Entries in the 'Kabbalah Study' Category

The Heart Is Stronger Than The Brain

Laitman_198From the News (ratical.org): “The idea that we can think with our hearts is no longer just a metaphor, but is, in fact, a very real phenomenon. We now know this because the combined research of two or three fields is proving that the heart is the major center of intelligence in human beings.

“Molecular biologists have discovered that the heart is the body’s most important endocrine gland. In response to our experience of the world, it produces and releases a major hormone, ANF — which stands for Atriol Neuriatic Factor — that profoundly effects every operation in the limbic structure, or what we refer to as the ’emotional brain.’ This includes the hippocampal area where memory and learning take place, and also the control centers for the entire hormonal system. And neurocardiologist have found that 60 to 65% of the cells of the heart are actually neural cells, not muscle cells as was previously believed. They are identical to the neural cells in the brain, operating through the same connecting links called ganglia, with the same axonal anddendritic connections that take place in the brain, as well as through the very same kinds of neurotransmitters found in the brain.

“Quite literally, in other words, there is a “brain” in the heart, whose ganglia are linked to every major organ in the body, to the entire muscle spindle system that uniquely enables humans to express their emotions. About half of the heart’s neural cells are involved in translating information sent to it from all over the body so that it can keep the body working as one harmonious whole. And the other half make up a very large, unmediated neural connection with the emotional brain in our head and carry on a twenty-four-hour-a-day dialogue between the heart and the brain that we are not even aware of.”

My Comment: As we all know, according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the heart and the brain are connected and cooperate in operating the whole body, and the heart feels and thinks (the heart understands) and only then is the brain operated as a mechanism that carries out the decisions of the heart. In fact the heart and the brain don’t decide. All the decisions take place on a higher level of nature where all the worlds and their fillings are in complete mutual connection, in the one field of the management.
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A Single Leap To Happiness

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: There is a Japanese proverb that says: “Troubles will transform you into a precious stone.” How do you relate to this?

Answer: This is Samurai philosophy and speaks about the way of suffering. I think that we have no need for this at all, since we go our own way. Why do we need to go towards happiness through the way of suffering? We can leap above it immediately, as the Jews very well know.

In the meantime, we haven’t succeeded in doing this because we don’t want to listen to the method that we received thousands of years ago, the wisdom of Kabbalah, but it can lead us to happiness in a single leap.

Comment: But nevertheless, when you had health problems, your teacher said that he was envious of you because he saw this as a sign of advancement.

Answer: Certainly thanks to suffering a person improves because suffering works against the ego that wants pleasure all the time. So another system of study and understanding appeared that was opposed to the ego. But this is not the right way!

Christianity says: “If they slap you on one cheek, give them the other cheek also.” This is not right. We must go another way. The wisdom of Kabbalah explains everything in a very simple way. The Creator created life and death, so choose life. With all our might we must yearn for good, for love, for ease, and not burrow into suffering. We have no need for it. To go willingly into exile, suffer there, and this will be better for all people is absolutely the wrong way! The ego intentionally attracts us there and this is not the Kabbalistic approach towards the world, our history, our mission.

The Creator blesses us with peace, happiness, Light, and warmth, but in no way with suffering. For in suffering, the person is not prepared to bless the Creator. He cannot cry and say: “How good it is for me to be with you!” After all, this is a lie. So it is forbidden for us to develop our own suffering. Christianity is based upon this. But from the point of view of the wisdom of Kabbalah, this is absolutely incorrect.

Question: So what does “Rejoice when the wicked are revealed to you” mean?

Answer: It means to rejoice when your defects are discovered within you. You are happy about this and don’t suffer. This is happiness because your personal characteristics are now being revealed, and you see that you can correct them. If they are revealed to you from above, it means that you will surely correct them.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

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Unity Is The Purpose Of Evolution In Nature

Laitman_101If humanity does not accept the method of connection which the wisdom of Kabbalah is offering, then it will simply collapse. In the end, we will still realize the necessity for unity, but at the cost of horrible blows.

It is like children who do not want to listen to their parents who are urging them to be friendly with each other. After many quarrels and bruises, they will nevertheless gradually understand that it is impossible to play and develop alone and they will step onto the right path.

But such a path to connection is called the path of suffering. The wisdom of Kabbalah warns us that this path encompasses nuclear world wars, enormous suffering, famine, and epidemics. The lack of our connection is evoking such changes in the climate of the planet that soon there will be another ice age. Kabbalists tell us that if humanity will not want to unite voluntarily, they will have to do it nevertheless, but only with a small handful of people who survive after all these terrible events, and they eventually come to unification.

The fact is that unity is a goal of the entire evolution of nature, not just people. All forms of nature need to connect together into one harmonious whole. In all parts of nature: in stones, plants, animals, and in people, harmony should prevail in such a way that all these levels complete and support one another. It is written in Prophets that at the end of correction of the world, a wolf will dwell peacefully with a lamb, and a small boy will lead them.

Having achieved such harmony, unity, connection, and balance, this world will transform from the multitude of different parts into one organism. And a body that senses itself as one whole begins to feel a higher level of its existence that is called the Creator, the upper force. The higher level of nature contains a program, as if it is a big computer, a brain that operates us and leads us to unity and connection, whether through a path of suffering, or due to us uniting of our own accord.

The first time that humanity began to feel the need for the method of unification was in ancient Babylon. Until then, unity was natural, since they lived as one nation sharing everything. Although there were many different communities, ethnic groups, and family clans in this ancient nation, they all lived in peace and harmony. Egoism was very small.

But then egoism suddenly grew suddenly, and at that time they began to feel how divided they were and how much they lacked unity. Thus they understood the need for a method of connection. All this happened about 3,500 years ago. Part of the Babylonians felt the need for this method, and since then the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how to do it, became revealed.
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From the Convention In Guadalajara “One Heart For All,” “Day One” 7/17/15, “Preparatory Lesson”

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We Will Not Need Any More Drugs

Laitman_715Question: What will happen when we succeed in publicizing the Integral Education method in the world? Will there be abundance in the world, will everyone have food, a comfortable life, and no need to work more than two hours per day?

Answer: We will get more than this: we will correct and refine ourselves in such a way that we won’t need to work at all. It’s not that machines will work for us, but in general, this physical world will evaporate, we will move on to a world of forces instead of a world of imaginary objects.

We will begin to use all of our knowledge, all of science and strength for the benefit of humanity, according to a mutual agreement that is accepted in society. A transition like this will happen gradually to the degree of the readiness of society.

Question: Which is to say, even the crisis in medicine and the incorrect usage of medicines will also be corrected and transformed into a good use?

Answer: There will be a good use of drugs, until their use disappears entirely. We won’t need the drugs themselves. But in the intermediate stages we certainly use only beneficial drugs. You will not be able to give harmful drugs and poison people whom you feel are like relatives.

Question: I don’t understand, how could the climate crisis disappear, the threatening and frightening phenomena that are liable to happen? Is nature also connected to our success in disseminating Integral Education?

Answer: If you establish balance on the “speaking” level, it will influence the level of forces on all levels under it. The whole problem is that we don’t feel these forces. If 150 years ago I had shown you an electric battery, you would not believe or understand that some kind of power can be found in it. In those times you would have understood the power of fire, a rod, dynamic energy, potential energy, but not electrical energy.

Today, you understand that electricity is powerful and you believe that a battery can operate a large machine. But if I had shown you a small box then and and told you that this is an atomic bomb that contains the power to incinerate all of Manhattan, you would not believe me. You would certainly laugh, because you know the size of Manhattan.

But today you already believe if some regular car arrives on Fifth Avenue containing a small box that explodes, all of Manhattan could turn back into a Native American village. A hundred years ago this would seem impossible, but today we have gotten smarter and a situation like this seems absolutely realistic.

Also, the same thing is relevant regarding more hidden forces; these are spiritual forces that also operate in the world. They are much more hidden and billions of times stronger than atomic energy. These forces don’t just “operate” on this world, they run it!

Question: Can they stop the glaciers from melting?

Answer: If we bring ourselves back into balance with nature, then all the levels found below us will also be in balance.

Question: And everyone will be able to see these forces?

Answer: Those who attain, those who are prepared for this internally, will see these forces. For this it is necessary to construct an internal device inside of you.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/9/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

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The Sinking Of Science: The Past Pride Of Humanity

laitman_538Question: Why doesn’t nature protect us from the abuse of external sciences the way the wisdom of Kabbalah is protected, so that it cannot be abused?

Answer: It is because the wisdom of Kabbalah is beyond the Machsom (Barrier), beyond the border to the spiritual world. If you transcend the Machsom, you can come near this wisdom and use it, but only to the extent that you acquire a Masach (Screen). But you don’t need a Masach in order to use all the external sciences. So why isn’t it forbidden to use all the external sciences the way it is forbidden to use the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Our sages restricted themselves and prohibited the dissemination of the wisdom among the people. Why wasn’t there such a natural restriction to begin with? Why can’t a person use the forces of nature according to his spiritual and mental development? If there were such a prohibition, we could never reach the recognition of evil, which is the purpose of the existence of our world. We have to allow the ego certain freedom so that people who are immersed in it will discover the evil in their existence and wish to ascend above it.

If the ego were limited, a person would have no choice and could not reach the recognition of evil. There would be nothing we could do in such a world. Imagine that we couldn’t do anything bad; in that case, it would be impossible to reach the recognition of evil. We would live like animals; like all the other levels of nature.

A person in our world is different from all the rest of nature because he uses his evil force in order to reach scientific achievements. The force of evil is in his heart, which means in his egoism, and by developing science he uses it for the sake of his ego because the desire to receive comes before the mind and controls the mind. This is the reason that if a person has an evil will; his mind becomes evil as well and he thinks about how he can use science for his own personal benefit, as if for his own sake, but in fact it is in order to harm others.

The purpose of the development of external sciences is to reach the recognition of evil. This is precisely what we exist for: in order to realize that we will never reach a good life through science or by excelling in anything. This is the meaning of the recognition of evil, when we discover that every phenomenon actually harms us because we use it egoistically and cannot do so any other way.

Science has always been the pride of mankind because we have developed it by ourselves and it is the fruit of our intelligence, of our internal development, both spiritual and mental. This distinguishes man from animals. But suddenly it turns out that science actually turns us into poor miserable creatures, below the animal level. This is called the recognition of evil, an outcome we cannot believe. After all the great efforts we have made for ages in the hope of being able to control ourselves and nature, we find ourselves humiliated by the evil in us.

I feel that a donkey sits on my neck and that I carry it on top of me. This is the reason that we don’t want to develop anymore and feel disappointed. We don’t regard scientists and philosophers with the same respect we had for them in the past. There is nothing sacred and no authorities for modern man any more, and we intentionally ignore anything that belongs to the human level, even if it is musicians and writers. We don’t care about anything because we are disappointed by everything and so we don’t expect anything of our development but harm.

This is the feeling that is now spreading in humanity. No one is impressed by different academic degrees such as doctorates in science, professors, or titles like president anymore. There is no respect for any position anymore and this is actually a good thing because it is a sign that we have finally reached the right discernment and have realized that we have used all the good tools at our disposal in order to bring ourselves to the lowest possible level.

Young people today don’t want to study, to work, or to take any responsibility. Ninety-nine percent of them prefer not to get up from the sofa as long as someone turns on the TV for them and feeds them. This is a good and natural thing because this is how we reach the recognition of evil.

There are two periods in the development of science: the first period in which our sages concealed the wisdom; a period which lasted until the 16-17th centuries, until the era of enlightenment. Then the wisdom of Kabbalah came out of its hiding and after the Ari the whole world began to wake up. Time began to advance increasingly faster until we have reached the current crisis.
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From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/09/14, Writing of Baal HaSulam

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Hearing The Voice Of Nature

Dr. Michael LaitmanTo hear the voice of nature, a person must come to our lessons. There is nothing to be done! The wisdom of Kabbalah has been waiting to be discovered for so many hundreds of years, precisely for this.

As of today, the wisdom of Kabbalah has been revealed in its practical and precise form, everyone can use it under the right guidance. Only its realization remains, which in itself is very simple. It is possible to describe it on one page: The discovery of the simple Upper Light that fills the simple egoism.

But to reach this simplicity, we must read, study, become confused and clarify this truth for many years. This is because simple things are the most complicated because our ego works against them. We must correct and mold the ego all the time so that it will be possible to see the truth through it. In the past this took years of difficult work, but in our time this has been simplified.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

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Where Can We Find The Answers To Burning Questions?

laitman_934Question: People ask you questions about different issues on the Internet. Some are worried about the issue of autism in children, others worry that a war may break out, and others about the economic situation, etc. Do you give concrete answers to these questions or do you give general answers?

Answer: The point is that humanity has been facing all these issues for centuries. If these issues are so ordinary and concern each of us, why hasn’t anyone found an answer to these questions by now? It is because a person must find the answer to these questions inside him and it is impossible to give someone the answer. A person has to change himself in order to do so!

This isn’t actually such a big problem because it can be solved in a discussion circle with people who conduct it according to a certain method, and then we can see how we can change the world. We will feel that we suddenly have a tool for changing and correcting the world and it will give every person the specific answer to any question he may have.
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From an Interview on RTN, New York, 7/21/15

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Our Collective Consciousness Influences The World

laitman_947In the News (Epoch Times):“According to a University of Princeton study, an emotion or a thought that several people share simultaneously can affect the physical reality. Our thoughts can be powerful not only in the ideological sense, but also physically, and a thought that is shared by several people is very powerful.
“According to the findings of the study of human consciousness in the 90’s carried out at the Princeton lab (PEAR), the human mind can influence a generator of random numbers. Such experiments have raised several questions: can people’s emotional response have an effect on a destructive earthquake, on a massive terrorist attack, or on the feelings of football fans, etc.? Can the shared joy of people during a special holiday influence our electrical appliances? The clarification and analysis of these issues indicate that there are deep subconscious relations between people even if they are not physically connected.”

 My Comment: The wisdom of Kabbalah allows us to reach a collective conscious influence that is purposefully focused on the world. There is no other method, and therefore the major principle by which we can attain this influence over the world is “love thy friend as thyself.”
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Research In A Kids’ Sandbox

Laitman_079_02Question: Why did Kabbalists prevent the spread of ordinary science among the Israeli nation?

Answer: Kabbalists did not prevent the spread of science, it simply developed to the extent that it was necessary. After all, before the destruction of the Temple the whole nation engaged in spiritual attainment in absolute devotion. Why should they have studied insects in the jungle or electricity?

External science explores how we should work with different expressions of the Light in this world on the lowest level. It is useless if I can work directly with the Creator, with the same phenomena on a higher level. There I am actually incorporated in the actions and work with the phenomenon, and that is a huge difference.

Compared to this sublime work, external science is simply a game in a kids’ sandbox. This is the reason that the nation of Israel did not engage in science beyond what was necessary for building or in order to satisfy the needs of the body. What is the point in dealing with it any more than that?

There were people who knew how to process leather, how to prepare food, and how to build houses, how to do anything that was a basic necessity, but not more than that: for a living, for the family, for the next generation. It was impossible to live without it and so they had to provide those needs.

But money, respect, and knowledge are human desires that lead to a breach in society and were therefore kept on a minimal level. It was only after the Israeli nation was exiled that they gradually began to descend lower and lower.

They couldn’t engage in anything else when they were in exile and so they engaged in anything that was possible, especially in commerce and in developing the banking system since they could engage in that everywhere and it gave them a sense of security. They could secure their future this way.

Thanks to the fact that the Jews dispersed all over Europe and the Middle East, they could establish a network similar to the modern integral network in commerce, industry and finance. They began to build it more than 2000 years ago. If a Jew from Spain reached Egypt, Morocco, Turkey, or the countries in northern Europe he could always find Jews there with whom he had a common language; he could find a place to live, to understand their lives and they could understand him.

This was not the case among other nations. There were only small villages in Europe which were so far away from one another. On the other hand, it was easy for the Jews to build such systems because they felt that they belonged to one nation, to one Creator; they studied from the same books and read the same prayers. Moreover, they never knew what the future would bring. If you are a person that can be counted on because you fear the Creator, I can leave a sum of money that I have saved for times of trouble. If something should happen, I can always come to you and you will give me back what is mine.

This is how the systems of commerce and industry developed. There was no need for external sciences because they had their own system. Books were transferred from place to place. It was a very strong network. This is actually how humanity began to wake up and advance from the age of barbarism.
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From the 3rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/11/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Listening To The Advice Of Kabbalists

laitman_227Question: Does a person have a soul?

Answer: We must create the soul inside us. The soul is the mutual connection between us, which means the complementing of the hearts. If we attain at least a partial mutual connection, we will feel the next upper state inside of it. Therefore, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the main law of the Torah.

Question: Does that mean that spiritual values and mental attributes are empty words?

Answer: These concepts are typical of the level of our world and serve only to establish some pleasant form of communication between us and nothing more than that.

In order to call myself a spiritual creature, which means a creature who has an upper mind and not just a creature who can create the next generation and hurt others, we need to make internal efforts in studying the wisdom of Kabbalah.

There is no other method like it because all the other methods stem from human thinking, while the wisdom of Kabbalah stems from the revelation of the upper system, of the upper providence.

Question: Does this mean that you suggest that we throw off the ship of today all of the greatest philosophers in human history who made up ideas that stemmed from their own mind?

Answer: No, the wisdom of Kabbalah relates to science with great respect, but to real science. If you refer to philosophy, then as a doctor of philosophy, I believe that it is a science because philosophy doesn’t explore nature and cannot claim to bring the truth because it is only about speculations stemming from human imagination. On the whole, everyone relates to it today anyway.

Question: Can we say that if we listen to what Kabbalists say, we could prevent different natural disasters?

Answer: If people had listened to Kabbalists, everything would have been different a long time ago. However, the moment we begin to read about and fulfill the rule of “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” everyone immediately turns their back. When you use nice words and say things that we don’t understand, we feel that you are asking us to do things that are impossible to do.

People don’t understand that it is the general law of nature, the harmony nature will bring us to in any case, but through the path of suffering. We, on the other hand, must understand and realize that we can advance by positive actions and avoid different crises.
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From an Interview on RTN, New York, 7/21/15

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