Question: How in a moment of hatred for everything can you come to the state of recognizing that it comes from the Creator?

Answer: The Creator precisely gives you this condition. He is not obviously doing it slightly but shows Himself. He must show you hatred, frustration, and failure, so that you can build an opposite attitude toward Him above it: “All this egoism is put in front of me, and now I will be against it, You are deliberately setting me up like this.”

Question: And how can you deceive your egoism and play this game?

Answer: There is no need to cheat. You just walk despite egoism, because that is how the Creator makes it for you.

Question: For example, the Creator presents someone as an object of irritation. How does one treat him at this moment?

Answer: Look at it as a challenge from the Creator. He challenges you: “Well, let me see how you’re going to act now. Can you, despite this phenomenon, relate to Me as the Good Who Does Good or not?” And you must cope with these phenomena, interact with it, but internally your work should be exactly like this.

Question: As a Kabbalist who understands how to work with the system, do you have a different perception than the students? That is, you can somehow do this already at a different level?

Answer: I have the same job, only even more difficult. The Creator presents me with such problems every day that there is simply nowhere to go, we must react to them very quickly and correctly. That is how we live.

Question: That is, some dirty tricks are constantly coming, no matter how ready you are?

Answer: It is not a trick, it is out of love, to give you the opportunity to build a sense of the Creator in yourself. And it is built precisely by rising above these contradictions.

Question: But you can evaluate some negative impact only later when you have already passed this condition. Is it the same with you?

Answer: You fall into this state for a long time, and you cannot get out of it until the Creator, by His mercy, forgives you for not being able to do anything, and pulls you out by the ear.

And I am in this work all the time, not forgetting that “There is none else besides Him,” who is absolutely good. Pictures that are the opposite of this constantly arise in me because my egoism, my nature inverts them, and I must invert them back and thus build a reverse action on my egoism. This will be called the screen and reflected light.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. To Overcome Yourself” 2/15/14

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Preparation to the Lesson

Zohar for All “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” “You Are Partners with Me” 

Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

Selected Highlights

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are some tips for getting the most out of any conversation?“

Even though you think that a person is wrong, tell them the contrary, that you agree with them.

This is a tip that we can learn from hunting animals. A hunting tactic is to show the animal that you have something it is interested in, and then you catch it. This is a male instinct from ancient times.

Showing agreement, understanding and identification with a person’s life opens them up to you. It is not like boxing where they open up to you and then you punch them. But you prepare them to not hold any prejudices against you, and that they will open the windows of their mind and will gradually start listening to you. When they feel that you agree with them, then it helps to awaken the thought that they too need to change their opinion, even if just a little bit—unlike how it originally appeared to them—and then you enter a common opinion.

It is important to note that the principle here is not to let that person feel that you understand them, that you are in their situation, and that you agree with what they say in order to gradually say what is important to you and to draw them to your direction. No. Around 90 percent of the time, when you talk to another person, you should talk to them on their turf.

Based on the video “How to Let Others Open Up to You” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Tal Mandelbaum. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Harli Marten on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do Israelis think of Israeli reporters being boycotted and ignored by Arab fans in the Qatar World Cup?“

Recently at the Qatar World Cup, Israeli reporters experienced strong hostility due to their connection to Israel, which surprised them.

For instance, there was a situation where a Qatari approached an Israeli reporter and told them, “I’d want to tell you welcome, but you’re really not welcome. Get out of here as soon as you can.”

People from all over the world came to Qatar and were greeted with smiles and hugs; and the Israelis were treated terribly. Israelis thought that the recently-signed Abraham Accords with some of the Gulf countries would bring some moderation, but instead the same hatred revealed itself.

Indeed, we will be hated until we become more like Abraham, or in other words, until we show the world that we truly want peace, that we have a tendency toward peace, and that our goal is to bring peace, wholeness and tranquility to the world.

Today, Israel is viewed as a threat to world peace. It is because we indeed have the ability to turn the world to war or peace, and peace depends on us uniting above our differences. Until there will be peace among Jews, there will be no peace in the world, and people will increasingly point the finger of blame on the Jewish people, that we are the ones causing various wars and conflicts.

It has nothing to do with Israel’s foreign relations, i.e. how Israel treats other nations like the Palestinians, but it solely depends on our inner relations. If we treat each other favorably, like good neighbors, within Israel, then our positive relations will extend a heatwave of connection throughout the world. If we currently held such an attitude toward each other, then our reporters would have instead enjoyed a warm and friendly welcome at the Qatar World Cup.

Based on the video “Israeli Reporters Shunned at the Qatar World Cup – 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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Comment: William Shatner, now 91, played Captain Kirk in the hit series Star Trek. Shatner really flew into space a year ago as a tourist, he was 90 years old then. He hoped that this would be an ultimate catharsis, that he would understand the harmony of the universe. Instead he said that he discovered that the beauty isn’t out there, but is down here, with all of us. He said it changed his view of life’s values and that we shouldn’t dream of any flights to Mars, but should dream of uniting people. He discovered that to him to live means to love others, which is the whole harmony of the universe.

Is it necessary to gradually launch all of humanity out there so that they can take a look?

My Response: I do not know. It is he whose eyes opened.

Question: How can a person nowadays, in this difficult time of war, hatred, and so on, get to the opposite?

Answer: Disappointment brings the opposite. We need to reach disappointment with the notion that we can do something with force and hatred. We must get to this.

Question: But the world has always been ruled by money and power. How will we get there if power and money rule this world?

Answer: When we see that we can achieve nothing good, eternal, and kind either with money or by force, then we will begin to search and reveal that everything is attained only through attraction and love.

Question: And this will be the conclusion?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And if there are a huge number of weapons in the world, and a huge amount of money is printed, if this all is here, will we follow this terrible path?

Answer: I think it is already over. I would like to believe.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/27/22

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Question: In light of recent events, Vera writes this short letter: “I would like very much to talk about the Creator, the cosmos, the world, and the inner state of a person, but there is war outside the window.”

How can a person in this situation think about the Creator, about connection, and about peace, when there is war around him?

Answer: It is said very simply: “Do not judge another until you find yourself in his place.” Therefore, I cannot talk about such conditions. Although I was in the army, it was not the same.

Question: When a person is in a state of grief, when a person is in trouble, perhaps not even because of war, how can he cope with it? Give us at least a few steps.

Answer: Just open our books and, in the state he is in, simply read and grasp what is said in Kabbalah.

This will bring a person closer to the truth, correct him, fill him with upper energy, give him greater confidence, disconnect him from corporeal problems that he wants to solve by corporeal methods, and give him the opportunity to think about the way to solve them in real way.

Question: If there is war outside the window or somewhere around there is war, can our books still help a person?

Answer: Naturally. They are the only ones that can help because when a person reads them, he invites, invokes, and attracts upon himself the upper energy, the light of the Creator, and it lifts him up, saves him, shelters him, and protects him.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/22/22

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Kabbalah & Relationships

Tips on how to build successful relationships based on the spiritual principles and understanding of our nature

Our ego is the snake that prevents us from being able to love someone else.

The meaning behind the story of Adam, Eve and the snake is actually very simple. The snake represents the ego that became revealed between Adam and Eve, the man and the woman. And that’s really all there is to the story.

For example, suppose that a happy, young couple falls in love. They hug, kiss and laugh together, go to the movies and the beach. Then they get married and begin living together, and everything is wonderful. They’re in the Garden of Eden.

And suddenly—the snake (the ego) arrives. They suddenly begin arguing. Then they begin taking advantage of each other and making private calculations, such as “How can I get him or her to be the way I want them to be?” This happens to us because the snake (the ego that’s inside us) prevents us from being able to love someone else, and makes sure that our love is egoistic from the start.

Under these circumstances, the closest we can come to love is to surrender our egos in day to day life as much as we can. However, this still doesn’t solve the problem at the root, and does not enable us to experience real, unconditional love. This is where Kabbalah offers another solution: to correct our soul at the root, or to correct the snake that separates us from our partners.

To do this, both partners must realize that there is a goal to their lives that’s above this world. Then they will also realize that they can only attain it by having a partner in life, someone who will go through the spiritual path together with them. This is the meaning of the verse, “Man, woman, and the Divine Presence between them.” It means that in order for us to attain the Divine presence, spirituality, we must connect with each other correctly.

Then, instead of taking advantage of each other, Adam and Eve will complete each other. And the snake, instead of driving them apart, will become the driving force that pushes them to reveal the Upper Force – the Divine Presence, or the Creator.

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Kabbalah on Education

Kabbalah comes to the rescue to today’s education and parenting crisis

Sibling jealousy is a natural reaction of egoism.

This is a natural reaction of egoism. Parents may try to explain to a younger child how they would like him to behave, but it’s impossible to demand a correct reaction from him. It’s written, “Educate a lad according to his path.” This means that parents have to compensate their elder child for his new position in the family, so that he feels that a good attitude towards the newborn is advantageous for him.

When a younger child is born, a mother feels excited that the family has become larger. An elder child should feel the same. How? For instance, he can receive a present “from” a younger sibling. That is, a child should see that a new baby allows him to derive something positive for his egoism. Otherwise the elder sibling will hate the younger one, as he senses that his mother’s attention is switched to the baby, everyone takes care of it, and not him. 

In previous generations, sibling jealousy probably wasn’t so acute, because people lived in more modest conditions, or elder children had more friends with whom they could play and thus paid less attention to their younger siblings. But today, parents need to fulfill the desires of the elder children, showing them that they receive something good thanks to a newborn baby in the family.

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Comment: The workshop has an interesting feature. At the moment of its implementation, a person seems to come to some kind of understanding, feels inspired, feels encouraged, and the next day it all disappears.

My Response: It does not matter. Even if it has disappeared from a person, it is still his. Nothing disappears in spiritual development. It is just that something has disappeared at the moment because new egoism has been added.

Nothing ever goes backward, only forward. If something is washed out of your memory, it is because a new, still uncorrected, egoistic mass comes that obscures your previous spiritual attainments.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Why Workshops Are Needed” 4/5/14

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