Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How has covid19 changed the future of humanity?” The longer we endure the coronavirus pandemic, the more we undergo changes that have a major impact on our future.

At the beginning of the outbreak, many thought that COVID-19 was going to be over in a matter of weeks. Weeks soon became months, and today, it has become a lot clearer that it is not going anywhere anytime soon.

The pandemic’s relentless perseverance to continue its worldwide spread is tiring and upsetting many people. Our pre-coronavirus lives, which we ran on a competitive consumerist treadmill, came to a halt, and more and more people have found themselves with no future worth striving for.

In such a slumber-like state, some react explosively in riots and protests, and others become quietly depressed, but a general fatigue has expanded throughout humanity. Indeed, there are also risks that people will rise from the pandemic in wars, both within and between countries.

If people have no clear perspective and purpose in their lives, not knowing how to navigate their lives into the future, then the lack of a hopeful vision gives rise to sensations of powerlessness and helplessness.

However, with regard to our future, our lives were quite similar in pre-coronavirus times. That is, we were playing an egoistic-consumerist game, and our main preoccupation was to simply keep playing it. Most of us were not very focused on where our lives were ultimately headed. Now, it is as if nature confiscated our game, and we feel that we cannot earn and spend ad nauseam as we once did.

How, then, can we advance from here?

Since the coronavirus has made it all the more taxing to take care of ourselves, then perhaps this despair will urge us to arrive at a decision where we will need to take more care of each other.

Our powerlessness, helplessness and dissatisfaction in our personal lives might just be what we need in order to change society’s modus operandi, where instead of looking out for number one all the time—me, myself and mine—which gives rise to an array of negative sensations, we will instead be able to find true fulfillment, strength, happiness, and a reason to live, if we support one another.

Then, when we start living our lives not for our own sake, but in mutual support and consideration of each other, we will see life differently.

We will discover a fresh new purpose to our lives, as we will come closer to aligning our relations with the global and perfect interconnectedness existing in nature. Such a calibration between us and nature would resuscitate us with completely new sensations of livelihood, high spirits and energy, which we currently cannot even imagine. We would then replace the egoistic-consumerist child’s game that we played leading up to the coronavirus with a new game for adults: our active participation to upgrade human relations in order to reach balance with nature.

Photo by Tom Ritson on Unsplash.

Filed under: Coronavirus, Health, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

All viruses are the result of our bad thoughts. But there are no instruments capable of measuring this connection because it is higher than ordinary material perception.

There are many laboratories and studies trying to grasp the connection between the spiritual and the material, but this is impossible. Our good or evil thoughts belong to the human level since they are based on our egoism, the evil principle.

Tell me, what device can be used to measure a person’s egoism, and where should it be connected? Of course, not to the material body because it is only a biological machine that carries out orders. To the heart? But the heart is just a pump that can be replaced with an artificial one. Maybe to the brain? Also no.

Where can a person’s thoughts be extracted from in order to pass them through the device and see which thoughts are good and which are not and need to be corrected? Is it possible? You can build a cardiogram, measure frequencies, electrical processes in the body, but it is impossible to assess their essence. After all, it does not belong to matter. Therefore, science is not able to approach this.

As a student, we had classes at the Human Brain Institute in St. Petersburg. Then I heard from the head of the department, who was a famous scientist, that we do not know where the thoughts and desires of a person are.

Scientists try to trace this connection, but it leads out of the brain into a sphere that we are not able to perceive. There, outside of man, are all our thoughts and desires. The human brain is a modem that connects the spiritual space, where all our thoughts soar, with human sensations.

In our world, it is customary to identify a person with his animal body. But by studying Kabbalah, we build a spiritual Partzuf, ascend to faith above knowledge. It is no longer material. The science of Kabbalah connects a person with his true essence as if separating him from the material body and attaching him to the soul. Therefore, the physical world disappears from our sensations because it is imaginary.

When we reach such a connection between us that we begin to reveal spiritual phenomena, then we will open the book The Study of the Ten Sefirot and we will be able to feel everything that is written there and read it like a musician reads a musical score.
[272565]
From KabTV’s “Writers Meeting” 10/15/20

Related Material:
The Virus Spreads Through Thoughts
Coronavirus Vaccine
Thought Is The Greatest Force

Filed under: Coronavirus, Health, Perception, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

If I allow an unkind thought about others to come out and be expressed and heard, I give it an opportunity to manifest itself. As long as it is inside me, I can still suppress it, forbid these thoughts to come out of me, that is, make a restriction on my inherent egoistic nature.

A negative thought about our neighbor is like an action. But I can catch and stop a thought without letting it manifest and hurting others. A thought initiates an action even if it is not a material one. If I allow an unkind thought to flow and act freely without trying to control and suppress it, I am harming my neighbor and committing a bad action in the world.

We live in a world of thoughts. A thought is an action. Therefore, by allowing unkind thoughts to come out of me and believing that this is not bad, I act maliciously and thereby determine what is happening in reality. Our entire world, every person will have to check himself and find out how he influences others. This will require deep inner work and a lot of effort from everyone.

Man must change the direction of his thoughts about others from negative to positive. And then, in this positive attitude toward others, he will feel an additional force of nature that he did not feel before.

By changing our thoughts from negative to positive, we will save ourselves from the coronavirus and redeem the entire world from the epidemic and other problems. After all, this is how we bring ourselves in line with nature so that all its degrees: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human will be in harmony, in good thoughts, mutually complementing each other.

All that prevents this is our evil nature, our egoism. Therefore, we need to turn this egoistic attitude toward others into a good one. To do this, we need to work in groups so that we attract the good force concealed in nature and make it reveal itself. We demand that this good force, good relations, and unity be manifested between us in the group.

If we allow our egoistic thoughts to rule over us and we do not connect, then the coronavirus will spread more and more. We will not have any remedy for this disease because the coronavirus is a display of our bad relations with each other. We just call it a virus.

There will be many more such “viruses” that appear as a result of our evil thoughts, and we will suffer a lot. Six months ago, there was still hope that the epidemic would gradually subside. Now, however, we see that it will only get worse and worse until we say: “Enough!”

Our corruption manifests itself in the form of a virus because the human body is filled with viruses. Viruses are information blocks that are in constant communication with each other at all levels of the body. We call them viruses, but in fact, we cannot exist without them. Each virus is a very complex entity, and we do not even understand a  millionth part of the way it works. We do not know how our body functions.

When such ruptures are revealed in the form of viruses, they can only be corrected by a force that is higher than them. And above the virus is thought. Viruses are carriers that transmit thoughts; they transmit data and information to different parts of the body and to the brain. Since our thoughts and desires operate at very high egoistic levels, they manifest themselves in such dangerous viruses.

If we want to calm them down and bring them into balance, there is the wisdom of Kabbalah for this. Balance is restored by restriction, screen, and reflected light. You need to balance all the forces that activate these viruses so that they fall under the restriction and screen. Then all the viruses that cause the disease today will turn into beneficial ones.
[272576]
From the Writers Meeting 10/15/20

Related Material:
Subtle Units Of Measuring Thought
Coronavirus Vaccine
Health And Medicine, Part 7

Filed under: Coronavirus, Health, Perception - No Comments →

Remark: Sometimes I have a feeling that reality is much more sensual, stronger than any movie, any scenario. I will now read the letter that is addressed to you.

Dear Michael Laitman,
My name is Stanislav. I listen to your programs and don’t miss any of them. And it’s all thanks to my wife. I lived in perfect harmony with her for 28 years. We had no children, so we adopted a son. We raised him. Loved him very much, especially my wife, who adored him.

During the coronavirus, we were very careful. My wife and I were able to work from home and listened to your programs. We agreed with you. But our son took it as a challenge. He went outside, didn’t wear a mask, laughed at us. We couldn’t explain anything to him, he wouldn’t listen.

As a result, he infected us. I went through this illness easily, my wife was very ill. She died two months ago.

I can’t look at my son, I hate him! I understand that it’s impossible to bring my wife back, and I don’t want to live with this hatred for my son, especially since he feels guilty, I see it. But I can’t help myself. I look at him, avert my eyes, and try not to yell at him. There is no love inside me, no love at all! How do I get it back? What to do? How can I forgive him? I don’t know. Help me!”

I just feel what hell is inside a person.

My Comment: He must understand that all this comes only from the highest degree, from the highest decision, and therefore the son is absolutely not to blame!

Remark: I’m afraid it’s hard for a person in this state to hear.

My Comment: Never mind. He needs to hear it because it will save him from hatred after all. And hate is the worst thing.

Remark: He feels the hatred eating away at him. He wants to escape it and can’t.

My Comment: Therefore, he can be told it all comes from above, and therefore none of us are to blame for anything, except for one thing that we do not admit our mistakes. We must learn from them. Learn what the Creator reveals.

Question: What is his mistake now?

Answer: He should say to himself: “Enough!” He must raise the thought to the level of action. He can’t go on like this, it’s not right. He burns himself and everything around him.

Question: Have you ever had a state where you hated so much that everything just burns?

Answer: Yes, until realizing that this is not right.

Question: So one needs to feel it? What’s my first thought?

Answer: “There is none else besides him”! I must attribute all this to the Creator, whatever it is! There, at His level, are all the solutions. Absolutely everything! About this poor woman and her son, and the Holocaust, and murders, and all the terrible things that happen in our world.

Everything is at the highest degree. You have to go up there, and then you will see that everything is the opposite. It turns out that this is not some kind of supreme cruelty, this is the highest mercy.

Question: So this is not a punishment, but mercy?

Answer: Yes. It’s impossible to imagine all this. We should start hearing this slowly now, later we will realize it.

Question: Is this given to a person to the extent that he can endure?

Answer: Bearing is not a big deal. It’s like you give him painkillers and he endures everything. It is not necessary to bear at this level, but when he sees and understands the entire creation from beginning to end and can justify it on the part of the Creator. To the extent that he is equivalent to the Creator, he can justify everything that happens. Absolutely everything!

Otherwise, we will engage in self-criticism. How many people reproach themselves for everything they have done in life!

Remark: Look at how much hate there is in the world. The world is built on hate.

My Comment: In fact, we will see that this is not hatred, but love. The opposite is true. There is no need to continue to cultivate hatred.
[271914]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 7/27/20

Related Material:
The Highest Spark Of Love
What Will Make People Kinder?
“I Have Created The Evil Inclination”

Filed under: Children, Education, Health, News - No Comments →

Question: One of the diseases of humanity now is a problem with sleep, either insomnia or sleepiness. How do we deal with this?

Answer: I do not think we should treat this as a problem. Just go with the flow as much as you can, and gradually your body will find out how it needs to adapt to this state.

Here you just need to devote yourself to the correct, normal lifestyle, not too much exercise, not too much laziness. Then you will see that the amount of sleep you get is enough for you.

So what if you sleep for five hours? It’s all right; it means you do not need more sleep. And if necessary, the body will make adjustments.
[272153]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 9/1/20

Related Material:
Health And Medicine, Part 8
An Ordinary Dream
A Night’s Sleep Is The Continuation Of The Day’s Activities

Filed under: Health, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Stress is called a disease of the 21st century. According to some research, 40% of the population of Earth need help with stress, anxiety, and so on. How can a person avoid or withstand stress, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future?

Answer: This usually happens when a person understands who controls him, who leads him, and to what extent he can position himself correctly with the force that develops him. Then he will not have any worries and problems. He will be completely inside the system that controls him and go along with it.

Remark: But when a person expects something good, he is still under stress.

My Comment: He must understand what it means to expect good or bad, from whom to expect it, when, and how. One can find this out only by studying the method of controlling nature. Therefore, nothing will help here except a serious education that is given in our courses.
[271911]
From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 9/1/20

Related Material:
Connection With The Creator Annihilates Stress
Managing Stress, Part 5
The Benefits Of Stress

Filed under: Health, Q&A - No Comments →

Question: Is there a difference between the methods of solving external interpersonal conflicts and internal conflicts in a person? Or are they suitable for both cases?

Answer: In principle, yes. But inside a person, conflicts are resolved a little differently because one must see both sides of the argument.

Comment: Let’s say, I want to go outside and consider whether to wear a mask or not. There is an internal conflict. On one hand, I am a bit cautious about infecting others. On the other hand, it is uncomfortable to breathe and there seems to be no one around. So, a person constantly makes some calculations, conflicts arise in one every second.

Answer: With a mask, it is quite simple. The fact is that there are specialists who understand how the virus spreads. And if they say that you should wear a mask, then you accept it and put one on even if no one is around.

This gives me the opportunity to be honest with myself and with nature.
[271898]
From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/16/20

Related Material:
Rising Above Conflicts
From Conflict To Consent
Are There Conflicts In Nature?

Filed under: Education, Health - No Comments →

Only after all people achieve complete correction and rise to the last step, this world, which we perceive within our egoism, will begin to disappear from our sensations. As long as there are people and groups, parts of the common soul of Adam HaRishon, who are still in egoistic desire, we will all feel we are within the framework of this world.

We will continue to be born and die in physical bodies and will not be able to leave this circle until we enter the last stage of correcting the desire to receive pleasure into bestowal. And then this world will begin to disappear from our sensations because egoistic desire will disappear and transform into intention for the sake of bestowal. And this world will begin to melt.

I can be corrected one hundred percent, like Rabbi Shimon, but since the rest of the world, the common integral Kli of Adam HaRishon has not yet been corrected, I will inevitably be with them in the common feeling of this material world.

All the great Kabbalists of the past, the great righteous, did everything only for the sake of bestowal, but they were connected with the broken Kli, and that is why they felt this world. For example, Baal HaSulam achieved complete personal correction, but this did not protect him from serious illness and death, which were the result of his connection with other people.

This will continue until we achieve the general correction of our entire Kli. This process begins now, when the entire common Kli is revealed and all of humanity will come to correction. This completely changes the attitude toward us and our approach to reality. We are joining a new program and will not be able to exist in the old way.

See how quickly the coronavirus shifted all of humanity to a new state from the previous state when everyone took care of themselves individually, separately from the rest. The virus hits everyone so that we feel connected. Even though this connection is bad, we will try later to make it good. And above all, we feel that we all have a common problem.

This problem grips us so much that it makes us feel that we are all suffering. We will stop making the distinction between us in the face of common misfortune because everyone suffers, everyone gets sick, everyone dies, everyone is helpless and does not know how to get out of these problems.

The virus binds us together on an equal footing, not placing someone above and someone below. Its goal is to even us out to the same degree. Therefore, only our union is the correct and only medicine.

The Creator treats us with absolute goodness, but we feel the evil because we do not align our state in accordance with Him. It is as if I am a student who is required to study hard, but I do not try to study. Therefore, I receive blows and punishments.

We are under a single governance, and we must begin to approach Him and fulfill His requirements. If we are ahead of him at every stage and fulfill the requirements, then we feel good advancing from high to higher.

But if we do not want to fulfill the requirements and the main thing for us is to make some noise at demonstrations and fly to have fun abroad without changing anything, then we will feel worse and worse. Nature, like our father and mother, tries to teach us, but we, like a stubborn child who only wants to have fun, do not hear anything.

And this is a problem because we need to listen to and respond to the demands of nature. If not, then nature will transfer us to the next class and the blows will become even more serious, and we will suffer more and more. The main blows that await us are climatic disasters that will simply destroy us. We will have to suffer from all diseases and hunger.

Nature acts according to the program, and we are obliged to establish a connection between the Creator and creatures so that they correctly understand each other and connect through us. Are we aware of this problem and are we trying to fix it? This is the most important thing.
[271560]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/20, Shamati #42 “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”

Related Material:
All Together In The Home Stretch
All In One Boat
Final Correction Is On Its Way!

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Dissemination, Globalization, Health, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Question: It turns out that the world was filled with hatred, not love. So much hatred burst into the world!

What did the coronavirus show? People who have lived together for decades, raised children and grandchildren, suddenly hate each other so much!

And such demonstrations are going on in so many countries! Look at what is happening in America: everything is being broken and crushed. Look at the Internet: such hatred, how they shower abuse on each other on social networks wherever possible!

What can we do about this hatred?

Answer: What do you expect from the world that created by hatred alone? It is written: “I have created the evil inclination.”

Question: How did the world develop with such hatred?

Answer: This is how it developed. Even the good was goodness emanating from hatred. That is, I love what I love, I get closer to what I want. Everything was ruled by my hatred.

Egoism is hatred. Hatred of what is not me, what I do not like, what is not for me, not for my sake, what does not relate to me, no matter what or what for, from zero to minus of infinity.

There is only one force in the world, which is hatred, and there is no other. And what we call love is self-love! What does it mean “I love someone”? This is the flip side of hatred, not love. Love is a completely different property; it is the nature of the Creator.

Question: Does such a world as you have described have the right to exist?

Answer: It does, because it is from this world that we can evaluate, justify, and admire this upper force of kindness and love.

Remark: It turns out that we have been put, as it were, in front of a mirror and told: “Look what you are!”

My Comment: In our world we will come to a very serious awareness of evil, a state from which we simply cannot escape to anywhere, as if trapped by wolves, surrounded from all sides.

From such hopeless states where it does not even matter to me whether I live or die, we will begin to somehow rise, that is, to realize that we must be above life, above death, above egoism, and that we must live by some other ideal, by a different feeling.

Remark: So many works of art have been created throughout the world, anything you can imagine, just to somehow bring man closer, to breathe something good into him. You and I were brought up on such warm, kind movies. It is clear that egoism was not developed then.

My Comment: And where have they led humanity, into such a jungle! It is like Susanin who leads into such darkness and we considered it to be light.

Question: What would be better?

Answer: The truth is better; to reveal human nature. If a person understands that this is his nature literally from childhood, he begins to behave differently. He is at least aware of his nature. He does not act with any deceitful goals! His life is completely different.

Question: Based on what you are saying now, the conclusion is that we should start to deal with this now?

Answer: And we will start to deal with this to the extent it is needed.

Question: To talk about human nature from childhood? To say: “Human nature is evil”?

Answer: Yes, of course. Then you will look at demonstrators, at politicians, at friends, and at relatives, at everything, differently.

Question: That is, I will not hate them, I will understand that this is my nature?

Answer: Yes. And then you will want to find the true nature. When you see one single egoism in everybody you will still want to rise above it.

Question: But is there at least a spark of love in this world? Something that has spun this sinful world, as you say.

Answer: This spark in people is still to be found, felt, and fanned like coals are fanned. Only in this way. But it is not simple at all.

Such a spark is that the Creator suddenly becomes important to you. There is something in my life that I cannot give up. I can part with everything, I can do anything, just do not tear me away from Him, which egoistic for now. So that my egoism does not tear me away from the Creator.

There is a substance that becomes very dear to me. As if it does not belong to my egoism. This is how a new substance appears in a person.

Question: Can this state arise only from the realization of evil?

Answer: Yes. Everything spiritual that arises in us and even everything that we then attribute to the Creator, to connection with Him, to merging with Him, this is all built only on our egoism.

Question: Is it good to strive for the evil in this way, to feel the evil in yourself?

Answer: No, this is done only if you strive for the good. And the good is above the evil, above the nature of our world, above us. It turns out that it is not at all what we thought. Good is when outside of yourself, the egoist, rising above yourself, you accept a completely new property.

Question: I have to reach a level I do not see and do not know?

Answer: You should clothe in it. It should just come to you.
[271121]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 8/3/20

Related Material:
What Will Make People Kinder?
“I Have Created The Evil Inclination”
“Take Off The Rose-Colored Glasses!”

Filed under: Crisis, Globalization, Health, News - No Comments →

Medium published my new article “Former Chief Doctor’s Dismal Prediction Is Reversible”

Sally Davies, former chief medical officer for England, wrote on The Guardian that “Covid-19 is neither the first nor the last health emergency we will face. My fellow scientists estimate that we will face a pandemic or health emergency at least once every five years from here on. There is a chance that this is the optimistic scenario. The reality could be far worse.” I think their prediction is both good news and bad news. It is good news because scientists are beginning to realize that the pandemic isn’t a one-time event, but part of a permanent process of change. At the same time, it is bad news because scientists have no clue as to what to do about it. They offer dubious solutions to mitigate the destruction these crises will inflict on humanity, but they have no idea how to prevent them, how to reverse the dismal trajectory, and they don’t even think in that direction. Are we then doomed to suffer from here on? No, we’re not. By strengthening our solidarity, we can reverse the trajectory and prevent such crises from happening altogether.

How we relate to one another, how we build our social networks, what we project to others, and what values we install in society all have a real impact on our health. Well connected people are not only much happier; they are also much healthier.

In 2015, Julianne Holt-Lunstad, renowned neuroscientist and psychologist at Brigham Young University, published an extensive analysis that looked into the influence of social isolation, loneliness, and living alone on people’s health. The results were notable in light of today’s pandemic. She found that social isolation “led to an increased rate of mortality of twenty-nine per cent, and living alone by thirty-two per cent — no matter the subject’s age, gender, location, or culture,” The New Yorker published on March 23, 2020.

In a recent interview for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Holt-Lunstad said that being socially active “not only prolongs our life expectancy, but also influences our health in other ways, such as resistance to viruses” (translated from Hebrew). In the interview, Holt-Lunstad also referred to a Carnegie Mellon University study that found that people with many solid social ties have a better immune system and better resistance to viruses of the common cold, while people with few social ties were significantly more vulnerable. The researcher stressed that while we should not disobey authorities’ instructions regarding social distancing and wearing masks, we should make a conscious effort to maintain social ties under these limitations.

These conclusions coincide with what I have been saying since the beginning of the outbreak, but there are more conclusions to be drawn from these findings. I think we shouldn’t take a passive approach here but rather be much more proactive. Viruses, including the coronavirus, have been around long before the Covid-19 outbreak. We could have been infected long ago but we weren’t because our immune system was stronger.

Especially over the last several decades, we have been growing increasingly isolated, and therefore weaker. This isolation is part of what researchers Jean Marie Twenge and William Keith Campbell call “a narcissism epidemic.” In their aptly titled book The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement, they establish that over the past few decades, we have seen an exponential growth in narcissistic tendencies among young people and the general population. In simple words, we are growing far more egoistic than before, far more quickly than before, and therefore far more lonely. By doing so, we are weakening our immune system and exposing ourselves to health threats that didn’t use to pose any risk before. This is why I keep saying that we will not find a vaccine or a cure for the coronavirus since even if we find something for this plague, another, even worse menace will quickly replace it. Now, finally, medicine corroborates.

If we want to protect ourselves from viruses and other forms of natural crises, we have to work on our social cohesion, on our relations with each other, on our solidarity as a society, and in our communities. This is not a theoretical assumption; it is a practical measure we must take in order to protect ourselves and our loved ones from getting sick and dying or remaining maimed.

How we relate to one another, how we build our social networks, what we project to others, and what values we install in society all have a real impact on our health. Well connected people are not only much happier; they are also much healthier.

Next time we want to trash someone on social media or even to our friends, we should think twice before doing so; it will backfire on us. And after we stop trashing, let’s start building a positive society, one that values caring and helping out. Let’s not be selfish; it simply doesn’t pay.

Filed under: Health, New Publications - No Comments →