soon.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World” 7/13/18

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Increasing the Importance of the Goal”

Selected Highlights 

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My new article on Linkedin “World leaders’ Call for Pandemic Treaty Exposes International Ill-Will”

On March 30th, AP’s Maria Cheng reported, “More than 20 heads of government and global agencies called … for an international treaty for pandemic preparedness that they say will protect future generations in the wake of COVID-19.” Cheng added that World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and several heads of state proposed “a renewed collective commitment” that will provide “a framework for international cooperation and solidarity.”

The future may seem forbidding, but I think that in fact, we should be grateful that we are living through such a transformational period in history. We are transitioning from a self-centered society to a connected humanity. Since we already know the direction, we can choose whether to go there fast and easily, or slow and painfully. How many generations could say that they have a clear path for all of humanity? I think we are lucky, but we should seize the opportunity and ride the wave. We shouldn’t be afraid; there is no need to suffer. We can join hands and build together a world where people care for one another, where there are no pandemics, no wars, and no alienation. The choice is ours; we can take it or leave it.

On the face of it, it is a good idea. In practice, it will lead nowhere. Cheng herself noted that “Although the 25 signatories of the commentary called for ‘solidarity,’ and greater ‘societal commitment,’ there was no indication any country would soon change its own approach to responding to the pandemic.” Moreover, “China, Russia and the United States didn’t join in signing the statement,” she wrote, and White House press secretary Jen Psaki went as far as stating that the treaty “could divert attention away from substantive issues regarding the response, preparedness for future pandemic threats,” effectively sealing its fate before it was born.

Once again, alienation prevents an initiative from succeeding. If every country caters only to its own interests, how will they be able to solve any global problem, especially when they are as widespread as the Covid-19 pandemic? And since they can’t, they are paying the price. Already, Europe is facing a third wave, Brazil is nearing 4,000 Covid fatalities per day, and the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) director Dr. Rochelle Walensky passionately warned of a fourth wave saying, “Right now, I’m scared …of impending doom.”

We are approaching a tipping point; we will have to choose between solidarity or pain, great pain. Reality has given us an ultimatum, and we must choose whether to stay selfish and suffer, or start thinking of each other. This choice will manifest on every level: international, national, social, and personal. Solidarity is the call of the hour; if we do not heed it voluntarily, it will force itself on us or punish us. Nature has created the virus; nature has created us, and all our innovations will not outsmart nature, our creator.

The future may seem forbidding, but I think that in fact, we should be grateful that we are living through such a transformational period in history. We are transitioning from a self-centered society to a connected humanity. Since we already know the direction, we can choose whether to go there fast and easily, or slow and painfully. How many generations could say that they have a clear path for all of humanity? I think we are lucky, but we should seize the opportunity and ride the wave. We shouldn’t be afraid; there is no need to suffer. We can join hands and build together a world where people care for one another, where there are no pandemics, no wars, and no alienation. The choice is ours; we can take it or leave it.

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