Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the culture of consumption?“

The culture of consumption is first and foremost in the human mind, that we do not care about what is going on as long as we get what we think is good right now.

We need to understand that our desires, thoughts and intentions—our attitudes toward the still, vegetative, animate and especially the human levels of nature—need to be balanced, positive and benevolent. Therefore, our culture of consumption needs to be stopped, and we need to be given the required tools so that we would be able to understand how to relate to our decisions at any given moment.

We do so by taking other people and nature’s forces into consideration. Accordingly, we would take only our life’s essentials from nature, similarly to animals, which do not harm nature.

However, since we are people and not animals, then we need to understand that we are the worst part of nature, that we are all on this planet together, and we thus need to be concerned about how to restore its balance.

We should thus seek out how to become concerned about our environment, so that it vitalizes us and so that we do not destroy it. We lack only this concern. We can bring ourselves to a state where we will start caring, but it will already be too late because there is inertia in nature until we correct something, until it grows and restores itself.

Several researchers have pointed to our consumption culture as the major factor that requires changing in order to deal with climate change. Indeed, if we correct this corrupt aspect of our lives, then we would bring about newfound harmony and balance throughout the still, vegetative, animate and human levels of nature, and our planet would prosper. By undergoing such a change, we would see how everything in nature falls into its right place. We need to begin this change, and we begin it in our hearts.

Based on the video “How Consumption Culture Affects the Climate Crisis… and What We Can Do About It” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Juli Kosolapova on Unsplash

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The instrument of perception of reality is the person himself. Therefore, as long as we are imprisoned in this device, in this person, we cannot do anything. We must always attribute the additional condition that everything is attained relative to us.

All the huge processes that we study by looking at the universe, micro or macrocosm, we explore relative to ourselves. And with respect to other creations, unearthly beings, they would unfold in a completely different way.

Does the anti-world exist? Yes, it exists! And in it, there are creations who in correspondence with it perceive everything in a completely different way. And there can be an infinite number of such anti-worlds.

That is why, I hope that with time science will come to the right conclusions. Scientists have accumulated enough data to come to the realization of limitations. We are people, we feel only in ourselves, relative to ourselves, and according to how we are created, we cannot feel otherwise. Let’s assume that in this place where we now exist, there are a huge number of other universes, states, dimensions, beings, and creations.

Meaning that place, space, and time is all conditional. Therefore, Kabbalah says: “Until we will not go beyond our limitations, let’s use ordinary science and not get confused.” This is because we assume that this is all there is. And what does “everything that is” mean? It means that what we perceive exists and there can’t be anything else.

We can advance further, but still, only based on the instrument that I myself am, and we limit ourselves by this.

Kabbalah is the science of receiving, the science of perceiving the universe, and not only ours, but in general everything that exists, regardless of our body. We have to get out of it. Such a possibility exists. We have to investigate it: its limitations, boundaries, nature, perception, and its method of attainment and awareness.

At the same time, we will begin to comprehend how we can perceive everything that exists in a different way. And then we will achieve a true view of the world.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Will of the Universe” 28/11/10

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Question: Isn’t the current way of upbringing a theater of the absurd? We study a variety of subjects, the laws of mathematics, physics, and chemistry. And we are not taught who, for what, from where or why we are.

Answer: Obviously, and who can teach this? You can demand anything from teachers, but they weren’t taught this either. They don’t even know what to tell the children.

​​And children have a greater desire, a greater potential request than their parents. Who will tell them about it? After all, the parents also do not know anything about it; they are at a loss.

Parents today are unable to keep their child close to them. They can’t say anything. They have nothing to give! The child has such requests! Does anything change from the fact that the father knows higher mathematics or physics and the mother knows biology, gynecology or something else? Children don’t need this. They need to know the meaning of life!

But parents don’t know about it. Therefore, children look at them like they are dinosaurs living an animalistic life, doing household chores. “Well, go ahead. Just give me something to eat, you can’t fill me up with anything else anyway. Leave me alone!” That’s what a child demands from his parents. And he is right.

It’s the same at school. What can teachers give them if children have completely different demands? They don’t want knowledge in order to learn how to make money. First of all, they want to reach their I.

They unconsciously have such an inner need and feel that they cannot fill it, they kill themselves with drugs, parties, gatherings and even computer games in which they forget themselves, a different atmosphere that they create for themselves that helps them play.

They continue their childish game, because if you take an adult look at the world, this world is empty. It’s better to go back to the children’s community and stay there. This is what remains with them. Therefore they are immersed in computers, in something virtual, as disconnected from life as possible in order to deal less with the outside world.

Question: Does their internal request take on such negative external forms?

Answer: I don’t consider them negative. As a result, these requests will find their way out, their solution. They will break through the shell of misunderstanding, ignorance, and rejection, like an abscess. And people will find the answer that there is a method that allows you to see what you want.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up, Theater of the Absurd” 7/18/10

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Question: Kabbalists talk about this concept of building a society where everyone is united. How do they envision it?

Answer: First of all, we must fully recognize the evil of egoism. But once we realize this, what then?

Let’s say I understand that there is nothing in the world but evil. Can I replace it with an opposite quality?! After all, there is either a force of attraction or a force of repulsion. We are either giving or receiving. Can I work in a mode of giving instead of receiving? No this is our nature.

But it turns out that there is a force in nature that can change us into the opposite and simply transform us. Today I work only in the receiving mode: where, what, and how to receive. Not to mention, I want to do it more comfortably, more cheaply, with less effort and while giving less and receiving more because this is the formula for my whole life and my activity at every level: physiological, mental, spiritual, whatever.

Can I really change myself? Yes. There is a force in nature that created egoism. It can have such an effect on us that it will change us toward the opposite direction. And suddenly, instead of always acting according to the formula “give less and take more,” we will begin to live according to another formula: “The connection between us is the most important thing and it determines all my actions.”

That is, my actions will be aimed at being as connected as possible with others, not receiving for myself, and uniting with everyone. At the same time, I will discover myself and the whole of nature as one single entity. And if this single whole is not connected together, then it will become more and more destructive and eventually destroy me just like cancer destroys the body.

If I understand this clearly, I will have no option but to find a way to change myself and connect with others. Now, when we are approaching a global catastrophe and because the whole world is externally connected and everyone depends on each other, we are simply obliged to do this.

And here Kabbalah becomes revealed, saying: “There is such a force in nature. This is the same force that created your egoism and keeps influencing it. It can affect your ego and make such an inversion instantly. If you understand that you have to be interconnected with others through good connections, this force will do all the work for you. How? Here’s a methodology for you.”

Then we will really be able to change the nature of man. Not ourselves or any political dictatorships, but the force that we invoke. We see this in the example of the Kabbalists who have been putting this into practice for many generations.

Today we are approaching a state where it can be done by all of humanity. And In this lies our bright future.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Gene of Altruism” 9/19/10

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Question: Where is the line when a person acquires freedom from death or rather, freedom from this concept?

Answer: A person gains freedom from death as soon as he begins to feel the upper world. Therefore, it is written on the tablets of the covenant: “Herut” – “Freedom.”

It means freedom from the angel of death. It is said about this: “Behold, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil… choose life.” Moreover, this is not life when you simply exist, but spiritual life that you can reach now and rise above it. Essentially, “Choose immortality.”

Comment: Many have tried to seek this immortality. Today scientists are also trying to find this “I” that perceives reality. They have already explored everything they can, and they say: “We do not find this in the brain.” Moreover, we do not perceive this reality through the eyes. There is a kind of screen at the back of our brain that reflects what is inside of us.

Kabbalists spoke and wrote about this many centuries ago.

My Response: Kabbalists saw it, revealed it, and felt it. Scientists just presume. They clearly do not realize that the world we see before us is inside us. They just guess that it must be so, that our eyes do not see what is happening outside. In general, the eyes are not an organ of vision.

The organ of vision is our brain. The eyes are a lens that turns what is inside us outward. Therefore, for the time being, we can explain existence only in this way.

Nevertheless, we will come to a state when we discover that Kabbalah is vital for us, because without a correct view of life, without real attainment of the universe, we simply cannot exist, we get lost in this. We have developed so much and went so deep into matter that we got lost in this forest. What to do next, we do not know. In any area!

We suddenly find ourselves so lost, small, and dependent entirely on nature. We ask, “What is next for us?” Here Kabbalah is revealed.

I think that people will begin to accept it correctly, as a science of an integral single universe and most importantly, as a science that takes us to an eternal, perfect level of existence.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Beyond the Last Line” 5/3/10

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Question: Why do Christians determine their holidays according to the solar calendar and Muslims according to the lunar calendar?

Answer: Because the sun and the moon are two forces that exist in nature and they affect us.

The sun gives us everything, it gives us life. This is a very clear force. Therefore, all Christian holidays and calendars work under the sun. And for Muslims, as well as for Jews, the calendar countdown is determined relative to the moon. The lunar month begins with the new moon.

By the way, the months specified in the Christian calendar come from ancient Rome and have the ancient Roman names July, August, etc., while the Jews have different names.

Jews take their calendar from the middle line, because there are three lines in the governance of our nature. Two lines descend from top to bottom: solar (left line, Christianity) and lunar (right line, Islam).

And since the Jews have a tendency to imitate the upper power, they were guided by Kabbalah, according to which they took an alternate, solar-lunar calendar. Therefore, on the one hand, they have a very complex calculation system, but, on the other hand, it is the most universal.

Imagine a calendar created two and a half thousand years ago. Up to today, it has been smoothly carried out without any problems. We know the revolutions of the sun, the revolutions of the moon and its phases. We know in advance when there will be leap years, 17^th anniversaries, 28^th anniversaries, 50^th anniversaries; there are such periods. And all this comes from the first day of creation, when the first man, Adam, revealed the upper power for himself.

Since then, we have absolutely clearly known any date in history: on what day of the week it happened, in what year, and so on. But there is a correspondence between our central calendar and the Muslim and Christian ones, since it includes both of them and combined them together in a special middle line.

Therefore, the hours in it are calculated as in the Muslim calendar, meaning the period of darkness is divided by 12, resulting in arbitrary night hours. For example, an hour in the Muslim calendar can last 50 minutes, and in the Christian, 45 minutes. The Christian calendar simply beats time: the twenty-four hour period is divided into 24 equal parts. And for Jews and Muslims, it is divided into 12 day and 12 night parts. The winter hour is long, and the summer night hour is short. It’s more like a sundial. There are a lot of interesting things in this.

But the most important thing is that in the Jewish calendar everything is clearly carried out and known in advance. We don’t need to calculate anything. For example, in the Muslim calendar, holidays can float: one year they fall on summer and another year on winter. In Christianity, too, because it is linked only to the sun. And in the Jewish calendar it always works precisely because we exist simultaneously influenced by the sun and the moon, which symbolize two lines.
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From KabTV’s “Close up. Formula of the Creator” 7/18/10

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Question: You say that science is in crisis, that it has reached a dead-end beyond which it cannot reveal anything. Are there people who have come through this dead end?

Answer: To do this, we need to change our qualities. That is, a person, as a instrument, has exhausted himself in this.

He has exhausted his feelings and his mind because he feeds only in egoism. Our desire is the matter in which we receive, feel, study, and investigate. In other words, our matter is our desire, which has now reached the threshold of its growth and has reached its limit.

Therefore, science stops just as everything in our world begins to slowly stop. We have nowhere else to go. We have no such desires, no vision ahead of where to go, why, and what for. We are at a stage where scientists feel this and very widely so.

The essence of a person is a desire. Today it stops us. In doing so, it challenges us to somehow take it to the next level.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says that you just need to move into a new system of perception. When we perceive in our desire everything that falls into it, we measure, study, investigate, and then, proceeding from this, we build our science, our attitude to life, and our life.

Instead, we need to learn to perceive the other way around, not in the system of reception, but in the system of bestowal, when you get out of yourself and feel the world that exists outside of you, undisturbed by you.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. The Will of the Universe” 28/11/10

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Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Vol. 1, Part 1, “Inner Transformation,” Chapter 6, Item 26

Selected Highlights

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Question: What does Holocaust Remembrance Day mean to you personally?

Answer: It is the fact that we still need to remember the Holocaust of European Jewry in addition to all the huge tragedies that the Jewish people have experienced in their long history. This was a mass extermination of Jews in the modern world, in the modern era. No one anticipated that this was possible. Even today it is somehow hard to believe that this could have happened.

Yet it is what happened, and I have no doubt that it could happen today too. It could happen exactly as it did 70 years ago.

Question: This sounds quite scary. Didn’t history teach us anything?

Answer: No, nothing has changed. People have absolutely not changed. And they will quickly build all those concentration camps.

Question: Why have we evoked and still evoke hatred upon us?

Answer: This is a question. Because this is what we are. Because we do not want to change ourselves and thus do not want to change history. Until we change, the world will not change.

Comment: But the world did not say: “You have to change.” The world simply destroyed Jews and hate them.

My Response: Man appeared in this world in order to change and to accordingly force the world to change. If man does not change, the world practically remains the same. That is, it changes, but it changes at a very slow pace.

Man is born to change, to become an altruist, to be closer to others, to unite, and to show others that this is the way to live.

If Jews do not do it despite the fact that they are obligated to, then the entire world does not do it with them. Then we have a completely new picture of the world. That is, instead of moving forward at a certain speed, the world is slowing down. This slowing down causes such excesses.

Question: Are you saying that the world implicitly, subconsciously feels the guilt of the Jews for the world not changing, not getting happier, and that the Jews are to blame for this?

Answer: The Jews are to blame for this, and all the nations of the world feel it.

Question: What does “feel” mean? They “feel” sounds very mystical. After all, they do not say: “You have to change.”

Answer: Why don’t they say it? Ask people! Ask regular, educated people of our time: Europeans, Americans, they will tell you. It is because they are in contact with Jews.

Comment: Most of the time people say something like this about Jews: “They are bankers, they own all the capital of the world, they run the world. This is why we do not like them, why we hate them,” and so on. “They are the chosen ones;” the chosen ones imply that they are special. This is what they say about Jews.

How did it then pass over to ordinary Jews who are not such leaders of the world? 6,000,000 Jews were exterminated; this did not simply happen! 6.000,000! Children and women.

My Response: Hatred of Jews is absolutely in everyone. It is inside people subconsciously because there is a root in these people aimed at changing the world.

This root is anti-egoistic. It forces people to change, so Jews are slightly different. An ordinary person who has special intuition feels in a person if he is a Jew or not a Jew.

Question: Is it because, as you say, there is some special point in a Jew?

Answer: A special point that encourages him to change nature.

Question: Does humanity need this, precisely this, point?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Is this point contagious? Can it pass on to others?

Answer: Yes.

Comment: So, we were born with this point and are forced to travel the world.

My Response: You cannot get away from it, you must implement it.

Question: Does it mean that the closer the world comes to a dead end with all the hatred, with wars, the more it will turn to Jews and with even more anti-Semitism? Will it be even bigger than it was during the Second World War?

Answer: Of course! It will hate them to the measure that is necessary to change the world, but the world will not be changing.

Comment: I have been to Auschwitz and Dachau, I have traveled through these concentration camps, shot many movies there. I had a feeling that humanity would never come to this again. Never!

My Response: Easy! Any person can be persuaded in a second and be made such an anti-Semite that he himself will be the first to kill.

We have a responsibility to figure out why this is so and the responsibility to reveal to the world the reason for it hating us and not to dismiss it as all fiction. It actually exists, it is in nature, and that is why it will not disappear, and it does not depend on education or on intellect or on anything else.

On the contrary, the more intelligent a person is, the more educated he is, the more willing he is to reveal this reason: what is the difference between him and a Jew. In principle, once he understands this, he is very dissatisfied with it and is ready to really remove them all and remove them from the world altogether!

Once we come to a state that the world discovers that we are obligated to change from egoism to altruism, from hatred to love, which is very difficult to do, then can you imagine what kind of attitude will arise toward Jews? It is better not to talk about it in advance.

Now we are beginning to enter this transition period. And we want to start revealing it right now.

We, our organization, want to start revealing it now so that we can show everyone that it is possible. It is difficult, but it is possible to move into a completely different state of matter, one might say, from hatred to love.

Question: So are you saying that if the world starts to slowly understand this, then the pressure on the Jews will increase even more and more?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Are we thereby now directing the world toward the Jews?

Answer: Of course. We are saying: “Let’s help.” Because we all have to come to this stage of rising above egoism.

This stage of rising above egoism is now beginning to grow in the world. We must help it grow, like we grow crops in the field by watering, fertilizing, weeding, and so on.

We must help the entire world! This is called “to be a light upon the nations.”

The world will thereby come closer to this. However, when it gets closer to this, the world will have questions: what for, why, and how? That is, we will have to be able to explain it to the world.

Then we will have to draw the nations of the world after us to this state, to change from egoism to altruism. They will not go through the same states of ascents and descents as we do.

However, they will have to get tied to us and move forward with us. This is where the main moment of leaving Egypt is displayed, when we are in the form of Moses who goes ahead and all the nations of the world behind him. Here all the nations of the world rise from the egoistic level to the altruistic one.

This is called the time of the building of the Third Temple.

Comment: It sounds offensive to the nations of the world that we, Moses, we are leading.

My Response: Let them take this problem from us. I am ready to follow them.

Question: As long as they would lead to the right place? Will we then not be waiting for the next Holocaust that may happen? Are we then already bypassing it?

Answer: Yes. Here again everything depends on us.

Comment: How much responsibility is piled on us! There is no chance to live peacefully.

My response: There is nothing scary here if we agree to do everything so that the Creator would do everything through us. Does He need representatives in this world? Let him do it through me, I agree. That is all.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/25/22

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