Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it necessary for a good leader to be charismatic?“

We do not need charismatic leaders today. We need leaders who can understand and empathize with people, and who can resonate with people emotionally to guide them to a common goal.

However, I see no examples of such leaders in our world today. The human ego blocks us from feeling others. To become such a leader requires rising above the ego’s influence, and discovering what it means to become a human being in the fullest sense of the term: as one who positively connects to others, who feels that they are a part of a single system with others and thus who needs to devote themselves to the benefit of others.

Today’s leaders are the opposite. They are unscrupulous and egocentric, willing to tear down anything and everyone in their way. It is due to the fact that our economy runs on egoistic principles—“what’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours”—and so whoever can work out how to trample on others more effectively becomes more powerful in such a system.

We thus need a new economy if we are to find leaders who can understand and empathize with people. What is this new economy? It is an economy of the heart, an economy that speaks to life itself. People sustaining and living according to such an economy would feel that they can earn and build the world from a different kind of material, one that stems from positive human connections.

That is the kind of economy and leader of the future. Although it is very far from where we are now, we are nonetheless destined to reach such a state.

Based on the video “Is it Necessary for a Good Leader to be Charismatic?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Hudson Hintze on Unsplash

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Question: We recently had students enroll in new courses on the study of Kabbalah. If you could address these thousands of students, what would you wish for them?

Answer: I would wish them the opportunity to devote the maximum amount of time to studying the foundations of Kabbalah, which they would master in such a way as a basis for further insight into society, nature, and the world.

Question: Many of our friends help students by supporting their learning process, organizing groups and workshops, and helping them advance in their studies. What would you wish for these friends?

Answer: What they do is very important. Just as blood vessels in our body deliver nutrition, information, and a huge amount of everything necessary for each organ of the body so it lives, so the spiritual life depends on these people.

They bring through themselves, through their connection with beginners, all the data that is in Kabbalah in such a form and to such an extent that it is absorbed by people whom it gradually raises along the spiritual degrees; into the state of real, correct, and mutual coexistence with vast nature, with the Creator.

So their work is extremely important!
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 4/29/22

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Question: Nadezhda writes: “Today I have a great desire to address the women of the whole world about peace and love. I am sure that only women can save the world. Do you think if I write a letter to all the women of the world and send it out, it will change something in the world? Or is it all my illusion and everything is already predetermined?

Answer: It is desirable to do this by all means. Write from a pure heart such an appeal, not just an appeal, but a proclamation that would really glue them to your appeal, and all this common force would go around the Earth.

Question: So I shouldn’t think, but write as I feel?

Answer: No, you need to think about it. Because people will not read it in the state that you, the writer, experience it. Therefore, you have to think. Think about how the person will perceive it. But still in the end he should be imbued with what you want to convey to him.

Question: So if a person wants to write about love and peace, then it breaks into peoples’ hearts?

Answer: Yes, write, definitely.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/10/22

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Often, the surest way to convey misinformation is to tell the strict truth (Mark Twain).

Question: In principle, we consider something to be the truth and something to be a lie, this is in a way the basis of our perception of the world. Is there any mechanism to distinguish between truth and lie? How can a person orientate himself?

Answer: I do not think this is quite simple. Finding the truth is the goal of many quests of all people, from a small child to great minds, depending on the level and how they see this truth.

The search for truth is, of course, a very unrewarding task, but it is at the same time a very human one. It develops us and pulls us forward. Basically, we live in order to understand the meaning of our life. This is our most important quest. This is what we exist for.

Question: Does the truth somehow differ from verity? Are these different concepts?

Answer: Truth is when we can say that it is true or false, the greater truth, the lesser truth. Verity is something that is unshakable. We want to attain it. Each degree toward attainment of verity can be called truth.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 4/29/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is desire so destructive yet natural at the same time?“

Specifically the desire of the human is destructive both to itself and to its environment. We do not see the same kind of destructive desire in nature’s other levels, i.e. the still, vegetative and animate.

We humans have destructive desires because we are made of a desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature, and this desire is in constant growth. In our era particularly, we experience life through an overblown desire to enjoy, and we thus bear witness to much more destructive phenomena than in any other era. Nature’s other levels do not have the same amount of desire to enjoy that we have as humans, which makes us the sole destructive element in nature.

However, there is a purpose to our destructive desires. They develop us to a state where we realize the need for serious introspection, to see that our desire to enjoy is pushing us to destroy ourselves and our planet. Such a realization should urge us to reach a decision for change: that we have to build a different life, one based on positively connecting to each other with ties of mutual love, support and consideration. When we undergo a significant attitude shift from an desire for self-benefit to one aimed at benefiting others and nature, then we will see a whole new, harmonious and peaceful life of happiness, safety and confidence open up to us.

Based on the video “Why Are Our Desires So Destructive?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Nitzah Mazoz. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Ethan Sykes on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the single best way to fix the climate crisis?“

We can bring the world to balance only if we ourselves achieve balance in our relations. We will then find ourselves in a world that provides for everybody’s needs and satisfies everyone.

This is no pipe dream or utopia. It is a state that we will reach voluntarily or involuntarily. If we create balance in the world at the human level, then nature’s lower levels—the animate, vegetative and inanimate—will also enter into balance.

Today, there are people who expose all kinds of governments and organizations for climate inaction, but they provide no solutions. It is because the solutions that will ultimately bring the world to a state of balance are in changing ourselves to cultivate positive human connections.

I also support the creation of a serious organization of scientists, politicians and economists who collaborate on conducting in-depth research and reports on the world’s state, and who discuss what could be done. However, the solution will remain the same: to create balance in our relations in order to enable balance throughout the world.

Instead of making all kinds of governments and organizations the enemies and pointing the finger of blame on them, we should each view our inner selves as our sole enemy: the egoistic self within that prioritizes self-benefit over benefiting others.

Either we start changing our egoistic nature—upgrading our attitudes to each other from negative to positive, which would start bringing nature into balance—or we experience increasing suffering from climate crises together with a wide range of other crises that stem from the same root. In short, bringing ourselves into balance is possible only if we gradually create an atmosphere of “Love your neighbor as yourself” throughout society.

Based on the video “What Is the Single Best Way to Fix the Climate Crisis?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do we have to be afraid of terrorist attacks?“

We should completely erase any fear of terrorist attacks. It does not mean that we should not pay attention to the phenomenon and do nothing about it. We need to respond to terrorism by making decisions and implementing plans that would completely uproot the phenomenon. After we do so, we need to be certain that we did all that we could to stop terrorism, and from that point on, we need to attribute everything that unfolds in relation to the upper force and “whatever will be, will be.” If a certain act is supposed to happen, then even if we place several thousands of soldiers to guard ourselves, the act will happen. Therefore, after we do all that we could, we need to let go of our fears and anxieties and move on with our lives.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, if we wish to rid ourselves of such fears, then we need to connect to a certain source that neutralizes any fear and doubt that comes from another place.

This source is the source of our lives, called “the Creator,” “nature,” “the upper force,” and several other names in the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is the quality of love, bestowal and connection behind our existence and everything happening to us in our lives.

If we wish to attain contact with this quality, then we will focus ourselves in that direction, and eventually we will start feeling this force enter our lives. Then, the entrance of the upper force into our lives will eliminate any fear or anxiety we have. It will give us a sense of total safety and confidence, and elevate us to a new sensation and perception of the world.

Based on the video “How to Deal With Fear of Terrorist Attacks” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: Igor writes: “Why do I live in doubt all the time? Why do I have to choose something all the time and at the same time suffer every time I have to decide something, even the simplest thing, like which sneakers to buy, not to mention a car or an apartment? But the worst thing is that today I do not know who is right, who to listen to, who to follow. My question is: How can we make decisions?”

Answer: Do not listen to anyone. Follow absolutely no one! In no way and to no place! You have to feel that you are in a vacuum each time and there is nothing around you, nothing to lean on, no markers, no signs where to turn, what to turn to, or how to step. Nothing.

You have such doubts that there is nowhere to put your foot in this life and you do not know where to step. That’s it.

This is a wonderful state! When you have only one thing left—the opportunity to turn to the Creator and feel that you depend only on Him! That’s all. This is the most reliable state. And the most correct one.

Question: So, are you saying we can only rely on Him and not at all on anyone else?

Answer: Of course. If He gives us such states that we feel that there is no one else besides Him to rely on, this is a great salvation. It is in order to always have such questions whatever they are, so that I find answers only if I aim for the Creator. Then everything gets solved on the way.

Otherwise, we cannot do anything. These constant doubts are all we need in this life. Everything comes from the Creator and turns into doubts, indecision, and questions in my egoism.

And I refer it all to Him, together with my egoism. I adhere to Him. And in this form, I am waiting for a decision. Not even just a decision, I am waiting for action so that the Creator Himself will do it, perform it. It is the same as when you take a baby, put it in front of you, move its legs, and teach it how to walk. Just like that.

Question: What you are saying, can it be applied to any issue at the lowest, every day level, at any level?

Answer: At any level.

Question: Up to the highest?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Will I hear the answer then? If I tune in, will I hear the answer?

Answer: Since the Creator is perfection that includes everything, there is no small, big, or insignificant event for Him in creation. Absolutely all of them are equal.

Question: So, are you saying that the little steps of this little man, of the baby, lead to dad, to the father, over there? Is this what He wants, that we slowly, in small steps, get there?

Answer: Naturally. You just need to feel that He places your feet. He directs you to Him precisely with the help of these questions, failures, states of uncertainty, and so on.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/28/22

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Question: Is everything around a person, including the massive flow of information, not unnecessary, but is created in order for a person to filter it?

Answer: Yes, today it is impossible otherwise. With the current flow of information, we need to initially, clearly, adjust ourselves to the fact that I am interested in this as the main thing in my life, and a little more of this as an accompanying one.

Of course, there is the life of the world, the planet, the universe, and humanity; I need to learn something from this, too, and every day I do it according to some schedule. But mainly, I am interested in what I do, where I can perceive, absorb, and give something.

Question: From the point of view of Kabbalah, there are no unnecessary things in the world. Could it be that what a person filters out now, he will be able to use in the future?

Answer: No, he will sort it all out, and only the most necessary things will remain. Man is not created to absorb all the garbage that we create.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 4/29/22

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the significance of the recently-found oldest inscription in Hebrew, which is full of curses?“

Researchers recently discovered what several experts claim to be the oldest-ever found Hebrew inscription from at least 3,200 years ago. Interestingly, it is full of curses, which shows that the nation back then was developed and powerful, capable of evil, and which also had faith in an upper force.

Even if the faith is expressed in a way where we can turn to the upper force and ask it to help us do something bad to our neighbor, there is significance in the consideration of the upper force. Today, we also curse each other. Back then, we turned to an upper force, and today we turn to lawyers and courts. So which era is the most developed?

We can thus see the underlying hatred in human beings, in one era pointed at the upper force, and in another era pointed at ourselves. Of utmost significance here is acknowledging that our progress into a bright future depends on turning our hatred into love.

Hatred is an asset. We can invert hatred into love, darkness into light, and turn our negative connections into positive ones. Moreover, we need the revelation of the negative force in order to invert it into its positive.

That is why I point out the Hebrew curse inscription showing that we were a great and powerful nation. By overcoming the evil in us, we had tremendous potential to do good in the world. That is relevant for us today: let us awaken that inclination today, and continue solely in the good direction.

“Love covers all crimes” is the formula for letting the upper force fill our lives with an abundance of fulfillment. We first reveal hatred, as the upper force reveals our true nature to us. We then try to come closer to each other, and convince each other that besides turning to the upper force—for it to correct us from hatred to love—we need nothing else. And the upper force is capable of inverting hatred to love because love is its quality.

Based on the video “Kabbalist Responds to Recently-Discovered 3,200 Year-Old Hebrew Inscription” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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