Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the significance of Jerusalem?“

Various primary sources state that in the future, Jerusalem will become a beacon for the peoples of the world, and they will rush to its light, as it is written: “And nations shall go by your light” (Isaiah 60:3).

The idea of ​​harmonious connection among people and with nature is originally in the universe’s structure. However, such harmony will manifest only after the correction of all its parts, when everyone strives for unity and sees that unity is the center, the symbol and the goal of creation.

We will then know the true significance of the great city of Jerusalem.

There is a concept of rebuilding Jerusalem within ourselves. It means creating within ourselves the quality and movement toward human connection so that we would feel each other as one and become a single whole.

This single quality, into which our individual qualities and hearts will unite, will be called “Jerusalem.” The first step toward such unity is the elimination of egoism, i.e. the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature.

Based on KabTV’s “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on February 22, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
The video is the film, “Jerusalem of the Heart,” directed by Semion Vinokur—a recommended film for learning about the spiritual meaning of Jerusalem.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I get my prayers answered?“

The Creator hears every request, demand and cry—every prayer. But indeed, which ones does He answer?

Our prayers get answered to the extent in which our prayers align with the Creator’s plan and His wishes for us.

What does the Creator wish for us? He wishes for us to positively connect with each other in equivalence with His very quality of love.

No matter how conflicted, divided and hateful we might be toward each other, we will all have to mature and realize the loftiest state that has been prepared for us: one of absolute love for each other.

Love comes about when we undergo a revolutionary shift in our attitudes to each other. It is when we become supportive and encouraging of one another and when we each aim to fulfill each other. In other words, love is when we switch from thinking only about ourselves to thinking about benefiting everyone outside of us.

A prayer to reach such love gets answered. However, it needs to be from the depths of the heart, that we genuinely want only the best for others, and not that we just say words in that vein.

Based on KabTV’s “News with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman” on March 3, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Sylvain Brison on Unsplash

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are some characteristics of the 20th Century?“

Mid-20th Century, humanity started feeling that it was entering into a meaningless period of existence. Social and political scientists started realizing that humanity was losing the hope for a happier, better and easier future, which it once had.

Before that time, if people had no aspirations for some kind of spiritual fulfillment, then they aspired for material fulfillment. People were more interested in art and culture, and hoped for a change in the social order in order to safeguard their later years. In other words, people had a few needs from life and the world, and trusted that they would find fulfillment and happiness in the future.

Until the mid-20th Century, the human ego was undergoing constant growth, and it motivated people to regularly seek out new and different kinds of fulfillment. Humanity thus ran around like a dog chasing its tail. However, since the mid-20th Century, the hope faded. The dog no longer sees the tail it was chasing. It no longer knows where to run. It is confused. This period started becoming prominent from the mid-20th Century, and it has become a defining characteristic of humanity’s current state.

Based on KabTV’s “Close -Up. Theater of the Absurd” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Atanas Teodosiev on Unsplash

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Comment: Sevens writes: “Hello! What if there is hatred on both sides, on your side and on the opponent’s side? And if you show love for the other side, then they will take advantage of you. What should I do?”

My Response: Or maybe they will not. In fact, when you show love it’s somehow disarming. What can this opponent do and what can he give? And then there is already some kind of confusion. You should try it.

Question: So you think that if in spite of everything one directs love to another, it can disarm?

Answer: We need to choose the right moment and we need to first check with whom and how to show it. It is not necessary that you get the right reverse attitude from the other. But in general this is a good technique.

Question: So you have to be careful, but you should use this technique? Sooner or later, do you think it will be the main method of humanity?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because love disarms and deprives others as well as yourself of the evil energy.

Question: Why can’t we do it today? We really want to and cannot.

Answer: We are not accustomed to this. This should be included in the methods of upbringing. I had a very interesting case in my youth. I bullied one girl and brought my fist to her nose. She kissed it and it shocked me! I still can’t forget about it!

It was 65 to 70 years ago. Imagine! And to this day when I remember it, I feel how unexpected it was for me and how it simply disarmed me. I didn’t know what to do. I stood as confused as if a tub of dirt had been poured on me! I felt who I was. This is terrible! And such a simple action without words, without anything.

The state is terrible!

Comment: It is terrible, but it seems necessary. And it remains in a person for the rest of his life?

My Response: Yes, it is in me! It comes back to my memories.
[296519]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 3/10/22

Related Material:
Love Is The Most Powerful Weapon
How Do You Define Good And Evil?
The Good And Evil Pharaoh

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the significance of the third temple of Jews?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the Temple is a symbol of the corrected Kli (vessel/tool/receptacle), the human soul, which is a desire with an intention to bestow upon the Creator, and which has full contact with the upper force of love and bestowal.

The construction of the First Temple represented the unification of the twelve tribes. This structure was then destroyed and the Second Temple became a symbol of the unity of only two of the tribes.

The Third Temple is humanity’s full unification, which comes about when our every quality will be aimed in the direction of bestowal.

Based on KabTV’s “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on February 22, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What happens if a kid hits a teacher?“

Recently in Israel, a ninth grader at an art school in Tel Aviv slapped his teacher in the face, and it was followed by other students in the class applauding him. The student was suspended, and the teachers at the school spoke out against violence and discontinued their work that day.

I see this incident as a result of our current form of education. It is as if that boy gave a slap to the whole education system, and it could be that all teachers and the entire education system need to feel it. He is a result of that system, which includes not only the schooling he receives, but our society in general, our families, schools, workplaces, the media, TV, radio, and what goes on in the streets. If horrible examples are abundant in the environment that influences us, then what do we expect to see in our lives? Today’s youth are simply the results of this environment.

We need to completely change this education system because it currently has no aim of nurturing and growing children into happy, confident and well-connected human beings. Instead, it aims at nothing more than giving people a few subjects, and leading them to a certain grade standard. In other words, today’s education fails to develop the inner human in us.

What should be the main objective of the education system? It should be to develop human beings in the fullest sense of the term. In order to develop human beings, the educators themselves require learning of what that means and how to do it. If we bring about such a change, then we will start seeing the emergence of a whole new harmonious and peaceful society. Children and teens will have a positive attitude toward their parents, teachers and other people in general. We will also know how to positively connect with each other, why we connect, what is the meaning of life, and how to realize it.

That is of utmost importance in education. We will also learn different subjects and topics along the way, but we need a new foundation that defines who and what we are, why we are here, and how we can improve ourselves.

Based on the video “Ninth-Grader Slaps Teacher in the Face – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do people burn books?“

Book burning is an expression of destroying ideas that were built on a previous generation, which is considered outdated and opposed to the ideas of the new generation. Quite frankly, it is an easier action than educating the current generation.

Education, however, cannot be replaced by anything else because its goal is to bring about inner change in people. Everything other than education is something external. Expressing hatred toward certain writers and books is a departure from correct education.

Past writers wrote what they did in a way considered correct for their time. In general, each generation destroys what the previous generation built, but there is a correct way to destroy something in order to correctly build anew.

The correct form of education is when people are taught to love one another. By reaching a common love among everyone, we remove the basis of inequality. Book burning, however, lets hatred proliferate among all strata of the population.

We need an approach where we accept the occurrence of whatever happened in the past, and we should not burn anything or break any monuments. In other words, we should not recall the bad. Instead, from the present moment onward, we should adjust our attitudes to each other—to try and love one another. We would then have no need to destroy anything that came beforehand.

We would then also understand that whatever happened had to have happened the way that it did. We were all young, we soiled our diapers. That is how we grew up. We did silly things, smashed and broke dishes, or whatever else. We all went through such paths of growth.

We undergo natural stages of maturation, and we should not forget about what has happened. Moreover, we have nothing to be ashamed of nor to justify in our past. We just have to understand why nature made us the egoistic beings that we are, and that we have a massive ego still dwelling in us. We should then focus on what we need to do in order to correct our current ego.

The human ego is a desire to benefit at the expense of others and nature. It enslaves each and every one of us within ourselves. If we set ourselves on a path to break free from our enslavement to the ego, we would then become grateful for the pages of history, because they led to our current heightened awareness and the decision to realize our true freedom and independence.

We need to learn how to control the ego dwelling within us correctly. If we destroy it, then we correct nothing, and simply keep ourselves suspended in the air.

Based on the video “Why Do People Burn Books?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Brendan Stephens on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the basic principle of a strong relationship?“

A strong relationship is like an animal that you need to constantly feed in order to continuously grow it.

You feed this animal with mutual concessions. Moreover, for those who have their own families, the mutual concessions need to include all family members, and you need to teach children about this animal that you need to concede to.

That is the basic principle of holding a strong relationship, and enjoying it. While it might appear as if you do not enjoy conceding to your relationship partner, because you might think that the other side subdues you—you will actually find that you do enjoy it, because by doing so, you enliven the “animal,” the relationship.

It seems as if the weak side concedes, but if we do what the other side cannot do, then we are not weak—we come out the hero. The hero is actually the one who concedes. We need to respect that quality more. Your partner should be proud of you and honor you that you overcome yourself and concede to them. If you have children, then your partner would tell them about it, and how it brings them real satisfaction.

Based on the video “What Is the Basic Principle of a Strong Relationship?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can thoughts affect matter?“

Indeed, we can influence the world with our thoughts. A person can learn to influence an external device—electrical, mechanical, even electronic, or any other—and simply activate it at will. There is a relatively recent example of a 62-year-old man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who turned his thoughts directly into tweets using a BCI (brain computer interface) implanted in his brain, and who, using the same device, learned how to email, bank and shop online solely with his thoughts.

In addition to thought-controlled motor activation, we can transmit emotions like love through thoughts. However, the ability to do so requires very serious training. Such training falls under Kabbalistic exercises that require people to start working on themselves, their thoughts and desires, until they start connecting with other people in these thoughts, desires, intentions and goals. These people can then feel each other perfectly well, needing no words or external communication.

They can be at a great distance, like on opposite sides of the planet, but still feel close to each other, as if talking to each other. However, such a mechanism works only if everyone involved wants to communicate with each other out of love. It is also how a mother feels her child thousands of miles away and how twins feel each other.

I think that we will have the technology based on inner human development so that we will be able to connect to external tools and devices, and thus have no problems with interaction between people and machines. Moreover, we will be able to control them with the power of thought.

Such understanding and ability comes gradually, to the extent that we can cope with it. Today, we can see how human relations have become incredibly negative, with more and more threats and weapons overshadowing correct internal human relations.

A thought can penetrate only from the position of love. This is a state we will have to reach. There is no issue on nature’s behalf. Nature would have already revealed everything it has to us.

The issue is on our side.

Nature—as if protecting itself—reveals itself to us as much as we can cope with it. For instance, imagine if a thought-controlled weapon surfaced in the world today. We would immediately destroy everything. We are nature’s most evil creatures, and we are very dangerous. However, nature will guide us to a state of corrected, loving and caring connections without destroying us—but it will take us a long time to learn.

Based on the video “Can Thoughts Control Machines?” 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: “When was Exodus from Egypt?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the exodus from Egypt means exiting the desire to receive for oneself, leaving behind self-aimed egoistic thoughts, discernments and decisions, and entering a higher reality of love, bestowal and connection. It is a birth into a new illuminated world.

Before we enter that world, we are in a desire to receive for self-benefit alone, a narrow concern about our own lives, and exiting that state means getting rid of the control of Egypt—the intention for self-benefit alone—and entering into a new control of the upper force of love, bestowal and connection. In the latter world, we discover and live in a new intention to benefit others and the whole of nature.

In other words, the exodus from Egypt is not some past historical event or merely a story that we learn as we grow up. It is rather a key transitional state we go through on our spiritual path, where we shift from being in a corporeal egoistic state to living in a spiritual state of love, bestowal and connection, in contact with the upper force.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on April 15, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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