“Will The Coronavirus Change How Humans Interact For Ever?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “Will the Coronavirus change how humans interact for ever?“

The coronavirus is indeed making us undergo serious changes.

Our behaviors, thoughts, ambitions, hopes and expectations have already changed, showing us that the coronavirus is not merely a tiny physical particle that infects us.

The coronavirus is rather a new program that has entered our reality, transforming us behaviorally and psychologically.

The longer the pandemic lasts, the more it will make us reevaluate our values, tastes and attitudes.

It is as if we have walked onto a bridge between the heavily materialistic pre-coronavirus world—where we viewed individualistic accumulation of wealth, fame and power as signs of success—and the understanding that such values hold much less worth as we move deeper into the pandemic.

If we could take a step back for a moment from the vision of the coronavirus as only being an infectious disease, to the coronavirus as a nature-sent evolutionary phenomenon that has emerged specifically to transform human interactions, then we would see how nature is subtly guiding us to improve our relationships and connections.

Such a view stems from understanding how nature develops us: through increasing diversity and individualization, then through stages of crisis, which then become resolved by cooperation and connection on more advanced levels.

Evolution biologists such as Elisabet Sahtouris have illustrated this process of nature guiding its parts to greater connection and more evolved life forms, and it is consistent with Kabbalists’ depictions of nature’s purpose and plan, which is for humanity to positively connect as a single whole, and by doing so, reach balance with nature.

The more we develop, the more interconnected and interdependent we become. The problem is that we fail to actively upgrade our attitudes to each other in order to realize our increasing connection positively.

Therefore, nature has sent the coronavirus primarily for the purpose of teaching us a lesson in caring about each other.

For instance, we now need to wear masks in order to not infect others, in case we unknowingly carry the virus. In other words, we wear masks not for our own health, but for the health of others, and our own health depends on others “caring” about us in the same way.

Also, in the economic realm, as the coronavirus has struck a blow to many businesses and jobs, it is forcing us to consider everyone who encounters a tight situation, and think of new solutions so that everyone can at least have their essentials met. Authorities thus also become compelled to think and act with more consideration toward their respective publics.

In times of nature-induced crisis, people come together out of necessity, and the coronavirus pandemic is like a drawn-out crisis that ultimately serves to improve our attitudes to each other.

The sooner we understand that mutually responsible and considerate relations are the next phase of our development, and make active steps to help each other act more responsibly and considerately toward one another, then the sooner we will match the more advanced state of connection that nature is guiding us to—and we will then have no need for pandemics and other crises to unwillingly coerce our transformation.

Therefore, since the coronavirus has already begun a process of changing the way we interact, we would be wise to adhere to the conditions it places before us, and seek how to think and act more considerately toward others.

It will be our ticket to exit the pandemic and enter into a happier, safer and healthier world, more balanced with nature, where we will be more aware of what nature ultimately wants from us.

It is my hope that we undergo this shift more actively, and thus, faster and more enjoyably, than if we were to continue leaving it up to nature to goad us there.

Above photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash.

New Life 1174 – The Human Ego, Love, And Relationships

New Life 1174 – The Human Ego, Love, And Relationships
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Tal Mandelbaum ben Moshe

The human ego destroys relationships because it gives us a constant desire to receive and take advantage of others. We need to learn to use the ego correctly so that we can communicate effectively and actually serve others. Love is a desire to fulfill others and treat everyone like family. The wisdom of Kabbalah shows us how to reach this opposite reality, the upper world that operates in bestowal. A person who rises above the ego and constantly increases love over hate feels a new, positive force of closeness to others.
[254950]
From KabTV’s “New Life 1174 – The Human Ego, Love, And Relationships,” 10/31/19

icon for podpress Video: Play Now | Download
icon for podpress Audio: Play Now | Download

Out Of The Impasse

laitman_592.04Question: Suicide is the most extreme step of despair. Today the number of suicides is simply sweeping the world. Why is this so?

Answer: A person living in the modern world is in despair because he doesn’t feel any meaning in his life, he doesn’t see a goal, and he doesn’t even see the reason why he has to suffer in this world.

On the other hand, a person is so developed that he understands everything that happens and everything that might happen, and thus eventually decides to put an end to it. What’s the point in living and suffering if it is possible not to exist and not to suffer? This certainly makes sense.

Of course, no one says that this is the right decision, but it certainly makes sense. So if a person discovers that he can reach a perfect life in this world, in our world, knowing and understanding what he lives for and how everything works and that there is a perfect and eternal goal ahead of him that he can attain, it will be possible to change the negative statistics significantly. This is the way out of the impasse.
[257316]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 11/24/19

Related Material:
Do Not Condemn, Rather Understand
Passing The Line Between Life And Death
Changing Our Way Of Life

If The Ego Is Not Harmful…

Laitman_511.01Question: What does egoism mean?

Answer: Selfishness is self-love. It’s not such love as when I think about simply being, but when I love myself beyond what is necessary for existence.

Question: But if the Creator sends me all thoughts, then what is my egoism?

Answer: Naturally the Creator sends you selfish thoughts. He does not hide it. He says: “I created selfishness.” And then He adds: “And I gave a technique for correcting it.”

Question: Where does the root of the need for comfort come from?

Answer: From the same egoism. Selfishness does not want any difficulties. They are a waste of calories, mental and physical strength; it does not appeal to any living organism since any living creature seeks a state of rest. And mechanical objects gravitate to this.

Question: What will happen to places like Las Vegas that  are built only to receive worldly pleasures?

Answer: In principle, there is nothing wrong with that. If I do not harm others, and at the same time do not cause them hatred, then all these toys can be completely harmless.

As children constantly play games, so adults play the same games. Only adults are interested in playing with each other for money, so that there is some excitement.
[267428]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/10/20

Related Material:
How Is The Desire To Receive Different From Egoism?
Life And Pleasure, Part 2
The Difference In Egoism

Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 11/24/19

laitman_546.03Question: I have five brothers and five sisters. Now all the boys in my family are falling ill and one of them is in critical condition. I pray all the time of course, and I know this force. Will my prayers help or do my brothers need to do it on their own?

Answer: Both are necessary, both your prayers and their prayers.

Question: You say that I need to feel the world both inside me and on the outside, and that basically everything is inside me. What is the difference between inside of me and outside of me?

Answer: Of course we feel everything inside us, but this feeling is divided into an internal feeling and an external feeling. This is the reason that we feel we exist in space, in volume, we and this volume.

Question: Is atheism spiritual attainment or a distortion?

Answer: It has nothing to do with the wisdom of Kabbalah. The wisdom of Kabbalah has nothing to do with religion in any way.

Question: Are we required to perform certain actions once the desire to determine that everything stems from the Creator appears in us?

Answer: Yes, you need to perform certain actions. If we really try to determine that everything stems from the Creator, we need to gradually connect to the friends in the group and the whole world.

Question: Do I need to actively participate in the management of creation or is it enough for me to accept it and to be an observer and grateful for the Creator’s work?

Answer: You don’t have to be active and perform certain actions, but try to reveal that everything stems from the Creator in all your actions, thoughts, and feelings, and that He aims you to the connection with Him.

Question: How does the awareness that only the Creator rules help me attain the attribute of bestowal?

Answer: When you draw the Creator’s force unto you He bestows unto you and gives you that attribute of bestowal.

Question: When I look at other people and the importance and the yearning that they feel, do I need to want the same thing they consider to be important?

Answer: If you want to exit your state quickly, you need to prefer everything that is done by your friends and see it as the most important thing.

Question: What do we need to do in the women’s group so that everyone will discover that everything stems from the Creator and will forget about ourselves?

Answer: Read more articles in Shamati, be with us in the lessons, and care not only about the women, but also about the men in your group.

Question: What is the connection between a person, the Creator, and Satan?

Answer: Satan is the force that is in every person that does not want to reveal the Creator. There are no external images of Satan.
[257424]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 11/24/19

Related Material:
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 11/17/19
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 10/27/19
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 10/6/19

Opposition To Unity, Part 8

laitman_557The Unity of Different Forces

Question: The twelve tribes of the people of Israel were forbidden to mix between each other. On one hand, they were supposed to be united, and on the other, they had to fulfill the ban on marriages between members of different tribes and other prohibitions that are logically against basic unity.

You explained that each tribe, just like a certain organ in the body of an organism, could not mix with the others, but they all worked in unison.

Are the internal laws of the Torah the same as the laws of nature only at the level of society?

Answer: Of course. In general, in all of nature, at all its levels, there are different forces, and they do not become one, but in their connection, they appear as a single whole.

The operation of the entire world system called Adam (Man) was established in order to bring the system to a state similar to the Creator. Then there will be absolutely no difference between the internal connection of forces.

Moreover, within the system, its individual properties, individual forces will be completely different from each other, and their interconnection will be one and only.

It turns out that everything depends on the intention: What is the purpose we are doing this? But the properties themselves do not change; they are always opposite to each other.
[267469]
From KabTV’s “Systematic Analysis of the Development of the People of Israel” 7/29/19

Related Material:
Opposition To Unity, Part 7
Opposition To Unity, Part 6
Opposition To Unity, Part 5

Daily Kabbalah Lesson – 7/20/20

Lesson Preparation

[media 1] [media 2]

Writings of Rabash, Article “Love of Friends – 2.6” (1984), Part 1 

[media 3] [media 4]

Writings of Baal HaSulam,  “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot,”  Item 134

[media 5] [media 6]

Lesson on the Topic “Connecting the World in the Last Generation” 

[media 7] [media 8]

Writings of Rabash, Article “Love of Friends – 2.6” (1984), Part 2

[media 9] [media 10]

Selected Highlights

[media 11] [media 12]

Audio Version Of The Blog – 7/19/20

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio

“Education That Makes People Happy”

Dr. Michael LaitmanFrom My Facebook Page Michael Laitman 7/19/20

Why do we send our kids to school? So they would become cultured? So they would have successful careers, make lots of money and earn people’s respect? In the end, we send them to school because we want them to be happy. It’s not as if we believe that school can really make people happy, but we think that without it, they will encounter even more hardships than life hands each of us anyhow.

What is the result? Very few are happy, the majority are struggling, and many don’t even finish. And worst of all, other than some learning habits and techniques, school gives no tools for life, no skills of human relations, no experience in cooperation, no understanding of human nature, and no idea about the world we live in or where it’s going. With a few exceptions, schools get an F in education.

Why does this happen? Because in order to succeed, we need to redefine education. We need to think of education as a process of adaptation to the laws of nature. Education should both teach the laws of nature and assist us in adapting to them.

When we are born, we are nothing more than little animals. In fact, we are more helpless than any animal. We have no instincts to guide us, we cannot find our mother’s nipples, and we cannot even urinate without making a mess. No animal is more helpless than man. But this helplessness is exactly where we can gain the most. By learning every aspect of our existence, from the most basic to the most exalted, we become conscious on a far deeper level than any animal. If we realize our potential, then the human being, which begins as the most inferior of creatures, ends as the most sublime. But only if we realize our potential. This is the purpose of education.

Education should teach us that nature is whole, complete, integral. It is an indivisible entity that appears to us as separate pieces only because we perceive ourselves as separate, and therefore perceive everything else as separate entities, as well. Education should help us see the world for the integral whole that it is, and feel ourselves as included in it. It is not intellectual knowledge that we need, it is a very palpable experience.

Because it is so vital for our lives, education is not for kids and adolescents; it’s for everyone. In fact, it is more for grownups than it is for children, since educated grownups can educate their children, while uneducated grownups might spoil the children’s education even if it is good.

Correct education is done in groups that work on their unity until they become one whole. This develops in them the integral perception and allows them to perceive reality as integral, as well.

Without understanding and experiencing this wholeness, we will not know how to deal with the global crises we are experiencing at an increasing frequency and severity. Without grasping that we are whole and therefore mutually responsible for one another, we will not survive the integral reality that is encroaching on us.

Today, an educated person is not one who is well mannered; it is one who is internally connected to humanity, to earth, to everything. This is the only education that will carry us through the crises, and the only education that will make us happy.

“Antisemitism And Pandemics” (Jews Down Under)


Jews Down Under published my new article “Antisemitism and Pandemics”

Be it a plague or a war, a flood or an earthquake, a revolution or a financial meltdown, in the end, there is always one culprit: the Jews. In America, too, many already blame COVID-19 on the Jews, as is the case with the riots engulfing the tormented country.

In the 1950s and ’60s, the Jews stood shoulder to shoulder with the blacks in their fight for equal rights. No one remembers and no one gives them credit. Now, too, they stand shoulder to shoulder with the protesters. No one will remember and no one will give them credit.

The Jews donate to various charities and NGOs more money than any ethnic or racial group. But what do people say? “First they stole it, now they’re giving us the crumbs to buy our gratitude.” Of course, not everyone says it, but a great many do, and an even greater many tacitly agrees with them. It’s always been like that and it’ll always be like that until we learn what fundamental flaw we Jews have in our approach.

Jews are the only nation that has ever been tasked with bringing peace and love to the entire world. We gave the world the most altruistic motto ever conceived, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” yet we display the complete opposite of it: internal enmity and odium. We may sympathize with stranger’s pains, but we loathe our own co-religionists. And even though they don’t verbalize it, deep down, this is what Jew haters hate about Jews: that Jews hate each other.

When we became a nation, we were given a task: Unite “as one man with one heart,” and thereby become “a light unto nations.” For centuries, we have been trying everything to avoid our vocation. We talk about morals, ethics, justice, but we refuse to talk about love.

Morals are a miserable surrogate for love. Just as a mother doesn’t need morals to tend to her child because her love guides her, if we cultivate love among us we won’t need morals, and we will treat each other beautifully.

Then, and only then will non-Jews say, “Now we respect them.”
[267708]