In the News (Pew Research Center, “What Makes Life Meaningful? Views From 17 Advanced Economies”): 

Family and children—38%
Occupation and career—25%
Material well-being—19%
Friends and community—18%
Physical and mental health—17%
Society and institutions—14%
Freedom and independence—12%
Hobbies and recreation—10%
Education and learning—5%
Nature and the outdoors—5%
Romantic partner—4%
Service and engagement—3%
Travel and new experiences—3%
Retirement—2%
Spirituality, faith, and religion—2%
Pets—1%
…
Outside of the U.S., religion is never one of the top 10 sources of meaning cited – and no more than 5% of any non-American public mention it. In the U.S., however, 15% mention religion or God as a source of meaning, making it the fifth most mentioned topic. 

Question: When will the lofty meaning of life rise to at least the fourth, third, or second place?

Answer: If something changes, it will change only under the influence of very acute events.

Question: In your clips when you talk about an upper force, about the Creator, about goodness, about nature, about connecting people with each other, and about good relations, what do you expect?

Answer: I am counting on suffering, when we—by our actions, by our way of life—will cause such suffering that we will not be able to turn away from it just like that, and that it will make us think about the meaning of suffering or, in other words, about the meaning of life because life will be filled with suffering.

Then we will begin to think whether we should live at all, whether we should suffer, whether it all makes sense, and what we should do with ourselves. And then we will start asking serious questions and trying to answer them.

We will come to the conclusion that our life is wrong and we must find the right style of life so that everyone feels good and so that life itself does not end but rather comes to its top result. That’s another story. But people will start listening.

Comment: Meaning you do not fade at the end of life, but on the contrary…

My Response: No, of course not! During this life you go to the next degree of development; that is, you rise from the animal level to the level of Man, Adam.

Question: Why does it not fascinate a person?

Answer: It is at a completely different level of attainment. This requires completely different feelings and intelligence. And neither our brains nor our hearts work for this.

Comment: But even for our inner peace, it’s good that you don’t fade, but rather blossom.

My Response: It sounds nice, but nothing more. It’s been replaced with religion, maybe a little philosophy. But in our time, when everything is packed with television, travel, and other things, which a person does not have today, he does not need that.

Question: But if, one way or another, people must come through the suffering to whatever you say, then why was this whole program launched on humanity, this whole program of entertainment?

Answer: It is in order to realize the evil of our nature and what it leads to so we can go against our nature.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 12/2/21

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