Question: Why have events, such as the revelation of The Book of Zohar in the sixteenth century in the time of the ARI, always been a turning point in the development of humanity?

Answer: It is because everything should as if sit above the common egoism, like a rider on a horse. Universal egoism is like a horse, and the level of development of a person who should connect with the upper force is like a rider.

Therefore humanity, developing at the bottom, comes to some stage, for example to the time of the Middle Ages, which was very turbulent internally with serious development that broke through a little later.

The Middle Ages is not a frozen state as it may seem to us. It was characterized by the rebirth of humanity from the level of “animal” to the level of “human.” Practically to this day, we are still reaping the fruits of our internal transition to existence within the framework of a rigid family, social, and religious way of life.

When a person breaks through this framework and, like a volcano erupts, nothing can stop him except his own limitations, which he is beginning to recognize today.

Only now do we come to the fact that the breakthrough that was made during the time of the ARI, that lava of the “volcanic eruption” that occurred in the Middle Ages, freezes and again feels like inanimate matter to us. We no longer know what will happen next, so today we come to Kabbalah.

Question: Does it mean that humanity had to make this transition in the time of the ARI?

Answer: Yes. Therefore, the ARI represents a completely new stage from which humanity can already enter the correction, the attainment of spirituality. Before him, Kabbalah was banned; the Kabbalists themselves hid it. This inertness has remained to this day.

Question: It turns out that we are 500 years behind, right?

Answer: No, this is not being behind; rather, this is gradual adaptation. At the time of the ARI, humanity was not ready to accept this because at that time the breakthrough of industry, arts, and science had just begun.

It seems to us that allegedly the church or the ruling power, or some other reasons held back development. It is not so; just at that time human egoism was at a small level and did not require more.

When it broke through from the animalistic level to the human level, then all development began, including Kabbalah. Then, in principle there was the method of correction of the ARI, which today we are beginning to implement. We are the first generation that begins to realize it.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Difference in Souls” 12/11/09

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Dr Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How does one achieve balance?“

We exist in nature and an immense amount of natural phenomena influence us, such as temperature, pressure, vibrations, waves, radioactivity, among others, and we need to live in balance with them.

The physical law in relation to balance is that an organism living in a state of balance with its environment is in its most comfortable state. If the temperature, pressure, or another parameter increases or decreases even a little, then the organism feels bad.

This is how we are made in nature: we can exist in nature within certain limits, and in these limits, we need to make ourselves equal to nature around us. For instance, in winter, we need to dress warmly in order to be in balance with nature, and in summer, it is the opposite, and so on.

That is balance in relation to what we see and feel with our senses. However, there is another imperceptible part of nature. Its laws are at the level of desires—laws of altruism and connection—and we need to conform to these laws in order to be in balance with them.

The problem is that we do not know these laws. We think that we are good people in this world if we donate, help the poor, don’t bother other people, pay our taxes, help the elderly across the street, and several other seemingly altruistic actions. Is it not enough to do such acts in order to balance with the laws of altruism and connection?

Not only is it not enough, but doing such actions means nothing at all in relation to observing the law of altruism and connection, because we do only what we understand with our egoistic mind, which calculates constantly in the opposite direction of altruism. In order to reach balance with nature in its entirety, we need to study nature and aspire to resemble it.

This law of equivalence of form is the single law that we need to obey. Every day we change, grow and become somebody else. Therefore, on a daily—and even moment-by-moment—basis, we need to correct and adjust our balance with nature.

As such, we need to first learn what nature demands of us, and then check whether we meet those demands, in order to enter into balance with nature. This is what the wisdom of Kabbalah is for. It discusses what nature is, how it works, what and where we are in this nature, the sense and the parameters in which we lack correspondence with nature, and how can we achieve balance with them. By applying ourselves to the method of Kabbalah, we progressively change ourselves and enter into balance with nature.

Based on a lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on July 31, 2011. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Comment: Here is a story: “After a difficult breakup, Melissa fell in love again. He responds to her messages at any time of the day or night, his jokes are funny, and he never demands attention. All in all, a perfect guy. There is just one detail—he is not real.”

Melissa is corresponding with a robot. It is a chat app developed in the Chinese branch of Microsoft. “It feels as if I am in a real relationship.” The robot can compose poems, sing in different styles, and even generate stock reports. In addition, you can go on a virtual vacation with him and post joint selfies.

About 150 million people use this app in China alone. And 700 million people in the world are already using this application.

My Response: Great, you can always delight and fulfill yourself with this. Mostly the female half of humanity.

Question: Does this idea have a future?

Answer: Absolutely! It will come instead of all these novels, colorful magazines, disappointments, movies, and other things—why is it all necessary? I am communicating, what else do we need? He responds with warmth, kindness, and care. He guesses all my desires and moods, he responds, causes tears, joy, everything.

Humanity really needs this. In our purely commercialized age! I understand people and especially women. This is necessary.

Comment: I thought you would say that nothing can replace heart to heart affection.

My Response: And where are those hearts? They are not here! I hear women who turn to me, talk to me, and ask for advice. They are looking for sympathy, for something more. And there is no such thing! They are willing to give up everything for some relationship. It does not matter with whom. It does not matter, he reacts to me! He can feel me! He understands me!

But in fact, she does everything; she sets the robot in motion.

Question: Explain that, please. Why is she setting it in motion? A robot—artificial intelligence!

Answer: A robot has a program, it studies the woman and reacts correctly. And it excites sensually, affectionately, with all sorts of words. It learns from the correspondence what words she uses, what she wants in order to fulfill her desire. It is all being processed internally. It is not a simple machine!

Question: And what will we achieve with these robots?

Answer: It will be great.

Question: Will we calm down the majority of humanity?

Answer: Of course! Men will say: “Long live the robots! We can go fishing.” And the women will say, “Go on to your fishing, and we will sit with the robot for a while.”

One will get attached to it. Women will still sit in a circle, turn on their robots, and spend time together, let’s say five women with their robots.

Comment: “And mine brought flowers yesterday.” “And mine washed the dishes yesterday.”

My Response: Do you know how nice it is? Suddenly, the bell rings at the apartment door, she opens it, a messenger appears and says: “Here is a gift for you.”

“From whom?

“It says here: Robert ordered this and it is for you. He asked me to give you a few words: ‘With love, Robert.’”

Do you know what that would mean for a woman?

Comment: Yes, it is all very captivating.

My Response: A person needs communication. Especially women. But they do not find it. And that is why they are inside themselves all the time in a constant hidden depression. It fades away, but it is there all the time: children, husband, work, neighbors, this whole world, all kinds of worries, and so on. And then there are the grandchildren. It never ends!

Question: And there is no protection against it?

Answer: Rest. No protection is needed. Rest! Knowing that there is someone who understands, who talks to you. And it doesn’t even matter that I do not see it, although it can be seen, it can all be fabricated.

Comment: We need to somehow navigate this…

Answer: And where to navigate? I am navigating toward happiness! A man was freed from female pressure and complaints. A woman found respite for herself. It is very good.

Question: And from your point of view, as a Kabbalist, is this good?

Answer: Also from my point of view. I get so many complaints from women about various aspects of their lives. And it is all possible to fit into this game.

Question: If it gives fulfillment to the majority of the world’s population—women—if it gives them peace of mind, a way out of depression, and so on, then the whole world will be better off?

Answer: This is salvation. Although from the standpoint of correcting the world, developing the world, this is certainly not a solution.

But at a certain stage, in order for humanity to understand what it lacks, it will be useful.

Question: And then this correction process will come anyway? We cannot escape from it?

Answer: No.

Remark: Then a little bit about the next stage: corrections. A person will anyway have to work with his egoism? He cannot get away from this?

Answer: Yes, but she will already be directed toward the truth and not simply to calm down, to chat with someone there.

And the truth is that if I do good to others, this is my only true fulfillment. And later on, not only to others but also to the general upper force above us.

Question: So, these robots will show that if you do good to another person, it will calm you down and make the world purer?

Answer: Robots will train them. From the fact that they will sympathize with all women, they will gradually teach them the correct treatment.

And they will inevitably slowly lead them to the fact that, after all, a friendly, beautiful, sympathetic attitude toward another should replace all other relationships between people.

Question: So robots will teach both men and women this bestowal: the most important thing is to fulfill the desires of others? Not your own but someone else’s?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/26/21

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Question: How can we turn difficult spiritual work to desirable work?

Answer: It happens gradually. It takes many years under the influence of the surrounding light and the light that reforms.

When I had just started my spiritual path studying with Rabash, he told me how Baal HaSulam had discovered the wisdom of Kabbalah.

One day Baal HaSulam came to visit his teacher who lived in Porsov, a small town near Warsaw, and his teacher was not home so he began to examine the books in his office and came across a book he was not familiar with. He began to look through it and discovered that it was a book about the spiritual world. This book was called The Tree of Life which the ARI had written. Baal HaSulam was amazed at what all was written, that it all existed!

Suddenly his teacher walked into the room and said, “Put the book back, it is not for you.” Baal HaSulam put the book back, but he already knew what to look for. The following day he purchased the book and began to study it.

Then Rabash added a sentence that shocked me: “But my father didn’t know that it would take him 30 years to attain what was written in that book.” I remember grabbing his sleeve and exclaiming: “30 years?!” I was 33 or 34 years old then.

Although it doesn’t take so long today because of the hastening of our development, you still need at least 20 years to attain what the wisdom of Kabbalah says and to see the whole complete picture. Although I don’t see that it happens this way, 30 years seems quite realistic.

The reason is that the light that reforms a person and reveals the Creator operates gradually. On the whole it operates at an amazing cosmic speed, but we have to overcome the same cosmic distances accordingly. It isn’t about distances that we measure in our world by billions of kilometers, but about much more!

The light continuously works inside us, and to the extent that I connect my desire, I hasten the influence of the light on me. Still there are a great deal of tiny corrections that take place every second, and we have no choice but to be patient.

If a person has a desire to attain spirituality, he has to develop it. If he has no desire, he has to get closer to the sources so that he can still participate in some way.

As a student, I would choose a niche that I can invest in. Not everyone can engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah in maximum bestowal, but he can engage in dissemination, in typing, in going over materials, in working in the archive, etc. It is very helpful and hastens time. Otherwise it takes humanity a long time of course. If it weren’t for us and the time we are undergoing, humanity would remain as in the past and nothing would actually change.

If the changes took place at a natural pace, without the light that impacts all of humanity and all of nature, our development would be very slow. People would live like in the Middle Ages, without any changes.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 2/13/19

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That Joshua called all of Israel, their elders, and their heads, and their judges, and their officers, and he said to them, “I am old and come along in years.

And you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations before you; for the Lord your God, it is He that has fought for you.

And you shall be very resolute to keep and do all that is written in the book of the Torah of Moses, so that you do not turn from it right or left.” (Prophets, Joshua, 23:2-23:3; 23:6)

When a person changes the intention to receive to the intention to bestow, then this desire is corrected and is as if recorded in him. This means writing the book of Torah.

That is, he must go through all the elements of the correction of desire with all the Taamim, Nekudot, Tagin, and Otiot (TANTA), so that all the elements are corrected for bestowal. As it is said, every person should write the book of Torah for himself. To write means to reach such a state when the correction already exists within him.

Question: Sometimes it is said, “To write on your heart.” What does this mean?

Answer: Initially a person writes it “on the heart.” Then it should spread all over the person, i.e., to all his desires.

“Do not turn from it right or left” means that in no way we should interpret the Torah with any of our own additions, conclusions or opinions, only in the way Moses conveyed it to the people in a clear style of bestowal.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 8/30/21

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And they presented themselves before God. And Joshua said to the whole nation, “Thus said the Lord God of Israel, ‘Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the river from earliest time, Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods. Joshua, 24:1;24:2

There are only two possibilities of existence: either in our own egoism, in which we were born and developed, or by crossing the river and entering the land of Israel, i.e., on a completely different level, in a different desire, in a different land.

Therefore it is said that Abraham’s father and Nahor’s father served other gods, that is, not the property of bestowal and love, but ordinary egoism.

The earth is Ratzon (desire). Israel is from the word “Yasher El – straight to the Creator.”

When you intend to reach the level, the property, the desire, of the Creator, you become a completely different person. And here you have to work on yourself.

Question: The Torah is about one person. What does it mean that I once lived and prayed to other gods? What is it in me?

Answer: This means that you were selfish and thought only of yourself. And then you began to get acquainted with the fact that there is another goal in the world, a great big one, accepted it and began adjusting to it and slowly approaching it.

Question: What other gods are we talking about here?

Answer: About all egoistic gods, and there are a great many of them. Everyone worships something of their own, what they want. Desires for money, power, fame and everything else, these are the gods. And for those who want to reach the level of bestowal and love for their neighbor, the Creator is one.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 9/6/21

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Question: Can a person love his neighbor if he does not love himself?

Answer: A person cannot but love himself. Even if he hates himself, he still loves himself.

We are originally designed so that our whole nature is selfishness. Therefore, it cannot be that I do not love myself. Even when I hate myself, even when I want to commit suicide, it still comes from pride. It is within us, it is our foundation. Therefore, everything above it can only be built on the basis of self-love.

A person does not want to suffer so he may even give up his life, perhaps from a subconscious feeling that he is immortal, but still out of self-love. In all our actions there is no other motive than the fact that we love ourselves.

I think after digging around on the Internet, you can find a lot of confirmation on this topic.
[288298]
From KabTV’s “Videoconference”

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Question: The women are dividing into tens now and they often meet on Zoom® and connect between them on the phone. But there is no effort to disseminate. It seems that they are trying to imitate the men’s work and not do what you advise them to do, to grow stronger in dissemination.

How can this be changed? How can dissemination become the preferable activity in women’s tens?

Answer: I do not know how to endorse this.

You need to understand this from the structure of the general vessel that we learn about. If there is no unity between us or if our unity is not aimed at expanding outward, we will not be able to receive anything.

We are the upper part, the head of the vessel, called GE (Galgalta ve Eynaim), which includes Keter, Hochma, and Bina. The other part of the Partzuf is called AHP (Awzen, Hotem, Peh), and it is made of the lower part of Bina, ZA (Zeir Anpin), and Malchut.

We can receive the light from above, from the Creator only to the extent that we are integrated in the desire of the lower vessels.

So, the desire in the lower part of the vessel has to be precise, a deficiency from the lower vessels (from the people). But if there is no such basic desire, we will not receive anything from above.

It is very simple. You cannot do anything without the right desire, without wanting to correct something. We, the upper part, only prepare ourselves for the correction so the correction will help us feel the lower part, the desire of all the people in the world, and then we will be able to raise their desire to the Creator.

This is how we work.

This is the reason we are called Israel, Yashar-El, straight to the Creator, whereas they are called the general body, the general vessel.

They cannot correct themselves in any way. Only we can correct them. Without them, there is nothing for us to correct. This means that the connection with the Creator can only be if we take their desires first and raise them upward, then we will be able to be in contact with the Creator.

So without dissemination there is no hope that the Creator will relate to us in any way because all our work stems from the desire for the goal of the creation that we received from above. Why has the Creator given us our desire? So that we will format ourselves and begin to raise the desire of the rest of the vessel to Him. Then we will really be in our right place, serve the Creator correctly, and become His servants.

But if we do not use the desire to the Creator, which was given to us in order to turn to the world and connect with their yearnings and their sufferings and raise them upward, there is no need for us because we cannot ask for ourselves.

All our requests can only be in order to connect the world to the Creator. It is only for this purpose that we exist.

So, do not hope to attain the Creator, to reveal Him, to be in contact with Him, if you do not begin to raise the uncorrected, shattered desires of the world to Him.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 2/13/19

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati #35 “Concerning the Vitality of Kedusha?”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 79

Selected Highlights

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