Question: There are a huge number of interesting things in the world. How do you filter them so that some things do not lead you sideways?

Answer: I always look at them through the goal to see how these things fit into it: me, the goal, and how the entire universe is between me and the goal. After all, it is not somewhere else on the side, but only between me and the goal. In order to feel the universe correctly, I need to see what I am observing now and the goal.

Wherever I am, in La Scala or at the Paris Opera, in some museum or at the Greek Meteora (rock monasteries), I enjoy watching everything, taking it in, and for me it all fits into one mosaic between the upper world, our world, and the flow of humanity toward its final purpose.

It is very interesting to me, I have been collecting this mosaic all my life. I do not have anything that would be just a separate fragment—it happened and is gone. I sort of collect my life, I have such a need for a sense of wholeness.

Comment: If we look at the way the media distort events and how they present them…

My Response: Now we are talking about culture, about history, although I am fitting it into my history—culture, science, and history.

From the media comments, I extract what I need. Let’s say there are 20 commentators in front of me. It does not matter to me whether they say correct things or not or whether they lie or not, I do not even look at that.

I check to which comment I can give my methodology, and I take this comment. I am not interested whether it is right or not. Someone said it, and it is good enough. At least I can express something of my own in a remark to this, for example, in a blog.

The main thing is that I took it as a kind of precondition, whether it is right or not does not matter, and I expressed my point of view. This is what is important!
[298702]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Architectural Monuments” 5/25/14

Related Material:
Taste For Beauty Remains
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah Does Not Prohibit Anything
The Wisdom Of Kabbalah And Scientific Work

Filed under: Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Shamati #195 “Rewarded – I Will Hasten It”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 3,” Chapter 2, Item 1

Selected Highlights

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do people pretend their lives are perfect on social media?“

We want to feel proud and better than other people, that they will envy us.

Our egoistic human nature prioritizes self-benefit over benefiting others, making us want to see ourselves in a better position than others. We thus want to show others that we are special and worthy of respect, and we see what lengths we go to for respect.

When our desires developed beyond mere survival necessities for food, sex and family, we then started comparing ourselves to each other, sizing up what we have compared to what others have. Then, our social desires for money, respect, control and knowledge developed.

The desire for respect becomes a major problem as it is behind much conflict in the world. Whether it is a person’s own pride or the pride of one group or nation pitted against others—where that person, group or nation wants more on their side and less or even nothing for the other side—then it becomes clear how our desire for respect, honor and pride brings about so much conflict.

While we can identify the problems that come with this desire, what we need is not to try and make it smaller or eliminate it in any way, but to redirect it, i.e. to change what we respect. When society values people solely according to their contribution to society, we will then necessarily strive to think and to act in favor of society. If we get rid of the awards that we give for individual excellence, and instead respect each other for our concern that we express toward society, then we will want to win the respect of society by wanting to do good to each other.

We will then gradually come to feel that expressing altruism or unselfishness toward one another is a special and sublime value in and of itself, regardless of the respect that we receive from such an inclination. In doing so, we will find that altruism is a source of perfect and unbounded fulfillment. Moreover, we will find that such an attitude is nature’s comprehensive law, which controls and sustains us.

Based on the videos “Why Do People Pretend Their Lives Are Perfect on Social Media?” and “The Needed Shift in Human Consciousness” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Josh Rose on Unsplash.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your thoughts on those who aspire to be perfect?“

Perfection differs for everybody. For one person, Schwarzenegger represents perfection, while for another, Einstein does it for them, and of course, the list goes on and on for more and more people. It is all subjective. There is no perfection in this world.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, perfection is something else entirely: that we reach a state of completing our place in humanity. In other words, when we become immersed in an inclination to support everyone as much as possible in order to bring humanity to its completion, then we can be considered perfect.

We then experience perfection because our desire to bring humanity to perfection aligns with the perfect quality of the upper force: one of absolute bestowal, with no shred of reception laced within. We then become partners with the upper force in achieving the same aspiration. Also, we attain perfection through our connection and annulment to the upper force, which then starts acting through us.

Behind our every desire for perfection, whether we want to be the next Schwarzenegger, Einstein, or whoever else we might picture to ourselves, or whether we simply want to have what we imagine as a perfect life for ourselves and our families, there is a deeper desire at play: a desire to experience the perfection of adhesion with the upper force.

We ourselves can never be perfect, but we can adhere ourselves to a perfect force, and perform perfect acts through what we request from that force. Through our intentions and requests to adhere ourselves to the perfection of the upper force, we can also merit becoming perfect. The upper force performs the perfect acts, but we invite and request them in order to benefit humanity.

Based on the video “Is it Realistic to Aspire for Perfection?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →