Question: It is written in The Book of Zohar: The quality of Pharaoh lies within reason, and there is no way to get out of his control by reason, but only by the force of faith above reason. What is this force of faith?

Answer: It is bestowal above reception. If a person wants to move to a spiritual state, he must understand that everything spiritual is built on the quality of bestowal, when bestowal is more important to him than reception for his own sake.

Everything that he understands within reason and can explain to himself lies in his egoistic qualities. However, he wants to rise above them and acquire the quality of bestowal.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 4/14/22

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Question: An 11-year-old student listed ten reasons why children do not want to go to school. I would like to hear your opinion on each of these reasons.

The first reason is the teacher. When you first come to school, immediately they try to instill fear of the teacher in the students. Should one be afraid of the teacher? Or is it necessary to replace this fear with some other word?

Answer: I had a very gentle, young, primary school teacher Iraida Konstantinovna.

Question: For some reason, we remember our first teachers. Is it like first love?

Answer: Yes. Therefore, I do not know how I can hate or fear such a person. She was just a friend, a senior buddy, an adviser. She took care of us. This is the best attitude to the child.

Question: So when a student writes that there are ten reasons why I do not want to go to school and the first reason is the teacher because we are taught to be afraid of him, is this really the first reason?

Answer: It is possible that this is today’s upbringing. We did not have that. We appreciated her and loved her like a great friend or even a mother.

Comment: Meaning that a teacher should be a friend.

My Response: Yes. Only just. We are talking about small children.

Comment: The second reason is the fear of grades. They instill the fear of grades, and then the fear of punishment of parents in front of the school principal, and so on.

My Response: The grade itself does not mean anything. But the fear of punishment, of course, means a lot.

Question: Are grades even needed?

Answer: In principle, grades are not needed. We need a school that will teach the right attitude to the world, to life, to friends, to teachers, and to parents. And it doesn’t need the grades that are given to you when you are taught, but rather what grades you give to yourself.

Question: Can you make such demands even to a small child?

Answer: We must strive for this. Explain it so that they themselves place such grades on subjects, on textbooks, on their supervisors, and so on.

Comment: A child can say: “Today I was out of shape for something. I should have read it, worked on it a little bit.”

My Response: That is good.

Question: Fear of mistakes, schools do not teach that mistakes can and should be made. This is an 11-year-old boy speaking. Do you think mistakes should be made?

Answer: I agree with him.

Question: So a mistake is an important thing? One needs to make mistakes?

Answer: It is inevitable.

Question: And what if I am wrong?

Answer: It is okay. I will fix it, I will learn even more from this than from the fact that I would have done something without a mistake.

Question: So it is even more important than if you move unmistakably?

Answer: We make mistakes and correct ourselves all the time; we make mistakes and correct ourselves.

Comment: Fourth: trolling, mockery of classmates. And it is often the fault of teachers who make children look ridiculous. This is a blow to the “I” of the child…

My Response: It is necessary to teach the child that if we are in such a society, how to properly relate to society, to the environment, to explain to him that it is possible, that it is and will be until we correct our nature, that this is the nature of man that forces him to be above others at all costs.

Question: And the fact that I am being humiliated now, is this human nature?

Answer: Yes, this is their nature, nothing can be done. And I have to understand their nature and somehow, in some form, forgive them, accept them as they are. And maybe correct them in this way.

Question: Should I feel that this is my nature as well, exactly the same, and I can be exactly like them?

Answer: Naturally, yes.

Question: In other words, do you want to introduce the terms “human nature” and “human egoism” almost into elementary classes so that a person feels?

Answer: And even earlier.

Comment: The next reason: stupid tests. Because they do not have a variant of their answers, you need to guess one of the proposed answers.

For example, there is a question and there are four answers to it, and it says: “Specify the correct one.” And the boy says: “And I want there to be another option, my personal answer.”

My Response: He is right.

Question: So these American exams that do not give the option of “Your Answer” are wrong?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: The sixth reason: the amount of homework. “I believe that homework does not affect the academic performance and education of children,” says the eleven-year-old boy.

My Response: I believe that homework causes disgust and hatred of school.

And therefore, it is not necessary. It is just necessary that a person goes there, no matter what they teach him there and no matter how they teach him, maybe worse, better, more or less appealing, but he would come back from there, and this homework would no longer be hanging on him.

Instead of homework there would be absolutely free time. It should also be somehow more or less scheduled, but it should be freely felt to choose what he would like to occupy himself with.

Question: Just himself? He should find exactly his niche?

Answer: Yes, everyone is different in something. We had a lot of clubs at that time. There was a huge House of Pioneers. And there were a huge number of societies, and all of them were free. A child went and signed up wherever he wanted. Even a few at the same time! Come and learn. And he did not pay anything. I also went to the photo club. Both photographic paper and photo developing reagents were free of charge. Absolutely everything was free! It is so amazing!

Comment: And the way the teachers treated you there, with such warmth!

My Response: Yes. People with such characters worked there.

Question: Where did it all disappear to? What was wrong with that?

Answer: The time is not the same! We got into such a streak.

Comment: The next reason is the ban on uniqueness. Schools do not like it if someone is different from others.

My Response: On the one hand, they seem to be encouraging it. But, on the other hand, they do not like it.

Question: Should a child have this right for uniqueness?

Answer: This is not only a right for uniqueness, but also encouragement for uniqueness on the part of everyone, including even friends. This needs to be brought up. Otherwise, this will be crushed and only grayness will turn out.

Comment: “School doesn’t teach you to be happy,” writes the eleven-year-old boy.

My Response: That is for sure! At school today, they simply demonstrate how dullness, obedience, and suppression of happiness is a normal state.

Question: So, in principle, the slogan of the school should be “We must teach children to be happy”?

Answer: Yes. We must raise happy people.

Comment: “School doesn’t teach you how to work with information,” he says.

My Response: This is a whole wisdom, a huge one, which should be instilled in young children.

Question: What does this skill give to a child?

Answer: It teaches one to open one’s brain and heart, mind and feelings, to incoming information, to be able to process it, sort it out, and to be ready to receive the next portion of information.

Comment: The tenth reason: “School does not prepare for adulthood,” this boy believes.

My Response: I think that nothing can prepare you for adulthood. We just rush there, as if into a whirlpool. And that is it. And there we are already swimming out, each in his own way.

Question: And what is the preparation for adulthood?

Answer: Here it is necessary to create special, absolutely clear, realistic pictures of life.

Question: At school? Directly to the children? And so that they learn to get out of them, work with them, and so on?

Answer: Yes, to discuss and so on. On the other hand, give them some stamps, but realistic. For example, “What would you do if you…” and give the story.

Comment: This boy’s conclusion is very interesting. He says: “I believe that the main subject in school could be a subject in which we would be taught to understand each other. After all, the ability to communicate is the most important thing.”

My Response: Make him the Minister of School Education. And that is it. And put all these ministers back to school.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 2/10/22

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Question: What is the correction of our thoughts?

Answer: To become similar to the single thought, the unified field, that is called the Creator.

This thought should work for connection, for the integral orientation of the system, so that all the desires, everything we do in our world, in our life would be directed to the connection of our thoughts in this single thought as one single whole.

That is, each of us and all of us together should unite with the common field. By this, we will reach eternity, perfection, and absolute knowledge because everything comes from this field. After reaching this state, we will enter some other dimension.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Secrets of Immortality” 1/7/11

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Question: Why does the connection between mother and child during childbirth occur precisely through pain?

Answer: Pain is necessary because, during natural childbirth, a huge number of hormones, antibodies, and all that we do not even know about are released. Medicine is just beginning to touch the study of this area.

But with a cesarean section, this does not happen, and the child is missing out on it. We see in practice that with a cesarean section, the connection between the child and the mother is weaker and the child himself is a little different. After that it is somehow compensated for and made up for, so it is not so noticeable in ordinary life. But still, the difference is big.

The birth process itself is very important. According to Kabbalah, this is the process of creation, the birth from one world to another. Inside the mother is one world and outside is another. If the transition between two worlds is carried out naturally, then the child is fully prepared for the next world. If this transition is not in him, he is, as it were, not ready for the next world.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Unwanted Children” 11/28/10

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Question: All diseases, in principle, are inherited through the maternal side. A man, even if he has some kind of disease, somehow does not pass it on to other generations. Why is this so?

Answer: We should look at diseases as a recovery process and not just a disease.

Therefore, a woman who passes to her children a predisposition to various diseases thereby passes to them a very strong healthy immune system because any disease, in principle, is in some way a process of healing.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Unwanted Children” 11/28/10

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Question: What does “the world outside of you undisturbed by you” mean?

Answer: This is a world into which you do not contribute any of your qualities. You will be able to feel it as it is.

Now, when I feel something, I feel in accordance with my senses, with those waves and impacts that I can perceive. And if I could sense what exists around me as an infinite number of frequencies, sounds, and colors, then I would feel the truth, that what is outside of me does not enter my box or felt somehow through my filters.

If I could feel this way and study the world in this way, it would be a true science. Kabbalah says that we need to reach such a state, an exit into a different perception of the world.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Will of the Universe” 11/28/10

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Who is a spiritual person?“

A person with spiritual attainment is one who starts feeling the upper reality of love, bestowal and connection, and who lives in that reality. It is a person who rises to a level of connection with the reality beyond everything we know and feel in our current reality. There are no words to explain the sensation, and about it is written, “Taste and see that the Creator is good.”

Based on a video “Who Is a Person With Spiritual Attainment?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Foreword to The Book of Zohar“

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 2, Chapter 2, Item 1 

Selected Highlights

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Medium published my new article “Polarization and Anti-Social Networks”

Day by day there is more division and polarization, more anger and hatred, which is weaponized by an increased flood of information on social media. That is the conclusion of a recent study revealed by Yale University. But is anyone really surprised by the discovery?

According to the research co-authored by Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California, more information does not mean more pluralism, it only intensifies already polarized views. Individuals tend to read and absorb only the material that confirms their existing beliefs in a sort of “confirmation bias.”

To me there is nothing new. After all, it is written and known, “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21).” That is, we are all under the control of an egoistic desire, in a constant desire for self-fulfillment. Not only in every human being does this tendency exist, but society as a whole is founded on it. Family, national and international relations — all of humanity is built on selfish systems. This is natural and logical, since everything in nature, including the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels, works to get maximum pleasure with the minimum investment.

What started as a desire of social networks algorithm developers to fight for our attention, to bombard us to live on their platforms, and to profit financially by influencing marketing content, has led to intensive efforts to crack those algorithms and understand how they work on us, but what really needs to be explored through a deeper layer is our human nature.

It is far better to research and find out who we really are. Our evil instinct is a ticking bomb with tremendous negative potential; we will witness this more and more day by day. There is great advantage in internalizing that under certain environmental conditions we will not hesitate to benefit ourselves even if that comes at the expense of others, we seek our own momentary pleasure without any remorse for anyone we might harm to get it.

The light at the end of the tunnel is that at some point we will no longer be able to tolerate the monster we created with our own hands, and we will unanimously decide to destroy it or at least direct it to the right place for re-education.

We have no idea how much our brain is destroyed when it is infected with this polarizing disease. According to our evolution we must eventually become a more balanced humanity, but until that happens, instead of assembling and connecting ourselves to one global system, we let our egoistic desire control and separate us, and the mind, which responds to our will, cooperates. As a result, we divorce, separate, quarrel, and divide, and cause ourselves more trouble that we pay for dearly.

When we cannot settle things with rational common sense, then we are filled with anger and rage, and erupt under pressure. Social networks reflect our nature and ignite the antagonistic passions. An extreme opinion voiced from the other side of the barricade is enough to raise our threshold of agitation and throw us out of emotional balance.

It will not help to clean up the toxic content and censor the inciting videos and tweets. In the end we will only reduce the noxious evil for a short time and soon will continue our destructive habits until the next eruption.

To change the direction of thinking we need to recognize, face, and acknowledge our harmful nature and talk about the human egoism that rules us. Heightened awareness can persuade the public to agree to eliminate this evil ruling nature. Proper and serious recognition will make everyone realize on their own that thinking and acting badly toward others causes a split that gradually leads to self-destruction.

This process needs to happen in all of our social systems, and from there it will also spread to social networks, which mirror ourselves. So naturally we will enact laws that will be agreed upon by social media users and will forbid us to be careless toward others out of a simple understanding that this evil will eventually backfire on us.

If we are already reaching out to the networks and intervening in them, then it would be good to develop a positive algorithm that encourages unity and closeness, that evokes a feeling of connection to benefit and sweeten our lives. Just as social networks have entered our lives with great impetus and changed them fundamentally, so can this positive algorithm be implemented with great success. Only then we will start building real social networks.
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