Comment: A person wants to dress nicely. It is in his nature.

My Response: If he is not forced to do so by external circumstances, then in his inner circumstances he can continue to live as he lived before.

Question: In an old robe?

Answer: Of course.

Comment: Then there is no progress.

My Response: Well then there will not be progress of that kind.

Comment: Now you are going somewhat against nature. Look around, everything is built on buying a house, dressing beautifully, fashion. Everything today is like that.

My Response: Everything is needed only to live comfortably for the sake of your goal so that you will not be a slave to things, a slave to time, and a slave to the environment. That is all. And all the rest of your free time, dedicate to your beloved self.

Question: So is that how one should live?

Answer: Yes, why should I work, as you say, for a robe, for a table, or for something else?

Question: What do you mean when you say “take care of yourself”?

Answer: Do what you truly want, what you consider important. What you consider important, not what the environment dictates.

Question: So your advice is to stop?

Answer: Not even to stop, but not to enter into it in the first place. Do not get involved; do not dive into it.

Question: Even if I am internally spinning and restless?

Answer: That should be the aim of such a low level of human development, the animal level of man, so that he does not get carried away into other goals or niches. Live for yourself! Even if it seems egoistic.

Comment: You just gave a very egoistic formula: live for yourself, not for others.

My Response: Choose a goal and live for it. A person must examine his path and direct and arrange it in such a way that he harms no one, including his own life. That is all.
[349200]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 10/16/25

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The environment and the teacher are the only factors that determine a person’s future. At every moment, he must see his state as one in which he has received everything necessary from above, and all that remains for him is to connect himself with the right environment.

And such an environment is always near us; we only need to be able to choose it. This is our only free choice because everything else already follows from it.

That is why I don’t have to worry about anything except where I get my nourishment from, with whom I am connected, who influences me! That is, to always think not about myself, but about what external environment I am connected to. If a person wants to manage his development, his life and destiny, then he should think only about whom he is in contact with.

But it is completely unnatural for a person to think about this! After all, we constantly think about ourselves: who am I, why, what will happen to me? What is the meaning of my life?

All these questions of yours are directed inward, and they are correct! But how are you going to resolve them? With what do you connect their resolution?

Kabbalists explain that the solution depends only on the environment. And that is why I need to immediately turn my attention to the external forces that act upon me because their influence on me determines all my future.

And in essence, this is not external, but a single system of souls, an integral part of my spiritual body, there, where the shattering occurred and what needs to be corrected. And only there can I change something, because with all the other desires I can’t do anything.

It is as if to bury oneself into an archive and read the protocol of long predetermined events. I can only influence the environment somehow. And it is a pity to waste my attention on something other than that.
[13212]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/18/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam “The Freedom”

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Even the helpless victim of a hopeless situation, facing a fate he cannot change, may rise above himself, may grow beyond himself, and by so doing change himself (Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning).

When a person stands before the absolute, before the realization that he cannot change anything, he understands the necessity of changing himself, that the only possible way to do something, to continue a correct existence in the world is to change himself, from this very moment, to the next, and the next, and the next. And so, step by step, live your life in such a way that in every moment you change yourself.

Question: So do you actually welcome dead ends?

Answer: Of course! How could it be otherwise? If a person does not feel a dead end…

Question: So is a hopeless situation the way out for you?

Answer: Yes, it is like a little toy car. It bumps into something and starts to turn. It bumps again, and turns again. And so it keeps trying until, out of all possibilities, it discovers that there is a way out.

Question: So will a person who moves from one dead end to another eventually find a way out?

Answer: Of course, everything is programmed.

Question: So in principle, as a person, should I sing a kind of hymn to the dead end?

Answer: Certainly! That is the very force of our formation.

Comment: But I always want to avoid dead ends. A person wants to avoid them.

My Response: Can you truly make the right decision without reaching a dead end?

Comment: It isn’t likely.

My Response: Not at all.

Question: What correct decision should humanity make today? It is an essential global question.

Answer: The answer is the same in all cases: to annul oneself.

Question: Is this “annul oneself” understandable to your students?

My Response: It must become understandable to everyone else as well.

Question: So what do you mean by “annul oneself”?

Answer: It means that I do not decide what to do, I do not determine the goal, and I do not imagine it for myself and then try to achieve it. I can do only one thing: annul myself before others in such a way that they can achieve their goal.

If I set any other goal for myself besides helping others, it means that I am standing in their way. If I annul myself, then I help them move toward their goal. And as a result, everyone should be busy in precisely this way—helping others achieve their goal.

Question: What then happens to my “I”?

Answer: That is when this “I” is revealed as a collective common self within which the upper force of nature, the only one existing and guiding force, is revealed.
[349173]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 10/15/25

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Question: In TES (The Study of the Ten Sefirot) it is said that the true Kelim exist in the world of Atzilut. But we also study that at that stage there is still no separation from the Creator. At the same time, we learn that the entire system was created precisely to enable free choice and that the true Kli exists where there is free choice. So is there free choice in the world of Atzilut?

Answer: No, in the world of Atzilut there is still no free choice.

While on our level, we try to gather all the actions that belong to the lower and raise them to the higher, so that the illumination from a higher level would influence us and so we could gradually, step by step, reveal the forces of increasingly higher degrees.

Question: Then what is the true Kli? What parameters are included in it if it is not free choice?

Answer: Free choice is not yet a Kli. It is only a certain intention from below upward. Therefore, free choice takes place when the lower ones, that is, people in our world, feel some influence of the light upon themselves and strive toward their higher root.
[349157]
From the 2^nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 10/16/25, “The Study of the Ten Sefirot“

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The main thing in spiritual work is constant care for the environment. The greater and broader it appears in my eyes, the more strongly I will strive to attach it to myself, to absorb it within me.

Each time, these external circles will enter me more and more, like rolling waves, until I cover the entire Malchut of infinity, meaning that I will perceive everyone as myself. This entire immense desire (Kli) will become mine, and within this unified desire the light, the Creator, will be revealed.

Everything depends on the intensity of the mutual work between a person and the environment, their influence on one another, and their mutual demand. By this, we determine the speed of our advancement. A person cannot advance by himself. The environment is the only means. Each time a person draws closer to it and rises with its help.

It is also necessary to fully realize the importance of the environment. After all, the entire structure of desire (Kli) originates from the division into an inner and an outer part, and all our discernments also take place between the inner and the outer, between a person and the environment.

So far we have not yet revealed this and cannot understand where exactly the correction of desires takes place. But when, with the help of the environment, we attract enough surrounding light and ascend to spirituality, we definitely feel that true spiritual work begins—between me and the environment.

Clarification and correction take place only there.
[12935]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati 225 “Raising Oneself”

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Question: A person is faced with a choice of what to choose? If you were facing a choice, what would you identify as the most important thing and then follow through with this decision?

Answer: How I can detach from myself and only then make the correct choice. Only then will my choice be correct.

Question: So that my “I” would not command me?

Answer: Of course.

Question: How can it be done? It is a difficult question.

Answer: Detach yourself

Question: Meaning, I should not listen to my inner voice too much?

Answer: No, you cannot rely on anything here.

Question: What about examples? Let’s say other people tell me: “Look, I went there. I am already a scientist and I have a PhD. I am already a Nobel Prize winner. You should take this path.” And another person says: “I am already a businessman.” There are a multitude of various noises around me. Should I not listen to these people around me? You see, it is not an easy question, but it is there.

Answer: Then it is better not to choose anything. You rely on God’s will, as we say. You are not doing anything; you are just sitting, and that is all. As it is said: “Sit and do nothing, better.” What is next, God will give.

Question: Can I rely on Him?

Answer: You have to work; you have to do everything that is required. However, such important, crucial decisions are always difficult for a person.

I used to get questions from people about choosing a profession, college, or other things. I usually did not give advice. A person should figure out for himself where his soul or hand is pulling him.

Question: Still, I would like to follow your experience and ask about you personally. What do you choose when you have a choice? How do you make decisions?

Answer: I always decide for the maximum benefit of society because I know for sure that this is what the Creator wants.

I do not know whether I made a mistake or not. In general, we do not know whether we make mistakes or not.

Question: In general, we probably do make mistakes?

Answer: It does not matter. You do not know what would be in the other scenario. And so I imagine where would be the maximum benefit for the Creator. What would the Creator want me to do? And in general, that is for the benefit of society, for the people.

Comment: Perhaps there is something in this. When I make a decision according to what is best for me, then I will for sure make a mistake. However, if I am for society, then that is probably the answer.

Answer: You see, you have decided.
[348526]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 9/24/25

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We are completely at the mercy of nature and are guided in all our actions, both in the body and in the soul. Yet Kabbalists say we have freedom of choice, otherwise there would be no point in creating all of creation if the upper force had predetermined everything that happens within it.

However, freewill exists above our current life, solely there, where we wish to rise above our egoistic nature, in a higher dimension, in the quality of bestowal.

Only in this ascent from one degree to another can we choose to rise under the blows of nature if we do not wish to use our freewill and do not make our own effort, or to advance of our own accord in the same direction, that is, to see it as the desired goal. When we seek the forces that can help us make this ascent, there we find our freedom of choice.

Kabbalists explain that freedom of choice exists only in building the right environment. In any case, I advance under the influence of the environment; only I do not usually choose it myself.

But I can choose my environment consciously and thereby accelerate my progress and change the nature of my ascent. Instead of being tossed about under the blows of fate like a beaten animal, I can rise by a beautiful path, by my own desire, full of feeling, understanding, and inner strength, as befits a human being.

If I examine the goal, wish to draw closer to it, and understand that to accelerate my development I must draw more light than comes to me naturally, then I make use of the means given to me, which is called Torah, the upper light that draws me and returns me to the source.

Regarding this work, it is written that if we leave it even for a single day without realizing our freedom of choice, we are stopped for two days in our development, and prevented from advancing independently. The natural upper forces begin to act upon us.

It is not enough simply to lose the amount of effort we did not invest; this would not teach us anything. Therefore, we must receive a punishment slightly more than our fault, so that when a stronger obstacle arises next time we will be careful not to stumble over it.

Thus the spiritual law states: “If you leave Me one day, I will leave you two.”
[16938]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/10, Writings of Baal HaSulam “If You Leave Me One Day, I Will Leave You Two”

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Comment: All this propaganda and gaslighting penetrates every nook and cranny. It is the psychological manipulation of a person that makes him doubt the correctness of his own thoughts and leads to a loss of confidence and dependence on the manipulator.

My Response: This gaslighting wants to explain to a person that they are being controlled. In general. And a person should feel that he controls himself. And then there is a single combat between a person and someone who encroaches on his independence.

Question: Is this really an attack?

Answer: Yes! What else! This is enslavement. Well, what can you do? Such is the world.

Comment: Basically we see that almost 90 percent or more are subject to enslavement.

My Response: And they want it!

Question: So a person should resist this, simply not want it to the death?

Answer: He should not do that! He just needs to understand that he can be subjected to such an attack, and that he will no longer have freewill after that. And to avoid this, he must build himself up.

Question: Let’s talk about this a little. What kind of core is this in a person that he must build in himself?

Answer: To do to yourself what others want to do with you. That is, others want to impose their point of view, worldview, and attitude to the world on you, and you build it all yourself!

Question: So he is ahead of them and building himself up?

Answer: Yes. Moreover, he is so much ahead of them that he can fight them. He can put a wall between himself and them. That is what we need to understand.

Question: What does it consist of? What exactly is this wall made of?

Answer: This wall consists of confidence in my own method of building the world in me the way I want it to be. And everything.

Question: Which wall can withstand it? What kind of world should I build to make it stand?

Answer: It is as materialistic as possible, which will resist any attempts to crack this inner world of a person.

Question: Is this possible only for strong people, or is almost everyone capable of it?

Answer: No, I do not think everyone is capable of it. But in principle, this can be taught, and people can be pulled out of dependence, out of such a semi-underground, slave state.

Comment: You and I can see that the world is under it today.

My Response: Today, absolutely everyone is in a state where they are being controlled: thoughts, pictures, points of view, and so on, are being imposed. Humanity generally goes, of course… Crawls back into the caves.

Comment: Then still, if you say so, there is a possibility to build a wall.… And I will tell you something else; there is a very interesting observation. There are millions of views on the Internet about those who have gone somewhere, to some kind of hermitage. Someone went to the taiga and has been living there for 20 years, 30 years. One. One person leaves, and that is it, he leaves people. And people are watching and writing comments: “I wish I could.”

My Response: Yes, but it is not easy.

Comment: It is not easy. But this wall was built by some. And you are offering in an active world…

My Response: Absolutely active, without changing anything, only inside yourself.

Question: And yet, you do not say what it might be? Is that what it is? How to do it? Give me some practical advice.

Answer: I don’t know. I have built such a wall in me. It is as if I have fenced myself off from the world, from everyone. I live inside myself quietly, alone. No one suspects that I live like this.

Comment: It is interesting! Tens, hundreds of thousands of students, and you say, “This is how I live.”

My Response: That does not matter.

Comment: So, share the secret.

My Response: The secret is very simple. I build this world within myself, and therefore, even if I am in conflict with the world that is being imposed on me, this contradiction does not oppress me, does not fight with me. I just dismiss it and continue.

Question: Can you tell us at least a little bit about what it is like there, in that world?

Answer: In that world, I am the king. And I serve the great Creator. That is all. Everything is very simple.

Question: It is easy to say, but it is not easy. But I really want to go to such a world. Do you have any advice on how to get into it, into this world?

Answer: To crawl through.

Question: How?

Answer: It needs to be built. A person must build it in himself. And when he builds it, he discovers that, yes it can be done, it must be done, and it will be forever.

Question: Is it both safety and peace?

Answer: It absolutely covers everything! This is the kingdom of the great king.

Question: The great king. But is He the king?

Answer: Yes, but you are building for Him.

Question: Are you building this for Him? And then you find yourself in it? For Him to rule there?

Answer: For me to rule everything for Him.
[348336]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 9/17/25

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Question: The Creator reigns over me and other people by awakening desires and thoughts within me and in them. Does it mean we are marionettes in His hands?

Answer: We are marionettes in the hands of the Creator because we exist under His total influence. However, the reaction to His action depends on us. When we unite between us, we can collectively influence the Creator and force Him to take different actions relative to us.

The force of the Creator comes down upon us from above. If upon its influence we begin in return to act toward it, we can make Him act in the following way: (1) we receive, (2) we give our reaction, and then (3) we receive an answer that includes our reaction.

Therefore, we can always as though correct the action of the Creator upon us. It depends only on the degree of our connection between us (the sign ∑ on the drawing is the sign of connection).
[247761]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/17/2019

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What would I gain if I found out what will happen to me in a week, a month, a year, ten or twenty years? I think it is much more interesting to live when you do not know anything. You just don’t know! This is much more interesting; it is exciting.

When you know everything, it is as if you have come to a movie theater to watch a movie, sat in the chair, and suddenly realized that you remember this movie very well; you have already seen it. The whole thrill disappears.

Comment: Meaning, it is better to live the way as you say: tomorrow is tomorrow, whatever will happen, will happen. Everything is in the hands of the upper one. Hence, we should move with this flow.

My Response: Yes, the best thing is not to know anything and be the boss in your life.

As much as you are the boss, you are the boss, and as much as not, you will start figuring it out; it just does not need to be. I am moving forward according to the rules that the Creator has set up for me in order to come to Him. I am approaching Him precisely within those conditions that He has presented for me. I do not want anything more. I do not want to see more than that, even a tiny bit! I do not want anything else! I want to be exactly so, a devoted follower of the Creator.

This is the most wonderful of anything that can be! This is a great award to a person when he can act this way!

And at the same time, hearing them speak about your future? No way! We must come to the state of bestowal.

Question: What if around the corner of this movement, as you say, of giving oneself to the Creator, suddenly horrible things happen?

Answer: There is no horrible or non-horrible. It all depends on how you relate to it. If you give yourself to it with an open heart and soul, then whatever happens, happens, but this is from the Creator; there is nothing horrible.

Everything in the next moment just becomes simple, clear, soft. Your attitude to the Creator is what makes Him the Creator. That is all. Here also comes the correct connection between you.
[346450]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/19/25

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