Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it possible for a Jew to be an anti-Semite?“

A Jew can be an antisemite because being Jewish is not a nationality.

To be a Jew means to be drawn to “love your neighbor as yourself,” i.e., to host an attraction to unity. It is a special kind of perception of reality where a person thinks that everyone needs a harmonious connection more than anything else.

People who are immersed in self-love, emphasizing self-benefit at the expense of others, are not Jews.

Therefore, in order to stop antisemitism, the unifying force of love needs to emerge among the Jewish people. It can happen when we understand that without drawing closer to each other, we will disappear off the face of the planet.
Based on the video “How Can Jews be Antisemites?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can plants really talk to one another?“

A research team from Tel Aviv University recently discovered that plants make sounds. They stated that the plants’ sounds are like clicks with the same intensity as human speech at frequencies above the range of human hearing. Various animals like bats, mice and insects can pick up the plant sounds, but we cannot.

So what do plants talk to each other about?

Everything created in nature is the desire to enjoy life. Plants thus communicate to one another the extent by which they can enjoy, what they should be cautious of, and that their communication would benefit other plants because they feel themselves in a single field.

It is not only plants. Every atom, molecule and rock has a life of its own and elicits various forms of communication according to its place in the system.

What does this mean for us, humans?

We need to learn how to rise above our egoistic desires, where we each seek to enjoy at the expense of one another, which makes us mutually reject each other.

Instead of rejecting each other, we should learn how to positively connect and complement one another. We would then exist in nature as in a single field where we discover a single force.

The single force that we come to eventually discover wants us to positively connect to each other with relations of mutual consideration. By doing so, we would experience the harmony and perfection of that field. It is written about such a state that “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb.” That is, at a certain point, all parts of creation enter into a state of mutual complementarity and peace. That time comes when we—human beings—will want it. By wanting to rise above our egoistic desires and enter into mutual complementarity among all people, we then compel the rest of the parts of nature to do the same, and we then come to experience nature’s eternity and perfection.

Based on the video “What Do Plants Talk to Each Other About?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why we need to work?“

We need to work so that we connect and serve one another, as it is written, “Go and make a living from each other.”

Our lives are arranged such that we are forced to connect to each other: I give to you, and you give to me. For example, I give you shoes, and you give me clothes, and another gives me bread and wine, and I give them one or another thing.

We thus see that, out of a survival necessity, we are made to communicate with each other.

Then, as our desires grow over time, we develop more and more goods and services that increasingly connect us. This process of increasing interconnection and interdependence is a subconscious correction that we undergo.

We need to learn why this process unfolds the way that it does, and where it ultimately leads us. For the time being, we can see that our desires’ development over history, from small individual desires for food, sex and family, through to more and more egoistic desires where we use others to benefit ourselves—social desires for wealth, honor and power—lead us to a state where we find ourselves becoming increasingly dissatisfied.

The human ego that wishes to benefit itself at the expense of others finds more and more sophisticated ways to make shovels for digging its own grave. In other words, our scientific, technological and cultural progress brings us to our inability to satisfy our ego’s growing demands, and we remain empty.

What do we truly want out of this entire process?

Our true desire is to gain a sense of the meaning of life. Although we constantly chase transient pleasures that slip through our fingers, our innermost desire is for an eternal and perfect sensation of life.

We subconsciously forget ourselves in life so as not to think about its end, because it is terrible to consider that we part with everything we did. And we did everything just to maintain our animal bodies. Why do we live like that? What is the point? At least an animal does not ask such questions.

It turns out that our life without an answer about its ultimate meaning is pointless, insignificant and empty, worse than the life of animals. At least animals do not suffer from existential inquiries. And we, in order not to let questions about our lives’ meaning and purpose bother us, constantly try to engage ourselves with all kinds of toys.

There is no happy ending for our egoistic desires, but there is a happy life above the ego. The entire purpose of seeing how our ego leads us to a dead end is in order for us to, through the helplessness of trying to satisfy our egoistic desires, come to feel a stronger and stronger need to discover the meaning of life—an eternal and perfect existence.

We will then become ready to shift our egoistic approach of trying to satisfy our desires at others’ expense, to a new approach: Instead of working primarily for the sake of self-benefit, we would work first and foremost to benefit others.

Shifting the place where we feel pleasure—from inside to outside ourselves—is the key to discovering the meaning of life: a new perception that is completely connected with the surrounding reality, where fulfillment expands eternally, and where we sense perfection and wholeness.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What Is Work?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on March 6, 2011. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the difference between material joy and spiritual joy?“

We feel joy from material fulfillments when we fulfill our own desires.

We feel spiritual joy when we fulfill other people who were initially strangers, but who we then turn into our loved ones. We thus rejoice in their fulfillment.

The difference between these two kinds of joy is that material joy comes from fulfilling our own desires, which is limited; while spiritual joy comes from fulfilling others’ desires, which we feel as unlimited.

Why do we feel limited fulfillment in material joy and unlimited fulfillment in spiritual joy?

Material joy comes from fulfilling our self-aimed corporeal desires where we can only fulfill ourselves. These desires are thus limited in volume, and consequently, in the amount of the force of joy in its sensation. In other words, our lives are limited by the size of our world, i.e., our perception of reality that we receive in our five senses.

When we start fulfilling others, we reach a degree of limitless fulfillment, where we gain a sense of eternity and perfection.

However, we can reach such a degree on condition that we love others, i.e., when we are ready to fulfill others endlessly, because we then simultaneously connect with the upper force of love, bestowal and connection.

This upper force gives us everything we need in order to fulfill others. We then channel this upper force through us to others as they become our most beloved and desirable people. Accordingly, we gain a boundless opportunity to fulfill everyone and feel great joy by doing so.

Spiritual joy is thus the feeling of an immense and eternal joy that we feel when an endless stream of pleasure passes through us, giving us a feeling of the spiritual eternal life. In order to reach such a degree, we need to first start loving others.

“Love your neighbor as yourself” is the main commandment because if we approach it, we then advance optimally toward spirituality and come to fully realize ourselves. If we make no moves toward loving others, then whatever we do in our lives drifts away in its transience.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What is Joy?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on February 27, 2011. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “If I rise above my own desires and fulfill the desires of others, then how do I feel those people?“

You feel yourself and the others as one, that they are the closest and dearest people to you.

The “self” that you previously considered, your personal “I,” disappears from your sensation. Its relevance drops significantly as it becomes more like an animal that lives next to you.

However, your desires constantly grow, so how does such growth reconcile with the motion to rise above them?

It does so for you to use the growing desires in order to increasingly connect with others.

The more your desires show you how separate and distant you are from each other, the greater your opportunity to overcome such desires with the positive force of connection that dwells in nature–to connect with others and feel fulfillment through them.

This process can be likened to fulfilling a loved one. You fulfill yourself more than you fulfill them because you do so despite your own desires. As such, you feel the full strength of the fulfillment on yourself. It is similar to how electricity passes through a resistor: the stronger the resistance, the greater the voltage.

That tension is the pleasure you feel. It is not painful. It is a delight. The minus—your self-aimed desires—inverts to a plus, replacing hatred and rejection with love and connection.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. What Is Pleasure?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on February 21, 2011. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are some tips for managing stress and anxiety?“

We can overcome stress and anxiety by developing more and more positive connection, friendship and closeness to each other. Otherwise, these and other negative sensations will increasingly disturb us.

If we create small societies in which we develop connections of mutual consideration and support, then we can get rid of fears, illnesses, insomnia and absolutely everything that imposes the stress and anxiety of life upon us.

The more we experience negative sensations like stress and anxiety, the closer we come to understand the need for friendship, cooperation, mutual support and care. Likewise, we will reach the understanding of the need to create societies that will emphasize such values. Otherwise, we will continue developing by accumulating more and more negative sensations over a very long period of time until we eventually wake up to the need for the aforementioned values.

Based on KabTV’s “Blitz of Questions and Answers” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on January 6, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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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.
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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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Comment: The Kabbalists of Kotzk deliberately underestimated the importance of the group, which gave the friends the opportunity to do internal work.

My Response: This is intended for great people, not for us.

Question: If a person is equal to others, should he still try to be lower than others in a Kabbalistic group?

Answer: There is no such thing to be equal to others. Who knows what level one is at? The person himself does not know. It all depends on how he presents himself.

For example, I cannot place myself low because then the students will not respect me and will not accept the method and study. I have to take that into account. In front of the students it is necessary to keep myself accordingly; otherwise, they will not have an incentive and opportunity to learn. This is how a person is arranged. Until they can appreciate me as having the keys to their spiritual world, I have to play before them.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Motherly Care” 12/31/12

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does nature teach us when a disaster strikes?“
Natural disasters come to show us that we live out of balance with nature.

We are parts of nature’s integral system, and in nature we have the still, vegetative, animate and human levels.

Nature acts as a single organism with interconnection and interdependence among the still, vegetative and animate levels. We are also parts of nature’s interconnection and interdependence, but we lack perception and sensation of it. As such, we are willing to destroy everything as long as the human level is well-off.

Natural disasters come to show us that we cannot continue living the way that we do, that we have to change our attitude to each other: to accept humanity as a single integral system where we are all interdependent, that we have to take care of each other, and if we do not, then our lives will become increasingly grim.

Based on the video “What Do Natural Disasters Teach Us?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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