Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is there anything which is more important than love?“

Love is simultaneously life’s most elusive and most important quality.

It is the source of life.

Without love, there is no life. Without connection, there is no creation.

But we should be careful to understand what love truly means: Love means love of the other, without involving oneself in the relationship.

But how can we love anyone or anything regardless of ourselves? What does it give us? What does love project onto us? Why would we love?

We accumulate countless positive and negative experiences in our lives with their numerous insights, so it sounds strange that love is all that remains.

But it is truly so because there is nothing stronger than love.

Based on the video “Why Is Love Most Important in Life?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Sometimes it is said that Pharaoh is smart and cunning, and sometimes it is written that he is stupid. What is he really like?

Answer: Pharaoh is the nature of the whole world, and not only ours but all the worlds. It is a desire that needs to be corrected and will then be in a state of complete adhesion with the Creator.

Question: Why is it said that he is stupid and old?

Answer: This is said in relation to the attainments of man. He is stupid because he does not have his own knowledge, his own fulfillment, and his own power. And everything that comes to him comes from the quality of bestowal.

But teaching the desire to receive, which the Creator created, the qualities of bestowal and the qualities of receiving is the Pharaoh’s mission, his work. Everything we have comes from Pharaoh. The light of the Creator passes through Pharaoh, builds the entire universe, performs all actions. But it is by passing through the system called Pharaoh.

So, do not neglect Pharaoh. Scientifically speaking, Pharaoh is the matter of the whole egoistic world.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 4/14/22

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Comment: Passover is a great celebration of getting out of Egyptian slavery. It is celebrated by almost the whole country and all the Jews in the world.

This, of course, is also a family holiday; everyone gathers for a festive meal and everyone looks forward to it.
For those who are engaged in Kabbalah, Passover means that a person understands that he is in slavery, in his egoism, and he escapes from it.

My Response: Running from it is also not exactly running, because in Egypt—there was everything!

Everything that you can imagine that communism is in this world—it was there. Basically, they had everything arranged, the best lands, and just everything you want. And ahead, a dead desert, a dead sea, everything dead, everything is full of uncertainty. Nothing good! So, where is the Egyptian captivity and where are we going? That is the question.

All the work in Egypt is in order to depict that the whole desert is paradise. And everything in Egypt—everything good, you have absolutely everything you want—is really hell. Egypt is an egoistic fulfillment, and even more, everything you want.

It is about each of us. This is our Egypt. Everything is good in it, there is everything. All the pleasures of this world in all their details, in all their variations, please, take it.

No one wants to get out of there. Everyone, in general, is enjoying it. The only one who feels bad is the one who is not like them and who wants to get people out of there.

And who wants to pull them out? Moses. So, what good did he do? Because centuries after that, we only feel bad. There is nothing better than Egypt!

Comment: But it is said that we were slaves in Egypt.

My Response: Slaves, meaning that we were in our egoism, but we completely got everything we wanted.

Question: So why does a person suddenly want to get out of this fairy tale?

Answer: That is how he is built—man.

Question: Why does he suddenly hear Moses? Instead of listening, for example, to Pharaoh, who says: “Stay, I will provide you with everything, everything will be fine.” And Moses says: “We will go into the unknown, into the desert. Follow me.” Why did they follow him?

Answer: Apparently, Moses told the Creator that something should be done with them so that they would want to leave. Moses agreed with Pharaoh and with the Creator that there would be Egyptian plagues that would sweep through the Jews and from which they would want to escape. But if they had not been there, these plagues, they would not have run anywhere. And if they did not want to run, there would be no plagues.

Question: So, after all, the egg was first? At first they wanted to escape in some way?

Answer: I think it was Moses who agreed with the Creator: “Let’s arrange it so that they would want to follow me after all.”

Question: But still, you said that it was bad for Jews there because of these ten plagues. It was not easy for the Egyptians there either. It is written that the Egyptians suffered the most.

How is there to understand that the Egyptians suffered from ten Egyptian plagues?

Answer: It is the egoism of a person who wants to be freed. That is, to be subordinate without knowing to whom and how. But the main thing is to break out of this communism that has everything. Absolutely everything is in excess.

Question: And the Egyptians, it is this communism that exists inside us—precisely this egoism? They want to keep us and ask: “Why are you running from here? You feel so good here.” Something like this?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What is this Passover holiday for the world? The Jews celebrate it corporeally, Israel celebrates it. But what is this holiday for the world?

Answer: It means liberation from Egyptian captivity, it is liberation from egoism, it is liberation of man from himself. I want to be controlled not by an egoistic quality that wants to acquire everything, to be filled with everything and only thinks about that—but to be controlled by an altruistic quality, when I want to connect with others, to fill others and not myself. That is the desire that arises. That is Moses in us.

And we become Jews when we hear Moses, when Moses is in us. And if not, then we are those same Egyptians.

Question: So we can say that there are only two nations in the world. In the spiritual world, there are two nations?

Answer: Yes. Either you are an Egyptian or you are Israeli. And there is nothing in the middle.

The Israelite is directed to the Creator, Yashar–El, straight to the Creator. And the Egyptian is directed toward himself.

Question: When you say that this celebration is for the world, the world must decide who it is today?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: And today, it is such a critical moment that this really should be resolved.

My Response: We do not even realize it yet. And the world does not realize where it is being led. It does not realize it at all!

Question: But can we say that Egyptian plagues are taking place around the world now?

Answer: Yes! Absolutely. There is such a wave all over the world.

Question: But maybe the world will still understand that it is necessary to escape?

Answer: It all depends on us how we show the world this path, the path of development, the path of connection, what lies ahead, what to strive for. Can we do it?

Comment: Do we have to present it so that it is pleasant, sweet, joyful for a person?

Answer: Sweet, pleasant, and necessary! It should not attract him because it is sweet. In Egypt as well, no one sees that it is sweet there.

But there is sweetness in freedom from egoism; that is, the feeling of slavery in Egypt is opposed to freedom from egoism outside Egypt. And a person must grow internally so much that this difference between the two states simply pulls him forward.

Question: So, today more than ever the world should hear that it is necessary to get out of egoism, out of Egypt?

Answer: Yes. We are stuck!

Question: It turns out that we got delayed a little bit in Egypt. And such things are happening now that push us out. Don’t we feel that we need to get out of it?

Answer: But we must set a course, we must understand, we must strive, we must pull everyone with us.

Question: When you say “we,” who do you mean?

Answer: I mean first of all those people who can understand and realize this, people who are striving forward, Yashar-El, Israel. And everyone else will follow them.

Question: It isn’t necessarily the Jews that are straight to the Creator?

Answer: The main mass, the initial mass are Jews, those who have already experienced, in the past, in their roots, a state of escaping egoism. And the rest will join Israel. There is absolutely no question about it. The whole point is to raise the Jews.

Question: What is your prayer today?

Answer: My prayer today is to fulfill the role of Moses. To pull out this head-part of all mankind called Israel, aspiring to the Creator, which in potential can aspire to the Creator. To pull it out of such a somnambulistic state and begin to excite them so that they themselves at least somehow make an effort, are concerned, and rise forward to the exit.

Question: In order for at least a thought to arise that it is necessary to get out of egoism? But first of all, you always say that egoism is bad. Or not?

Answer: Egoism is bad depending on how you measure it, weigh it, look at it, feel it, smell it, and taste it. But in fact, egoism is all that gives you taste, life.

And altruism, freedom, what is it? You go out into the field, and you do not know what, what for, why.

Moses, in principle, is not one person but a whole group of people who understand that the future lies in this—in getting out of egoism. How do we get out of it? We need to study this and start applying it among us. And every time we take every step, it is done again out of the darkness when we do not seem to feel any draw in egoism, we start trying to get out of it and find that it holds us by all the feelings, by everything! And you cannot escape from it anywhere.

And then just stick together and cry out.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/7/22

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Comment: In the US, psychologist Viktor Frankl’s works are very popular and a common theme of his is that one should approach the question of the meaning of life as though it is addressed specifically to him. In this, Frankl completely contradicts Sigmund Freud who believed that if a person wonders about the meaning of life, it is a sign of mental illness.

However, Frankl notes that it is impossible to inquire about the meaning of life on a global scale since each person has his own meaning of life.

My Response: What does “one’s own meaning of life” mean? We are all products of the same nature and are all born with certain inclinations that can be divided into groups and systematized.

There is nothing special about any of us. Do not paint each person as someone unpredictable or as some special individual. Everything is predictable and predetermined. We study genes, hormones, and see how twins living in different places do the same things, marry similar women, call children the same names, etc. Therefore, everything is predictable and we can research it all.

Frankl is wrong. What does he base the meaning of life on? If everyone has their own meaning of life, then there is no such meaning at all. Everyone can decide based on their life experience that: “I live for this. Meanwhile another lives for that.”

If the meaning of your life lies within the corporeal reality, then you act according to Freud without going beyond his theory. If you are looking for the meaning of life beyond life, then how can one actually look for it outside of it? By imagining something? Then everyone will come up with their own religion, beliefs, and everything else. Nothing will come of this either because all of these are human fantasies and none of it can be proven.

But if you have to reveal that world as clearly as this one, then you will know the meaning of life. And once you do, you’ll see that just as in our world where everything is predictable, everything goes according to plan, one has a job, spins, expresses himself according to some venues set for him, and so at the next stage, beyond physical existence, we also advance according to certain laws. And these laws are the laws of nature and they cannot be denied.

Question: So the meaning of life is the same for everyone?

Answer: The meaning of life is the same for everyone. Mind you, the meaning of our present existence is revealed only in the spiritual world and it does not exist in this life.

If we focus on our corporeal life, this leads us away from true meaning and represents only a small phase. As it is written: “do not show half the work to a fool.” Therefore, if we see only half of the way, then we cannot know what follows. It seems to us that life either does not make sense or it is best to focus on this current phase and create our own meaning.

So, both the approach of Sigmund Freud and the approach of Viktor Frankl are utterly incomplete because they do not clearly reveal the next degree of our existence.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Is Frankl right?” 8/8/10

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Where will this path of consumerism lead us as a futuristic, global society?“

As a consumerist society, we are headed to a state where we will see that humanity becomes increasingly devoid of meaning.

We do not need over 90 percent of what we keep ourselves busy with. All the while, nature also lets us know that its resources are limited.

We will come to realize that we are done with consumerism, and that we need to rise to new and completely different values.

We need to reach a state where our entire range of desires to receive—food, sex, family, money, honor, control and knowledge—will invert their direction from reception to bestowal, to giving. We will then feel how our fulfillment changes at its essence.

Based on the video “Where Are We Headed?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash.

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Foreword to The Book of Zohar“

Selected Highlights

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The revelation of Reshimot is accompanied by unpleasant sensations because they reveal our shortcomings. But at the same time, they show us the conditions for clarifying true needs. The growth of the global desire to enjoy and the revelation of the Reshimot from the shattering are the main factors of our awakening.

They awaken all of humanity. Look what huge steps humanity is taking now toward new states. Soon we will see drastic changes in which a clear focus and the right setting for connection, rapprochement, rational consumption, and correction will be clearly noticeable. Otherwise, we simply cannot survive.

The whole of humanity will begin to feel this pressure due to such simple things as problems with oil that are emerging today and with providing energy. Soon there may be a shortage of food, hunger, severe drought, or a new pandemic. So we will find out that we are in one system, we depend on each other, and we must realize this dependence.

And the main thing is to understand that only our connection can generate a force that will affect all negative phenomena and turn them into positive ones. In this way, the virus will oblige us all to look for a cure due to which we will get closer, unite, and thus get closer to connection, to the goal of creation.

It turns out that no phenomenon is revealed to our detriment, but every event, every moment, and every day brings us closer to correction. Therefore, it is necessary to enjoy your life and try to actively engage in this process. The correction of the world depends only on the good connection between us.
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From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/10/22,  Baal HaSulam, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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Michael Laitman, On The Times of Israel: “The Root of Israel’s Political Chaos”

The past several years have seen a growing political chaos in Israel. Four elections in just two years are too much for any country. But even after the fourth election, there is no stable government, it is torn from within, threatened from without, and the prevailing sentiment is that everyone disagrees with everyone else and detests everyone else. There is only one solution to the impasse: stop imposing incompatible modes of government that are good for other nations, but not for Israel, and adapt the political system that suits the nature of the people.

Israel’s multiple-party political system is not the right structure for the people of Israel. We have always had multiple opinions in the nation; it is in our nature to disagree, and we laugh at ourselves that between every two Jews you will find three opinions. However, the DNA of our people is to unite above these divisions and use the tensions they create to form a bond that is stronger than any bond can form.

This mode of work is the reason behind King Solomon’s verse (Prov. 10:12), “Hate stirs up strife, and love will cover all crimes.” This approach is also behind many other texts that our sages and thinkers have written throughout history.

In Education and World, Martin Buber wrote, “We are demanded ‎not to blur the boundaries between the fellowships, but rather recognize the common ‎reality and sharing of the test of mutual responsibility. The separation of the hearts is an ‎illness that afflicts the nations of our time … there is no cure for this except for people from different circles of views ‎who need each other with a pure heart to exert together to reveal the common basis.”

In a similar spirit, the book Likutey Halachot states, “The vitality and sustenance and correction of the whole of creation is by people of ‎differing views becoming included together in love, unity, and peace.” The book Assorted Counsels elaborates even more: “The essence of peace is to connect two opposites. Hence, do not be alarmed if you see ‎a person whose opinion is completely opposite from yours and you think that you will ‎never be able to make peace with him. Or, when you see two people who are completely ‎opposite to each other, do not say it is impossible to make peace between them. On the ‎contrary, the essence of peace is to try to make peace between two opposites.”

In other words, the correct way for our people to work is to have multiple opinions within the same party, the same governing body, but at the same time understand that no single view is right, and only a decision reached when people unite after their differences have been revealed is correct because it has emerged from the point of unity that is above any personal opinion.

Only if Israel works in this way will it have a solid government and a nation that stands behind it. Moreover, when Israel governs itself in this way, it will have the world’s support, contrary to the current situation where the world can barely keep from telling us outright to get out of the land it granted us on November 29, 1947.

While it may seem impossible to find unity above our differences, we must remember that we are not doing this for ourselves, but for the world. This will be the fuel that can give us the sufficient impetus to carry out this seemingly impossible task.

Our sages have taught us that if we unite among ourselves, we unite the world. Accordingly, The Book of Zohar writes (Aharei Mot), “‘How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to also dwell together.’ These are the friends, ‎as they sit together inseparably. At first, they seem like people at war, wishing to kill one another. Then ‎they return to being in brotherly love.‎ …And you, the friends who are here, as you were in fondness and love before, you will not part henceforth … and by your merit there will be peace ‎in the world.”‎

Echoing it, Raaiah Kook wrote, “If we were ruined and the world was ruined with us through unfounded hatred, we will be rebuilt and the world will be rebuilt with us through unfounded love.”

Therefore, in times of great division and dislike, it is our duty more than ever to unite above our differences and set an example of unity. This is the only remedy to our inability to establish a solid government, a solid society, and a peaceful life.
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Filed under: Israel, Israel Today, New Publications, Unity | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Medium published my new article “Disinformation Czar — a Risky Gambit”

A couple of weeks ago, the Biden administration announced the establishment of the Disinformation Governance Board, headed by Nina Jankowicz, who became known as the “Disinformation Czar.” Officially, the board, which reports to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is only an advisory body. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, said that the board will “ensure that the way in which we address threats, the connectivity between threats and acts of violence are addressed without infringing on free speech — protecting civil rights and civil liberties, the right of privacy.”

However, a few days ago, the new czar, Mrs. Jankowicz, stated how the board will actually work, and it does not sound very promising for civil liberties. Explaining to listeners in a Zoom conversation who will determine what is disinformation and what is not, she said, “I am eligible for it because I’m verified, but there are a lot of people who shouldn’t be verified, who aren’t, you know, legit, in my opinion. I mean, they are real people, but they’re not trustworthy. Anyway, so verified people can essentially start to edit twitter, the same sort of way that Wikipedia is, so they can add context to certain tweets.” Following her explanation, she gave an example of a known personality tweeting something that “verified people” think is disinformation, so they will “add context” to that person’s tweet.

In describing the tempest over the DHS announcement, The Washington Post wrote, “Amid growing anti-censorship fervor on the right, a bevy of Republicans have suggested that the initiative amounts to policing speech. Elon Musk declared it ‘messed up.’ Many on the right likened it to the Ministry of Truth from George Orwell’s book ‘1984.’”

In my opinion, it is indeed a risky gambit that the US government is taking. The First Amendment, which focuses on the right to express opinions freely, is at the core of American democracy. If it fails, if people cannot express themselves, if their mouths are shut or the words changed, it is a recipe for chaos.

Especially after the two recent elections, critical voices have expressed concern about the integrity of American democracy. Even so, until now, it has been safe to voice these concerns, even if you were banned from expressing them on certain platforms.

Changing people’s own words “to give them context” is a completely different story. It is silencing them, manipulating and warping their words to say what they did not intend to say, and denying them even the ability to protest, since it is done in order to prevent disinformation.

This is complete denial of freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It is a complete abrogation of the First Amendment. As history has shown, when people feel that they have no alternative, they often resort to violence. If America has come to that, then I am genuinely worried that this could be the place where a civil war begins.
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