Question: A big dog saw a puppy chasing its tail. The dog asked: “Why are you chasing the tail?” The puppy replied: “I have already studied philosophy, solved the problems of the universe, and I have learned that the best thing for a dog is happiness. And my happiness is in the tail. When I catch it, it will be mine.”

“Son,” said the dog, “I was also interested in world problems and also realized that my happiness is in the tail. But I noticed that wherever I go, whatever I do, the tail follows me.”

The question is this. We are chasing happiness. And it turns out to be nearby all the time, here, it is following me. Do you agree with this?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is it, can we tell? How can I see it?

Answer: Understand that you do not have to run after it or chase it; happiness is near or even behind you.

Question: Are we in a hurry to acquire knowledge, to acquire everything, and that’s it?

Answer: Don’t chase anything. What for?

Question: But it gives some kind of pleasure to a person.

Answer: You do not have to run anywhere, but you will find pleasure in the fact that you just live quietly.

Question: Is this happiness?

Answer: Yes, it is.

Question: What do you imply by living quietly?

Answer: That I do not have any special goals, especially unattainable ones, but I live in order to live, to live this life in peace.

Question: But how can you live without goals? You have been coming back to this a lot lately in our conversations.

Answer: Yes, because life is like that. It clearly shows us: do not ask too much of it. And all that you have, be satisfied calmly and show this example to others.

Question: That is how you live?

Answer: Yes.
[321772]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/13/23

Related Material:
Care That All Will Be Happy
Looking For Happiness Or Simply Living?
What Separates Us From Happiness?

Filed under: Meaning Of Life, News - No Comments →

Question: Generally a person can see that something influences him, but does not understand how it influences him. He is unable to predict what will happen to him in a minute, two minutes, or three minutes.

What should his correct attitude be to these concealed factors so he can advance according to the path destined for him?

Answer: A person should understand that he is moving instinctively according to nature’s impulses.

There is nothing else he can offer himself. This is the sober approach. It is impossible to say that it is better or worse; it is merely what we have.

Question: How can we increase the efficiency of this path? It may be impossible and it should be enough to approach life soberly.

Answer: I cannot imagine how we can determine the efficiency factor of our development. Today, it practically leads us to mutual destruction. Therefore the efficiency factor here is negative.

Question: If we take a group of people united around some principle, idea, or similarity, can this group have its own attitude to the concealed factors in development? Is it possible to talk about a group of people as an individual who develops, makes decisions, and perceives something?

Answer: If we take a group of scientists who are interconnected and set certain tasks in front of them, then we can certainly look at them as one person who is aspiring to achieve something.

However, if we are talking about humanity, it has not entered that level when it has a clearly defined task that all people would want to solve, regardless of their social organization.
[321926]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 11/27/23

Related Material:
Concealed Because It Is Not Needed
Under A Press Or In The Incubator?
Time Is a Change of States

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Perception, Science - No Comments →

Question: In the exact sciences, there is such a thing as an unsolvable problem when scientists prove that something cannot be solved. For example in astronomy, there is a three-body problem that cannot be solved in general, only regarding specific cases. Or the task of stopping a problem where it is proven that cannot be solved algorithmically.

Is this right or wrong? Are there problems that cannot be solved at any level? Or are these all specific cases?

Answer: I would say, these are tasks that a person sets for himself, based on the limitations of his knowledge and conclusions. Therefore, we cannot say that nature is, in principle, unknowable. We can only say that we cannot yet know it.

But we do not say that this is completely closed to people. After all, in the past, people thought this way about some objects and the boundaries of knowledge, and then this began to be revealed more and more at the macro and micro levels. We have a little data at our disposal to assert there is a clear limit to our knowledge.

Question: Will a person always strive for knowledge, or can this desire disappear in him?

Answer: I think he always will. There will be ups, downs, and all kinds of periods in development, as the history of mankind proves. But, in general, the process of cognition is a process of filling oneself, and it is limitless.
[321874]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 11/27/23

Related Material:
Final Correction
The Evolution Of Desires
The Way To The Final Correction

Filed under: Kabbalah Study, Science - No Comments →

Question: Where is the low place where the Creator is hiding?

Answer: The Creator hides between friends where there is some kind of mismatch between them.

Question: When I have already prayed for my friends, for the Creator, and for Him to advance us, what else can I pray for?

Answer: You can pray for you to get closer to your friends and through them to the Creator.

Question: What is annulment in desires, intentions, and actions?

Answer: Annulment means that I don’t want anything for myself, but I really want to get closer to the Creator and fill everyone with love.

Question: What is more important in the search for connection with the Creator and His greatness: paying attention to what is revealed through the inner circle in the group, or to internal states, thoughts and feelings?

Answer: Whatever is revealed in the connection between friends.
[322285]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/23, Writings of Baal HaSulam “In the Place Where You Find His Greatness“

Related Material:
Questions about Spiritual Work—46
Questions about Spiritual Work—45
Questions about Spiritual Work—44

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: A man saw in a dream that the king is in heaven and the sage is in hell. He asked the Creator, “What is the reason for this? I thought it would be the opposite, that the king would be in hell and the sage in heaven.” And he received the answer: “This king was accepted into heaven for his attachment to the sages. And the sage was sent to hell for his closeness to the kings.”

The question is, what qualities should a ruler possess in order to bring sages closer to himself, and not politicians?

Answer: He must have great respect for sages. The most important thing in his life is that he must understand that he needs to surround himself with sages.

Question: What do you mean by the word “sage”?

Answer: It is a person who strives to understand the meaning of life.

Question: Is this a sage? So for a ruler who has to take care of the people, security, the economy, etc., the main thing is to surround himself with those who talk about the meaning of life and think about it?

Answer: Yes, and then everything will work out.

Comment: In principle, for us it all stopped with the king-sages who embodied wisdom themselves: King David, King Solomon…

My Response: Oh, those were the first colossuses! They embodied wisdom themselves and surrounded themselves with sages.

Question: Should the ruler be like that today?

Answer: It is ridiculous to assume that. But in general, yes.

Question: The sage was sent to hell because he was too close to the rulers. There is some kind of contradiction here. How can a sage not bend under the power of the rulers?

Answer: He must be independent. Absolutely! Independent from everyone! And then the rulers will listen to the sages. That is, the independence of the sage will attract the ruler to him.

Question: That sage who ended up in hell, did it turn out that he was not very wise?

Answer: Of course, he bent under the ruler.

Question: What is the conclusion? What is a true ruler and what is a true sage?

Answer: A true sage is one who prefers wisdom to any other attributes and places it above everything else. And a true ruler is the one who bows down to the wisdom of the sages and places them above all.

Question: Beautiful! This view that professionals should be in power—economic professionals, security professionals, political professionals—in your opinion, is this view incorrect?

Answer: No, they are pulling humanity in absolutely the wrong direction.
[321877]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 11/9/23

Related Material:
Only A Sage Can Recognize A Sage
Faith In The Sages
An Unhappy Sage

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, News - No Comments →

Question: What can we learn by checking whether the Creator loves us before we appeal to Him?

Answer: This is not even a test because we must constantly be sure that He loves us.

The Creator has no other attitude toward us because everything He does to us comes from absolute love.
[322295]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/15/23, Writings of Rabash “What Does It Mean that Oil Is Called “Good Deeds” in the Work?”

Related Material:
How Can We Feel The Creator Loves Us?
To Not Lose Touch With The Creator
In the Ocean of the Creator’s Love

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Spiritual Work, The Creator - No Comments →

Preparation to the Lesson

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, “What Is, ‘The Children of Esau and Ishmael Did Not Want to Receive the Torah,’ in the Work?”

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 6, Part 16, Item 82”

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

3rd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot”

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Selected Highlights

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson - No Comments →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog - No Comments →

Michael Laitman on the Times of Israel: “Returning to Our Roots”

Returning to our roots invokes a profound sentiment, which resonates deeply, stirring an inexplicable longing within.

The wisdom of Kabbalah possesses a principle known as the “law of root and branch.” It asserts that each spiritual root holds a physical counterpart in our world. For instance, Jerusalem (Heb. “Yerushalayim”) stems from a spiritual force rooted in complete awe/fear (Heb. “Ira’a Shlema”), which is a fear for not fulfilling the Divine will. It is a call for us to embrace brotherly love, wholeness, peace and the perfection of our nation, radiating unity to all peoples.

The hidden connection between this root and its branches draws people who are attuned to the higher ideal of Jerusalem toward the mountainous city itself. Upon reaching its ancient walls, a distinct fervor envelops them, influenced not just by the idea but also by the very ground they stand upon.

This union between root and branch was once palpable during the days of the Temple, when Israel diligently pursued unity, attracting the world to learn from the wisdom of connection that the people of Israel upheld. Unity, however, fell short when internal strife consumed them, severing the harmony between Jerusalem’s essence and its inhabitants, leading to their expulsion from this sacred ground.

Even now, although we have returned to Israel, the bond between Israel’s root, its capital Jerusalem, and its physical manifestation, is frail and faded. Our failure to prioritize unity in our return from exile has led to escalating division and animosity, jeopardizing our existence in this land.אפ

We should indeed revere the Land of Israel as an extension of a sanctified root, treating it with the utmost respect, and we do so by cultivating love and connection among each other.

Our attachment to Israel’s root and Jerusalem’s heart determines our belonging to this land. Failure to align ourselves accordingly will likely subject us to another exile, as Kabbalist Baruch Shalom HaLevi Ashlag (the Rabash) penned,

“Exile comes only when one does not cautiously keep the value of the land, and the land is not appreciated as it should be. As a result, the land throws that person out, as it is written, ‘And the land shall vomit out.’ […] May the Creator grant us understanding the great merit of the land of Israel, and to know how to appreciate it so it will not vomit us out.” – Rabash, “Letter 57.”
[322730]

Filed under: Israel, New Publications - No Comments →

Question: It is said that a person should pray to the Creator to help him be above reason, and his work should be in joy as if he had been awarded spiritual reason.

But when I am in joy there is some fear that I will start to receive for myself.

How can I overcome the fear of being in joy?

Answer: Why are you afraid to be in joy? On the contrary, it is a huge commandment. It is necessary to be in this state all the time and not fall from the level of joy that the Creator created you. It brings you closer to Him, and gives you a feeling of coming closer and connecting with Him.
[322243]
From the 1^st psrt of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/13/23, Writings of Rabash “These Candles Are Sacred”

Related Material:
Work In Joy
Happiness Multiplied
Joy—The Result Of Good Deeds

Filed under: Commandments, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Perception, Spiritual Work - No Comments →