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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “How to Conquer Fear – A Kabbalist’s Advice”

Just let the fear go. Don’t think about what will happen in the next moment.

We know nothing about what is truly going on in our lives. It is thus best for us to just let go. We hold such potential within us. Letting go of our fears requires some training, but we need it.

Fear comes from our will to control situations we find ourselves in, and when we cannot control them. When we let go of fear, we then seemingly control the situations from another end. For instance, take one of the most common fears: the fear of death. Our death is inevitable. Accepting the fact that we will certainly die, we can then imagine how the world will continue developing after we are gone, agree with that picture, and let go of any current fear we have.

There are no set steps, however, for how to let go of fear. It is different for each and every person. Some people start thinking along the lines of “What will happen to the world after I’m gone?” “How will my loved ones and my relatives continue their lives?” “What will happen with my inheritance?” and “How will my legacy unfold?” Faced by these questions, we need to make another correction—of our attitude toward life and death, which is behind our every fear.

We should transform our fears into an absolute surrender to the will of nature—the will bestow that created and sustains us—which requires us to make a certain kind of effort. We might still have to go through a lot of frightening moments until we reach the end of our earthly path, so we should try to calm ourselves down.

The laws of nature that created and sustain us, and which we are ultimately being led to discover, are in a state of absolute calmness and rest. We should thus aim to emulate nature’s calmness.

We are calm when we are not worried about what will happen in the next moment. It is a difficult point to express because it is not simply about flowing with the currents of life. On the contrary, we need to rely on the laws of nature that operate on us at every moment, which control everything and everyone.

Since we live within fixed and determined laws of nature that are in total control over our lives, then we have nothing to worry about. Do we want to interfere with the laws that are driving everyone and everything through corrections? Of course we don’t. We then might as well calm down and move on with our lives.

That state of calmness indicates agreement. It means that we agree with the laws of nature, which is quite difficult, because we always want to hold back, check what is happening in nature’s plans, and argue that maybe things should play out a bit differently.
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The branch desires, loves, and covets every conduct in the root, and does not tolerate and hates any conduct that is not in the root.

This is an unbreakable law that applies to every branch and its root (Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot, Part 1, Inner Observation, Chapter 4, Item 19).

Question: The Creator, who is the desire to bestow and not to receive, is our root. Yet we, who are a branch of this root, do not like to bestow and to unite. Where is the logic here?

Answer: We are the product of this consequence. Here happens the division into source and effect. Our source bestows, emanates, loves, and develops. And we are His consequence. This is why we love everything we receive from Him. We want to receive everything pleasant from Him, but we do not want to receive His qualities.

It turns out that we do not want to acquire His qualities, but we want what He fulfills us with.
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From KabTV’s “The Study of the Ten Sefirot (TES)” 12/4/22

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In the News (South China Morning Post): “A video of a 10-year-old Chinese boy having 30 vials of blood drawn to check his suitability to give his mother a life-saving bone marrow transplant has gone viral on Douyin.

“In the video, which has attracted more than 237,000 likes online, the boy’s eyes are steady and firm as a medical professional draws blood from his arm.

Question: It seems like such a simple story, on the one hand. On the other hand, where does this depth and understanding of another’s life in a ten-year-old boy come from?

Answer: I don’t know. This is really a special attachment and responsibility that suddenly manifests itself in children.

Question: Where does it all vanish? We know that there are examples of nobility among adults, but less and less. Where does it all disappear to? What kind of sand does it all go into?

Answer: It disappears into the sand because the impact of the common world, which is completely different, dissolves all these qualities that, in principle, we have.

Question: But is there this nobility in us?

Answer: Yes.

Question: By the way, there is also a secret here of how not to be afraid and how not to feel pain. The boy said: “I wasn’t afraid, and I didn’t feel pain because I was doing it for my mother.”

Is it possible to give some advice for an adult about how not to be afraid and how not to feel pain?

Answer: I don’t know. There might be many words, but it is not likely to be felt. It is a bond between a child and a mother, or could be between a donor and a recipient, or between just friends, or loved ones who feel connected like that.

Question: That is, I am happy when I can give something to someone else. Will this formula ever work in humanity?

Answer: It will work. We have such Reshimot, records. But when? In the meantime, we clearly push it away with all our hands and feet. The fact is that we ourselves create our living environment in such a way that it separates us from our parents, from each other, and so on. In general, it will work, but when—it is hard to say.

Question: And why did we choose such laws of life that push us away from each other?

Answer: They don’t oblige us to do anything. Everyone thinks only of himself. Children do not listen to their parents. They leave home early. And parents understand that children have their own nature, their own way. And that is how we quickly disengage.

Question: It is written in the Bible: “And he shall cleave to his wife.” It is written that one way or another a person must leave the house.

Is it written somewhere that we should come to the point where we will feel good when we give to another?

Answer: In the same Bible there are many such sentences. But it is not meant only for family ties. It means when everyone feels like family. And we will feel like relatives when we become interconnected in one single desire, in one single source, that is, in the desire to give, to help, to unite, which is higher than our earthly life, and in which we remain forever.

And we will want to come to this.

Question: You end almost all our clips with these lofty things, as if calling on a person one way or another to come to this. And then you always say, “I don’t see this happening any time soon.” You kind of add bitterness to it all the time.

Why shouldn’t a person just be given this thought and be kept at it? Is it necessary that this bitterness be, that it is not known when it will be?

Answer: It is so that people do not immediately push us away. If we talk about a kind, bright, good, and sweet future, then people will think that we are some naive, frivolous people and they will shut us down.

Comment: And so, you say: “It’s true.” You say: “And it is not known when this will happen.”

My Response: It will be, but not only through a very serious test— awareness, awareness of who we are and what we should be.

Question: Can we jump over this long period? Can we reduce it as much as possible?

Answer: Only through war, great war, and suffering, otherwise nothing. But I don’t think it will be through war, although this is the easiest and fastest method. I would like to hope that we will get through without a war.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/13/22

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Question: Did the great Kabbalists, whose books are sources of wisdom and ideas, speak about the intolerance of Jews toward each other?

Answer: Of course. Many sources say that the hatred that is revealed between Jews is the greatest in the world.

Question: Could this be one of the sources of anti-Semitism?

Answer: Without a doubt. The basis of mutual hatred, opposition, and intolerance that are embedded in the Jewish character are in the same way the basis of those events that have accompanied the Jewish people for thousands of years and accompany them to this day. This can be seen, among other things, in the example of our [Israel’s] government.

Question: I watched the swearing-in of members of the Israeli government. I was amazed when the representatives of the Arab part of the State of Israel not only did not take photos near the flag but simply left. How is such a state structure possible in which representatives of one part of the population are against the very state in which they live?

Answer: It is not only Arabs but Jews too. This is quite natural for our country. This is a special country that goes its own way.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations, Israel and Its Impact on the World” 11/18/21

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Question: How can we who are so small suddenly move the worlds? You said that when a little child just gives a cry, his mother immediately runs up to him and does whatever he wants.

Answer: Yes, the smallest is the strongest.

Question: Even those who are just starting their advancement?

Answer: But they are doing it! They want to get in touch with the Creator. Yes, they are the strongest.

Even though they do not understand anything, like a baby who is lying in a cradle and screaming. The baby does not even realize that he is crying—he is just in pain, and this is a natural scream. He does not realize that in this way one can call a mother who will come and give him something. He has no understanding of the chain of actions he invokes. He is screaming because it is a natural reaction to what is happening to him.

Question: Can we say that someone who is trying to read, for example, the Torah or Kabbalistic sources, begins to give this cry?

Answer: Yes, of course. But not just to read, especially the Torah. The Torah will not help here. One needs either The Book of Zohar or some other Kabbalistic books.

Comment: But I mean not the external principle of reading, but the internal one—the search for oneself, the search for what is inside me.

My Response: No, besides this, a book that can evoke the upper light most brightly is needed. The Book of Zohar is the most effective one.

Question: That is, your advice is to read without understanding?

Answer: That is my advice because I went through this with Rabash. That is my advice because this is how it works. We used to read The Book of Zohar for only half an hour in the evening before going to bed. And it was just reading without any comments.

There were 20 people sitting around the table with Rabash at the head, and for half an hour we took turns reading: the first one, then the second, the third, and so on. So, we read a page or two, and went home. This is how the day ended.

But when Rabash and I studied alone on trips, in personal conversations or lessons, there was a different attitude. We came to the park, walked around, and then sat down on a bench. I pulled out a book, and we discussed the book or just talked for about two hours. After that, we again walked around and went home. And so it was for 12 years.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Every line of the Torah has such depth. The Torah is infinite, as if the whole sea is in one drop. As Kabbalah says: the whole universe exists in every point of the universe.

Question: How can this be?

Answer: It is like a holographic picture because everything consists of everything. Our world is only now beginning to understand this based on holography. In principle, if there is perfection, then every part of it must be perfect. How can it be imperfect if it must be equal, similar, and completely repeat the whole in everything?

It turns out that the whole and the part are absolutely equivalent. Every person and the whole world are absolutely equal.

Question: Then how did something imperfect come out of the perfect Creator?

Answer: The Creator created the creation not out of Himself, but out of nothing. The will to receive is His imprint. That is, we are absolutely opposite to Him. But our final state is equal to the Creator and perfect. We must reach it by ourselves.

We, as if, go back by the same path and become more and more perfect by returning to the source. Kabbalah and the Torah are engaged in this.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 2/12/10

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Question: What attracts a person more: flattery or rejection?

Answer: Obviously flattery, indulging their egoism, praising, and admiring. This can be seen in the child’s behavior. Tell him something nice, stroke his head, give him something sweet and tasty and see how he will become attached to you, come to you, and smile. It is clear, such is our nature. Little animals, that is how we remain.

Question: But how to use it for correct development? There is a certain limit. After all, you can’t pamper and indulge him all the time.

Answer: If you have the right intention, for the benefit of a person, society, the goal, the Creator, then you can use it without any restrictions, and you will be understood correctly. Let’s say in a group we must behave in such a way that our friends feel our love, good attitude, openness, that we admire them, support them. And this is what we use.

Question: Suppose a person has done something good and he is starting to be praised. Is this the element you are talking about?

Answer: No, this is like a payment for accomplishments.

Question: But we are not supposed to work for a payment, are we?

Answer: Why? On the contrary. If you have done something good for society, then we are obliged to make sure that everyone knows about it. You have no right to hide that you did it for society because in this way you help others do good deeds too.

Question: How does it differ from boasting?

Answer: Everything is decided by intention. If I say to everyone: “Guys, I did such a thing today! I think it will help us all. Look how I was able to do it!”, then everyone around understands that I am not boasting. I tell them that I really did something good for them to be able to do it too, use it, and repeat it.

There is no intention on my part to elevate myself here. I do this only in order that others do the same because by looking at the good deeds of others, you get infected with them. It all depends on the common platform of relations: either everyone looks at each other as competitors or as partners.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Art of Seduction” 12/7/13

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is more important, compassion or empathy?“

Through empathy we come to feel the pain of others, and through compassion we feel the pain of others but are able to handle it. It is because compassion comes with love, which is the key difference between the two.

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, empathy is “the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner,” and compassion means the “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”

With compassion, it is as if we step into the other person’s world and feel their experience. If we foster and nurture such a feeling within ourselves, we can then enter a whole other world. However, we are not involved in such a process. Generally, at the ages of thirteen and fourteen, we can fully resonate with other people’s suffering. If we would then receive further education on how to relate to such feelings, then we could bring about immense positive change in the world.

We can teach compassion in ways where people learn how to understand and nurture it more and more. By increasing compassion in society, we can share in other people’s suffering by accepting it partially upon ourselves, and then reach a state where we neutralize suffering.

Moreover, we would not burn out by seemingly taking too much suffering upon ourselves. Instead, our increased compassion and sympathizing would neutralize suffering, allocating it into smaller portions, and bringing relief to others by doing so.

Shared compassion among all people on earth would lead to a globally-blissful state, which is exactly what we need to achieve. If we fail to increase compassion in human society, then we will encounter greater and greater problems heading into the future. It is because the human ego continually grows while nature forces us to become more and more tightly interdependent. In other words, without uniting and sharing our suffering, we will be unable to tolerate our increasing connection: we will feel greater and greater pressure upon our ego until it will become unbearable.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, compassion holds a broader definition than what is in Merriam-Webster. It divides the vast suffering that exists in reality. Reality consists of one enormous desire to receive that was created, of which we are its parts, and a great light—a force of love, bestowal and connection—needs to fill the desire completely. The more we prepare a compassionate approach upon this desire, i.e. an intention that is not self-aimed, but aimed at loving, giving to and positively connecting to others, then the more we let the light—the positive force of love, bestowal and connection—enter the desire, alleviating our suffering and bringing us to peace and harmony. In other words, the great desire to receive that bases our reality can only be completely fulfilled if our intention is aimed in the direction of benefiting others.

Therefore, by learning how to become compassionate, we can accelerate the time it takes for us to achieve balance among each other and with nature. We would then divide the difference between absolute fulfillment and emptiness among every one of us, and we would then be on course to a blissful state: feeling a contradiction, impossibility and inner cry morphing into a new kind of higher pleasure and joy. In such a state, there is no difference between pain and pleasure because they come together as one. In other words, in a higher level of reality where we are more correctly connected together, pain becomes pleasure because we balance them out.

Pain is given to us in order to invert it to pleasure. The greatest pain, as a result, becomes the greatest pleasure. If we know how to balance these opposites, we end up with a whole new kind of pleasure and sensation of reality.
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Based on the video “What Is More Important, Compassion or Empathy?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Zohar for All “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “Who Created These” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”

Selected Highlights

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