Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What should be one’s dream?“
Our dream should be to achieve a positive social connection where mutual care, support and encouragement abound in society.
Question: How is a question formed? Where does it come from? Is the person who asks you a question just an irritant that allows you to give out information?
Answer: Yes.
Question: How should one prepare for this? How can you ask a question correctly?
Answer: The question, in fact, is to cling to me and make me want to lift the person who asks the question up like a child who runs up to an adult and asks to be held in his arms. This is the real question, and all the rest is nonsense.
Comment: I noticed that there are two types of people. The first type is when a person wants to hear from you something specific: “No, I am asking him this!” And there are people who understand and as if follow your flow. You start answering, and the person possibly had another question in addition. But he sees that you are now revealing this topic better, and he supports it rather than standing his ground.
My Response: These are big problems because we have a large number of people who want to hear, who are perhaps tuned in to a completely different wave. Then someone breaks into a general conversation and begins with his personal questions or with something he imagined to lead everyone somewhere to the side.
In this case, I try to react either harshly or not at all because it is important for me to maintain a common spirit so that people continue to ride together and rise. Therefore, if someone asks some questions from the outside, I can cut him off and that is it.
For me, the main thing is that the general flow is observed.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How to Ask a Kabbalist a Question?” 3/6/13
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it true that stubbornness is a characteristic quality of Jewish people?“
Max Nordau, one of the Zionist movement’s founders, was quoted as telling Ze’ev Jabotinsky that “logic is a Greek art and Jews can’t tolerate it. The Jew learns not by way of reason, but from catastrophes. He won’t buy an umbrella merely because he sees clouds in the sky. He waits until he is drenched and catches pneumonia.”
It is true. Jews generally do not believe in signs of upcoming occurrences, but we change after we receive strong blows. The Torah also writes about Jewish stubbornness that we are a “stiff-necked people” (Exodus 33:3; Deuteronomy 9:13; Nehemiah 9:16; Acts 7:51). It is due to the big ego residing in us. We can do nothing about it, as it is one of our inherent traits.
While it has its cons, it also has its pros. The pros of our stubbornness and our big ego in general is that if we apply the method we once received to rise above our ego, then we will be able to balance and manage two great positive and negative forces together, as it is written, “Love will cover all crimes.” We will have our “crimes,” our egoism, below—the minus—and above it, we can discover the quality of love, bestowal and connection—the plus. We will then become worthy of showing a positive example to humanity of how to overcome the divisive ego that tears human society apart, and how to cover that ego with an umbrella of love, giving and positive connection, effectively elevating human consciousness to new heights of harmony and peace.
Based on the video “Is Stubbornness a Characteristic Quality of Jews?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is globalization reversible?“
This question came up recently when one of my students mentioned the German government’s preparation for an energy crisis following a reduction in Russian gas supplies. Germany’s Minister of Economy discussed gas as a scarce resource and called upon the Germans to save as much electricity as possible, with the government reactivating coal-fired reactors in the meantime. As a result of this situation, the student could not believe how Europe’s most developed country was asked to save energy, and he thought that we should wake up from the dream of globalization where everyone supplies everyone with everything, and that every country should return to producing what they need for themselves.
Globalization, however, is irreversible. If we returned to each country only providing for itself, then we would find much greater costs across the board, for electricity, cars, food and so on and so forth. It becomes much cheaper for everyone if we provide these supplies to each other.
I understand the constant risk in this situation: All it takes is one government in this globalized connection to make problems and everyone suffers the consequences. For that very reason, we need to make sure that we sustain positive relations. While it might seem impossible, as there is always the ability for one to burst out from a general balance, we nonetheless need to invest in building positive relations. And even if a certain country breaches the balance here and there, it will nonetheless remain much cheaper and more sustainable than if each country supplied all their own needs from beginning to end.
Globalization should lead us to a state where we understand the need to work on positive connections among all people and nations. In such a state, we will have no negative thoughts about each other, and people will not think about exploiting each other, otherwise we will simply end up without our life’s essentials.
Based on the video “Is Globalization Reversible?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Question: How were the interconnections in ancient Babylon arranged? What were the people doing there?
Answer: It was an ordinary, primitive society. They lived very simply. Babylonians ate mainly fish, as they lived in a valley at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. They grew buckwheat and some wheat.
In principle, the birthplace of wheat is Israel. But the very first time it appeared was in ancient Babylon, as noted in the documents. The Babylonians baked barley bread, ate fish, garlic, olives, and olive oil, and drank water and wine. That was enough for them.
Question: And what did they do in general? Did they exist like animals?
Answer: Man did little in general, except for the last hundred years when he suddenly began to work according to the current system.
In those days there was a lot of unproductive work and everything flowed slowly and calmly. This was the case in all countries. And what did Indians do? What did Asians or Africans do?
It is nowadays that everything goes by minutes and charts because it is even better if the mechanisms work without stopping, and therefore, the problem of unemployment has naturally arisen. It had never happened before because people did not work at such a pace.
Even 150 or 200 years ago, what did man do? How much could he produce in a day and at what pace did he work? Naturally, in the world there was no such abundance and overproduction (with which it is not clear what to do) as there is now.
Comment: I remember that back in the days of the Soviet Union, there was a very narrow assortment of goods. And then American, Chinese, and Turkish products appeared, the range expanded.
My Response: It was all very good and attractive for a time. And today, both men and women are dressed in “rags,” walk in sneakers, and no one pays attention to beautiful, decent clothes. It even becomes somewhat provocative because it shows how empty you are inside if you are so dressy on the outside. Even at all sorts of diplomatic receptions, everywhere.
A university teacher gives lectures almost wearing shorts. Where is this polish, jacket, tie, and white shirt? Not to mention the students at all. In the 50s and 60s, there was no such thing as a student not wearing a suit and tie. I remember myself! I had to dress like this. And today…
But all this is correct because the focus is changing for different values, from external to internal. Now a person is not judged by appearances.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Ancient People and Cultures of the Past” 3/8/13
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can drug addicts be cured?“
A global solution to drug addition depends on society at large.
We first need to build society so that it is based on ties of mutual consideration, support, encouragement and positive connections, such that people would not want to disconnect themselves from society. We would then feel a harmonious, warm and peaceful surrounding force in society, and then everyone in society would want to give themselves over to such a force, and not detach from it.
Drugs push us to detach from reality, and if we felt our surrounding reality as filled with a positive force, then we would not want to detach from it.
Creating such a positive enveloping umbrella over society depends on the extent of our mutual integration with society—how much we belong to society, and how much society is a part of us—and also on how loyal society is to its values of positive connection and mutual consideration, support and encouragement.
If such factors click into place, then we will feel as if we are all connected, and in our connection, we would accumulate the positive force dwelling in nature—a warm, strong and appealing force that would embrace us all.
Based on the video “Can Drug Addicts be Cured?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Question: How can I hate bad qualities that are outside of me? How can I hate them inside myself?
Answer: It is done gradually. It is very difficult. It takes years because we are going through the most difficult period of internal formation. After all, the universe existed for billions of years before the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels were formed.
And now we, people, are starting to develop. And look how fast we are developing compared to previous cosmic and geological periods. This is an enormous difference! One year today is like a hundred million years for the past levels or even more.
We are now developing at the inanimate level in the same way as the universe was developing. This is the bottom level of a pyramid, but it is the widest and thickest, and we do not see results while we are developing in it.
Nebulae, planets, the Sun, and galaxies collide. Everything swirls, flips, forms, explodes, disintegrates, and connects again. We do not see any of this yet because everything is happening in a kind of incomprehensible mass and, as it seems to us, it is an absolute mess.
In the end, everything gradually gathers together into the next level where the earth appears and living conditions emerge. So, we are now in the formation phase of all these conditions. We are already on Earth where conditions are being created for our spiritual life. The spiritual Earth kind of already exists, only the conditions of life have not yet been determined.
An international group where people who need to find the meaning of life gather together has already been created. That is, the support is already there, but it has not yet been shaped by us. We must take a more active part in this. Then it will turn out that vegetation will begin to grow from the ground, it will rise to the sun, to the sky. These should be our movements. This is what we do not have yet.
The transition from a lifeless state to the feeling of life and light is the most delicate, most subtle, and most dramatic period because inanimate matter must gradually come to life, turn into vegetative, animate—into a living one.
The force of life will appear in it because it consists of two qualities: bestowal and reception. What happens between them is the flow of energy and matter, the connection between the quality of bestowal—the Creator—and the quality of reception—creation—and in these mutual communications the middle, next state called man, Adam, will appear.
Question: So how can we hate external qualities inside ourselves?
Answer: The answer is simple: “You have to want to.” This is possible only through the friends. But we are still running away from this.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. How Can I Hate My Bad Qualities?” 3/9/13
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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What should I be grateful for?“
In the morning, we should be grateful for waking up, that there is light, air and an entire day ahead of us.
In the afternoon, we should be grateful for having been through half the day already, and that soon we will finish the day, go home to rest, and have dinner with our families.
Before going to sleep, we should be grateful for soon being able to once again get up, and that tomorrow will be a good day.
It might seem that being grateful all the time is like shutting our eyes to the evil and bad that abound in the world, but what do we get as a result of seeing evil and bad phenomena all the time? We do not need to invest in looking for negative aspects of life, as they appear involuntarily. However, we should invest in opening our eyes from such a state and seeing that there are people who try to see the good in everything. The more we invest in trying to see the positive aspects of life, then the more we will see positive phenomena actually enter our lives.
Based on the video “The Power of Gratitude” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does Israel really want peace?“
The problem is that the Jews in Israel do not understand what it means to make peace. Making peace means coming closer to all other Jews and convincing them to come closer to each other.
It might seem that the Jews in Israel do not need peace with their fellow Jews, but that they need to make peace with their enemies that surround them.
But it is not the case.
If the Jewish people make peace among each other, then there will be peace the world over.
While it might seem far-fetched, when we can see nature’s inner workings and laws, then we see this as a clear condition set in stone: we determine in our relations what will pass throughout the world, and how the world relates to us.
Based on the video “What Does Peace in Israel Depend On?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael
Question: Is there any similarity between the Tu B’Av holiday and Purim?
Answer: Yes, of course. Both holidays speak of the highest possible condition.
Question: Could you give a short formula of love?
Answer: The formula of love? Don’t know. I think it’s H₂O.
Question: Just like that?
Answer: Yes. The most important thing in love is the justification of the other. Permanently! Give in to the other all the time, justify him or her all the time, and tell him or her more compliments.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 8/5/22
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