Question: We call the total of all states, for example, of one person or the whole of humanity, a “gene.” And what is it called in Kabbalah?

Answer: The total of all the states of humanity in its entire history, if we can call it history, is what is called Shechina. Meaning the place where absolutely all the information about everything and everyone is located.

And all the states of a person throughout his life are called “his life” and are a set of Reshimot, spiritual information records.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/12/22

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Question: I’ve heard that we have to pay twice for the things we buy. The first price is paid when we purchase whatever we want, be it a book, a bicycle, cabbage, and the second payment is an effort to get the benefit from this item. And the second payment can be much higher than the first. For example, if I buy a book for $20, it takes 10 – 12 hours to read it, to get some pleasure, etc. Only then do we see the return on the first payment.

Today, in the pursuit of pleasure, we often pay only the first price and do not have time to pay the second. We immediately run for a new pleasure, buy again, and so on. Cars, bicycles, sneakers…

How do you feel about this?

Answer: It is correct. We do not want to put in the effort after that. We make enough effort in the buying.

Question: And where is it, the pleasure? I bought it, why can’t I master this thing?

Answer: You cannot buy pleasure; you buy it in some kind of wrapper.

Question: Let’s say I bought pleasure in the wrapper of a car. Why don’t I master it, but after some time I run for another pleasure?

Answer: Enough is enough. You bought it, that is it. Nothing more is expected of you. Why did you get the desire to buy it? In order to buy. That is it. And it is getting smaller every day.

Comment: There was no such thing before.

My Response: Egoism becomes more vivid and plays with us this way.

Question: What will this chasing lead to?

Answer: To fatigue. The next stage, which will come after the society of fulfillment that the West lives in today (the rest of the world is still far away), will be a society of disappointment.

Question: Do you see another formation that will suddenly arise? There were changes of some formations all the time, slavery, capitalism, etc.

Answer: No, it is the same egoism growing. And here we reach a state where we fill it and find that there is nothing further to do. Then there will be howling all over the world: “What can we make ourselves busy with? What can we fill up with? Where is the pleasure? What is the point of living?!”

Question: That is, the pleasure will wash out, go away from us?

Answer: Yes, it will disappear.

Comment: And I will not get it from anything?

Answer: No, not from wealth, sex, knowledge, power—nothing!

Question: And what is next in this pyramid?

Answer: Nothing. Above this is the attainment of truth, the Creator.

Question: So Maslow’s pyramid of these desires has stopped somewhere, and it is not known what will happen next? Is that where the attainment of the Creator is?

Answer: Yes, of course. Growth is leading to this.

Question: There was no other way to bring us to this idea that we need a Creator?

Answer: No, we have to go through these states. We have to build this pyramid within ourselves. Each subsequent stage is based on the previous one. That is all.

Question: Will this happen to every person?

Answer: Yes, but with each person it is not that he will really go through everything. He will perceive the experience of others and absorb the qualities and impressions of everyone.

Question: And he will not have to go through the same path?

Answer: No. He will understand that he does not need it.

Question: And then what? They will ask the Creator to reveal Himself?

Answer: The Creator is the most perfect pleasure. Look at how sex is viewed today. Once it was the greatest pleasure. Now they refuse it, they renounce it, and so on. And what remains? What will they be left with? What can one fill oneself with?

Question: You see this process as positive?

Answer: Of course, it is positive. Humanity is developing and going through all these stages.

Question: Is it possible to speed up this process?

Answer: No. It grows together with humanity, together with our egoism, together with the developing society. It all happens at the same time on different levels but together. It is a single whole.

Question: Can I have your cautious forecast? After what time will we come to the state that we will finally ask the Creator?

Answer: At the pace at which it is now going, it should be very fast. Of course, not yet in our time. But fast. I think it is in a couple of decades, 30 to 40 years.

I do not think there will be many. Even if now we return to poverty, to limitations, it will not be the same. We will already have impressions: why do we need this? We will no longer gnaw our teeth for earnings, for some material pleasures, and so on.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/9/22

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Comment: A conspiracy theory has been spreading all over social media that Bill Gates is behind the emergence of Monkeypox

People on Twitter are actively spreading a video clip of an interview Bill Gates gave last year. He warned governments of potential epidemics in the future including Monkeypox, which is not a typical virus for Europe. It has started to spread in the last few days. That much we know. So, we have a big problem here.

In your previous videos (and there’s plenty of them) we will see you talking not only about the Monkeypox but also about the potential for epidemics caused by inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, basically from everything possible. There is a chance of nuclear crises, etc., etc. They might blame you!

My Response: Let them accuse me of anything they can. Just do not forget the first and the last name, and who I am, and what I am about. I am ready!

Question: How did we manage to bring all these problems upon ourselves: the pandemic, the war, Monkeypox, all of it?

Answer: It is very simple. All kinds of diseases emerge from within humanity internally as a result of the egocentric desire that wells up.

Question: Do I want this Monkeypox!? Do I want that virus?

Answer: No, you do not want Monkeypox, but you are causing it this way. It does not mean that you want it or do not want it because it does not depend on your desire. It depends on the severity of the ego you are working with, the kind of ego you live in. The coarser the ego you live in, the greater the problems you bring upon yourself from the depths of nature—your very own nature.

Question: Is this based on a specific law that exists: the greater all of our egos are, the greater the problems that befall us?

Answer: Of course. After all, you make use of that ego. It reveals itself and that is where all these misfortunes originate.

Question: So we open it up and unleash a kind of a genie? So it is possible that if the ego continues to grow, we will unleash something we cannot handle?

Answer: Without a doubt! Humanity will have to face huge problems.

Question: How do we go about closing that box?

Answer: By suppressing the ego in which we work. We have to be correcting the ego, putting it back in, and not allowing it to break out of its depths.

Question: Can it somehow be suppressed?

Answer: It depends on us. It is in our hands. Only if we make a collective decision that we will not relate to each other in a way such that the ego is revealed, then none of these external problems will manifest.

Question: There is a direct correlation?

Answer: It is absolutely direct. It is the same thing here, meaning, the ego that is internal is the essence of nature, and all the problems are swirling around it—family-related problems, health-related problems, biological, egotistical, and so on, you name it.

Egoism is the very essence of our lives. The more we use the ego, the greater the problems that we bring upon us on all levels: biological, physical, social, etc. So it makes sense that more and more ailments are materializing, and it is going to get worse and worse for us.

Question: So, you are saying that we tackle only the consequences and we do not get to the root?

Answer: If you want to tackle the root of it, then it is the ego itself. Nothing else.

Question: But why don’t we come to this?

Answer: Because we do not want to! Because it is against our nature.

Comment: We waste billions, produce medicine, but we never come to this.

My Response: You can do whatever you want, it will not matter. You never want to come to this! Even if you are brought face to face with it, you will say: “No, I would rather work on curing cancer, for instance.” Cancer is the direct consequence of the ego. Direct because cells consume each other!

But you will not do anything about these cells not to form in the first place.

Eventually, we will not have a choice but to work against our own nature. And this is the antidote to all problems on every level.

Question: What can we do to achieve this kind of understanding as quickly as possible? Tell us!

Answer: Diseases, problems, even if humanity is annihilated, it will not help! Even annihilating it will not help.

Only the gradual awareness nurtured by means of education, anti-egotistical education, that is it. So, come and educate yourselves.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/26/22

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In the News (“Grandchild or $650,000: Indian parents take son to court“): “An Indian couple is taking their son to court, demanding that he and his wife either produce a grandchild within a year or cough up almost $650,000. …

“they exhausted their savings by raising and educating their pilot son and paying for a lavish wedding.

“Now they want payback.

“‘My son has been married for six years but they are still not planning a baby. At least if we have a grandchild to spend time with, our pain will become bearable,’ the couple said in their petition filed with a court in the north Indian town of Haridwar last week.

Question: Do you think this request of the parents is legitimate?

Answer: This is a problem. On the one hand they are selfish. No one can oblige a couple to have children. I understand them. But in principle, there is no such law that a couple is obliged to give birth to children, and as if, by their parents’ request.

Comment: “Then return the money that was invested in you,” the parents say.

My Response: “Did you want me to get married in order to make you grandchildren?” It turns out that it is so. “I didn’t sign up for this.”

I’m just putting myself in the position of a victim. “I didn’t sign up for this.” But, on the other hand, the parents can also be understood.

I think there is a need for a society that should affect young people—to influence them in a way, so that they eventually have children for themselves. For themselves and for their parents. Especially in India.

Comment: You’ve been to India; you’ve seen it. There are a huge number of children and people, and still they give birth. One and a half billion!

My Response: It depends on the kind of society. If they are rich people with a good marital status, they give birth to two or three children, no more.

Question: So do you think that the parents’ request is egoistic, and their children are egoistic too?

Answer: The parents are not egoists. They really want grandchildren and they can be understood. But the children, of course, are egoists. They don’t want to do anything nice to their parents, they don’t want to burden themselves, and I also understand them in this, to burden themselves with raising children. But it is necessary to somehow come to an agreement after all. The case went to court. So it’s not easy. They need to come up with something.

Question: This is what is happening in the world right now. Many people don’t particularly want to give birth.

Answer: At least one or two children. Without this, a person is not considered a person. If he has no children, and he does not care about procreation, then this is an inferior person. It is considered so.

Question: But this does not apply if health does not allow and so on, right?

Answer: This is understandable.

Question: So a husband and wife who do not have children are not a family?

Answer: Firstly, such a family is not a family. There should definitely be both a boy and a girl in the family. Preferably both. But there are cases when having both doesn’t work out.

It is necessary to help raise the status of having children. We also have a problem with this, both in the state and in people; today people do not want to have children.

The Torah says, “Be fruitful and multiply.” But in fact, why breed, much less multiply?

Question: Why is all this happening right now? Why is there such a sudden desire not to give birth?

Answer: People want to take care of themselves. That’s all. On the other hand, children are also very egoistic. You invest in them for 20 or 30 years, and then they leave. Well, why then did I invest my capital, my labor, my funds, my nerves, and my strength? And where did it all go? It is an unprofitable business.

Question: And what to do in such cases?

Answer: Do nothing. Learn from mistakes. It all depends on the upbringing.

And the upbringing should be like this: “You must!”
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/26/22

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And the light descended

To the worlds, into the black empty space located in it

And each circle from each world, and those cloer to the light are important,

Until we find our world of matter in the central point,

Inside all the circles in the center of the gaping void.
(Ari, The Tree Of Life)

Concentric circles are such a representation of the worlds from the furthest from the center to the closest to the center. In this way, the Creator’s energy is distributed throughout creation.

We are at the most central point of all the concentric circles. From them the influence of the Creator’s energy descends upon us.

Question: Did everything that is written in the Ari’s poem happen before the Big Bang?

Answer: Yes, and after that too. We are talking about the stationary state of the worlds. At the same time, our world is located in the central point, inside all the circles in the center of the gaping void, which shines with its blackness.

A person feels this as an absolute incomprehensibility, absolute unwillingness, as lack of energy and lack of reason, of any motivation, that is, it is the blackest point of the entire universe.

Question: In principle, this state exists in potential. But when a person enters it, does he feel it as a recognition of the evil of his egoistic nature?

Answer: Even much worse. It feels like a complete absence of everything, an absolute emptiness, an absolute absence of desires in anything and in any way whatsoever.

Question: Is this state similar to death?

Answer: No, this is not death. Although, it depends on how you interpret it. But, in general, it is, of course, a terrible state.

Question: Does everyone have to feel this state in order to move on?

Answer: Yes, it is felt a little by every person, otherwise he will not move forward. He will not attain the Creator because he has no corresponding inclinations. In order to move him to the Creator, he must be given such states from which he would run away to Him.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 7/5/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you think about the UN Sustainable Development Goals?“

I think that it is a childish initiative, but let them try.

It is childish because it fails to account for the root cause of everything that makes life on this planet unsustainable, and how to correct the problems and crises we face at their root.

The root cause of our troubles—from environmental and ecological problems to personal, social and economic ones—is overblown human egoism, i.e. our excessive desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature. And the way we fix this problem is by applying ourselves to an educational method of correcting egoism, which means organizing our influences to redirect the intention upon our desires: to replace enjoying at the expense of others and nature, to enjoy by benefiting others and nature.

As a result of entering such a process, we would reach a heightened harmonious and peaceful state throughout humanity, where we would discover how to positively connect to each other through ties of bestowal. We would create a humanity that values mutual consideration, benefit, support and encouragement above our innate divisive drives, literally living for each other, and then we would discover a whole new world filled with forces of bestowal and love.

That is the key to reaching true sustainability.

By failing to account for the human ego and its correction, then we merely apply Band-Aid solutions to our problems, and egoism’s unabated growth beneath the surface would continually elicit new mutations and crises until we realize that it is fundamentally what we need to deal with.

Based on the video “Why Kabbalists View the 17 UN Sustainable Goals as Childish” 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 “The Ruin as an Opportunity for Correction”

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot,” Item 11

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 3, “Inner Observation,” Chapter 13, Item 2

Selected Highlights

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Medium published my new article “Facing a Collective Suicide”

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during a signing ceremony in Istanbul, Turkey July 22, 2022. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said last week that humanity is facing a collective suicide. As The Guardian reported, “Guterres told ministers from 40 countries meeting to discuss the climate crisis on Monday: ‘Half of humanity is in the danger zone, from floods, droughts, extreme storms and wildfires. No nation is immune. Yet we continue to feed our fossil fuel addiction.’ He added: ‘We have a choice. Collective action or collective suicide. It is in our hands.’” Indeed, I would not be surprised if a cataclysmic fate were to find humanity. Our egos do not let us think about anyone else but ourselves. With this attitude of eating and drinking “for tomorrow we will die” (Isaiah 22:13), we are certain to bring death on ourselves.

But before we get there, there is plenty of upheaval on the way. Wildfires raged during the weekend across Europe, North America, and South America; record breaking heat swept the continent from Portugal to the UK; droughts in Africa, heatwaves in India and South Asia, and countless more simultaneous disasters that The Guardian did not mention are barely a prelude to what is coming. We are going to see the Earth turn inside out; people will look for shelters but there will be nowhere to run except into the Earth. Unless we pull together and rise above our egos, this is the certain fate of humanity.

Mr. Guterres also added that he believed that the solution lies in promoting renewable energies. He said, “As shareholders of multilateral development banks, developed countries must demand immediate delivery of the investments and assistance needed to expand renewable energy.” He demanded that banks “change their tired frameworks and policies to take more risk” and invest in renewable energies.

Here, we differ sharply. I have not seen one proof that renewable energy improves the climate. As I see it, the climate change agenda is intended to attract wealth from everyone else, and dole it out to its advocates. Other than transferring money to the champions of climate change, I do not see anything happening. What they are saying is basically, “Give us the money; we’ll know what to do with it.” It is a fixed game, a one lane road, and nothing good will come out of it.

We can switch to electric cars and oust gasoline, turn to solar panels for electricity and ban coal, but these will not reverse the climate change. The UN is a stage for words, but that is all that it is. It is a gathering place for secret agents from around the world, but it is not a place for positive actions that will help the world. So if anyone hangs his or her hopes on the UN or any of its proxies, they should not count on it; it will not do any good.

If we do not want to return to the stone-age, our only hope is to help each other rise above our egos. We cannot restrain ourselves by ourselves, but we can help each other do so.

The ego is the basis of human nature; nothing within us is more powerful. This is why people will prefer to die than to concede defeat. In the process, they will inflict on us a collective suicide.

However, if we manage to turn our anger not at each other, but at our own egos, which incite us against each other, then we stand a chance. We need to paint a clear picture of our future, without any filters, and realize what we are preparing for ourselves and for our children. Perhaps if we look at our future with sober eyes, we will have the determination to rise above, avoid the looming apocalypse, and turn toward a more sane, considerate, and therefore sustainable human society.
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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “If There Is No Heart, There Is No Food”

A few days ago, a heart wrenching story surfaced on Israeli media about a security guard at a supermarket who spotted a woman stealing from the shelves. He approached her and demanded that she open her handbag. When she did, he found inside a box of baby formula. When he asked her to return the box, the woman began sobbing and begged him for mercy. She explained that she had a baby at home, she had no milk of her own, and no money to pay for the formula.

The store owner did not press charges against the woman, but said that stealing food has become a commonplace phenomenon. He told a reporter, “Do you really think I want to take it away from them?! We are human beings and I, too, have children. On the other hand, if I make food thefts an acceptable conduct, I am putting myself in a difficult spot. It is very complicated.”

I think it is a disgrace that the State of Israel has come to such a point where people have to steal food to feed their children. We spend millions and billions on so many useless, totally redundant causes, but we do not help people who cannot buy food for their children? We, the Jewish people, who coined the terms mutual responsibility, charity, solidarity, and “Love your neighbor as yourself,” have come to the complete opposite of the tenets on which our nation was established. It is simply a disgrace.

There is only one reason for this: we have no heart. That is, we have hearts, but they are cold, careless, and cruel. We have more charities per capita than any other nation, more volunteers than in any other nation relative to population, but we still have so many needy people, and there are more and more of them.‎

Unless we correct our hearts, the number of destitute, sick, malnourished, and ‎untended for elderly will continue to grow. If we do not prepare our hearts to care, we will not have a society where people live with dignity.

We need to teach ourselves to care. All the money and high-tech innovations in the world will not make Israel a better place. But if we teach ourselves solidarity, mutual responsibility, and compassion, we will have everything we need and no one will feel deprived or wanting.‎

Our country needs many more people who understand this and build the State of Israel according to these principles. Especially we, the Jewish state, cannot afford to remain indifferent to the disadvantaged in our country. We have a duty not only to our people, but also to the world—to set an example of solidarity and mutual responsibility, an example of love of others. If we show the opposite, we will pay heavily: our society will suffer, and the world will not forgive us for our bad example.
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