Question: Who benefits more in spiritual advancement: someone who is close
to you and can communicate with you or someone far away?

Answer: The biggest benefit can be attained by those who are internally close to me. Baal HaSulam, in an article dedicated to the completion of The Book of Zohar and in several letters, writes that true spiritual attainment comes only from the student’s inner connection to the teacher.

Nowadays, this happens not directly but through a group. And still, this principle remains. In Kabbalah, it is called mouth to mouth (Peh el Peh), that is, according to the common screen between the student and the teacher.

This technique is generally known, when a student annuls before the teacher and devotes himself to connecting with the teacher in such a way that the inner content flows from the teacher to the student.

Although Kabbalah, on one hand, is a science, it talks about how to receive the upper light through the similarity of form. It is precisely the similarity of properties that is called the mouth to mouth contact (Peh el Peh).
[352057]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call.” 9/11/10

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Question: LSD is a separate category of drugs. If, as you say, it is just a certain illusion, then why does it cause a person to feel sensations that Kabbalists describe?

Answer: Taking LSD is not a solution to a problem; it is a disconnection from reality; meaning, it is not a conscious correction of oneself within society where you become a useful member, and express yourself as loving and caring, like a mother toward others, and where every member of society perceives you this way, and you perceive them the same. Such relationships are characteristic of the society of the future.

But those who take LSD detach from reality while not connecting with others. They do not want even the smallest contact! They enjoy experiencing all kinds of rosy visions within themselves.

Yet Kabbalah speaks about something entirely different: a very real, very difficult path of correcting a person, where he controls himself and acquires screens, meaning forces, that allow him to rise above his egoism, above each of its measures.

This is a very clear path carried out in connection with other companions, where together you go into battle against your own nature.

All this is completely opposite to the disconnection from reality, to the solitary floating, abstracted from others, that consists of perceiving some internal excitations. I see no connection between Kabbalah and taking LSD. It is a completely different approach, and works on completely different material. It is not you working, but chemistry. You can inject anyone with a drug, and there you go; he already supposedly floats in another dimension.

A person does not change his nature in this. He returns again to the same world, and that is it. Of course, he can tell how good he felt. But what next?! What does he change through this?!

You are suggesting: “Let us make an injection, and then for years not work on our nature.” But we must change our nature, and become godlike people, similar to the Creator; meaning, we must rise above our egoism into the quality of giving and love, into the correct mutual engagement between us, reveal in this engagement the higher world, eternity, perfection, and exist within it.

At the same time, our world does not disappear. We sense two levels of existence: our world in its full material form—we go to work, have children, raise them, serve in the army, do everything necessary—and simultaneously we feel ourselves on a higher level. A person exists on two levels! And one level does not cancel the other but helps it.

On the earthly level, each person is a useful member of society to the extent that he behaves normally as a simple human being. He does not shout: “Let us love each other!” and so on.

But internally he works toward the others so as to bring them closer to the quality of giving and love, to the correct interaction between themselves as one organism. I have never seen or heard that people who take LSD strive for this.
[351945]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Kabbalah and LSD, Part 1” 10/6/10

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Today, many people want to express themselves. But they do not know how to express themselves. One walks around with a tail on their head, another with piercings, a third covered in tattoos front and back. All of this is supposedly a kind of distinguishing mark, a sign of belonging to certain trends. But it says nothing about a person’s individuality. On the contrary.

All of this is sold by those who profit from it. We are taught that this is how you will be considered special, and we follow along. But where is individuality in this?

First, I must discover my individuality. Then I must understand how it can truly be expressed. Only then can I actually reveal myself. Otherwise, I just see everyone fooling around, and I fool around too, saying, “Look how cool I am!”

But cool in what way? You’re exactly the same as everyone else.
[351901]
From KabTV’s “I Got A Call.Everyone should be the same” 10/1/10

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Question: You say that at the meals and other events there are listeners and there are speakers. What should be the attitude of the listeners toward those who speak?

Answer: Everyone should be patient with their friends until we all mature together. How do you perceive a child? He does things that seem silly and unnecessary. You see how he makes mistakes, how he tries, how something works out and something does not. But through this, he somehow grows.

Comment: I am asking because for many people who encounter Kabbalah for the first time, this is not clear.

My Response: It does not matter to me whether it is clear to them or not. It is impossible to explain anything for the first time. If a person has matured, if he understands that he has nowhere else to go, then he will see logic in it, something higher; he will feel deep inside that there is something here. And if he is not ready yet, why should he understand? It will be better if he leaves.

Do you think everything is decided by some clever words? No. Look how many beautiful, professional video clips you have created. And how many people come because of those clips? There are millions of views, but only a handful come. Can you explain to me what is happening here? You cannot reach their hearts. You are knocking on them, but their hearts do not yet respond to that knock.

Comment: That is exactly what I am saying. You want to disseminate as widely as possible, but people are not ready.

My Response: We try to do everything possible. I am not going to change us because of this. We are who we are, and we are gradually trying to be more open—closer, simpler, more accessible, and more understandable to others. We are doing this all over the world, here in Israel, on television, and on the Internet.

Of course, there is still much more that can be done. We try to write books and express everything that Kabbalah wants to say to people in a simpler language. But if a person is still not ready from his side, what can we do?

Today when I walk down the street or stay somewhere, I see simple people who wave to me, who greet me, who thank me that there is a Kabbalistic channel, and that they can watch it. They even say, “So far we do not understand much. But it feels so good!” There are those who feel that it gives them a sense of peace and security. Still others say, “When I am on your channel, I just get distracted and relax.”

That is, everyone hears us on their own wavelength, and I am very glad about that. And whether they understand or do not understand the inner meaning and essence of Kabbalah, they do not need it because the world is structured like a pyramid. 99% of people cannot understand Kabbalah at all. They are created by nature, by the Creator, in such a way that they can only join it, so to speak, and participate in it.

For example, how many people build our world, lay its foundation, start enterprises, banks, the foundations of society, or conduct scientific research? How many of them are there? A thousand or two in the whole world who manage everything?

Only a few hundred people in the world truly create something, and the rest implement it. This implementation is carried out by a huge number of scientists, engineers, and researchers. But the foundation, the idea is the legacy of a very small number of people. And the billions of others? These billions are under them. This is how the world is arranged.

In exactly the same way, the perfection of all souls is achieved. When everyone, individually and together, reaches a single unified structure, everyone includes themselves in everyone else, and then everyone is included in all. As a result, each feels himself as this entire system. But that happens at the end of creation, at the end of correction.

Meanwhile, I absolutely do not expect these billions of people to realize the true greatness of what is being revealed before them, the true possibility of what Kabbalah speaks about.

I know from my own experience, from the 40 years I have been engaged in Kabbalah, what stages I have gone through, what revelations I have experienced, and what still lies ahead.
[351343]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Transfer of Information,” 1/23/11

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Question: Do you remember the time when you understood nothing of what was being discussed in the science of Kabbalah? Perhaps you could roughly understand the structure of the worlds, but when you actually sensed them, how unusual was this impression or feeling?

Answer: It was very unusual, because you begin to perceive reality “from the outside in.” This is the most important epiphany at the beginning of the path. You understand what is written is not about the outside, but that our perception, our brains, our impression of reality are designed to see everything outside of ourselves and feel outside of ourselves.

You begin to realize that all this exists in you: the group is in you, the people are in you, all that is happening, all events are in you, and, naturally, this results in unity in the group, mutual guarantee, and all else.

Such a correct understanding of this process and what Kabbalah generally says about how a person combines all this within himself, is, of course, a huge revolution. This is an indescribable event. It turns everything upside down.

From that time on, a person begins to change, to treat himself, others, his studies, and his teacher differently.

Question: You said that a person begins to perceive reality “from the outside in.” Is this crossing the Machsom?

Answer: Not yet. He just treats himself and his surroundings differently, realizing that all this is inside him.

You can even say it more simply, without clever concepts. I realized that everything depends on me, on my correction, that I will achieve spirituality not somewhere far away but in me. It is in me that the quality of the Creator, the quality of love and bestowal, will appear, that is, such a property when what is outside of me and inside of me merge into one whole, without boundaries.

From that moment on, I began to have a different attitude to the science of Kabbalah and how to realize it, not through logic outside of myself but precisely in me.

Question: Does it usually take time?

Answer: It takes a lot of time.

Question: And then there is a transition, a complete inversion, which you mentioned. What happens to a person if there is already an inversion?

Answer: No, in this case, the inversion is carried out simply in relation to the science of Kabbalah, how it should lead you forward: either it should reveal some area outside of you, some laws, connections, or reveal everything inside you. When you begin to realize that this must happen within you, you radically change your attitude toward everything.

Question: And yet, there is a completely different perception behind that “wall”?

Answer: Yes, but it is impossible to convey it.

Question: Not at all possible?

Answer: Not at all.

Question: So how did Baal HaSulam explain spirituality to his grandson, who immediately “ran off”?

Answer: He explained to him that it is impossible to make the transition to the spiritual world through human strength, only with the force of the upper light. And so, he “ran off.”

Question: Did he not show him that world?

Answer: No. You cannot do that. He just told him, purely logically, how much a person should change, and he decided that it was impossible to change.
[351936]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Before and After the Machsom” 10/8/10

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Question: Israeli children are very noisy and energetic, one could say hyperactive. Is this related to a particular Jewish mentality?

Answer: Jews originate from Ancient Babylon, from a single civilization of earth’s inhabitants who once rose to a spiritual level and then fell from it. Therefore, that ascent and descent have been preserved in their genes. There’s nothing to be done; they are the most active part of humanity in everything: science, culture, everywhere.

They make up literally about 0.01% of humanity, and suddenly 50% of Nobel laureates, 20 to 30% of musicians, 30% of artists, and so on. And all because they were once on a spiritual level, fell from it, and are now engaged in earthly affairs. They should have given this up altogether and devoted themselves exclusively to spiritual work. I hope that eventually this is how it will be. We don’t need “Einsteins” or revolutionaries. We need to engage in spiritual revolutions, not earthly ones.

I think everything is moving in that direction now. The general crisis and everything happening in the world will lead humanity to spiritual elevation, and then this hyperactivity will be realized in spiritual actions.

It manifests in Jews because they fell from a spiritual level to an earthly one, lost the spiritual component, and it turned into something earthly. What remained in them from the spiritual charge at the fall is precisely this hyperactive part.

Therefore, if you see a revolutionary or a transformer in our world, in science, art, or anything at all, then by digging into their lineage you will find that their roots come from a tribe that once stood on a spiritual level. This is the quality of Bina, the quality of bestowal, which alone can enliven humanity.

I am not a nationalist, and I advocate for the correction of the entire world. Therefore, the method of Kabbalah, which emerged from Ancient Babylon, must be realized everywhere. The fact is that the whole world is Malchut. And part of it, which once was on the level of Bina, fell back into Malchut. But only from that part, which is the former people of Israel, once on a spiritual level, does progress in our world originate.

Thus, if you see truly serious activists, it cannot be that they lack a spark originating from the attainment of the upper world that fell to our level. The people who come to Kabbalah today, no matter from where, somehow, somewhere, have received this spiritual virus.
[351568]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Children of Israel, Part 2” 10/1/10

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Question: When you speak about people who have received a spiritual “virus” and advanced in the corporeal world in some way, do you mean outstanding people?

Answer: Yes, this is a consequence of Bina. Bina is expansion, bestowal, a quality opposite to Malchut. When two qualities join together, egoism and some small germs of altruism that have fallen from the spiritual level, egoism receives direction and greater strength because it contains a spark of the upper light.

Therefore, such egoism is more fortunate, more successful, and this is expressed in results.

Today the Kabbalistic method is open to everyone. Once, in Ancient Babylon, only a small part of humanity used it. By the way, throughout history many people, the so-called “Gerim” from different nations (converts), joined it.

If we look at ancient history from the exodus from Egypt through the existence of the Kingdom of Israel until the destruction of the Second Temple, this was a period when huge masses of different tribes came and joined the spiritual elevation. Among them there were many great Kabbalists.

Comment: But when they joined, they did not become Jews.

My Response: What does it mean that people “join”? It means they take this method and begin to realize it within themselves, just like in Ancient Babylon. Abraham, the ancient Babylonian priest, gathered a couple of thousand people around himself, created a group from them, and from this group a people was formed, so to speak.

What does “a people” mean? It is a group of individuals united by a single goal of spiritual ascent. Whoever wants it joins. On the level of our world, there is actually no such concept as “the Jewish people.”

Comment: But in Israel it is a nation.

My Response: No, it is not a nation. Even today it is not a nation, but a gathering. When will the Jews become a nation? When they begin to unite among themselves with the force of mutual love. Only this force can unite them into a nation. There is no other force that can bond them together.

In any other nation there is a natural force from below that bonds people together. But above this group, there must be a force from above.

Therefore, today, for example, an Italian can become a Jew.

“But you are Italian!”

“I am no longer Italian, I am a Jew.”

“How is that? What about your father and mother?”

“My father and mother are no longer ‘mine’.”

I am Jewish, and I cannot become an Italian because I was not born to Italian parents. But an Italian can become a Jew of full value if he takes upon himself the method of spiritual ascent. The laws of conversion to Judaism are based only on this. And he can no longer go back and become Italian again.

This is a very irrational model but it exists in our world, although no one really understands it because it is built on spiritual laws that we are trying to squeeze into our world like into a Procrustean bed. But it does not work.

People do not understand this. It all sounds very strange. But gradually we are approaching a time when clarification will begin to take place in humanity regarding the entire historical picture: why it happened this way, what it brings, and why it must be this way.

But for now, people only have questions, and there are no answers.
[351572]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Children of Israel, Part 2” 10/1/10

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Question: People constantly strive for new sensations; they try one thing, then another, then a third. For example, I did not understand what it meant to get a tattoo, and I decided to try. Obviously, it is a sign of a certain self-expression. But only after I got it did I understand what a tattoo really is.

It is the same with spiritual things. Until you try, you cannot explain. Many people who come to study Kabbalah begin to cultivate a principle of equality among themselves so that everyone becomes similar. To what extent can the environment influence a person positively or negatively in this sense?

Answer: You are speaking about a person who is like the wind in the field. Does he have a goal or not? First he has to find it for himself. What do I want to reach? What is my goal? Does it exist or not? If not, then what? Should I just look around? These people behave like this, those have such-and-such a goal, and others fool around in their own way. So I choose what is closer, better, and easier for me. I follow the masses or some groups, and thus I join them.

But if we are talking about individuality, then I must find my own personal goal. After I find it, I need to clarify how it can be realized: where, with whom, and by what means. Then I will look: if for its sake I need, say, to get the same tattoo, then I will do it; if I need to learn something, I will learn it.

In other words, the goal must justify the means. The final state must determine the path toward it. My present state is meaningless if I do not know the final one, and I am like the wind in the field: wherever it blows me, that is where I go. Meaning, I will act not with my own head, but someone else’s, whatever is advertised to me at the moment becomes important. And so a person spins around his whole life, until he weakens, agrees that “that is it,” and dies.
[351941]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Everyone Should Be the Same” 10/1/10

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Question: Why do we need physical suffering? Is it to awaken the point in the heart?

Answer: Our material essence is a body that we want to provide with the maximum comfort.

We live in a family, and want everything to be good there: house, children, health, pension, rest, etc. Meaning, we want to live comfortably in this world.

However, if a person achieves it, and everything is fine in his life, he becomes an animal because he already does not aspire anywhere; he is not doing anything. Give him everything that exists and you will see that nothing will change. We see how without wolves, sheep begin to get ill and decline.

It is the same with the Jewish people. Without antisemites, there would be no Zionists, there would be no Jewish home and Jewish nation. It means we have to respect antisemites and understand that they exist as a certain force in nature that is holding us. Otherwise we would run away in all directions.

It is the same with a person in general; he cannot exist without suffering. Suffering directs us because we are egoists. Our desire is absolutely egoistic: to become filled, to do nothing, and to have everything at the same time.

How is it possible to accomplish this? It is impossible! After all, the task of a human being in nature is to reach his highest development. But if I enjoy and feel good about everything, then I will never fulfill this task.

We should not forget that “love and hunger rule the world.” Therefore, only suffering pushes us forward. “One beaten man is worth two unbeaten.” This is true indeed. Therefore, “through thorns to the stars.” We lack precisely these thorns.

The wisdom of Kabbalah says that a “point in the heart” that has awakened within a person triggers depression in us, a question about the purpose of life and its futility. If this weren’t the case, how would we go forward? Thus only suffering leads us.

Moreover, it has to be suffering that is directed to the achievement of the goal, its anticipation and aspiration—the suffering of love. However, if we lack it, we become urged on by other suffering. This is how the entire system of nature is structured, and it is doing it.

If you want to go forward correctly and willingly, no problem; there is the wisdom of Kabbalah for you. It shows you the entire system and the correct direction to the destined goal. The goal is defined in advance. There is nothing to make up.

However, if we are not going toward it, then nature causes suffering in us through various alternative ways. It still leads us to this goal, but already through the long and tangled path.

Question: Does it turn out that our earthy (animal) suffering leads us to the suffering of love?

Answer: Not right away and not directly, but it does lead us. Any little suffering in our life pushes us forward. Had a person understood this, he would himself aspire to the goal, and there would be no need to “move with a stick to happiness.” He would be moving forward faster than the stick could reach him.

This is the sensible development, and this is what Kabbalah shows us: the goal, and the shortest path to reach it, so you would not be pushed by suffering from behind.

Come and join the kind, good, and correct development. We look forward to seeing you!
[198799]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 11/21/16

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Question: Why was Europe previously a kind of benchmark for other countries?

Answer: Because the Roman Empire passed on to it its ideas, its laws, its attitude to reality, nature, and society to all of Europe after conquering it. In essence, it founded all of Europe, including England.

Comment: But Romans also got their ideas from somewhere.

My Response: The Roman’s nature was based on the opposite to Jerusalem. They followed an egoistic path of development, a complete rejection of religion, a harsh, as if it were, realistic attitude toward the world and the building of society according to certain canons that lie at the foundation of Roman law.

Roman law has not been abolished. No matter what we hang on it externally, internally we are still based on ancient Roman law. And it is absolutely opposite to Jewish law.

This stems from the ancient confrontation of worlds: Rome and Jerusalem. Rome rose and truly flourished in its conquests precisely upon the destruction of Jerusalem. This is an egoistic, natural, and correct from the point of view of our world, development of humanity up to its recognition of itself as absolutely flawed.

In our time, it has reached its full egoistic bloom, and we see that by doing this we are bringing ourselves to a dead end; there is no way to move any further. Egoism has outlived itself. It began to develop in Ancient Rome, and now this period is coming to an end.

The next stage will be the realization that development must be altruistic. People will have no other choice. Regardless of whether they want it or not, despite their hatred of Judaism, they will accept Kabbalah, the very idea of connection, the merging of everyone into one single system. Life and nature will force everyone. But today we are at this point of history.

Therefore, on the one hand, Kabbalah is revealed as a method of uniting humanity. Without it, you will not be able to unite people because egoism will not allow us to do so. Only Kabbalah can give us the strength to rise above the ego.

On the other hand, we see a declining Europe, whose Roman legacy is already coming to an end.

Question: So the experiment of creation began with the Roman Empire, when egoism began to develop in opposition to the spiritual?

Answer: Yes, of course. From here came the three main religions and everything else.

And now a very clear reassessment and revaluation of values is beginning. There is no way around it, we will be obliged to take the universal unification and revelation of the Creator as our foundation rather than all religions and beliefs, and instead of everything that we are told and that we imagine for ourselves.
[351416]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Rise Above Death” 10/1/10

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