Question: How is it possible to replace one’s mind with the mind of the Creator if I don’t even know what kind of mind He has and what it is?

Answer: When you start acting according to the Kabbalistic methodology, you will see that you are slowly beginning to understand Him, and everything is normal.

Question: But how does it happen practically?

Answer: You acquire the highest mind, the mind of the highest degree.

Suppose I am currently at my level. According to it, in this world, in my condition, I understand everything, perceive, know. In general, I am oriented.

I am told:

• You must block yourself. You must now start working with a higher degree.
• How?
• Everything that seems black, harmful, vague, and incomprehensible to you; everything that is against your egoism, against your knowledge, practically everything that is in you now, you must downgrade, do not pay attention, try to merge with the group.

Relative to you, the group represents a higher element. The more you can do it, the higher you will rise.

That is, you have to accept the reason, the decision, the greatness of the group, all the attitudes and values that the group, the Creator, and the books offer you. Only in this way will you be able to advance and acquire a higher mind.
[311496]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Higher Intelligence” 1/2/11

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Question: What is the principle of mixing the nations of the world and Israel? What is the purpose of this process?

Answer: On the animal level, the mixing of nations does not matter at all: who mixes with whom, what kind of children they give birth to: black, white, or red.

It only matters to rise to the degree of “Israel” – “Yashar El,” “straight to the Creator,” meaning to the degree of equivalence to the Creator so that those who call themselves Israelites, Jews and non-Jews, will rise to this degree, and the whole of Ancient Babylon will come to its correction.

Question: But what is this quality “the mixing of the nations of the world”?

Answer: This is not an external, but an internal mixing, when a point in the heart begins to arise in each of us, called “Israel” – “Yashar El.” The aspiration to the Creator, to attain the Creator is called “Israel.”

This point originated in ancient Babylon in the several thousand people who left Babylon and formed their own nation although they were in no way connected with each other except for a spiritual purpose.

It is the same thing today. Gradually all nations, each in their own time, in their own situations, will begin to feel the need for spiritual ascent. And that point in the heart, which is called “Israel” – “straight to the Creator,” regardless of today’s Israel, will awaken in everyone and force them to start a spiritual path, because that is how our development is programmed. We will all reach this state.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Israel And the Nations” 2/7/11

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Question: What relationship should there be between friends in a Kabbalistic group?

Answer: Relationships between friends in a group are very complicated. Everyone should give others full confidence that he or she loves them, cares about them, and that a friend in his arms is like a baby in its mother’s arms.

By giving such a feeling, it is as if I impose the feeling of the upper state on him, when he can think about others and not about himself. You disarm him, neutralize his ego, and he will inevitably think about others. He will not be able to think about himself because you have neutralized him. You gave him the feeling that you would provide him with everything he would ever need. Then he can go to the spiritual world.

Can you imagine how dependent we are on each other? This is a mutual guarantee. It is not that I think about it, feel it, and measure it, but my friends, with their thoughts and concerns about me, put me in such a state.

I cannot do anything, I involuntarily move into bestowing and into exiting myself because I have nothing to do inside myself. Just nothing! They took it all away from me and it is as if I said: “Do not worry about yourself; this is all on us.” Then I have no choice, I start thinking externally: How can I through them do the same with the Creator?
[311355]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Motherly Care” 12/31/12

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New Life 200 – How To Fall In Love Every Day Anew
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

In order to develop a mutually loving relationship, we need to feel what is missing for our spouse and try to fulfill that desire. We provide each other with opportunities to love in the same way that a mother loves her baby. In order to receive love, we must give love. We should provide workshops in which people can learn about true love by expanding their ability to feel and their understanding of where feelings come from and the purpose they serve. For example, we need to learn that when emotional coolness enters our relationship, it is only an invitation to fall in love again, more deeply, above our egos, through conscious effort and commitment. By following the principle of “love your neighbor as yourself,” we learn to hold onto each other through every cold wind and live in an eternal paradise.
[116870]
From KabTV’s “New Life 200 – How To Fall In Love Every Day Anew,” 6/23/13
This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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Michael Laitman, on Quora: “Can soldiers be against their wars?“

In 1914, during World War I, an amazing event happened. At a time when half a million people were killed near the Belgian city of Ypres, on December 24, before Christmas, suddenly soldiers began to decorate the German trenches with garlands and various lights. Later, they moved onto neutral territory. Both the French and the British also came out to the neutral territory from the enemy trenches, making a gathering of about 100,000 people. They had been killing each other up until that point, but on that day, they got together and connected: they exchanged souvenirs, sang songs, traded buttons, tobacco, wine and sweets, and played football with cans. In 2014, a football monument was built to commemorate the event.

It was an incredible spectacle. Those who fought to the death and hated each other suddenly started bonding. Naturally, the generals were instantly alarmed. Under threat of death, the soldiers were forced back into the trenches, and war continued. It lasted four years and 20 million people got killed.

A key question that arises from this example is indeed, could it be possible to stop war from the level of the soldiers themselves? We see that the soldiers could end the war if they wanted to, but since they follow their generals’ commands, then it would require the generals to also wish to stop the war, which in turn requires each successive higher level, which makes it impossible.

However, the example is etched in history: People who were killing each other in cold blood, with bayonets, fighting hand-to-hand, where everyone was faced with so much blood and it was not just distant firing of guns and missiles. They literally faced their enemies, felt hatred for them, and in a single moment, it all shifted to a state of bonding.

It shows that even the strongest hatred can be inverted in a moment. A fight could continue for a long time, and then all of a sudden, poof—the hatred dissipates. The reason behind the hatred suddenly disappears.

It is no miracle. It is simply how a program that runs our desires plays out. There is no point in our hatred, nor in our love. We can see similar examples of people who were once seemingly in love, and all of a sudden, they stop loving each other. That love that held them together instantly disappears. It is common to hear divorcees say about their partners, “What did I ever love in them?”

The fact that our emotions can suddenly shift from one moment to the next shows us that any unity we establish should be based not on our feelings, but on an idea. That is, if we circulated an idea of the need to unite in order to reach a complete merging among each other as the most desirable state we could possibly achieve, then we would have a strong basis for uniting.

The foundation of this idea is in a higher root, that humanity was originally created as a single unified consciousness that underwent a process of shattering and dispersion until we found ourselves in a reality where we perceive ourselves separated from each other. While we are in this state of separation, we undergo a certain development until we reach a point where we start waking up to our unified state once again. That is, at a certain point, we start feeling that we are opposite to our most desirable state, that we have suffered enough in our divisiveness, and we develop a new desire to undergo a major shift back to complete unification.

Based on the video “How to Stop War” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Comment: We are used to the phrase “Israel’s Independence Day.” We are used to this holiday, and we celebrate it. In today’s world, the word “independence” is heard everywhere: independent countries, independent republics, independent press, independent experts… All sides of conflicts, all parties, speak about it, the rights, the lefts, individuals, everyone!

Besides, it is not just a word, but a very important concept in Kabbalah.

My Response: In Kabbalah, this concept is absolutely the opposite of what people, the world, society, countries, and nations understand.

What does independence mean? Independence from what?

Comment: This is the independence of my borders, independence from someone else. I want to live by myself, with my national independence, republican, state, and so on. If no one gets to me, this means that I am independent; I will build my own world. This is called independence.

My Response: But this is impossible because, in today’s world, everyone depends on each other. So how can we be independent? If you are going to be independent, you should go into the woods and provide yourself with what you can. You are condemning yourself to terrible conditions.

Question: You can say it in another way: “So that no one dictates to me how to live.” Is it also impossible?

Answer: This is the same thing. No one will dictate anything to you, but how will you provide for yourself? How will you create and preserve this independence? It is completely unclear how this is possible.

Today, a developing country in the world should be connected to all the countries by good mutual ties. Only in this case, can it feel comfortable for everyone; otherwise, it will feel crushed, limited, humiliated, and so on.

Question: If it will be on its own?

Answer: Yes, but no one will give it such an opportunity. After all, all countries surround each other and want, like wolves in the forest, to snatch from others as much as they can. This is our normal, egoistic world. It cannot be any different. It was always like that, only we covered ourselves up a little. We did not reveal it enough in our egoism.

Question: Do you think there is no point in demanding independence in this world? It does not exist and will not exist?

Answer: We can demand, but at the same time, we must demand from ourselves! This is the most important thing. If we observe such conditions then there are good neighborly relations, peace, and mutual assistance between us, which are contrary to our inherent, natural quality to receive, conquer, and force peace.

Comment: If we have a connection, then it is against someone. All this is vicious.

My Response: Of course. Therefore, everything we create is only supposedly for the benefit of ourselves and to the detriment of others. There cannot be one instead of the other.

Kabbalah speaks of independence where we rise above our egoism. Independence from our personal egoism. This is what real independence is, and then I only think about others. It is among the others, in good relations with others, which I create with all my capabilities, there I feel independent.

Question: Are you saying, “only about others”? Do I not think about myself at all?

Answer: I do not, I am a consequence. I exist even today as a consequence of the attitude of everyone else toward me.

Question: Does it mean that I can only think about others, and then the consequence will be how they treat me, how I am, and so on?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Should my first thought not be: “Will they treat me well if I treat others well?”

Answer: I do not think this is the nature of a person and our society. Therefore, to say such beautiful phrases as: “Do not hit others, and they will not hit you,” and so on does not work.

Question: Does what you say work? How is it possible in our world that I do not think about myself, but think about others? Publicly, for example.

Answer: The fact is that, of course, it does not work anyway. If I treat others well, I will only give them an additional reason to grab me and bite off all sorts of pieces of me. Thus, the whole problem in human society is for it to transform itself from a pack of predators into an organized, mutual, voluntary, and kind community.

Question: Do you believe in this fiction?

Answer: No, I do not believe it by any means, but I say it because in principle this is the only solution. Exactly when we realize that this is the only solution, albeit a fantastic and impossible one, then we suddenly can implement it.

Question: From where?

Answer: From above. We will be able to receive such a force from nature that will lift us above our egoism, and then it will be implemented. I will be above my nature, I will be above my thoughts, I will be above my decisions. How will it work out? It will work out because the second force of nature will be revealed—the quality of bestowal, connection, and love.

Question: Can you guarantee this to me? For example, I am a politician or an ordinary person, and I hear you. Can you guarantee me that?

Answer: I can only tell you again in more detail so that you understand that there is no other way. Or we are going to perish and die in every generation. And in the future generation, the same fate is prepared for our descendants. Nothing is changing, except that the sufferings are becoming greater, and the possibility of solving them with the help of wars and deaths is becoming more and more terrible.

Question: Will I come to what you say through understanding this and feeling this?

Answer: Yes, in the end, we will understand. Moreover, this is a very scary decision because we will feel like we are being skinned. Because this is the opposite of me.

But there is an opportunity to resolve this issue in a kind, peaceful way. It means to study our nature and study the force of nature that can help us change ourselves. Then we will be able to place ourselves under the influence of this good force of nature, and it will change us from little evil predators to big kind creatures.

Question: Do you think we are getting closer to this understanding that we are little evil predators?

Answer: We are getting closer. However, so far we are also approaching it in a bad way.

But according to the way all kinds of positive and negative forces are being revealed more and more, especially in our generation, and we are given the opportunity to talk about it and somehow implement them; that is, there is hope that we will be able to formalize for ourselves, for our understanding, and for our knowledge of this system of nature’s forces, and to understand how we can balance it and express the good force from it.

I think we can do it. Otherwise, we will still come to this, but in a very long way, a terrible way of suffering.

Question: It is said that the Messiah will come when the face of humanity will be like the muzzle of a dog. Does this apply to us, to our time?

Answer: Yes, it is people’s awareness of their terrible, bestial nature. We are getting closer to this now. But we can see it from afar, and that is enough. We do not necessarily have to get right into the dog’s den. It is enough just to see it and be scared.

Comment: God grant that it will be so.
[297387]
From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman” 5/3/22

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Question: We have reached a milestone date: 75 years of Israel’s independence. It has been 75 years since the Jews found their home, 75 years of wars, 75 years of proving that this is our place, that we want to live here, and so on. These have not been easy years.

How would you sum up this 75^th anniversary?

Answer: I would like us to understand that time is not working for us. We must admit that in the eyes of the world, despite all our attempts to present ourselves as the best, we still look like the worst.

Comment: This is a paradox. We have huge achievements in medicine, in progress, in everything.

My Response: Absolutely no one needs this from us. On the contrary, if we suffered, then maybe a certain number of non-Jews would love us. Or rather, they would feel sorry for us. But not in this way.

Comment: The great Kabbalist Baal HaSulam welcomed the creation of the State of Israel.

My Response: He hoped that this state of Israel would be the right one.

Comment: What do you consider right?

My Response: It is when the people who will inhabit it will try to show the entire world what the purpose of a person’s life on Earth is.

Question: You take it globally. What about the fact that a home was created for Jews who were persecuted and exterminated?

Answer: What for?

Question: To live at home, so that no one touches you. Is that not an idea?

Answer: This is impossible for the Jews. We were kicked out of our home. We have never had our own home in general. The fact that we lived for several hundred years, even less, in the land of Israel in the past, says nothing.

Question: How about the fact that Temples were built here?

Answer: So, what? We took the land from other nations and built them. Were there no nations here before that?

Rashi wrote that the nations of the world would come and ask: “Why did you take the land away from the nations who lived here?” And the Jews will have to answer. He asks, what can we answer?  “The entire earth belongs to the Creator. He gave it to other nations, and then took it from them and gave it to us.”

But this is correct if we follow His instructions, will, and desire. Yet, we do not do that. Therefore, there is no life for us here and there will not be. Will not be! I say this to everyone and always.

Comment: We started by saying that this is a holiday, but what you are saying does not sound festive.

My Response: This is a holiday because the people received the opportunity, as Baal HaSulam says, to exist on their land and fulfill their mission before all of humanity. So, if we fulfill it, because this opportunity still exists, then everything will turn out right and everyone in the world will understand why Jews exist and what we should do.

Question: What is the mission of the Jews, and why do they exist on this earth?

Answer: The Jews exist in order to live on this earth in unity with each other, in such a unity that will be called absolute unity. When they will be able to show all other nations an example of how to actually live without wars, without violence, without mutual hatred.

This is what we must show to the whole world. Then we will have the right to exist. Everyone will understand why we exist at all. And everyone will be happy to see that we exist on our own piece of land in order to translate all this into action and example.

Question: Then will everyone want this piece of land to exist, for Jews to live here, and for them to prosper?

Answer: Yes. In particular, our cousins the Arabs.

Question: In that case, what is independence in light of what you are saying?

Answer: Independence is independence from our egoism, when we can rise above it and show this example to all the nations of the world how to live in connection, in friendship, and in mutuality. Everyone will want to follow it.

This is our mission from above. Therefore, we are a special nation in this sense, and we cannot escape anywhere from fulfilling this mission. But it may take several thousand more years until we come to this.

Question: Thousands of years?!

Answer: Thousands. Has it been 2,000 years? Another 2,000 years will pass. It does not matter how long it takes, but we still will not be able to run away from fulfilling our mission.

We can hope that over the next 2,000 years, we will understand something after all.

Question: Is there such a layer in us that it cannot be penetrated?

Answer: The egoistic layer is such that maybe the next 2,000 years will do something to us.

Question: But anyway, one way or another, this is not our work, this is the work of the Creator. He might as well do it tomorrow. Why do we have to wait 2,000 years?

Answer: We are obliged, we have to agree to this job. We must wait for such a revolution in ourselves when we want to be not competing with each other but loving each other, to “love your neighbor as yourself” and be able to convey this as an example to all other nations of the world.

Comment: You have always said that a good businessman is a strategist, he looks forward to many years. A bad businessman wants to quickly grab something right now and that is it. You are such a businessman that you are looking forward to 2,000 years. You are engaged in this, you are disseminating this, and at the same time, you are saying that this is…

My Response: I live in this every day with the hope that after some time, I am not saying 2,000 years, but as we understand, not yet today, the people will begin to change.

Comment: And for this, you are ready to keep saying it today and repeating it.

My Response: In order for this to begin to be implemented in a few thousand years.

Question: But are you still an optimist?

Answer: I am not an optimist. I say that this is the law of nature, and we will still be obliged to implement it.
[311981]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 4/20/23

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In the News (New Scientist): “In 1989, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts detected an unknown sonic presence at 52 hertz. It was initially thought to be from a submarine, but marine biologist William Watkins later determined that it was the sonar signature of a whale, which he gave the nickname “52”.

“It is an unusually high frequency for whale vocalisations, and Watkins was intrigued enough to search for 52 until his death in 2004. But despite picking up 52’s call every year, Watkins never found the mysterious whale. …

“Why 52 calls at this frequency is also a mystery – the whale’s species hasn’t been confirmed, and it is possible that it is the only one of its kind in the ocean. The one thing we do know is that 52 is almost certainly a he: male whales do the singing.

“The reason for 52’s presumed loneliness has nothing to do with the fact that he has always been detected swimming alone. Instead, it is because the unique frequency of his call means that other whales can’t understand to respond. …

“In our increasingly connected world where contact and interaction is only the click of a button away, the fact that so many people still report feeling lonely makes it easy to identify with 52’s situation. There is something deeply affecting about a creature as intelligent and social as we know whales to be, swimming the vast ocean, year after year, never having any proper contact with another of its kind.”

My Response: In place of humanity, I would still start to get in some kind of contact with it. If the frequency at which it talks or wants to talk is known, then we have no problem creating such a device.

Question: Do you think it wants to communicate?

Answer: Undoubtedly. But it scares other whales away with its higher frequency.

Question: And what should we, such lonely whales that live in this world and exist in this loneliness, do? Now a lot of people have gone to live in huts in the forest somewhere in the Taiga and have been living there for 20 to 30 years. This is how people live.

Answer: It is their choice, and I would not say that it is bad. They still find themselves there. Through communication with themselves, they communicate with nature. Perhaps even with the Creator. It is better than communicating with people.

Question: Especially in our time?

Answer: Of course. If they do not feel that they have a special goal, a mission, that obligates them to be in the world among people, then they feel very good. I think that, in principle, they find themselves there.

Question: And if you had a choice, would you go somewhere?

Answer: Undoubtedly.

Question: Would you lock yourself in a room?

Answer: Undoubtedly! I am trying to do that anyway, although this is all unsuccessful. But I still move away from people, from the world, as much as I can.

Question: Is it possible to create a world in solitude? Is it possible to love loneliness? Is it possible to be in it all the time?

Answer: If a person rises, really rises, then he feels he is alone; he is lonely. This is a wonderful state, but at the same time he feels himself in connection with the Creator.

Question: Still a person advances to this?

Answer: Yes. This is the lone whale.
[309813]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 6/16/22

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Question: Do you feel how much a person is invested in what is given to him?

Answer: First, participate in everything the main group does. Secondly, it is necessary to do internal work, which, in principle, the main group does and constantly talks about. Do all this and you will advance forward.

How much to invest? Invest and you will see. When you work together with everyone, you gradually get involved in a common spiritual work, you will not go anywhere. So it goes.

Question: Do you feel how much a person’s investment is to his maximum or not?

Answer: What is the difference?! It is his own business. What kind of test can there be? He is building his spiritual future with this!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What to Expect from Kabbalah?” 12/22/12

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