Question: The fact that the ancient philosophers Aristotle, Plato, and later Spencer took a lot from Kabbalah is evidenced by the mention in their theories that the human community is a living organism in which everything is interconnected.

Why did it happen that some became Kabbalists and attained the upper world, while others remained philosophers?

Answer: If a person initially has a point in his heart, then it pulls him to enter the upper world in one’s senses. And if this point has not yet awakened in him, it means that he does not yet have an embryo that manifests itself from within, this spiritual instrument, this organ of sensation of the upper world. And therefore, he develops an attitude toward the upper world through understanding.

This is how philosophy arose, which is built only on abstract constructions of some forms, all kinds of reasoning, but, in no case, on an explicit, sensory, cognitive penetration into this matter, because they have no connection with it.

People who have a point in their heart and strive for sensation of the upper world go through very serious stages of their own correction because they need to become like the upper world in their properties: to move from the property of receiving to the property of bestowal, from the property of hatred to the property of love.

This is a very difficult inner tragedy that a person experiences in order to achieve such a state after many years of serious, persistent work on oneself. And not the same work as in philosophy or in other methods where self-restraint prevails. Here, the attraction of a special upper force, called the upper light, is carried out, which corrects us.

The one who does this becomes a Kabbalist. He senses, sees, and clearly cognizes the upper world, the upper system that controls us. And the one who cannot develop these properties in himself, since their rudiments have not yet appeared in him, which, perhaps, will appear in the next cycle or after several cycles, becomes a philosopher. This is how humanity develops.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Seekers” 9/16/09

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In one of his articles Rabash says that we should see the Creator who guides us to Him behind every friend. We should perceive the friend as if the Creator is behind him and then we will see that the world suddenly becomes transparent, airy, and there is nothing other than you and the upper force, that “there is none else besides Him.” While everything else is but His presentation so that you will gradually focus on the Creator and see everything else as His attributes.

You will eventually reveal Him, and then you will see all the actions in the world on the levels of inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature and the human level, everything that happens before you, as the bestowal of the Creator who develops your attributes. By developing these attributes correctly with regard to the Creator, you begin to develop inside you the essence of the levels of still nature, the vegetative, the animate, and the human level, Aviut (desire) on the levels 1, 2, 3, and 4.

This is how you measure your connection to the Creator that can be on level 1, which is the level of still nature; level 2, which is the vegetative level; level 3, which is the animate level; or level 4, which is the human level. You connect all that to the Creator and then eventually everything is revealed to you. This is how we should actually assess good and evil.

Comment: But we need to ascend to this state in order to assess things internally this way and connect to society.

My Response: It all depends on the extent a person who has heard this from me gradually begins to clarify and implement this in life and to relate to the world responsibly, because he relates to the Creator through everything around him.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 7/21/19

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Having entered together with the people of Israel into the land of Canaan, which was practically deserted, Joshua Ben Nun turns it into the land of Israel so that there would live a nation who would completely strive to the Creator.

This means that he turns the empty desire “Canaan” into the desire “Israel,” “straight to the Creator,” so that people who were under his command and under command of Moses, by uniting with each other and striving for the Creator, create conditions for the revelation of the Creator that they want to establish.

Question: You say that this land was empty despite the fact that seven nations lived there. What is this emptiness?

Answer: If people living on earth are not connected with the upper force, do not work for it, do not strive to connect with it, i.e., to rise from their desire, called “earth,” to its degree, then there is no sense in their existence.

Therefore, the intention of Joshua, which he wants to convey to the children of Israel, is to raise them from the knees, not to bow before their egoistic essence, but to wish to unite with the Creator.

This is the task that Joshua is facing now.

Question: Even if the earth is inhabited by people and it gives great fruits, it is still considered empty?

Answer: Yes, but this should not frighten anyone. If a person aspires to the Creator, then the emptiness along the way just are just “scarecrows,” all sorts of obstacles to his spiritual development.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/9/21

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My new article on Linkedin “Digging Under Our Own Feet”

Regrettably, I don’t think that the series of debacles that enabled the escape of six terrorists with blood on their hands from imprisonment will teach us any significant lessons. For years, the Israeli society has been on a decline. For years, we have been growing alienated from each other and indifferent to the country that was established for a very meaningful purpose. The Arabs already know they don’t have to fight us; they can wait and let us disintegrate from within until there is nothing left.

The corrosion does not begin with the Israel Prison Service, and it certainly does not end there. Therefore, I am not at all impressed by the celebrations of the media at the capture of four of the six terrorists. They need to fuss over something; it is how they make their money, but in the end, it is meaningless.

The crux of the problem lies in our unwillingness to be what we are supposed to be. Instead of assuming our responsibility for ourselves and for the world, and unapologetically asserting our position, we cater to the interests of enemies who want our destruction, who bribe us with phony smiles of affection. But they feel no affection for us, only contempt.

Indeed, how can anyone respect a nation that does not respect itself? When Jewish Israelis pride themselves in being activists against the existence of the Jewish state, and believe that they are morally superior because of it, can we blame anyone for holding similar views? We are digging under our own feet, and then we are alarmed by our falling.

The Jewish nation has a unique legacy, unique values, and a unique way of life. If we follow them, just as every nation follows its own values, we will be what we are meant to be—a nation whose members love each other as themselves, and set an example of unity in a world torn by division and hatred. This is what we are supposed to do in the Jewish state, the State of Israel, and setting this example is the meaning of being “a light unto nations.”

When Israelis declare that the brutal terrorists who escaped are their “men of the year,” it does not testify to their moral superiority; it testifies to the depth of their hatred for their own people. If anyone can glorify a murderer of women and children for the sole reason that those women and children were members of his own nation, it testifies to that person’s hatred for his people. When the world sees that the Jewish nation has such people within it, can it view Jews in any positive light? Can anyone appreciate a nation that hates itself that much?

In his paper, The Nation, the great 20th century kabbalist and thinker Baal HaSulam explained what it means to be an equitable nation: “The only hope is to thoroughly establish for ourselves a new national education, to reveal and ignite once more the natural national love that has been dimmed within us … for two millennia… Then we will know that we have a natural, reliable foundation to be rebuilt and to continue our existence as a nation, qualified to carry itself as all the nations of the world. … [However] Here I must stress concerning the above-mentioned national education: Although I aim to plant great love among the individuals in the nation in particular and for the entire nation in general, in the fullest possible measure [due to our vow to set an example of unity], this is not at all similar to … fascism. I loathe it, and my conscience is completely clear of it. …To easily perceive the difference [between national love and fascism] … we should compare it to the attributes of egoism and altruism in a person. … Clearly, the measure of egoism … is a necessary condition in the actual existence of the creature. Without it, it would not be a separate and distinct being in itself. Yet, this should not at all deny the measure of altruism in a person. The only thing required is to set distinct boundaries between them: The law of egoism must be kept in all its might, to the extent that it concerns the minimum existence. And with any surplus of that measure, permission is granted to waive it for the well-being of one’s fellow person.”

Regrettably, we are not doing the minimum to establish national love in order to secure our existence. In order to do that, we must know how we were created, what for, and how we can achieve our goal. If we realize our legacy, that people will appreciate us only when we set an example of solidarity and cohesion, and that under any other circumstances they will hate us, perhaps we will be more attentive to our duty. If we do this, it will make us Israel. Even more importantly, it will make us an example, the only example that the world needs in order to overcome its countless, deepening rifts, which are the only reason for humanity’s afflictions.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What moves you the most in your life?“

In my life, I am moved by the understanding of the general altruistic law of nature, which advances humanity to its awareness.

Nature wants us to come to know this law and to develop accordingly. Thanks to this, we ascend from nature’s animate level to that of the speaking or human. Since humanity’s salvation depends only on knowing this law and realizing it, then I think that its knowledge should spread throughout the world, before the world becomes immersed in increasingly greater suffering, through which it will sooner or later nevertheless discover this law.

My mission then becomes to pass the knowledge of this law to humanity so that people would avoid suffering, and so that people would understand what nature demands of us and why.

By applying the law of nature, we will quickly reach a happy life, in the shortest time span, without miseries and suffering.

This is what moves me and pushes me to stay active in advancing this message.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: What does it mean to adhere to the Creator and at the same time be His partner?

Answer: To adhere to the Creator means to adhere to Him in complete merging, in complete similarity, in full awareness and understanding. I am independent, and at the same time, precisely because of this independence, because I am the same as Him, I adhere to Him.

At the same time, I represent the female part and the Creator, the male part. All of us together, men and women, represent the female part in relation to the Creator.

Question: So women can be proud of this?

Answer: A woman is the essence of creation more than a man and has a greater ability to reveal nature in relation to the upper force. And in a man there is more from the Creator, more independence in action than in a woman.

Therefore, in our world we are in a state where, in completion with each other, we can achieve such a manifestation of our nature when together we form a single whole similar to the Creator.

As a result, all male and female souls will unite and become one single soul, which is just like a female soul in relation to the Creator.

Question: Do the male and female principles also exist within one person?

Answer: Of course. In every person, both among men and among women, there are different combinations. And the male foundation is always more prevalent than the female one in the degree of bestowal.

At the same time, in relation to one person, I can act as a female principle, and in relation to someone else, as a male principle. For example, in relation to the upper one I am the feminine principle, and in relation to the lower one, say, a student, I am the male principle, and so on. These all are just stages.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #19

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Comment: Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) dates back to the day when the first man, Adam, was born in 3,760 B.C. He attained the spiritual system we call the Creator.

My Response: Adam is the first man born spiritually in our world. There were people on Earth before him, and he was the first person who reached the spiritual level. That is why he was called Adam, from the word “Edome”—similar to the upper force.

Question: Now we say that each of us must also become Adam. Let’s say, I want to reveal this upper force. What is this state?

Answer: We cannot reveal this force through our inner intuition like Adam or people after him. But he immediately began to develop a method of attaining the upper force and even wrote the book The Angel Raziel (Raziel HaMalach).

This went on for a long time until this knowledge reached Abraham and his followers.

The science of Kabbalah—meaning “receiving”— studies how to attain, receive, and reveal this upper force called the Creator while living in our world.

Question: Our desires are constantly evolving from basic ones: for food, sex, family, safety, to desires for power and wealth. Several hundred years ago, a desire for knowledge appeared in humans. And when the desire to attain the root cause manifested in him, that is, to find out what the meaning of life is, does this mean that the desire of Adam is manifesting?

Answer: Yes, he should raise a human inside. And when the desire to attain the root cause is realized inside him for the first time, then it is considered that man was born in him.

Question: Who is Eve?

Answer: Hava (Eve) is his desire in connection with which he attains the Creator.

The fact is that a spiritual desire is split into male and female parts, into right and left lines called Adam and Hava. And the attainment of the Creator is born precisely on the connection between them.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How can we ensure that everyone in the world can receive a decent education so that everyone will have the opportunity to contribute maximally to humanity’s benefit?“

The realization of the fact that we exist in a single human system as parts of one organism will compel us to organize an education where every person will be able to draw forces in order to provide everyone with everything that only each individual can provide.

After all, every cell needs to provide the body with something unique, otherwise the body is not integral. We need to take care of the fact that everyone will know their uniqueness, role, abilities and specificity. Only each individual is able to give that to humanity. For that reason, if one person’s contribution is lacking from the organism as a whole, from humanity, then humanity will be flawed.

If we achieve such a state, then we will provide a decent education through which we will achieve a peaceful and harmonious world.

The realization of our integrality and interdependence on each person should, in essence, make our education independent of any sort of restrictions, in order for it to be based only on each person’s role in the integral system of humanity.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Can the screen be a group screen?

Answer: No. Only a personal screen.

The group screen is created when the screens of individual people in the process of their joint work are added together and form one common system called a Partzuf.

A Partzuf is a corrected desire in which calculations take place. And the screen is an opportunity to make objective calculations, not for your own sake.

For everything that I enjoy for my own sake, there should be a restriction, the so-called Ttzimtzum, rejection of reception for myself, and a gradual transition to receiving pleasure for the sake of others, that is, to bestow, to love, to rise above myself in order to transmit to others.

This is one part of the screen, called vessels of bestowal (Kelim de Hashpaa), the degree of Bina. And the next level of the screen is the ability to receive for the sake of giving, the level of Hochma, Keter.

Question: What is the difference between the restriction and the screen?

Answer: The restriction is done on desire, so as not to fill it. And the screen is necessary in order to work with this desire for bestowal, for filling outside of oneself.

The restriction means that a person wants to rise above this world, but has not yet done it. He can rise only to the extent that he will work with anti-egoism, that is, with the screen.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 8/20/21

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Question: What are the three components: Nefesh, Ruach, Neshama?

Answer: They are the three stages of spiritual development when we ascend from our world, from our current state of search, darkness, misunderstanding, confusion, detachment, and emptiness that humanity is experiencing today. Now almost everyone in the world goes through states that lead us to spiritual birth.

It is a feeling of an ending, a feeling of limitation, a lack of perspective, a desire for something to develop because we are disappointed in our development since it brings us only continuous disappointments and even greater emptiness.

All these states are very useful and represent exactly those forces by which we rise from our world to the first spiritual world, the world of Assiya, and enter the real intrauterine development and start to feel to some extent the presence of the upper.

We start to feel that we are inside a global nature, which is a single organism that affects all of humanity, the whole world, and even something more—some kind of thought, plan, beginning, end, goal, and process within which we exist.

Attainment of this is attaining the level of Nefesh and the world of Assiya.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #19

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