Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does God exist? Can you explain why God may or may not exist?“

Subconsciously, we want God to exist. It is a natural instinctive response to uncertainty. But outside of our desire for God to exist, how can we find out if God really exists or not?

The wisdom of Kabbalah is a methodology for discovering a perception and sensation of God, which is also called “the Creator,” “Nature,” and various other names.

When we embark on the journey to discover the Creator, we start understanding how the myriad ways of believing in God without attaining revelation are no more than psychology.

Therefore, does God exist if we do not clearly perceive or sense Him?

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the Creator is hidden from us and is attainable, but we cannot attain the Creator through our corporeal senses, intellect and emotion. Therefore, any beliefs in the Creator without attainment are no more than inferences and guesses.

The Kabbalistic approach to the Creator is written in the sources as follows: “A judge has only what his eyes see.” By developing our perception of reality according to the method of Kabbalah, we come to attain a new sense through which we can perceive a new reality, one in which we clearly see and feel the presence of the Creator. Until we reach such attainment, however, we cannot say that the Creator exists, because we have not attained that existence.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Yuval Noah Harari’s book 21 Lessons for the 21st Century talks about the challenges that humanity will face in the coming years.

Which he describes as mass unemployment, technological, political, and environmental challenges, nuclear weapons, a change of values, an era of disbelief or an epoch of post-truth, mass wars, a change in education, and constant disorientation in the future.

The author believes that former beliefs, on which the world was held until recently, have already collapsed, but nothing has yet come to replace them. We do not understand where to move, what to do, what skills to acquire. Where can this lead?

Answer: I do not consider these challenges a direct threat to humanity since it faces a more serious common goal: to rise above our nature that is constantly destroying us.

In the 20th century, we went through all sorts of technical and technological revolutions and two world wars, but this does not save us. We have reached computerization and technological breakthroughs, but even this is harmful to us. We see that our egoism is simply killing humanity, raising new elites, and they, like a hydra, devour everything around.

Therefore, we must look at the root of the problem. We can change social, political, no matter what, technologies a thousand times, but after a certain hope for some kind of “panacea,” we again find ourselves as losers because our egoism, like a “snake,” conquers everything and leaves us with nothing…

Therefore, all technologies and advances in any area will still lead us to disappointment in our development. It seemed that we could make humanity happy, worthy of the fruits of our development, but we see that, on the contrary, it feels itself falling ever deeper, hungry, unjustly dismantled into countries, nations, and classes. As a result, we again find ourselves in front of a large disillusion.

Therefore, we need to take our main goal, the egoistic nature of man, and see how we can correct it. Without this, all the principles or causes of our misfortunes will lead to nothing. We need to look exactly at the root.
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From the conversation on the topic “Challenges of the XXI century. Introduction” 4/24/19

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Comment: 2020 stopped production, which resulted in a depression, led to poverty, destroyed entire industries, broke families, and ruined governments. “We have all failed,” says the UN.

On the other hand, forecasts for 2021 say it will be much worse. The virus will be scarier. We will be vaccinated every year or every six months, and so on. There are many dire predictions. And here a man stands between these problems and does not know what to do. He’s like a paralyzed person.

And they also say: “You look at 2020, and it will seem like a fairy tale to you.”
How should an ordinary person behave between these fires?

My Response: A person should still ask himself: “Why is this happening in the world? Can I do something about it?”

Now we can somehow answer this. We still need to correlate our life with what is happening,  why have such viruses suddenly crept out. If we were killed by a nuclear war, that would be another matter, everyone would understand. And why did some strange virus suddenly appear? Tomorrow may bring another one, then a third, and so on. Where can we go from there?

Comment: A nuclear war is understandable: Here is the enemy and he is dropping a bomb on you, or you are dropping it. And then someone invisible…

My Response: Nature.

Question: And how can we talk to nature? How does one enter into a dialogue with it, say: “Don’t touch me.” Or: “Why are you touching me?”

Answer: We do not approach nature, we do not approach it. We are constantly in opposition to nature. All nature is integral, global, everything is interconnected in it, and humanity, on the contrary, builds a system that is opposite to nature in everything!

Nature is a living organism in which we also exist as a living organism. And these two living organisms begin to oppose each other because we do not want to recognize ourselves as a part of nature.

We are doing a huge amount of anti-natural actions. We hate others, we dig in the ground and destroy the air, trees, whatever. See what happens every day! We are even told about it, but we cannot contain ourselves.

We subjugate nature in everything and everyone. We are in every way opposed to the integrality of nature and we constantly violate this integrality at all levels and in all possible forms. And that is why nature reacts in this way! This is not some kind of malicious intent in nature.

Comment: But it is attacking us now.

My Response: It is not attacking, but it is protecting itself from its main pest—man.

There is no question of any retribution here. Only a normal reaction of nature. Not some evil intentions. There is no such thing in nature. And there is just a clear reaction. We have reached the point where nature will have to destroy us. We are the only and greatest evil in nature.

Question: So what’s next? What actions should an ordinary person take?

Answer: Stop being opposite to nature. Make it so that you understand what it means to correspond to it, moreover, at the levels of physical, genetic, biological, vegetative, animate, whatever. And most importantly, as a person. With our thoughts, we are directing huge damage to nature. We do not want to be the integral core of all nature. Although we, in general, are the top of it by design.

Question: I am an ordinary person who lived my normal life. Is it enough for me to begin to understand that the world is interconnected?

Answer: I must understand! Otherwise, these pandemics will not end. What does nature teach you? That you are in a huge closed system. In this system, you excite all kinds of negative forces, properties, reactions.

Question: So you won’t get tired of repeating, repeating, and repeating it?

Answer: I have nothing more to say. I speak from a different point of view. What else can I say to humanity? After all, there is no other reason for our constant deterioration of our condition, degradation at all levels. There is no other reason.

We have created a system of our interconnection, the so-called society, which eats itself up.

Question: What decision should an ordinary person make, not the government of the world, not the UN? What do you call him to?

Answer: I think that nothing depends on government here. It depends on the attitude of a person to the world around him—to inanimate, vegetative, animate and human levels of nature. All levels.

We must protect this world. We must, as the most terrible, threatening part of it, bring this world to equilibrium precisely with our correct attitude. Except for us, all of nature, the entire universe is in equilibrium. And we are breaking this balance with our thoughts and actions.

Question: So it is enough for me to at least direct my thought to this?

Answer: And everything else depends on thought. A person does not do anything completely thoughtlessly. If we stop thinking about harming each other, then the world will immediately begin to calm down from this thought.

Most importantly, let’s calm down with our thoughts.
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 2/8/21

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Question: It is written in The Book of Zohar that once Adam tasted the forbidden fruit he must not touch the Tree of Life. Why?

Answer: Because this is the light, which will only make his corrupted state worse, as if you give a baby or an uncorrected person a weapon with which he can harm himself and others.

That is why now it is necessary to make sure that he enters the system of governance, which will force him first to correct himself, then to receive fulfillment in accordance with this and become the recipient of the forces.

Once he realizes what state he is in, he receives the forces for correction, not that he already had them and then received the opportunity to choose how to work with them. First, you need to acquire knowledge, an understanding of where and how you are going, break away from your imaginary perfection, and only then receive the upper light and correct yourself.

This is how we are in our world. Today, humanity still does not reach the upper light. It receives nothing, runs around, and does not know what to do with itself.

However, when it begins coming closer to the understanding that it should rise upward, then to the extent that it has a firm decision to correct itself and rise above its state from egoistic qualities to altruistic qualities, it will receive the force of light. Otherwise, it will only harm itself even more.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #7

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Question: The “Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen,” published in France in the 18^th century, speaks of freedom, equality, and brotherhood.

In the same Declaration it is written: “Don’t do unto others what you don’t want them to do to you. Do to others such good deeds as you would like to see done to yourself.”

Kabbalah also says that it is necessary to unite, to love. Everyone understands this. But how to come to this?

Answer: People perceive it one-sidedly. Regarding myself, of course, I want everyone to treat me as I see fit. Therefore, when they say: “Freedom, equality, brotherhood, and unification”—it seems good, warm, and kind to me.

But if I have to treat others in the same way, i.e., expend effort, energy, thoughts, and worries, then I no longer want this. This is contrary to my nature, absolutely opposite to it. It turns out that we all, of course, want love, but giving love to another is already a problem! This is against us.

Question: If this is against our nature, why do we keep saying all these words? Why are they always on the radar?

Answer: Because, in principle, we want it, but we cannot implement it.

Question: That is, we understand the benefits of such an attitude toward ourselves?

Answer: Of course. But then I have to do the same for others. How can I? I’m not able to! My nature does not allow me to do this.

Comment: So, it turns out that man is an irrational being. The amount of money we spend on weapons instead of improving our lives!

My Response: We all understand this, and there is nothing we can do. This is our egoism. We are created in such a way that we are not able to do good to each other.

Question: And who created us like this?

Answer: Nature, we can say it’s the Creator, it’s the upper force. There is no difference. This is how we evolved by nature.

Question: And what to do with this nature? What does Kabbalah say?

Answer: Kabbalah says that this can be corrected, but only if a person consciously desires it and makes certain efforts. There is a method that will allow him to rise above his egoistic nature and feel others as himself, to the point that he will wish to others what he wishes to himself. Then the world will come to a state of perfection, equality, and brotherhood.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 5/13/19

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Question: According to what you say, a teacher has tools that help him withstand feelings that are multiplied by 620 times. How are these tools acquired?

Answer: The point is that spiritual work is carried out in the property of bestowal, not in the attribute of reception. A kind of amplifier appears in you because you begin to feel everything outside yourself and not inside of you.

You yourself become a sensor. Your whole ego, everything that you once absorbed and felt inside changes from an organ of reception to an organ of sensation.

Imagine your whole body becomes eyes, ears, tactile sensation, organs of taste and smell. You begin to feel through them as one single organ everything that happens around you, outside yourself, at infinite distance and infinite planes.

This is what is referred to by the expression that you begin to feel 620 times more. In fact, it is billions and billions times more than what we feel today. But you have the opportunity to feel and not explode from these sensations because you feel it as love from yourself and not inside of you.

Why does Kabbalah tell a person that he must exit himself? Because what you begin to feel, you cannot absorb. It will simply tear you apart because these sensations are billions of times more powerful than the ones we feel and experience now. Our world is generally considered  non-existent relative to the upper world precisely because of the insignificance of its sensations.

So we must first acquire an external sense called faith above reason, the attribute of love and bestowal, and then, once you are in this motion, you will be able to gradually feel the upper world.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 12/2/18

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Pesach (Passover),” Part 1

Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, ‘Histaklut Pnimit,'” Vol. 1, Part 4, Chapter 2, Item 28

Lesson on the Topic “Pesach (Passover),” Part 2

Selected Highlights

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Man exists on the highest developmental degree. When he starts correcting his relationships with other people, the other degrees—still, animate, and still, will instantly enter a balance. The world will calm down and become wonderful and integral. #environment

We are confident that by realizing “green” projects, we are conserving nature. However, it is not the global nature that we have to correct—rather, we must correct the person. All of nature is integral and interconnected on all degrees.
#climate #sustainability

The primary way out of any #tragedy must be realization of evil of our relationships.

We need more energy as we want to produce a greater variety of unnecessary products. By making the right calculation, we would have saved on excesses. But the ego will not allow us to do so. Knowing that we will die in a year will not help us change our behavior.
I’m enjoying the right now—and that’s enough!
#consumerism #energy

It’s been 10 years since the tragedy at the Fukushima #nuclear plant. But humanity does not learn lessons from tragedies. It learns only from blows. All the blows that humanity has undergone in times of war, catastrophes, and tsunamis, have accelerated the negative development.
We continue to follow a flawed path.
From Twitter, 3/17/21

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My new article on Linkedin “Is Humanity Prepared for the Next Nuclear Disaster?”

A decade ago, the strongest earthquake ever recorded in Japan triggered a tsunami which struck off Fukushima’s nuclear plant, killing more than 18,000 people and devastating entire towns due to the radiation leak. Today, the world questions what lessons were learned from it in order to avoid future catastrophes. Unfortunately, none. Instead of diminishing the potential risks, the world is increasing its warfare in a shortsighted and dangerous vision. Instead of global confrontation, we urgently need to build human connection as the most powerful weaponry for peace and security.

If we fail to implement a change in our self-centered focus, we will continue heading down a path of prolonged suffering. Therefore, we need to realize the corrupt way we relate to each other, and construct new, positive relations of peaceful coexistence within society. The current global scenario is urging us to choose a more civilized, enjoyable, and wise path, a path of mutual support and care that will radiate the entire world as the most powerful force on Earth.

Fukushima was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, but it seems this catastrophe has not left a special mark in the world’s consciousness. Because one may ask, what can be done against the forces of nature? And at the end, the Japanese are a special people who have laboriously built a prosperous country despite suffering severe beatings and overcoming them successfully. There was no doubt they would recuperate from this blow, too.

On the other hand, we do not see what unfolds in certain parts of the world as something that may also impact us. But eventually it will, since planet Earth is round and operates as a complex system of dependencies, relationships, and interactions. In fact, if we were aware of our interconnectedness, we would learn from the difficult events that humanity has suffered and would be ready to change our selfish attitude and actions for mutual benefit.

However, humanity in general does not see past disasters or conflicts as teaching experiences. The world has been beaten by multiple nuclear accidents and two world wars, but nothing has changed. Ten years have passed since the Fukushima nuclear disaster and there are still over 414 nuclear power reactors operating in 32 countries. They supply a tenth of the world’s electricity but if there was a true intention from the countries to get rid of nuclear reactors to avoid and mitigate dangers and threats, they would have already looked for alternatives.

Nuclear technology is controversial but cannot be categorized as evil or praised as good, because the main question is about how it is used, the dosage and the intention behind it. A global estimation would reveal that we do not need the current reckless exploitation of natural resources for the sake of immediate profit which affects us in the long term. If we were aware of it we would limit our production systems solely to what is essential to our existence.

Without making up our minds, without a broad vision for the future and the implementation of an international education program that will raise awareness of our deceitful behavior, we will not succeed. And as the world continues its business as usual, the next blow inevitably will come, forcing humanity toward introspection.

The “Green New Deals” proposed by multiple countries promote social justice and environmental equity. But even though there are some positive measures behind those proposals they are only shifting the focus from the main problem. The human being is the most harmful force in nature, even more so than a nuclear bomb, so what we need to fix is precisely human nature.

Mutual hatred overflows at all levels, between people and countries, within societies. Humanity is acting in the opposite direction of nature, which is balanced and harmonious. Instead, we are moving away from each other, developing sophisticated means for mutual destruction. The exponential effect of this division within humanity is what causes wars and global crises.

If we fail to implement a change in our self-centered focus, we will continue heading down a path of prolonged suffering. Therefore, we need to realize the corrupt way we relate to each other, and construct new, positive relations of peaceful coexistence within society. The current global scenario is urging us to choose a more civilized, enjoyable, and wise path, a path of mutual support and care that will radiate the entire world as the most powerful force on Earth.
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