In the News (ZME SCIENCE): “‘Scientists say the human brain resembles the cosmos’

“Both neural and galactic networks have the same structure, pointing to a fractal universe.

“Side by side pictures of brain cells and a cosmic web of galaxies make it difficult to tell the two apart. So it can seem that the universe is like one giant brain or vice-versa, there’s a tiny universe in each of our brains. That’s not merely some entertaining thought. In a new study, an astrophysicist and a neurosurgeon have documented the striking similarities between cosmic networks of galaxies and neural networks of brain cells.”

Question: Can we say that when we freeze looking at the sky full of stars, there is some kind of breathing and some kind of connection?

Answer: Of course. I would say that the sky is a very beautiful demonstration of our inner qualities.

Question: Does it mean that the sky is what exists in us?

Answer: Of course. Where can you see all this from? You see yourself!

Question: Am I seeing myself? Then why do I freeze in delight? Almost everyone sees this sky and freezes. What is there to cause this delight?

Answer: You are shown a little bit of what is inside of you in a mechanistic way like this. In fact, you see yourself from within. This amazes you a little, delights you, and touches you.

Question: What is the most important thing I need to see inside myself?

Answer: That there is an infinite possibility in you, an infinite number of all possible qualities. You have to start connecting them all together somehow and you will receive the Creator. We need to look at the starry sky more often.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/30/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is your review of the NGL app?“

One of my students recently asked me about a phenomenon related to the NGL app: that it lets its users express their opinions anonymously, and it became a place where people curse, threaten and express themselves in the most aggressive ways possible. It is clear that by becoming anonymous, we feel freer to express our evil.

My student asked me: Are there any benefits to everyone being able to freely express their evil? The only benefit is that it leads us to recognize that we are indeed evil and that we will exploit anything we invent as a means to harm each other.

We seemingly invent something good—an app that lets people express their opinions without any policing of their thoughts—and then the evils of human nature reveal themselves. It then becomes one of many tools in our hands that advance us toward realizing the evils of our human nature, that human nature is a negative quality that wishes to benefit at the expense of others.

My student then proceeded to ask me why we are made in such a way, and why a good and loving creative force would create such evil and bad beings? It is because from such a corrupt being eventually comes good.

The good that will emerge is a state where we will all feel completely good, eternal and perfect. While we are in the egoistic evil force, we are held back from feeling the true goodness in reality, but we can reveal how we are held back in a positive way by learning and understanding how our nature works, and how it develops toward an inversion to a good and harmonious state. Doing so is similar to coming downhill in a car, with our foot on the brakes, keeping that motion gradual, otherwise we will lose control of the wheel. That is what lies ahead of us.
Based on the video “How the NGL App Reveals the Evils of Human Nature” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Comment: It happens that after a lesson on the The Study Of The Ten Sefirot a student would say: “I have been sitting in a lesson on TES for two hours and I do not feel anything, although I try very hard.”

My Response: You cannot do anything. He may sit for two more hours or two more years. It is not going to go away that easily. Until the property of bestowal appears in him, he will not feel TES.

Comment: When we started to study The Zohar, there was a feeling that an unusual thing was being revealed to us. At least people thought so.

My Response: Because they thought that now all sorts of miracles would be revealed to them, the heavens would open, something theatrical and divine would happen.

But it turned out that The Zohar speaks of what a person who opens himself understands. After all, a person himself needs to open up for this. If this does not happen, The Zohar remains a hidden book. That is why it is said to be a secret. And how to open it? Open yourself up, and then you will see that to the extent that this happens, it opens up in you.

Comment: But people felt it as some kind of internal vibration.

My Response: It is just some “childish” excitement. That is all. Pure human impression.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Proper Application of Effort“ 4/20/13

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Question: There are several stories around The Book of Zohar. Which of them is reliable?

Answer: It is unknown. Since this Book was hidden for a long time, I do not believe in any assumptions, except for what real Kabbalists say: the Ari and Baal HaSulam.

Rabbi Shimon is buried on Mount Meron. This is what it is. I know only one thing: Rabash went to the grave of Rabbi Shimon, and I felt from him how high he rises, adhering to the source.

He never went anywhere else: not to the Wailing Wall or the graves of Rambam, Ramchal, or Rabbi Akiva; only Rabbi Shimon. For him, it was just recumbency.

Question: Rabbi Shimon was Rabbi Akiva’s student. At what age did he begin to study with him?

Answer: At that time they used to begin at a very early age. In principle, he studied all his life, but I do not know at what age he began. As a rule, children began to seriously study the Torah from the age of three. This is what is written in The Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot, as well as in the scriptures, that a man is obliged to teach his son the properties of bestowal from the age of three.

Comment: I have heard two versions of how Rabbi Shimon became Rabbi Akiva’s student. The first is that he had outstanding abilities still in early childhood. The second is that he came to study when he had already married, and Rabbi Akiva did not want to accept him. Then Rabbi Shimon began to allegedly threaten him that he would tell the Romans about his studies of the Torah, and then he accepted him.

My Response: Personally, I have not read about it and I do not even want to read about it. What difference does it make to me? We are talking about a person’s inner attainment.

I do not look at this world in its animal shells. What difference does it make what is happening in them?! I look at this world only from the point of view of the forces that govern it and determine everything. Why should I look at something that makes no sense and does not exist on its own?

Comment: But these stories are told to the students of Kabbalah when they are taken on a tour of Mount Meron.

My Response: They are told this in order to draw people to a more internal study. What can you do? A person should be gradually drawn to attainment. Start teaching quantum physics to beginners and tell them that there is no time, no distance, no movement, that everything is eternity, infinity. Try to explain the quantum world to them. How many people in the world understand it at all? And spirituality is even higher.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Zohar – Myths and Legends“ 4/14/13

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is there so much hate towards Israel?“

The source of the hatred against Israel is that we, the people of Israel, reject and hate each other. And as much as we hate each other, the nations of the world hate us even more.

If we related to one another more considerately, the world’s attitude toward us would change accordingly. It is because our nation is rooted in the attainment of nature’s positive force—a force of love, bestowal and connection—and if we block this force’s entrance into the world by acting oppositely to it—with hatred and rejection of each other—then the nations of the world feel us as clogging an abundance of delight from flowing onto them. They then instinctively attribute the suffering they increasingly endure in life as somehow connected to Jews. Antisemitic sentiment then cooks within them while increasingly erupting in an exponential increase of antisemitism crimes and threats worldwide.

If we realize what made us the people of Israel to begin with, by implementing the attitude of “love your friend as yourself” among each other, then we would see the hatred toward Israel invert into an attitude of love and respect for a people that let the positive forces of love, bestowal and connection flow into the world; a people who elevate humanity to a higher level of unity, harmony and peace.
Based on the video “Why Is Israel Hated So Much?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Rosh HaShanah“

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The History of the Wisdom of Kabbalah”

Selected Highlights

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Medium published my new article “Nature vs. Human Nature”

One of the latest forms of weapon that superpowers are racing to develop is hypersonic missiles. China, Russia, and the US are all developing missiles that can fly at more than five times the speed of sound (more than 1 mile per second), making them very difficult to intercept. Another trend is laser guns, which can shoot down planes or blow up vehicles at almost no cost or effort, since it is basically a concentrated beam of light. The amazing thing about these developments is how science takes the natural principles that enable life and evolution and turns them into instruments of death and destruction in order to dominate and abuse other people. Human nature, it seems, is the exact opposite of nature, and in the conflict between them, everyone suffers.

In nature, everything operates in perfect harmony. Evolution is based on the process of homeostasis, which means “dynamic balance.” No being purposely destroys other beings, but only strives to sustain itself. In the struggle between nature’s elements, a dynamic balance is formed, which ensures the existence and prosperity of our universe and all that is in it.

Man, on the other hand, takes the laws of nature he discovers and seeks to use them against others. Man’s goal is not to sustain himself, but to dominate others, and for as long as possible. There is neither balance in man’s mind, nor dynamism. There is permanent self-absorption.

But since life consists of perpetual and dynamic changes, the absence of them means death. Therefore, human nature causes death, while nature generates life.

We may sign peace treaties and agree never to fight, but we will never be able to keep our word. Human nature itself will impel us to break every contract we sign as soon as we see an opportunity to gain more than our agreed share without risking prior gains.

The only solution, therefore, to establishing a world where man does not destroy his world through his ruthless, inherently evil nature, is to change human nature. We may recoil at the thought, but since nothing else works, as we can already see, we will ultimately have no choice but to agree to change the very kernel of our being.

Although everything operates harmoniously in nature, we cannot see it because we are the exact opposite of harmony. Human society is a cacophony of individuals struggling against each other for superiority. Nature, on the other hand, is a perfectly orchestrated order. If there was even an iota of harmony within us, we would see that everything around is harmonious, but us.

Our only choice, therefore, is to begin to form this harmony. We can wait until we have no other choice because we have tried every oppressive option we could think of and they all failed, or we can try now.

Harmony may sound unappealing because it does not give me superiority over everyone else, but its benefits are far beyond anything any person can achieve alone. Harmony means that everyone sustains everyone else. As a result, instead of working only for me, I work for others, and all the others work for me.

Basically, it is not very different from the way the world already operates. Inadvertently, each of us creates far more than we consume. The excess production serves everyone else. Since all of humanity operates this way, the result is that there is abundance to everyone. The reason that there are places where there is scarcity is not because there is a lack of anything in the world, but because people deny others what they need in order to use, humiliate, and dominate them. Therefore, in order to see the benefits of everyone working for everyone else, we do not need to change our perception, but our intention — to include other people, too, in my intentions, rather than only myself.

If we make a conscious, orchestrated effort to change ourselves, we will be able to do it. The results will be beyond our wildest dreams, but only if we all commit to it. As the world declines into intensifying chaos, it is becoming harder to ignore the necessity to harmonize our relationships. The only question is how long we want to fight against nature until we confess defeat and agree to change human nature.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “Peace Is More than Nonviolence”

Today, September 21, is the International Day of Peace. The UN General Assembly has declared that this day is dedicated to “strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire.” Considering the global ambiance of violence currently prevailing around the world, nonviolence seems like a desirable goal. However, if we settle for not fighting, we will not prevent the next war, since peace means much more than a ceasefire.

Peace treaties last only as long as none of the parties are interested in violating them. Once a party sees an opportunity to gain through war, the treaty flies out the window.

When peace is broken, the animosity that caused the previous outbreak deepens, and the new round of violence becomes even more intense than its predecessor. In the end, the sides find themselves embroiled in an all-out struggle, a fight to the death. They will make peace only if neither side can destroy the other, and exhaustion and depletion of soldiers and arms force them to make “peace.”

Today, on the International Day of Peace, I would like to introduce the ancient meaning of the word peace, as it contains a more comprehensive solution, one that can outlast belligerent tendencies that are bound to resurface after the parties sign the treaty.

The Hebrew word for “peace” is shalom, from the word shlemut (“wholeness” or “complementarity”). By definition, “wholeness” or “complementarity” requires the presence of contradictions, since something can be whole only if all its elements and aspects are present. Likewise, complementarity requires the presence of contradictory elements that complement each other. After all, if one does not exist, what does the other complement?

We tend to think that only our view has merit and only our perspective should exist. However, reality is not built this way; it consists of opposites that complement each other, according to the definition of the word shalom. Could we imagine day without night, spring without fall, love without hate, or life without death?

Every coin has two sides: heads and tails. Eliminate the heads, and you have eliminated the tails, as well; eliminate the tails, and you have also eliminated the heads. Simply put, only when both sides of the coin exist can there be a coin at all. So is reality, eliminate one element in reality, and you have also eliminated its contradictory element.

Peace, therefore, can exist only when two parties maintain their opposing views and form a union without suppressing each other’s views. For example, every athlete knows that building strength requires the right balance between training and rest. Training and rest are contradictory, but only if both are present can the athlete become stronger.

Likewise, only people with conflicting views who strive to unite above their differences, without eliminating them, can form true and lasting peace, meaning wholeness. Their peace will last only as long as they maintain their attitude of complementarity and wholeness. If they revert to settling for nonviolence, they will soon be embroiled in war.

Today, when ceasefires are threatened or have already fallen apart, and the entire world is tilting toward war, learning how to build a strong and lasting peace is humanity’s single most important mission. I hope that countries will begin to think of peace as I have outlined it here, rather than settle for a pause in active fighting.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it wrong for a mother to steal baby food when not having enough money for it?“

A broke mother stealing baby food is a clear example of a situation where a person has no choice. Such a state is terrible, and it is a shame that it could play out in a society that simultaneously wastes millions of dollars daily on unnecessary nonsense.

It shows us that our hearts lack connection. We could open a million charities with an abundance of funds, and gather large amounts of people to take care of the needy, and we would still find more and more babies in need nonetheless.

Why? It is because we lack a heart-to-heart connection. We as a society fail to develop such a connection, and we suffer in various ways as a result.

We lack a collective understanding of the primary need to repair human relations, and to build a society based on such relations. Instead of raising human consciousness, we dry up, becoming worse and more distant from each other, and so we bear witness to such phenomena in our times as mothers stealing baby food when not having enough money to pay for it.
Based on the video “Broke Mother Steals Baby Food – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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