Entries in the 'Man and Woman' Category

Family And Marriage, Part 6

laitman_600.04Time and Love for Children

Question: Do I understand correctly that nature instinctively instilled love for children in us only so that we would learn to treat other people the same way?

Answer: Yes and no. Over time, love for children will change. It is already changing. Today, people relate to children differently than before.

Throughout all generations there has been a draw, caring, and love for children, but all this is changing.

Since our desire, understanding of the world, and method of communicating with the outside world are changing, naturally, the attitude toward children as a part of the world is changing too.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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Male And Female, Part 1

laitman_622.01

Two Forces in the Universe

Question: Kabbalists write that the relationship between genders is the foundation of the entire universe. Are people divided into men and women because there is the Creator and the created beings?

Answer: Yes. Two forces of the universe—the force of bestowal and the force of reception—are manifested in matter in the form of man and woman.

Question: So the force of bestowal is the male essence and the female essence is the force of reception?

Answer: Yes, but purely conditionally. In principle, from the aspect of forces, this is true: the male force gives and the female one receives. However, when it comes to receiving and bestowing, it does not mean that the female force is attuned to the egoistic quality to receive and the male one to the altruistic quality to bestow.

In each person there are both forces: both male and female.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 12/31/18

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Family And Marriage, Part 5

629.4Family—The Basis of Spiritual Growth of the Masses

Remark: Kabbalah speaks of the importance of the environment, which would support the view that only the revelation of the Creator can be the motivation for creating a family.

My Comment: But this environment should not be the same as in a village, in a country, or in a small town where the public opinion of a poorly educated mass puts pressure on young people and obliges them to start a family and exist this way.

Question: Is this an education process, where from school age, a person should receive an explanation about the difference between masculine and feminine, the purpose of creation, and what is the Creator? If so, this doesn’t seem simple.

Answer: Indeed, all this will need to be explained. It is thanks to this upbringing that we will return to the family again, but in a different form.

We see that we are leaving the state when we need a family. In the past, people at the age of 16 to 18 thought about it and created it; today this isn’t the case.

Question: Is the family, as the basis for the connection between people, the beginning of the path of  a person’s spiritual development?

Answer: A person will grow spiritually mainly from the family. If we are talking about a Kabbalistic group, this is a completely different matter, and if about the masses, then the family is the basis.

Question: Is the family a model where I have a positive attitude toward my spouse and children because it is inherent in me by nature?

Answer: Not only. It will be such a model in which you develop spiritually. In addition, there will be male and female groups in which men and women develop separately where they receive upliftment, inspiration, and spiritual charge, and they realize them in the family among themselves.

Question: In principle, will these two cells remain two types of environment?

Answer: Yes. Male and female groups, man and woman in the family and their children, this will practically be the structure of society.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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laitman_626Different Time—Different Family

Question: On one hand, our constantly developing egoism destroys the family. On the other hand, the destruction of marriage is contrary to the laws of nature. After all, didn’t nature create the family cell as a minimal environment where a person can develop?

Answer: Previously the family was maintained by purely egoistic interests. Today, our nature is destroying it.

Question: From the point of view of Kabbalah, where is everything going?

Answer: To ensure we rise to the next level.

Question: So in the future, will such a cell as the family unit still be preserved?

Answer: Family will be completely different. The main question for it will be: “How do we rise spiritually?”—because for no other reason can I shoulder this overwhelming burden, endure another person next to me, constantly take care of him or her and the children.

I am ready to pay for my “youthful sins” that I “created” a couple of children, but nothing more. However, this is not a family. In order to save the family, I need some higher value than children. No one will live for the sake of children. If today there are still such people, then in one or two generations they will all disappear.

Question: Speaking in Kabbalistic language, without the goal of revealing the Creator, family cannot exist? Will people just have no motivation to live together? In addition, wouldn’t technology be at such a level that the need for family will disappear?

Answer: In all cases, from every side, we will come to the conclusion that a person will have no need for someone else, even physiologically, because we are moving toward unisex, anything and everything, but not to create a family.
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From Kab TV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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laitman_624.03What will help save marriage?

Question: Today, the institution of marriage cannot be held together by urges, therefore it is necessary to look for additional goals. What are these goals to sustain a marriage?

Answer: In our time, the religious consecration of marriage cannot hold a family. Not only in a small society, but practically all over the world. Young people do not care what will be thought of them here or there.

As a rule, they are not dependent on their parents, do not live with them, are not in the same society where they themselves were born and raised. In general, young couples are independent of the previous generation and the society in which they were brought up.

They break away completely and create a family on a whole new level. Between them, completely different necessary connections appear. And if there are no such connections, then, as we see, marriage does not exist.

Question: What goals can sustain marriage in the future?

Answer: At least not common children and common property, but something that stands above this. It can only be a goal that is higher than life: I need this person as a husband or wife, with children and with all my way of life because with them I gain the necessary space within which I prepare myself for a higher purpose. There will be no family without this.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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Family And Marriage, Part 2

Laitman_504Is Family a Combination of Opposites?

Question: If a family is a combination of two opposites, then in order to create a good family would you need to find someone opposite to you in order to achieve better connection?

Answer: No, not necessarily. It depends on the level we are talking about.

If we are talking about the human, that is, animalistic, bodily level, then there is no need for improvisation. On the contrary, there should be similarity, and the closer, the better.

But if we are talking about development that cannot exist at the animalistic (bodily) level, then, of course, the oppositeness is needed.

From the point of view of Kabbalah, if people want to unite between themselves in a family, they should be as similar as possible to each other in their way of life, language, and everything that is possible.

Question: If we are talking about the family as a nation or all of humanity, then we must be different?

Answer: Yes. If we are talking about bringing everyone together, as they say, into one family, then this is the system of Adam HaRishon.

There already exists more pluralism and mutual remoteness, but at the same time there is agreement that it is necessary to unite over all problems and disagreements as much as the society raises itself.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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Laitman_115A Birth of Something New From Two Opposites

Question: According to Kabbalah, marriage is not artificially created by man. It developed based on our natural properties. Why does the combination of two opposites give rise to something else, something new?

Answer: We see that the more developed the elements of nature, the more difficult it is for them to fit together. But when combined, they give rise to more distinct, developed, and unique properties.

Therefore, if we talk about the nature of chemical elements, it is one thing, biological elements, quite another, plants, already the third level, and if we talk about the animal world, then it is completely different because we also partially relate to the animal level.

Remark: They say that at the primitive level, elements are not separated. There are even some animals in which male and female parts coexist in the same body.

My Comment: Moreover, there are some animals that easily change their gender depending on what is needed for procreation. So all this is very smooth, flowing, and changing.

However, the higher the object of nature, the more difficult it is for it to proceed. Still, among animals we do not find any special combination of spirit, morality, and habits. Only in humans.

In the ancient, primitive, and in all kinds of protective natural communities, there was no particular separation between individuals. Until recently, there was no problem creating a couple between a man and a woman from the same village because everyone knew each other, they understood who they were, they had the same lifestyle and everything else. Everything was similar, even people’s characters were very similar.

But starting from the 19th century, a very serious distinction appeared among people depending on their states and other reasons. Thus, the problem arose of how males and females would mate.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 1/1/19

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Five Kinds Of Love

laitman_258Remark: People perceive the attitude of others differently. Gary Chapman, a relationship consultant and the author of the book The Five Love Languages, five million copies of which were sold, describes the different approaches and perceptions of each type of person, the way they perceive love.

He says that there are five kinds of love.

The first is when people like words. When love is expressed by words of encouragement, support, and praise.

My Comment: Usually, women and little children like this.

Remark: The other kind of love is “time.” Here, on the contrary, words are not needed. You need to spend time with a person, to pay attention to him, to be with him, and so on.

My Comment: Time itself arranges everything between them. Time affects everyone. As the saying goes: “Time is a great healer.” Things change over time.

Remark: There is a kind of love called “touch.” That is, people like tactile sensations: when they are hugged, stroked, and they experience positive emotions from this,

My Comment: Everybody likes that: children, women, animals, and even men.

Remark: The next kind of love is “gifts.” Every little thing matters such as a trinket, a treat, a note, some kind of surprise, or something unexpected.

And the fifth kind of love is “help.” Do something for the other, express your attention by actions, iron a shirt, clean floors, cook supper, or just help with something.

Scientists say that conflicts in couples arise due to the lack of understanding. If I want to hear nice, pleasant words and the other person wants an ironed shirt or to spend time together, we have a conflict, we simply do not understand each other. That is, conflicts arise precisely because of misunderstanding.

My Comment: It depends on the consumer, so to say, with whom I am dealing.

I cannot give ironed diapers to a child and win his love by this; he will not understand. Even if I give him some tasty, good food. He needs a special warmth, special treatment, and assurance.

If I deal with an animal, I must treat it on its level so that it will feel that it can trust me, that I am its owner, I protect it, feed it, give it water, and look after it. That is, I am its big companion and friend.

If we are talking about the friendly love between men, then first of all, this means supporting and understanding each other.

If it is love between a man and a woman, then everything goes: anything a man likes and anything a woman likes. And one does not like what the other one likes. However, if they understand what the other likes, they can arrange themselves in such a way that they will enjoy even things they could never imagine and come up with by themselves, but because the other enjoys them.

A woman likes gifts, signs of love, attention, and so on. A man, first of all, likes to be served and fed: “The way to man’s heart is through his stomach.” This is really so, because in regard to communication and especially love, men are more primitive than women. If a woman can in some way remind him of his mother, her attitude toward him, then that is it. He is already following her like a little duckling after the duck.

Remark: We see that over the years relationships between couples develop. First, there is a romantic period, then it transforms into a more complex relationship, and after a number of years they suddenly discover that they do not understand each other and did not understand each other during all these years.

My Comment: In principle, it can be taught. Yet, if there is no such education or these couples are still very young and have no experience, do not know how to protect their relationship, do not know how to forgive and to make an internal compromise without even talking about it and discussing it, then, of course, it is very difficult.

We need to teach this. It is a collective. Man and woman, or in any other combination: man, woman, and a child, or two men, or two women. Any number of people is a collective and it requires a completely different approach than with one person. Here, it is necessary to teach. It is quite complicated.

We see that we do not engage in such work. Even today at school they teach sex and do not teach how to treat the other as a person and not as an object of sexual fulfillment. It is very one-sided, crude, and beastly. It means that there is no education at all.

I remember when I still lived in Leningrad and studied at the faculty of medical cybernetics, we came to the Leningrad maternity hospital number two. There were 400 birthing mothers there. I asked the doctor: “What psychological training do you conduct with them?” He said: “Unfortunately, we do not have such specialists.”

Remark: We see that throughout humanity’s history, love is valued most of all. Poets and writers praise it. People as if follow an elusive dream.

My Comment: They want to sell this elusive dream.

Question: Why does humanity need love?

Answer: Humanity needs love because without it there can be no life on the animate level or on our level.

Even in sex, we see some kind of need for something bigger, although it is purely mechanical and animalistic, for the sake of pleasure at that moment and nothing more.

If sex were only about that, then we would only be mating like animals. But we have a need for warmth and care, for mutual support, the thing we call love.

Love is mutual support. Love is the feeling of being loved, of being taken care of, of being loved just the way you are. These are very serious emotions; animals do not have them. Even in regard to their cubs, animals only have feelings for a short period of time in order to nurse them so that they will not die from hunger, and then they part and never even notice and recognize each other.

Remark: There is always such a moment in love when two people seemingly love each other, but one imagines love in one way and the other one in another way.

My Comment: It is because we do not get an education. Love is a human relationship, a need, an attitude to the other. Therefore, we need to study it and to teach it. It is not sex, but rather the ability to fulfill the inner needs of the other person. It may have nothing to do with sex.

Question: What do we study about love? How to fulfill, how to change my habits in order to treat the other so that it will give him pleasure?

Answer: For that, it is necessary to feel what kind of person he is. This requires a serious mutual work with each other. And do not be shy. “I like when you stroke me.” “And I like it when you smile.” And so on. Explain. Everything is very simple.

“No, I want him to guess!” How can he guess?!

We must understand and openly talk about it and discuss it. Although young people do not like this at all, it seems to them that everything should be spontaneous, simple, and immediate. A person is a very complex, multifaceted animal.

Question: What is the key you would give people for the law of love that will help them in relationships in any situation?

Answer: In any situation, the first thing is to concede, as my teacher said. Love is an animal that is next to you and you must feed it with mutual concessions.

It is in a woman’s nature to adapt to a man. I do not belittle her for this in any way, on the contrary. She is wise. After all, she gives birth. She has to create a certain environment in order to raise children, and so on. That is, nature gave her such capabilities.

Man is very primitive. He just needs to be reminded a little bit of the things he received from his mother and he will be running after you like a little child after his mother. That is all.

I recommend to all the women: go to his mother and start asking what food he likes, what kind of service, and everything around him. The mother will be very pleased! She will understand that this is really the woman that will be able to replace her.

This is a very simple, primitive system of relations: to think only how to give pleasure to another, at least somewhat, just a little. However, this already requires wisdom, experience, and understanding of human psychology.

Good luck in love!
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From KabTV’s “News with Michael Laitman,” 12/19/18

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Women—Appeal To The Creator

laitman_543.02Question: We must attribute all of our states to the Creator. But what should we do with the anger and impatience that arises in us? Do you understand that it comes from love and came for your correction?

But inside discontent rages, as if my mother scolded me, and I would respond: “Why are you scolding me? I am still unable to do what you demand.”

Answer: Does it mean that you treat your negative emotions negatively and want them to be positive so that instead of complaints and hatred toward the Creator there will be affection, gratitude and even love?

So ask for it. He sends you all this specifically so that you will ask Him for love so that He will love you and you will love Him.

In addition, ask to understand that you are receiving only positive influences from Him, but since they go through your egoism, they are felt as inverted, negative within you.

Ask for everything! Do not hide anything, on the contrary, disclose all the time. If you say that women have such serious feelings and many complaints, then act this way. The Kabbalistic books speak about it all the time. Look how lucky you are with your feminine nature, and you can more easily, more often, and more persistently turn to the Creator than men.

Men do not have this in their nature. They hide many things, erase them, think that this is wrong, weak, and that they must act in a different way. Women do not. It is very good that they express their emotions. In principle, this is the feminine nature, the quality of Malchut. Go for it!
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/13/19

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The Difference Between Male And Female Nature

Laitman_120Question: My wife also studies Kabbalah, and I can say with confidence that we look at spirituality in completely different ways, as if we were from different planets. What is the method of unification in female and male tens and what should the effort of one toward the other be?

Answer: I think that it is necessary to proceed as it is.

I would like only one thing: that women do not imitate everything that men do. Even when it comes to a women’s ten, you should not try to do the same as the men, but as much as you can. Simply engage in mutual support.

Still, Malchut and Keter are two opposite properties of creation, therefore, the same method cannot be successful for both. After all, we see in our world how women are different in everything.

The fact that nowadays they are trying to artificially make men and women absolutely equivalent—I do not say “equal” but “equivalent”—this, of course, is completely wrong. We do not take into account our internal structure, psychology, way of thinking, in general, everything that is in a man and in a woman.

We believe that by destroying the differences, we will become equal and will look at it as great progress. This is not progress.

When we try to destroy nature in its natural manifestations, it always ends in big losses. We already see this in the young generation. Some more time will pass, everything will be revealed, and humanity, as usual, will stumble upon its mistakes and begin to somehow turn itself back.

In Kabbalah, it is absolutely clear that the difference between the male and female nature should naturally manifest itself in our advancement.

The Torah does not describe the history of people, but our path, the embodiment of the upper light in the ego at a certain stage of its development.

We go through the same stages in our spiritual movement. For example, the path of Egyptian captivity is existence in our egoism, exiting it, etc. There is a difference between male and female movements everywhere, although they go in parallel. We do not see the replacement of one by the other or equality anywhere.

We are not equal. There is nothing we can do about it. It is unnecessary. On the contrary, we must further explore the difference between us so that everyone can maximally realize their mission in the nature that is given to them.

Most importantly, do not copy what men have and do not do the same because even this is reached with difficulty, artificially. It is necessary to approach everything much more wisely.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah,” 2/13/19

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