The Goals That Choose Us

294.1Comment: In response to one of your videos, someone wrote: “In general, coming up with some kind of a global goal and then living up to it is self-deception.” This is when you talked about the goal of life, about the big goal that must be set.

“We need to set only local, small goals: to make coffee so that it does not spill out, as usual to make your money last until your monthly salary, to lose two kilos of weight, to read a book, to memorize a poem.”

My Response: Absolutely right! Rejoice in these small, very small goals. You cannot raise your head higher, you cannot think about the future.

And I feel controlled by the whole world. And that is why this control worries me.

Question: I made myself some coffee, but I have a feeling that I can no longer be particularly happy about it? There is something so big in front of me.

Answer: Of course. Until I finish this cup of coffee, something may happen. What should I do? I am created this way.

I have children, and I have to think about them. I have grandchildren, and I also want to think about them. This is a natural feeling of every person. These are not some artificial, made-up goals or concerns. They are inside me naturally, as in any person. How should I react to this? “Do not bother me and let me finish my coffee.” It will not work that way.

If this bothers me, I will think about it. I want to know what kind of world my grandchildren will live in. They are already adults. They graduate from universities and go into the world. What kind of world?

Question: Is this called the big goal I am thinking about?

Answer: Of course. At the same time, I do not think about myself, I think about the generation in which my grandchildren will live. I want to take care of them as every person takes care of their offspring. I do not want to jump above this toward spiritual goals. I am ready to limit myself to this.

Well, how can we not think about what will happen on Earth in 50 years? In 100 years? Where will humanity move?

Comment: The taste of coffee immediately disappears when I suddenly start thinking about it, looking at the world.

My Response: Yes, but we, humans, can build it. And we still need to worry about how we can provide for our children, grandchildren, and for all of humanity in general, a normal tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Question: When exactly do you talk about the goal of life?

Answer: This is the fate of a few people, imposed on them from above. I will put it this way: they are forced from above to think about the future, about the spiritual future, about the spiritual ascent of humanity. But this is still tied, among other things, to our earthly actions.

So, we must connect one with the other. And we must connect them in our generation. And therefore, whether we wish or not, in our generation we must think about the inner motives of our actions.

Question: That is, it is important for you that humanity reaches this good connection?

Answer: Without this, it will not be able to calmly drink coffee tomorrow.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 1/28/21

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Where Do People Who Have Crossed The Machsom Exist?

962.3Question: How many people throughout history have crossed the Machsom? Are there only a few, tens, or thousands of them?

Answer: Millions of people. However, we must understand that this is a process. Souls are not some blocks separated from each other, but rather, they are desires that constantly mix, change, and connect. That is, it is a complex integral system.

Question: Where do these millions exist?

Answer: They exist outside of bodies, in desires. After all, the most important thing is desire. The body appears to us as existing in the same limited volume as our world. In fact, there is no material world. Only the spiritual world exists. Therefore, we need to move to the feeling of the spiritual world and make certain that it is the one that exists and not this world.

Question: Where do people exist after crossing the Machsom, and what do they do there?

Answer: They exist in their qualities. Everything that is outside of these qualities, all kinds of inanimate, vegetative, and animate matter (there is no human matter in our world; it is classified as animate) are perceived only in our earthly feelings. In reality, all this does not exist.

Feelings change, and this world disappears.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/6/20

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“What Are The Ten Commandments Given In The Bible?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the ten commandments given in the Bible?“

The Ten Commandments are the laws of our absolute connection to each other and with the force of bestowal that holds our connection together.

The Torah is given at the foot of Mount Sinai, which is a gigantic mountain of egoistic hatred (“Sinai” comes from the word “Sinah” [“hatred”]), after the people of Israel (i.e., people with a common desire “Yashar Kel” [“straight to the Creator”]) accept the condition of mutual guarantee—to be united “as one man with one heart.” In other words, we reach a stage in our development where we discover a mountain of ego, division and hatred above us, and we can climb this mountain only with one point in the heart, i.e., by uniting our common desire for spiritual ascent above all other egoistic desires. This point is called “Moses” (from the word “Moshech” [“pulling”]), because it pulls us out of our ego.

Mount Sinai is enormous, even bigger than the Tower of Babel. Standing at the foot of Mount Sinai means that we agree to unite all parts of our individual egos into one big mountain. Then, instead of fearing this great hatred and division between us, we should instead use it as an impetus to yearn for unity, since the sole purpose of being given an ego is so that we use it to fuel our unity.

When we unite above this mountain of ego and hatred, we demand the revelation of the force of bestowal in our unification. The tendency to unite is the spiritual vessel, the deficiency for mutual love, bestowal and connection, as it is written, “From the love of the created beings to the love of the Creator.” We thus accept the condition of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and receive the Ten Commandments.

The Ten Commandments refer to the correct use of the desire to enjoy. They discuss the limitations that we need to implement on Malchut if we are to establish and sustain a spiritual connection. These limitations are called a “screen” (“Masach”) and “reflected light” (“Ohr Hozer”). When Malchut accepts these limitations, it lets the ten Sefirot, which are also known as the Ten Commandments, dress in it.

A commandment (Dover) stems from the Hebrew root for “utterance” (Dibur), i.e., it is born in the Peh (mouth) of the Partzuf, the Peh of Rosh. These actions are performed in the world of Atzilut.

We receive the Ten Commandments after we unite “as one man with one heart.” Otherwise we cannot hear them. We have to be on the level of Bina in order to have the ear that can hear the ten utterances from Mount Sinai. In practice, this means that we need to first undergo a period of preparation until we can unite at the level of “as one man with one heart,” and only at that stage do we hear the commandments. If we are not at such a spiritual degree, we lack the vessels in order to understand and observe these commandments.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on June 3, 2014. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Toward Absolute Freedom

933Question: How is independence expressed when the Israelis leave Egypt? From what do they become independent?

Answer: So far they are only running away from Pharaoh, from their egoism. This is not yet gaining independence, but breaking away from slavery, and nothing more. There is a very long way from slave to master.

Comment: Let’s say a country gains independence, just as the Poles became independent from Russia …

My Response: What is their independence? They are all dependent on each other. And most importantly, they are in bad dependence, because it is selfish.

And if they begin to unite with each other in the properties of love and bestowal, then their dependence will be good, they will merge together. Then it will not be considered, as it is today, that they are linked by bonds of some kind. After all, if I know that you love me, then I am independent of you: I use your property of love as a property of my own independence, and you are mine. Then we are free, although the same connection exists between us.

We use our egoism as a link that ties us all into a single net and manifests itself in an eerily obligatory state. We see that we cannot get away from each other, on one hand. On the other hand, when we rise above the ego and build the property of love and bestowal over it, we gain the third level—independence.

The internal property of hatred, egoism, and the property of love, bestowal, create a third line in us—absolute freedom.

Question: As a result, we gain independence from the Creator?

Answer: First of all, from the Creator. Because the Creator is the only one who created this situation. So it is said: “I created evil and gave the Torah to correct it.” He is the first and only one. And I’m only secondary.
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From KabTV’s “The Power of The Book of Zohar” #6

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A Complex System Of Cognition

137Question: All the primary sources that we study are written in Hebrew. They are translated into Russian, English, Spanish, and other languages. Is there any difference in the influence when you read the original source in Hebrew or in translation?

Answer: The language of Kabbalah is very specific. The point is that here it is necessary to describe the world that we do not feel, to introduce a person to the sensations of this world, to arouse in him certain reactions, tastes, rumors, and so on. It is necessary to adjust it so that it begins to feel those vibrations that an ordinary person does not feel.

Therefore, there is a certain complexity here, which is not easily overcome. A person’s preparation for sensing the upper world has been going on for many years. Not all people are able to try to comprehend the higher world, since this comprehension is emotional and at the same time analyzed by the conceptual apparatus.

So, this is a very complex system of knowledge that requires serious books and, most importantly, primary sources.
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From KabTV’s “Questions about Kabbalistic Books”, 10/22/19

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Human Nature: The Urge To Acquire

627.2Question: Researchers argue that such a concept as “materialism,” which is characteristic of both the rich and the poor, means people’s addiction to things.

The social image and value system created by this addiction is destructive for both society and the individual. Whoever succumbs to this loses the joy of life, peace of mind, brings anxiety, depression, and the collapse of relationships.

Nevertheless, in the past year of the “crown,” coronavirus, people began to demonstrate less materialism. But, on the other hand, now it is already clear that this is the reverse side of the same coin. Why do people love things so much?

Answer: Man is an egoist. He loves to acquire and feel that it is his: “Mine, mine, mine!” We see this in the example of small children, when they grab a toy and do not give it to anyone else. Even if you convince him that this is not appropriate, the child does not understand. He always wants it to be in his hands. That is how he is born.

Therefore, we cannot condemn people for the fact that they have such a craving for acquiring everything they like: “I want this to be mine.” Or even something that he doesn’t like, but the other likes it, obviously, this is good, he also wants to have it.

Moreover, he wants to have this thing himself, while the other child should not have it, and if this is not possible, then no one should have it. That is, this is absolute selfishness, childish and petty that accompanies us all years of our life. You can’t get away from it.

How can you balance it? Only with the right upbringing. But for this it is necessary to build a system that will work on people and educate them in such a way that they are satisfied with what they have, even in comparison with others. In general, this must be a special education system, otherwise, we will never get rid of materialism.

Question: In essence, materialism is the decoration of oneself. A person decorates himself with something extra. What should replace materialism or will it go away over time?

Answer: I think it will. Instead, a more internal decoration will prevail: the attitude of a person toward others, the attitude of others toward him, but not the replacement of some things with other things.

As a result, a person must come to the understanding that his greatest acquisition is his love for his neighbor as for himself, and even, perhaps, more than himself. This is a completely different ascent of man over his little egoistic nature.

I hope that under the influence of correct upbringing, one will gradually cancel the other.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 2/16/21

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Teacher And Students: Writing Articles

962.8Comment: You often give students different advice, for example, to write articles. But there are such states when a person does not have the heart to write, thoughts completely disappear. There is a feeling of great regret that the teacher’s covenant cannot be fulfilled.

My Response: I myself have not written for a long time. There is Facebook, Twitter, several sources where you can write. Basically, I sometimes tweet little “bullets” for my students. On the same day, they are translated into different languages, and people read them.

They are based on the material from the past lesson or what is happening in the world or on the topic of the next lesson planned for tomorrow.

Sometimes I get up at 12 am and I can fill up Twitter before class, sometimes I do it during the day. I believe that what I write there is very important, and I am glad that there is such an opportunity where it is limited and you sit and calculate, you really calculate, so that each word has its own weight, and the message does not go beyond the allowed amount of letters.

And I don’t write articles. I do not even slander a detailed article, but I give my ideas to people who have such abilities. And they are the ones who write mainly in four languages: English, Spanish, Russian, and Hebrew.

Therefore, if you come across current articles somewhere, signed by “Michael Laitman,” then these are my ideas expressed by my students.

Question: Are they not getting distortions from this?

Answer: No. I know and clearly control those who write, and therefore, I speak so calmly about it. You can take these articles as absolutely mine.

Question: But Twitter is personal instruction?

Answer: Yes. This is me personally.
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From KabTV’s “Teacher – Student” 2/7/19

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Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 3/11/21

Preparation to the Lesson

[media 1] [media 2]

Lesson on the Topic “Pesach (Passover)”

[media 3] [media 4]

Selected Highlights 

[media 5] [media 6]

Audio Version Of The Blog – 3/10/21

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Mesmerizing State

537A person who feels the quality of bestowal and love and who perceives his participation in the whole of humanity as necessary and desirable, gradually comes to the fact that this quality begins to prevail in him. In that way, he gets closer and closer to bestowal. One who wants to fully acquire this quality, he, as a a pray, asks it to act in him, and thus approaches the Machsom, the border between the two worlds, and passes through it.

It is a mesmerizing state, because we really begin to feel that our world consists of two systems. Our system, in which we are today, is purely initial, weak, specifically created so that, proceeding from it, we would want to be in the quality of bestowal and love despite our nature.

Question: Kabbalists say that the goal of nature is to transport the whole of humanity though the Machsom?

Answer: Yes. Absolutely everyone and everything.

The fact is that our world that seems to us to exist, is actually illusory. It is specifically created for us to want to get out of it, to choose the next world, the next state: the quality of bestowal as the most necessary, desirable.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 2/6/20

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