Question: What example would you give of a person who is developing?

Answer: A doll moves by means of a small motor, beneath that lies a rheostat. As the rheostat is adjusted, development begins in the doll. The doll transforms, becoming increasingly driven by consumption, then by a desire for knowledge, and finally by a desire to understand the root cause of suffering, suffering that neither the development of consumption nor knowledge, nor attempts to escape suffering have been able to resolve. All of this brings the doll to a desire to understand where the suffering comes from. All of this happens according to the program built into the doll.

And it comes to understand that the suffering is purposeful; it forces it to change. The Creator begins to “disturb” those whom He wants to draw closer to Him.

The Creator shows a person through this that the person himself needs to change, rather than trying to change the environment around him or his way of life to suit himself. There is no escaping suffering through any of this, and nothing can truly be achieved that way. In this way, the Creator compels a person to change.
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Question:  When we meet a person for the first time, we form an impression of them, and it may change.

Speaking about the spiritual and the material, how do we avoid falling into the standard set of human experiences when a person enters a new environment, meets new people, sees only the good in them, and over time begins to criticize them?

Where specifically is the spiritual and material work here? In the material world, I can push such a person away from me and never meet him again, whereas here I overcome myself and continue communicating with him. Is that where the difference lies?

Answer: You do not pay attention to anything material; you rise above it because through your connection with this person you can build a common spiritual aspiration toward the Creator. Therefore, the friend is infinitely important to you, because without him, you will not have a purposeful aspiration toward spirituality, and you will remain without a soul.

Comment: Essentially, we are speaking about a screen with the Creator that I gradually build. But I build it independently, with respect to myself.

My Response: With respect to the common connection with everyone. You can never build anything directly! It is only through connection with others, because we are one shattered soul.

If I do not connect with others, I have nowhere to feel the Creator. The Creator is between us, but He disappeared, fell into the shattered network between us. Restore the network, and you will see Him again.

What is unclear here? There was a “fishing net” between us in which the Creator was felt. The net was torn, the connections between us broke down and became egoistic, and the Creator disappeared. Restore this network, like a web, and as it is restored, a radiance will appear in it—the Creator, the property of bestowal and love.

Comment: But all the examples that you give, I understand at first, and then I do not.

My Response: That is because your egoism changes instantly, and in the new egoism, you can no longer accept this; you do not feel it.

Comment: But it is impossible to repeat this a hundred times.

My Response: Of course it is possible; even a thousand times! The point is that it is not repeated, because each time a new degree is being worked through. I never repeat myself.

Comment: Yes, I know. But it sounds as though it is the same subject.

My Response: There is nothing else.

Comment: Let us say you speak about mutual guarantee, but there are so many different aspects there. You look at lessons from previous years, where you revealed certain things, and now you reveal other things. And it seems that they are being revealed, but at the same time, they are not.

My Response: Because this must be revealed in you. And in whom else? Do not wait for favors from the Creator! There will be none! Take it yourself.

Question: From where?

Answer: From Him. But demand it!

Comment: How to demand correctly is a very big problem. Because the usual idea of demanding is to shout, or clench your fists, or swear.

My Response: That helps too. Go ahead!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call.First impression of a person ” 9/25/10

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Question: Is there really a law of the boomerang?

Answer: In general, everything good and everything bad that we do comes back to all of us and, of course, our loved ones. And somehow, we must still track these things. Perhaps we should try to draw some conclusions for the future.

Question: So is there such a simple formula, that the evil one does returns to a person in one form or another? Does this law exist?

Answer: It does. That is, one must constantly choose very carefully what one does, what one engages in, and toward what one is heading.

Question: What about my bad thoughts concerning others?

Answer: The same applies to that.

Question: Will they come back to me?

Answer: They definitely return.

Comment: If only a person could feel this, perhaps they would be more cautious.

My Response: For this, one must constantly restrain themself. Every person must restrain themself and control their thoughts, desires, and intentions in general.

Question: Is it right to restrain oneself? That is, to say to oneself: “This is a bad deed; I will not go there.” Is that how it should be?

Answer: Yes, even in one’s thoughts.

Question: Even in one’s thoughts? But this is very difficult.

Answer: In our terminology, this is called intention.

Comment: But I don’t have control over my thoughts. We have spoken about this before.

My Response: It does not matter. You are not free in what is sent to you. But what you do with it afterward—that is where your choice lies.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 7/28/26

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Question: What has sport turned into?

Answer: Sport has turned into a hunt for prey! You step out as if into a jungle to hunt down a medal.

Question: You have to defeat everyone else. But what should it be instead?

Answer: People should strive for achievements that they attain together. Suppose, in a certain stadium, in a particular sport, under certain conditions, they achieve the highest possible result. That result belongs to everyone.

In general, I am against awards.

Question: Then what should a person strive for? What does you get out of it?

Answer: That is exactly your answer: “If there is no award, then what should I do?” It means you do not love sport; you love the medal.

Comment: Yes, the medal, or the admiration, the applause, that is what people want.

My Response: No, you can wear some kind of badge of distinction. You and everyone else. But I would not rank people by place. It’s about participation!

Question: Just participation? Do you think people would still take part?

Answer: If they truly love sport, then yes.

Question: What about when an athlete helps another athlete? For example, a runner gets tangled up, and another competitor helps him. Where would you place that on the podium? What place would you give it?

Answer: That is the most important thing! That deserves the medal.

Question: What should be the fundamental principle of sports?

Answer: Friendship and mutual help! To show all of us, and ourselves as well, what kind of potential is hidden within us. That is all.

Comment: But in soccer, one team plays against another. Where is the friendship in that? We have to win. We have to score in the other team’s net.

My Response: They should enjoy that. It all depends on one’s upbringing.

Comment: I enjoy scoring a goal. I enjoy seeing my team win.

My Response: And the others should enjoy it as well. It depends on the beauty of the game.

Let soccer be an art form: the way they keep the ball in the air, how beautifully they pass it. Rather than shoving and tripping each other.

Question: How should the spectators perceive it? After all, I am a fan of one club. How should I look at all this?

Answer: So what? You will support your club. You will feel the sting of defeat or the joy of victory. So what?

Question: But if the other team wins, what should I, as a spectator, do?

Answer: Then you will experience those emotions. That is what sports are for.

Question: What about combat sports? When it isn’t a team competition, like wrestlers or boxers, what should the mindset be there?

Answer: There, it is even simpler. It is all right there to be seen. You are fighting, and he is fighting.

Question: What should our intention be? What should we want?

Answer: To show beauty.

Question: Then what is beauty, in your opinion? What is the beauty they should demonstrate?

Answer: They need to find a way to demonstrate a benevolent kind of strength.

Question: Benevolent strength is still a force. How can it be benevolent?

Answer: Yes, there is benevolent strength and malevolent strength. The benevolent kind is when we demonstrate our good attitude toward one another. like the idea, “friendship wins.”

Question: So you really believe in that simple, childish slogan?

Answer: Without it, nothing good will come out of a sport. There will be drugs, doping, and corruption, people will do anything. Heaven knows what already exists in sports.

Question: If we do not put “friendship wins” at the center?

Answer: Exactly.

Question: I reminded of my early childhood, when I used to be told, “Friendship wins.” They would comfort me when I was a five or six-year-old by raising both my hand and the other child’s hand. Do you think that should apply to professional sports as well?

Answer: Yes. From a spectator’s perspective, I wouldn’t want sports presented in any other way, unless they demonstrated kindness and brought people closer together. The competition between them should demonstrate their struggle against their egoism.

Comment: That is beautiful! In other words, so they realize that they are egoists…

My Response: They demonstrate the struggle against their egoism.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 7/10/26

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Question: I am completely disappointed, what should my next step be?

Answer: I no longer have any disappointment. I have already become disappointed, and I have already parted even with the disappointment itself. What is left for me? Nothing. Only to be in the same state as the Creator. That is, to give everything away, return everything, settle all accounts, be empty, absolutely free.

And after that, if I am fortunate enough, I can begin to think about how to engage in bestowal, how to ask the Creator for the ability to bestow freely, selflessly, with no expectation of anything in return. Why? For what purpose? There is no answer. To whom? There is no answer. Simply as it is written: “Cast your bread upon the waters.”

Question: Is this true freedom?

Answer: Yes. There is no state better than this.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 6/29/26

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Question: While a child is still at an age when they can be influenced, do they subconsciously absorb the influence of their environment?

Answer: Yes. If a child remains in a specific environment until the age of thirteen, they will continue to develop according to its values. I saw this with my own children.

My youngest son suffered from allergies, and I was compelled to send him to Canada, a country with a northern climate. When he turned sixteen, I bought him a student travel pass, and with it, he traveled through twenty-seven countries in Europe. After that, he went to the Far East and India. In short, he traveled almost everywhere. I wanted him to discover the world.

After all that, he returned to Canada and said, “Never again! I do not need anything else.” Meaning, “Leave me alone.” Later, he got married, started a family, and that was it, no problems. Neither drugs nor anything else that could have negatively influenced him or affected him because he had been given a clear direction in life.

We see the same thing in our own children. Just look at how many examples there are here. You see an eighteen-year-old young man, strong and capable. You would think, “Go ahead and do whatever you want.” But no, he is interested in the wisdom of Kabbalah. He is here. He enjoys our television programs, our projects, and everything else we are doing.

Question: They like being here because they feel they have a kind of home base here. You create a certain environment for the children, a school and other activities, and they naturally gather around it. If this did not exist, where would they meet and interact with one another?

Answer: Naturally! How else could it be? Inevitably, we create such centers for them and for ourselves as well.

Wherever our friends are, they form groups, get together, hold lectures, lessons, and activities for children and women. They publish a newspaper and distribute it throughout their region. Naturally, their children also take part in all of this.

We are now opening a film school, as well as a video and audio production school. Our children will study there. Those who have a talent for writing children’s stories will start doing it there, and as they grow older, they will continue to advance. We want them to become dedicated disseminators.

We will arrange meetings with lawyers, psychologists, and other professionals for them. We will take them to museums, hospitals, and wherever else is beneficial. We will do everything possible to help a person discover the world.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalah for teenagers” 10/12/10

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Question from Facebook: I have always been certain that I live in Israel, and specifically in Jerusalem. But from what you say, it turns out that this is not really the case. From the Kabbalistic point of view, what are Jerusalem and Israel?

Answer: The Kabbalistic perspective is concerned not with geography or history, but with the development of egoism as a fundamental part of nature. Kabbalah speaks not about the physical planet Earth, where people, animals, and everything else exist, but about desire, the primary force of nature, and about how this desire is governed by the higher force of nature, the Creator.

There are two forces: the force called the Creator (the force of bestowal) and the force called the creation (the force of reception). The Creator, the upper force, governs the lower force. That is the entire picture. Therefore, all of history is the development of the lower force, the desire to enjoy, under the influence of the higher force, the Creator, whose desire is to delight His creation.

Question: So when you speak of Jerusalem and Israel, are you referring to desires?

Answer: Of course. Desire at the inanimate level is called “the earth.” Within it is Jerusalem, or the so-called Holy Mountain upon which stands the Temple, and so on. All of these represent desires, and they all exist within a person.

This is where people encounter difficulty; they do not immediately understand what is being discussed. All of this exists within a person, because there is nothing outside of us. We perceive everything only within ourselves even though it seems to us as if it is unfolding externally.

Question: What is the desire called “Israel,” and what is the desire called “Jerusalem”?

Answer: Israel is the desire directed toward the revelation of the Creator. The word “Isra-El” means straight to the Creator. Jerusalem represents an even more specific aspiration toward the Creator, beyond the general desire.

That is why there is the Land of Israel, called “Eretz Yisrael.” “Eretz” means desire (Ratzon). “Yisrael” means directed toward the Creator. Within the desire called the Land of Israel is Jerusalem, which is a more inward desire for the Creator. Within that is the Temple Mount (Har HaBayit), then the Holy Temple (Beit HaMikdash), and so on.

Question: So my desires become increasingly refined and focused until they reach their highest point. What is at the very top? What is that ultimate desire?

Answer: At the very top is the point in the heart, the most hidden and innermost of my desires, that must attain complete contact with the Creator. This is the direction to which I aim it.

Contact with the Creator means that the Creator fills all of my desires that are directed toward Him through this point.

Therefore, our work is to correct our desires so that they are all directed toward Him. Ultimately, He fills them with Himself. In this way, throughout all of my desires, only one higher force is revealed, the force called the Creator.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 3/11/23

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Question: Are you saying that there is no connection between corporeality and spirituality?

Answer: Yes, because they exist at different sides of the screen. Practically, we live in the same domain, but we perceive this world and that world in polar opposite ways: this world through the lens of egoism and the other through altruism.

Spirituality is perceived in completely different properties. If I sense this world in the property of receiving for my own sake, with the intention to receive pleasure for myself, then the upper world is the intention to bestow, to fulfill and give pleasure to others.

Question: Does it mean that everything depends on a person’s perception? Is something corporeal also spiritual, but just a part of some kind of picture?

Answer: Of course. What else is there besides the light and the desire? The light created the desire, and whatever is happening with the desire is done by the light. After all, our world did not appear from somewhere unknown. It is the final descent of spiritual states from above to below.

Question: Why do you distinguish between these two realms when you say “You can ask me questions concerning spirituality, but you should turn to other people if you have questions about corporeality.”

Answer: The thing is that the corporeal world where we try to work directly with egoism is doomed to failure and problems from the start. Therefore, I do not want to work with it.

A person can live in it comfortably only if he fully aspires to the upper one. Then whatever one is unwillingly obliged to do to maintain one’s existence in this world will be beneficial for them. Otherwise, there is no way. Any excess will do just harm. Although it is hard for us to agree with it, this is the most optimal existence.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Difference between the Material and the Spiritual” 9/25/10

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Question: Various events and all kinds of actions take place around you. How do you distinguish between what belongs to the material world and what belongs to the spiritual world?

Answer: Everything people do in our world beyond what is minimally necessary to sustain themselves ultimately works to their detriment. It all counts as a loss. Consequently, it returns to them in the form of all kinds of suffering. But they cannot do otherwise, because they are not yet capable of determining how they should relate to the world correctly.

Those in whom the point in the heart awakens are brought to Kabbalah. They hear all kinds of advice: “Stop wasting your time on empty pursuits in this world. Immerse yourself completely in the upper world, and deal with this world only to the extent that is necessary. Then everything will be comfortable and good.” But even this, a person does not hear.

For example, we have many students who consider themselves our friends and, supposedly Kabbalists, yet they are involved in high-level business, dealing in and earning many millions of dollars a year. They hear these things, and at the same time they do not hear them. Such is human nature.

Therefore, it takes a vast field of activity and many years before something begins to break through within a person. And even then, it depends not on the person himself, but on the surrounding society, the group, and the study, in other words, solely on the influence of the upper light upon him. Then he will hear.

Question: But how can the upper light influence a person if he is not in it?

Answer: But is he connected to it in some way, or not at all? That is the real question. Does he participate in our community through his actions, through his substantial financial support, through disseminating together with the group, or through some other form of assistance?

But if he disconnects from it and exists only nominally, merely bearing the name, then that is it, he has gone on to the next reincarnation. He will simply pass through this life to the end, live out the remainder of it, die, and then be born again. At some point, he will once more receive the “point in the heart.” It is unknown how it will pierce him, at what stage of life, or in what way.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Difference Between the Material and the Spiritual” 9/25/10

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Comment: I clearly remember how, as a child, I was deeply attached to my parents. I depended on them greatly and listened to their opinions. For a child, what his father, mother, or grandparents says is extremely important. But then a stage comes when, no matter how he was raised, he breaks away from his parents and changes.

My Response: It is the environment! He comes under the influence of a different environment.

But in our community, it is different. Here, a child and his parents share the same outlook, the same goal in life, the same values, and the same sense of importance. Therefore, there is no conflict. The child passes through all these stages very smoothly. He sees that there is no contradiction: what he experiences at home, at school, and with the other children outside is all the same.

Let him see the world! Nothing is hidden from him. He will see that our view of the world is sober and true.

We educate our children so that by the age of eighteen they have completed both school and university.

Comment: Suppose the terminology we use sounds unusual when it comes from their mouths. People outside might react differently to these children.

My Response: I do not think so. What could be unusual about them? That they do not use the coarse language heard on the streets? So, they will simply speak differently. Today’s world is very mixed.

Comment: But they will still be different from other children.

My Response: They will differ in that they are more balanced, calmer, not easily influenced by outside pressures, and they know why and how to live. They will become very beneficial to everyone. It will be an entirely new generation, properly formed.

All this is possible because we have both the method and the force, the light, that will act upon them. But we cannot simply hand this over to outsiders and say, “Take it and use it.” They do not possess this inner feeling.

Therefore, children who have grown up within our educational method and reach adulthood at eighteen or twenty years of age become a true asset to humanity. They will form the layer of instructors that humanity lacks. Can you imagine how much they will be needed?

Comment: But they will also have a great ego. Couldn’t they still fall into all the temptations of this world?

My Response: No! That will not happen under any circumstances! We see this in our own young people. Those who have been raised in this way, the light does everything; not us.

Those who may fall into the temptations of this world are people who come to us from outside. There have been individuals who tried to build their own businesses on the basis of Kabbalah. How many have there been over the decades of our existence? Just a few. It simply does not happen.

It does not interest a person. He cannot think: “Who will respect me there? What will I gain? What will they give me?” because he has an entirely different system of values within him. You can see for yourself how we live.

Comment: I mean that sometimes people relapse because of personal predispositions, some toward alcohol, others toward something else.

My Response: If we are speaking about someone who came from the outside and had long-standing problems with drugs, alcoholism, or something similar, then yes. But I am talking about people who have been raised among us from birth. They simply do not have those tendencies.

You can see this in our children. They are not drawn elsewhere. They say: “We want to spend time with our own young women, build families among ourselves, organize a club for us. We do not want to meet outsiders. We do not even have anything to talk about with them,” and so on.

We already have children who grew up here, started their own families, and now have children of their own. This is how the next generation begins to emerge—the generation that came out of Egypt, the generation that already bears fruit.

Question: Do you place great hopes in the children?

Answer: Yes! I believe this is the most important thing. The most important!

We see what Moses did with the people who came out of Egypt. That generation which he led out of Egypt had to die in the wilderness. Only those who were born in the wilderness entered the Land of Israel. The same principle applies here.

I believe only in raising a person from the very beginning and giving him the correct direction in life; that is all. It will remain with him throughout his life. It will not leave him, because life itself will continually show him that he was formed correctly.

In this way, these children will receive an education and upbringing, become professionals in various fields, and be able to integrate into our system and work with us. And if not, they will be able to engage in any other profession they choose.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Kabbalah for Teenagers” 10/12/10

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