Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What should I do to change myself completely?“

First, we should define what it means to change ourselves. We are made of desires, and we can change those desires either in relation to ourselves or in relation to the still, vegetative, animate and human parts of nature, and all of those in relation to the absolute laws of nature—laws of love, bestowal and connection. That is, we choose what kind of desire we wish to use and what we wish to relate it to.

If we wish to use all of our desires with an intention that is in balance with the laws of nature, i.e. with a positive attitude toward the entirety of nature on the still, vegetative, animate and especially toward people, then we are on course to changing not only ourselves, but doing so is the only way we can truly change the world.

If we start paying attention to the laws of nature, we then feel a great force that is above our earthly forces. We can then work in tandem with that force, asking it to change us, and accordingly we start seeing how the world around us changes in accordance with the changes we invite upon ourselves.

Such a change is a complete transformation of ourselves because our inborn intention is one of reception for ourselves, and by changing our intention to one of giving, we switch our intention to its complete opposite.

Based on “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on May 21, 2021.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do digital and analog systems differ?“

Analog systems are superior to digital ones because they host an infinite possibility of resolution and accuracy. Take, for instance, conventional vinyl records as opposed to digital recordings. People more knowledgable in sound appreciate precisely such records because they convey the sound’s subtlety with all the harmonics.

In numbers, however, such information needs to be digitized, or in other words, placed into corresponding pulses. No matter how many instruments there are, each one must find its pulse, and they are limited. That is, there is an incomplete transfer of information in digital systems. No matter how much resolution goes into creating curves out of pulses, the curves will always be approximate and will be made out of pulses.

It is clear that digital systems are more profitable. Thanks to them, we can transmit a great amount of information on a single frequency. But sensuality, subtlety and the harmonics that no computer can catch, which are necessary specifically for our hearing and feeling, are transmitted better by records or our old non-digital receivers and transmitters.

At the level of our thoughts and feelings, digital thinking is done with the intellect, which is limited, while analog thinking is with feelings and is unlimited. The heart perceives in an analog fashion, i.e. smooth information, waves, and the brain perceives pulse information, operating by bits.

We are on a path of development that is leading us ultimately to an analog state, i.e. to a state where we interconnect in thoughts and feelings and feel everyone and nature as a single whole. When we enter such an analog and integral state, we will experience a new set of clearly graduated degrees. On one hand, those degrees are digitized, where awareness, perception and sensation takes place within us at every moment. But on the other hand, the sensation itself turns directly into feelings, which are not digital, but analog.

Based on From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Difference between Analog and Digital Systems” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on October 12, 2013.

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Question: When a child is learning to speak how are the connections of language perception built? And why is the native language stuck in so deeply that even if he is learning a foreign language he still has some accent?

Answer: Language is a program in which the inner sensation of understanding becomes associated with its verbal expression. Contacts between the inner sensation and verbal expression are a huge program of associations and images.

It is formed within us, locked between images and their semantic concepts, their expression by facial expressions, and their entire feeling because when a person speaks, he plays this image within himself. All of this is built within us during approximately the first two years of life.

I think if we started to teach our children a few languages until they are two years old, these languages would become their native languages. A person would change from one program to another the same way as a computer has Word, Excel, and other programs.

When a person becomes more grown, it is happening more artificially, meaning, an internal language exists and also an external translation exists. Although it may be very easy and very transferable, it is already not a native language. Therefore one cannot do anything here.

There are people like me who have such a strong connection with their native language that they are incapable of freely mastering a different language. If I lived, let’s say, in an English environment, I would certainly switch, otherwise it is very hard.

However, there are people for whom it is very easy. In general, these are young women of 16 to 17 years old or even younger. They capture languages in the absolute and clear way because they are tuned to understand children, to talk to them. Their response for adaptation is much higher than men’s.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Perfect Way to Learn Languages” 11/9/13

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Question: Why has man been attracted to martial arts throughout history? What does it give him?

Answer: Our egoism develops through competition, because the most important thing for us is envy, jealousy, desire for power, etc. After all, to see someone who is bigger, higher, stronger, and more successful than you is felt by egoism as defeat.

Therefore, martial arts or any type of fight, attracts a person. There is a special pleasure in this.

This is how we were created from the very beginning; if we do not aim to correct ourselves, then we always evaluate the other in comparison with ourselves.

We cannot look at things indifferently because we always evaluate: better or worse, like or do not like, pleasant or unpleasant, and so on; otherwise, we do not distinguish between things. Everything passes through an egoistic filter: is it good for me or bad and in what way?

I do not see it differently because my main organ of perception is the desire to enjoy. I always feel everything with regard to whether I enjoy it or not. This is the only way.

It can be colors, sounds, or anything, and even objects or phenomena that I absolutely do not care about. Still, I distinguish them only in my desire to enjoy, how much better or worse it is for me, although I do not even admit it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Fortitude” 11/9/13

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Did Noah’s Ark ever exist?“

Even if we discovered a few of its boards and could seemingly prove that it existed, what would that give us?

The main takeaway from the story of Noah’s Ark for us today is to understand that we are also on the verge of a great flood, and we have the ability to prevent it from happening.

We prevent a great deluge from coming our way by listening to what the Creator says, or to put it differently, by obeying nature’s laws, which ultimately means that we need to positively connect.

Negative human connections bring about every blow that we receive from nature. And on the contrary, if we relate favorably to one another, we manage to prevent natural disasters and other blows.

How does this work? There are laws of nature that stop us from knocking the system of nature out of balance, which we do mainly through our negative human relations. Nature has four levels—the still, vegetative, animate and human—and the human level is nature’s highest qualitative level. What we determine at the human level, in our connections to each other, unequivocally determines what will happen throughout nature in relation to us.

We should thus learn how to become more attentive to what really matters in our world today—to develop positive human connections as a means of reaching balance with nature’s laws—and by doing so, we will find that we not only protect ourselves from natural disasters and several other blows, but moreover, we will open the gates to a new peaceful and harmonious world the likes of which we have yet to experience.

Based on the video “Did Noah’s Ark Ever Exist?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: You said that you receive orders from the Creator. What does that mean?

Answer: It is the revelation of the functioning system. Its attainment obliges you to act in accordance with it. Or vice versa, your aspiration to achieve some kind of greater involvement in universal connection reveals the spiritual world to you.

All this is a supra–egoistic effort that must be done precisely in connection with each other.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Contact with the Creator” 11/9/13

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Comment: You said that martial arts compensate for the lack of egoism.

My Response: No, I was talking about something else, about the generosity of strength. A strong person who does not have to defend himself all the time can be generous.

Next to a very strong person, I can even be bullying him, I know that he will not break me. After all, we both understand how weak I am relative to him, and therefore I can sort of be on an equal footing with him, or even, maybe, bully him a little, like a child with an adult.

If there really is a clear difference between us, then it is understandable that we both recognize how much stronger he is than me. Therefore, strength, not necessarily physical, but the strength of any kind, the superiority of one over the other, allows a person to be magnanimous.

True, today this is no longer the case. But, in principle, strong, healthy, powerful people by nature, in general, are generous. It is natural. However, if they just pumped up their muscles, then their evil essence remains in them.

This is a big difference between a naturally strong person like Ivan Poddubny (a famous Russian wrestler) and a modern athlete who has no generosity inside. It is like giving an evil man a gun, give him power, pump him up, and now he uses it.

In all kinds of competitions, battles, or duels, there have always been certain codes on how to behave with the enemy. They emphasized the special character of a person, namely his generosity next to strength.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Fortitude” 11/9/13

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Question: Do you have self-identification?

Answer: No, I am trying to be a machine, a robot, that is, to direct all my desires, thoughts, and goals as much as possible in such a way as to function for the sake of the desires of others for correction.

Comment: But at the same time for a long time you were a fairly big egoist who developed throughout life.

My Response: I am now an even bigger egoist, frankly speaking.

Question: But all the same, all your life you were in some way identifying yourself as Michael Laitman. You could not become like that right away, could you?

Answer: No, of course not! Such a thing happens after twenty years.

I got acquainted with Kabbalah in 1976, and since then I have practically not torn myself away from it. I did everything that was necessary to support myself, but in general, I acted in everything only in order to find a teacher, learn, and develop further. This is movement from within.

Question: At what point did you begin to identify yourself with the entire world?

Answer: Back in the early 80s I spoke with Rabash about the fact that, as Baal HaSulam wrote, the world from 1995 will be completely different. Before that, I talked to him about Baal HaSulam’s dream to create a commune, something where people would work together, provide for themselves, and engage in Kabbalah, and most importantly, in internal work among themselves. We talked a little about these topics, but it was all fantasy, utopian.

Then the world really began to change very dramatically, especially after Rabash passed away. He left this world, and the world became completely different. Not for me; I still had the same spiritual contact with him, an even stronger one.

Question: How is it possible that say, a Kabbalist dies and the world changes dramatically?

Answer: The presence of a Kabbalist on the corporeal level means a lot. Although spiritual energy has nothing to do with all kinds of objects in our world, it is still of great importance.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How Does a Kabbalist Die?” 11/16/13

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is there violence in Israel right now?“

One of my students recently asked me about the rise in violence among Jews in Israel after the tragic murder of 18-year-old Yoel Lhanghal by a group of young adults at a birthday party in the northern-Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona.

Indeed, we are headed in a negative direction, toward a state called “the recognition of evil,” i.e. recognition that our ego is behind the various tragedies and misfortunes that we experience.

The ego burns within each of us and it is growing. It is making us intolerant of anyone who is a bit different from us. That is how it is supposed to be, because it is a law of nature that we become increasingly opposite from nature’s altruistic quality until we gain awareness of what we actually are—egoists—become sick of how we host this negative egoistic quality within us (the “recognition of evil”), and develop a sincere desire to change ourselves. However, in the meantime, we are not doing anything toward a positive transition, and so from one day to the next, we become ever more evil.

In relation to Yoel’s murder, his father said “How could a Jew murder another Jew?” We have reached such a state because we do not want to educate ourselves about our egoistic nature and how to transform it into its positive opposite. In short, we do not want to become good people toward each other.

Why? It is because we reject anything that goes against our egoistic nature. Our nature is a great big ego, which wishes to enjoy at the expense of others, and it is written about our nature that it is an “evil inclination.” It was given to us on purpose so that we could rise above it.

We can rise above our ego by working with each other on developing relations of love, giving and positive connection. Developing relations of love, giving and positive connection means that we first need to understand that we are interdependent and that we cannot exist without each other, even though we currently hate each other. And the transition point is the recognition of evil: that we acknowledge that we are the evildoers in the world, and that the world’s well-being—humanity’s shift to a positive direction—depends on us.

While the egoistic and altruistic forces are opposites, we can make the shift from hatred to love if we develop a desire for it to happen. As such, there is a good reason for antisemitism’s rise worldwide. More and more people feel that the Jews are responsible for various forms of suffering proliferating throughout humanity.

What we lack is a desire and a method for how to improve the situation. No one wants things to be bad, but we have to know that it depends on us. Also, we should know the method for shifting from an increasingly negative direction to a positive one.

Through education about our nature and what is required to change it, we need to first reach an agreement that the evil resides within us, in the way we treat each other, our fellow Jews. If we change our attitude toward each other from negative to positive, then we will see how the increasingly negative attitude from humanity toward us will also change. In its place, we will see that everyone will treat us favorably and respectfully. We will then also find that we will not need to discuss how to make peace with our neighbors, because all the pieces will fall into place: more and more people will feel a positive force illuminating from the people of Israel, and will wish to support the positive connection that we develop with each other above the growing ego.

Based on the video “How Could a Jew Murder Another Jew?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Victoria writes: “I am so often ashamed of myself today! Such things are happening around, so many tragedies, troubles, so many lives are ruined, and for me it’s all someone else’s pain, not mine. Everyone I know feels the same. I understand that this is the cause of all the troubles. How can you make someone else’s misfortune become your own? I’m sure it would change the world. What are we all missing?”

Answer: To feel the neighbor as yourself.

Question: How do we do it?

Answer: There is a method for this—the science of Kabbalah. Otherwise, a stranger will always remain a stranger, and people will not understand each other, and the world will be separated. As a result, such a global, calm, quiet, prolonged chaos, if not some kind of world, global war, nevertheless will drive humanity into its corners. I think we will see in our time how much people will become isolated.

Question: Tell me, why are people really looking for different ways, but not uniting toward a common pain?

Answer: It is against our nature.

Question: Will we be running into different corners all the time?

Answer: Yes, and how!

Question: We will not converge to the center?

Answer: No. Now the period will come when people will separate from each other as much as possible! Egoism will force us to do this. Quietly, calmly, it will disperse us in corners so that we realize it. The realization of the results of this egoism will lead us to its denial.

Question: Which means, in principle, it becomes its own gravedigger as a result. What interest does it have in ruining itself?

Answer: The fulfillment of the secret meaning of development in order for us to realize that we need to be above our nature after all.

Question: When you say “Secret meaning” are you saying this because no one really understands it?

Answer: Nobody knows, sees, or feels it. Of course.

Question: Now it looks like a fantasy for humanity to become one. Internally, maybe everyone wants it. Now it is clear what the cause of all the troubles is. It is clear that there is no coalition, there are no connections, everything is solved with the help of force, wars, weapons, and money.

And it is clear that if all this were suddenly canceled and we moved toward some kind of connection, it would be good for us. It’s obvious, right?

Answer: This has been talked about for millions of years.

Question: Yes, scientists, writers, and philosophers, all the more so, claim it—all these utopian cities, utopian systems. The only question is: why is it getting worse and worse, with a greater awareness that we need to unite?

Answer: The Soviet government set a very bad example for us. How false it is—communism, the commune—it actually led to enormous problems, suffering.

Question: But it wasn’t just done from above, was it? The upper force made it so that we saw that it was impossible to build communism in a single country.

Answer: Impossible, according to our understanding! And if we take the plan of nature and the right correction of egoism— whatever is written in the science of Kabbalah—then you will have to turn to the ancient science and implement it. Otherwise, nothing else will work! Here you will have to solve many problems at the same time.

Question: So our mind absolutely does not play any role here, but on the contrary only ruins everything?

Answer: In general, yes.

Question: In what sense must the mind be involved, since it is given to us after all? It is given to us for something.

Answer: It was given for us to understand that with our head, with our concepts, we will not be able to achieve anything.

Question: In order not to create progress and so on?

Answer: No. To go, on the contrary, against it, in search of a reverse solution.

Question: And as a result, you say, we will come to the conclusion that it will be reasonable if we understand that…?

Answer: Nature will teach us with brutal blows. We won’t be able to do it otherwise. Either we will take these blows internally and correct them within ourselves, or nature will correct us with external blows—wars, exterminations, famine, and so on.

Question: So the whole path now is to experience all this within?

Answer: Yes. Instead of freezing and starving.

Question: Are you now saying that everything we see externally—wars, possible freezing, starvation—is it because we have not experienced it internally?

Answer: Yes, we don’t want that.

Question: So, in order to stop all these external threats that threaten us in the future, we have to experience internally?

Answer: To realize that we have to change ourselves, our nature. It is possible if people want it. Meaning, if they realize it. Awareness can be either through great suffering, or through enlightenment. I can’t say anything else here.

Question: As you say, our nature is egoistic, and it needs to be turned into altruistic? That’s it?

Answer: That’s it. And again we reach the finale. This connection is a voluntary, conscious, correct connection of everyone for everyone’s sake. Not according to the patterns of egoism!

Question: Is this whenever we unite against someone?

Answer: Even if not. It’s just when egoism invents all sorts of methods for us. When we, supposedly smart, get together, and start deciding what to do. That is not how it is done.

Question: But how?

Answer: By making people aware that there is a technique, and it is here, in the depths of the ancient wisdom, Kabbalah. Otherwise, it will be the end of us!

In principle, this is natural wisdom, which is located within nature and goes against the egoistic nature of man, and this anti-egoistic nature a person will have to discover, study, apply, and implement for himself.

Nothing more is needed! This is the only wisdom that humanity must master.

Question: And everything will change?

Answer: Precisely then it will.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/13/22

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