Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does it mean to covet thy neighbor’s wife?“

The states in which we progress should be aimed only at bestowal, and not for self-benefit.

Our state is very interesting regarding our spiritual path. On one hand, we are alone and the whole world is inside us, as it is written, “A person is a small world.”

On the other hand, all of our inner desires appear as characters existing outside of us. The same applies to our like-minded friends: it seems to us that they exist outside of us, and we later gradually start seeing that they are all inside us.

“Neighbors” refers to these like-minded friends of ours.

To spiritually progress, i.e., to discover our connection with the Creator, we need to process their desires, which are called “wives,” from a spiritual degree, i.e., a degree of bestowal. This means that we need to dress into these desires and work on them for their benefit, and not for self-benefit.

This has nothing to do with genders as we understand them in our world. The female part represents desires to receive, the fundamental matter of creation, and the male part represents the desire to bestow, which is the nature of the Creator.

Therefore, by working to benefit the desire to receive, and not to use it for self-benefit, we act at a spiritual degree, like the Creator Himself, and we thus implement the commandment, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife.” In other words, we operate at a degree of “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

The Ten Commandments are located at the level of the ten Sefirot. The commandment “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife” is the most serious of all the commandments because it deals with the lowest internal egoistic quality, namely using the desire to receive in order to receive for self-benefit alone.

The prohibition on such an intention lets us fully apply an intention to bestow upon our desire to receive, so that we can enter into a mutual connection among each other at a higher spiritual level, where we are not divided by gender.

Based on the TV show, “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on December 26, 2019. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Does the correct interaction between people assume that I receive something from society and give something to it?

Answer: Naturally, like in a living organism.

Question: What is the rule for such interaction? How do I know how much I should receive and how much I should give?

Answer: This is not regulated. As far as I am able to give, I give, and as far as I need to receive in order to be able to give fully, I receive.

Question: There are seven billion people on the planet, does everyone determine how much they need?

Answer: These seven billion have only been around for the last hundred years. Before that, there were two billion of us. So, the quantity does not matter here.

We have evolved over thousands of years. Today we gradually realize that we are developing incorrectly, and we need to come to some other interaction, to internal homeostasis between us, to maintain a balance in communication. Nature itself, all our qualities, all our states, teach us this. So, it will take another couple of hundred years, and humanity will still come to this.

Question: Do I understand correctly that there are forces in nature that we ourselves can call upon, and they themselves will produce this balance?

Answer: Sure. Not ourselves. We are under the forces of nature.

Question: So, will these forces balance how much I need to receive from society and how much to give?

Answer: Yes. Little by little, we will grow wiser. We will call from nature the emergence of those forces that will act on us and change us. We will enter into such a state of connection between us, into such a correlation that we will receive from each other as much as necessary and give as much as necessary to maintain our society in absolute, ideal balance.

Question: But do you understand that this is a theory that needs to be tested?

Answer: This is not a theory. One day our times will become history, and then this theory will become reality.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”, 5/13/19

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Question: How can you completely reverse your perception of reality, your assessment of a situation and life?

Answer: You cannot think about how to reverse yourself. How do you know that this is possible? You need to navigate where you want to go and what you need it for.

You can reverse yourself under the influence of a relevant society but only if there are certain prerequisites for it, serious intentions. There must be some special estimates here.

It cannot be that a person says: “I am tired of being who I am. I want to be different.” He must carefully check everything, plan, create his own way to implement it. Nothing is going to just happen.

Question: Does society need to stop and start asking itself the right questions?

Answer: And why would it do this? Here we face the question: “What comes first?” What causes the question that arises in society? What affected society? What brought imbalance in it? And so on.

And then we can talk about what is needed to bring oneself back to a state of peace or balanced movement.

Life itself asks the necessary questions.
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From KabTV’s “Ask the Kabbalist” 1/12/21

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Preparation to the Lesson

Lesson on the Topic “Pesach (Passover)”

Selected Highlights 

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Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
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Humanity has gained new experience: what it’s like to live without the “toys” it is used to. Restricted conditions, detachment from work and entertainment, has woken us up to think more seriously about life and to have a different attitude to what is happening. More and more often, we will ask the question: how and what for do we live?

We have to become more serious in our decisions and actions. Like children after being punished, we have to understand that we have to improve and follow the laws of nature, become more united, not inflict harm on one another—since there is no choice: we live on one planet.

There is no #punishment from the Creator’s side. The #lockdown for a year is not a punishment, but correction. Nature wants to teach us to enjoy bestowal and love for the neighbor. For now we lack the understanding and taste for this. Soon we will see that there is no going back to the past. Great changes are coming.
#coronavirus #future

“The suffering of many is half of the consolation.” After a lengthy #lockdown, people’s #joy enhances the excitement of returning to the prior lifestyle. But the Creator will “ruin” this excitement. He will show the path of development to humanity in new forms. #Nature will defeat us— we will follow its laws.
#COVID19

From Twitter, 3/11/21

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My new article on Linkedin “We Can Translate Words Not Race”

Young Black American poet Amanda Gorman burst into the world consciousness when she recited her masterpiece work at the inauguration of US President Joe Biden. Instantly her talent received high acclaim, but then the controversy began. A public counter-movement surrounding the translation of her poem into other languages argued that Gorman’s writings should be translated by a Black artist, not a White poet, which prompted a laureate Dutch writer assigned to the project to withdraw from it. A male Catalan translator was also considered not suitable for the job after finishing the commission. Has socio-political correctness gone one step too far? Not really.

All the richness of expression of human society depends on our success in leaving all the flavors, colors, and shapes with the same sharpness and accuracy in which they were created, and without touching them, to only gently embed them into a mosaic. Therefore, the fight against racism should be on the condition that it does not come to mix everything into one sticky and colorless mash.

Any work of literature, both in writing or translating it, is a great and complex task. It is important to maintain its strength, tone, and style, and is equally important to identify with the person’s vision and know how to express it from its root. The argument that a White person cannot translate a Black person is not necessarily racist. For instance, someone who is not close to the way of thinking of the author, his or her origin, culture, background, and way of life may err in the text’s translation and miss the spirit of the writer.

In a literary text it is possible to identify every detail of the writer, where the person was born, his or her upbringing, and the environment where someone grew up. We can also spot who and what the person is, a man or a woman, one’s beliefs or nationality. A literary work, even a musical one, reveals the conscience of the soul, the inwardness of the heart of the creative person. It is therefore not good to obscure this uniqueness, to dilute it from the original. Exchanged cultural background would dull it. Thus, it is important to be careful to maintain the uniqueness of the writer.

All the richness of expression of human society depends on our success in leaving all the flavors, colors, and shapes with the same sharpness and accuracy in which they were created, and without touching them, to only gently embed them into a mosaic. Therefore, the fight against racism should be on the condition that it does not come to mix everything into one sticky and colorless mash.

It is better not to fight racism directly, but to reinforce the value of unity among human beings. In human connection we emphasize the differences and distinctions with all their might, but not against them, not in order to be proud and boastful, but only to open up, add color: the private nuance to the whole. And it is beautiful, like a rich painter’s palette of hues.

When a tendency to connect is ingrained in society, then automatically no superiority and inferiority is felt, neither for men nor women, not for old or young, not for colors or races. The Supreme Power, nature, created us so different—not to use those differences for war, tensions, and separation but to realize wholeness in the integration of all the diverse parts of creation.
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My new article on Linkedin “Is There Real Happiness?”

When Covid-19 broke out early last year, most of us felt as though we’d lost our lives. More accurately, we didn’t actually lose our lives, but we lost our ability to enjoy life. After all, if you can’t vacation twice a year, go shopping whenever you want and wherever you want, go to the movies, restaurants, and amusement parks with the kids (or with a friend, pretending to be kids again), then what’s to enjoy in life? Worse yet, when the virus made many of us unemployed or sent us on a prolonged furlough, we lost our financial security and became reluctant to spend on luxuries even when we could.

Now that the vaccines are here and we can begin to resume these activities, it seems as though we’re not sure how to enjoy them as much as we did. Something has changed in us, we’re not sure what makes us happy anymore, and if there is real happiness altogether.

The new pleasures, which we will soon begin to feel, will stem from the quality of our connections with others. The more we cultivate our ties with others, the more positive relations we build, the more joy will flow back to us through the network that is already being built among us. Accordingly, the pleasure we will experience will be entirely different: It will be enjoyment from giving to others.

But there is real happiness, and it is within anyone’s reach. The past year has “weaned us,” if you will, from our past manners of enjoyment and prepared us for a new, and higher kind. We may still not realize it, but now that we can start enjoying those past pleasures once again, we will see that they simply aren’t as fun or as satisfying as they once were.

Even our jealousy of others seems to have changed. Of course, we’d still like to be rich, famous, and popular, but we are less willing to work hard for it. We haven’t become lazy; we’ve simply grown up, and these goals seem, well, a little immature.

These are all preparations. We may not feel it yet but a new kind of pleasure is emerging in us. It is still beneath the surface, but its impact is already affecting us. It dims the previous pleasures, which is why they don’t shine for us the way they did before. This new pleasure that is budding within us encompasses not only ourselves, but everyone around us. This is why it dims our self-centered pleasures; it is far more encompassing than anything we can currently imagine.

Our society is changing because we are changing; we are feeling increasingly connected to each other and dependent on each other, and our society is likewise becoming more connected. The pleasures that come from such connectedness stem not only from me, but from my connections to others. This is why they are so potent compared to pleasures that stem from my own little minute circle.

The new pleasures, which we will soon begin to feel, will stem from the quality of our connections with others. The more we cultivate our ties with others, the more positive relations we build, the more joy will flow back to us through the network that is already being built among us. Accordingly, the pleasure we will experience will be entirely different: It will be enjoyment from giving to others.

It will not be only we who will change. Our entire society is changing. Others will enjoy giving to us as much as we will enjoy giving to them. It will be a complete inversion of the current mindset, where each person thinks of his or her own pleasure, and nothing else interests us. Instead, nothing will interest us but the pleasures of others, but we will not be deficient in any way since others will be interested in the same toward us, and we will enjoy both giving to others and receiving from them. It will be such a different society from today’s that we cannot even imagine how satisfied and content we will feel when we establish it. Now our work is only to hurry its onset as much as we can.

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My new article on Linkedin “Are the Monarchies Relevant in a Modern World?”

In an era of unlimited media exposure, royal families from Europe and other parts of the world never fail to provide fuel for explosive scandals. And during times of global distress, the dramas of the monarchies provide the perfect escape for many, as the soaring ratings show. The accusation of racism within the British Royal Family in a widely publicized interview with prince Harry and his wife is the most recent controversy to splash onto the scene and blot out the other monarchies around the world. Beyond the salacious details of such media frenzies, it is worthwhile to examine the significant role that royalty should contribute to stabilizing society.

I expect the royal houses to succeed in these challenging times and rise in importance as the rulers of the present world descend. Because unlike the world leaders who rule today—those who are elected for a few years and do not mind leaving ruin at the end of their term—kings know that from the day they are born until the day they die, they are responsible for the state.

Despite the sensational allegations against Buckingham Palace over the years, there is no institution more stable in Great Britain than the Monarchy. Presumably, thanks to the charismatic white-haired woman who has represented the Crown for so many years, the Crown still stands on its own. Every man and woman, boy and girl associated with the British Crown, whether in the UK, Canada, Australia or New Zealand, has a special attitude towards Queen Elizabeth.

The scandals of other royal families have also hit the headlines recently—investigations of corruption in the neighboring palaces in Belgium and Spain, massive street protests against laws prohibiting the insult of the King of Thailand, in the Middle East, a Saudi prince faces serious accusations of ordering the murder of a journalist in Turkey.

Certainly, there are problems in every royal house in the world. Kings are not angels, and they should be accountable for their wrongdoings to the general public. But the yellow journalism of the media will not change the face of history no matter how many sordid details they themselves whip up and empower. Reporters stack scandal upon scandal for the sole purpose of climbing to a height where money and publicity can be gleaned. There is no sincere attempt to correct the distortions, but only a simple intention to profit from the dirty circuses they promote.

Being a king or prince is a true public assignment. They are responsible for going out to greet schools, to attend assemblies and national ceremonies. They act as a state symbol of the people.

Similar to the kingdom of the upper nature, the kingdom of heaven, the dynasties of kings on earth are a permanent, stable, and unchanging factor which runs like a thread connecting periods of time and generations. A kingdom is like a material branch stemming from a spiritual root. In the same way a hierarchy in nature prevails, a royal monarchy can furnish a suitable form of government in human society.

If all European countries today were ruled by kings instead of politicians, Europe would not be at a brink of collapse as it is now. Regardless of political upheavals between states and within the countries, the royal houses themselves remain connected to one another, maintaining relationships above all the other frictions. And here lies their importance also in a modern world.

The royal houses form a kind of symbolic safety net in the connections between them that portrays balance and stability for the European continent that marches on a thin rope. Perceptive statesmen also understand this important function of royalty. Even Francisco Franco, ruler of a military dictatorship in Spain, after all was said and done, declared Juan Carlos as king, because he understood how the monarchy can work as a stabilizing force.

What we see in the scandals before our eyes is not the collapse of the royal houses, not the end of an era as it is presented to be. On the contrary, they have great potential to help Europe to be more stable. It would be a benefit to the world if all the remaining royal houses, even the smallest ones, were preserved. The kings and queens are in a position to provide hope and examples of how to withstand the rising tide of the stormy modern sea.

I expect the royal houses to succeed in these challenging times and rise in importance as the rulers of the present world descend. Because unlike the world leaders who rule today—those who are elected for a few years and do not mind leaving ruin at the end of their term—kings know that from the day they are born until the day they die, they are responsible for the state. Therefore, they should step up efforts to care for and connect to the people. At the end of the day, this is their mission, this is what hierarchy was established for, to be at the service of the masses to help ensure steady and strong societies.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it possible to exit this pandemic on a pathway to a more decent society?“

“Don’t do to others what you hate” is the foundation of positive human attitudes. With this principle, we drive away any harm, and it is the best remedy that we can generate in human society, and with it, we will defeat the pandemic and return to become a good and prosperous society.

We have reached a state where humanity has become a single globally interdependent and interconnected society, and one of the conditions of our global interdependence is that one person cannot enjoy a good life if others don’t enjoy a good life to the same extent.

We can thus better our world only by increasing our concern for each other. To that end, we need a new kind of education that prioritizes positive human connection, and which is taught to both adults and children. If we establish positive connections in society, then we will be on course to leave this pandemic behind, and enter a new harmonious life that is balanced with nature.

The pandemic has emerged in order to pave a path to a new world of positive human connections. We should not look back at how things were, but focus on the upgrade in our attitudes to each other that we can implement here and now. That is the way to shift human society onto a much more positive path.

The only question is whether we will listen to what nature is telling us through such events as this pandemic and make adjustments accordingly, or whether we will try to continue our lives as before. The former will lead us to a new level of happiness and prosperity, and the latter will lead us to a long path of suffering until we eventually agree to change our attitudes to each other.

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

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