Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Who benefits from terrorism?“

Terrorism benefits no one, including the terror organizations themselves. It elicits a negative reaction from humanity, and even though in a short-term perspective, it appears as if terror organizations can make some gains for their purposes, nonetheless the fear of their influence eventually works to their detriment, and thus by inflicting terror, they themselves end up suffering.

In addition, when considering terror organizations from the vantage point of nature’s and humanity’s oneness—where we are all globally interconnected and interdependent, and every person, group and nation carries out a certain role in humanity—then those who inflict harm on innocent people actually inflict harm on their own role in the world. For this reason, nature will punish them first.

No terror organization has ever achieved any lasting success. When viewing such organizations and their actions from a longer-term perspective, we see that they essentially invite fatal harm to themselves. I thus pity them. In a narrow short-term view, they fail to see this. They think that terrorism can save them and draw positive attention, but the longer timespan reveals terrorism as self-harming.

When the extent of our interconnectedness and interdependence becomes revealed, these organizations will understand how they inflict harm upon themselves.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do we stop our governments from starting a new war?“

We should counter war within the law’s boundaries, and not by means of terrorism or other unlawful actions.

We need to understand that the people and large associations will be able to stop their governments from going to war if they receive an education that explains the causes and solutions to their problems.

We should never oppose the government forcefully and violently, mistakenly thinking that some kind of justice can be served in such a way. We will never win through force, but only by conviction, education and explanation.

This is why the problem with several associations engaged in this field is that they communicate among themselves, and afterward, when they need to carry out an action, they cannot do so. Their actions end half-way through. I hope that the time will come when several conferences and events, held by organizations interested in protecting the world, will give birth to a new broad-scale education for humanity. They will then obligate governments to refrain from war. The censure from everyone will be so strong that it will stop the process of waging war in its conception.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the difference between a just war and a holy war?“

I would put it this way: A just war is an individual, a group or a country fighting to defend its existence and territory. If certain forces attack with the intent to eliminate or overthrow the individual, group or nation, then the subject in defense of itself has the justification to battle in order to save its own life, the lives of its people and its borders. About this principle it is written, “If he has come to kill you—kill him first” (Tractate Sanhedrin, 72:1, Gemarah).

Countries should not attack other countries, even in certain “humanitarian” forms. They should only use the aid of international forces when they try to achieve peace or some kind of a dialogue. However, they should not wage war and employ military force.

This is why the only just war is if outside forces attack with the intent to kill, and in response, the individual/group/nation in defense of itself has the right to rise up against the aggressor and kill them, and even to be the first to start the war. If, however, outside forces have not risen up against an individual, group or nation with the intent to kill them, then no war can be waged, no matter what the excuse.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question from Facebook: What is the meaning of reincarnation for us if we do not remember our previous lives?

Answer: The meaning of reincarnation for us is the gradual accumulation of feelings and sensations that will make it possible for us to reach a new level of consciousness, knowledge, and feeling of all of creation, of the Creator, of the power that fills everything.

Thus we can truly become a person of the highest state and not remain as we live today, as an animal that perceives the world only through our physiological body, i.e., through the property of reception. Rather, we will feel the world through a new, spiritual body, through the property of bestowal and love.

This is the meaning of reincarnation: the accumulation of a sufficient quantity of sensations in order to exit our world for the upper world.
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From KabTV’s “Questions about Kabbalistic Books” 3/10/19

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What will bring peace to Israel and the Middle East?“

Peace will come when we realize the method for correcting the human ego, which is running rampant in our day and age.

What does “correcting the ego” mean? It is the shift of our inborn egoistic attitude toward each other and nature, to an opposite altruistic attitude, where we wish to benefit others. Also, our ego’s correction involves feeling how our happiness and fulfillment in life stems from our love, care and contribution to others.

Israel holds the method for correcting the ego. It first realized the method around 4,000 years ago when Abraham led a group of Babylonians, who had a desire to discover the meaning of life and reach peace among the divisions of that time, to a state of the ego’s correction called “love your neighbor as yourself.” It is a state where everyone meshes together in a single connection, through which the positive force dwelling in nature emerges.

Since Abraham’s time, Israel lost contact with the positively-connected state it once had, and largely lost awareness of the method of correction that it once learned and implemented. In place of the connection Israel was supposed to attain at various times, antisemitism emerged as a negative goading force. As a natural phenomenon, the purpose of antisemitism is in order to pressure Israel to wake up to realizing the method of correction that it possesses. When it does so, peace will ensue not only in the Middle East, but in the world at large.

The method of correction has only recently started becoming disclosed in our current era. That is why people the world over have started taking interest in the wisdom of Kabbalah. Several kabbalists have pointed to our era as the one when there would emerge a growing need in humanity for this method, which has the power to reconcile differences, unite us above divisions, and shift the world’s course to a positive direction. A positive direction is one where we prioritize benefiting others over self-benefit, and as a result, discover a state of perfection and peace both in the Middle East and throughout humanity. On the contrary, if Israel fail to wake up to the method of correction that they possess, then antisemitism will continue rising to overblown proportions, and they can expect terrible outcomes. Moreover, the threat of destruction would sweep over the world, as a third or even a fourth world war could become an unfortunate reality.

In essence, what is now happening in the Middle East is the hotbed of a global-scale problem. If we resolve this problem, if Israel wakes up to realize the method of the world’s correction, then it will solve the world’s problems, and peace will also come about in the Middle East.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is an Iranian nuclear bomb supposed to be more dangerous than an American, Israeli, or French?“

Of course, all governments are egoistic and pursue their own profit. However, the difference is that unlike Iran, none of the other countries make a political and governmental issue out of teaching their people to kill others.

If we look at the education taking place in this country, what are the people there being taught? They are being taught to kill others and to rule over others. This is why the weaponry they produce is a threat to the world. We need to reason according to how the young generation is being raised, what it hears, what it needs to make itself similar to, and how it should appear. We will then see that in America, they nevertheless talk about peace, in Israel they talk about peace, and generally speaking in the world, universal peace is more or less a guiding principle, whereas a fundamentalist regime such as the Iranian one discusses how to conquer and gain possession of the world. This is why weapons in their hands are very dangerous for the world’s well-being.

I hope that Iran will understand that world peace and development, including its own, depends on others, and I hope that they will change their path, and that the world will also reach the understanding that it needs to achieve positive connections of mutual consideration among all of its people and nations.

I also wish that we will all heighten in our development to live in a single embrace, like one big global family, because whether we want it or not, especially in our current era, from one day to the next nature is revealing to us that we are increasingly globally interdependent—like one big family.

Let us hope that someday we will rise in our consciousness to experience our growing connectedness in a loving and considerate manner, where we will take each other by the hands and start living together for the good of humanity and its future generations.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is there so much drug abuse?“

The human ego, which has been growing for almost 6,000 years, constantly urges us to aim at bigger and bigger fulfillment. The more we develop, the more we want, and this desire urges us to develop human society, bringing about what we consider as progress in all fields of human activity.

However, as an outcome of such development, we become desperate in the hope of ever truly becoming satisfied. Even many youth growing up in today’s world look around and, in contrast to us, no longer feel the desire to live in this world. Despair, drug abuse, depression and suicide become more characteristic of today’s youth than those in any other era, because due to their past incarnations, i.e. our past life, they feel that this world will fail to supply them with any meaningful fulfillment. This is why they turn to drugs—simply in order to forget about life, to detach from this miserable life and leave behind the empty and even helpless feelings that they have.

This is the reason for so much drug abuse, as well as several other problems like depression, loneliness, anxiety and suicide, specifically in our era. The human ego is reaching the end of its development, to a point where we will have to pass over into a new altruistic world, where we exist in a harmonious and positive connection with each other, and where we will no longer try to fulfill ourselves with constant attempts to absorb egoistically into ourselves from our surroundings. On the contrary, our future fulfillment will come from contributing. There is no limit to giving, and through building a new paradigm that values people’s contribution to society over their individualistic-materialistic achievements, we will pave the beginnings of a new positive direction for the world.

I hope that this will actualize in practice. If it does, then we will see a dramatic reversal in the amounts of drug abuse and other problems on personal, social, economic and even ecological scales.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “When is it okay to break the law?“

There is nothing more important than a person’s life.

Through the life we are given, nature gives us an opportunity to be an active and beneficial part of society, to achieve self-correction and self-realization. This is why we can break the law only on condition that the law obliges us to kill other people. It is a foundation upon which we can openly and immediately break the law.

On the other hand, in all other cases, if we see a need to fight against the law, then we can do so by lawful means. In other words, we need to abide by the law while simultaneously fighting to change it. But we can break on the law on only one condition: if by observing the law, we bring about death to another person. The reason for this is because there is no higher value in nature than human life.

If we will break the law under any other circumstance, then anarchy will ensue in the world. This is why we need to reach a state where we will observe laws except for the irreversible case that involves killing another person.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Question: There are many quotations about the benefits of silence, in particular from Kabbalists. For example, “A hedge for wisdom—silence.” What is silence?

Answer: Silence is a deepening into inner contemplation, when a person analyzes himself, talks to himself. From being in silence, wisdom is gradually created.

Question: When is a person obliged to speak?

Answer: Only to prevent any evil in the world, meaning to counteract the egoistic manifestations of anyone, and, first of all, their own, as much as possible. This is the prevention of evil.

Question: Is it possible to do this with a word?

Answer: Sure. The word is power.

Question: When people, as it seems to them, see evil, they come out with protests, express their opinions, and organize demonstrations. Do such mass actions work?

Answer: These mass actions have become widespread in the last 150 to 200 years, and especially in the last 10 to 20 years. I do not know how effective this is. After all, they are led by egoists. Therefore, I don’t even want to understand these phenomena. Here everything is as usual: someone does, someone plays, someone arranges, someone pays.
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From KabTV’s “Kabbalah Express” 6/13/21

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is human life considered the most important than the rest of the life forms?“

We need to first realize that the collective system of nature is constructed as a pyramid. The lowest layer of the pyramid is the still level. It is at the pyramid’s basis, and it includes the universe with its stars and planets.

The next higher layer of the pyramid is the vegetative level, which is all vegetation and plant life on Earth.

Then comes the animate level, which consists of all animal life on our planet, and at the top of the pyramid is the speaking level—the human being—which does not relate to the human body, as that belongs to the animate level, but to the inner qualitative aspect that makes us human.

Therefore, human life is naturally more important than other life forms and levels of nature.

This is not due to an egoistic desire for superiority. It is because we include the other life forms contained in the pyramid within ourselves. By developing a balanced and harmonious attitude toward each other and to nature in general, we will then correct ourselves and nature as a whole. For instance, ecological problems and disasters that unfold in our world are no more than phenomena that we ourselves project upon nature. This is why human life and the role of the human being in nature is of utmost importance.

We have yet to discover that our egoistic attitude toward ourselves and nature brings about disasters on the ecological level, as well as crises we experience in human society. If we undergo a specific kind of self-transformation—developing altruistic attitudes and positive connections to each other above our inborn egoism—then by doing so, we will also see how nature transforms positively. This is why we need to understand that the ecological disasters of our times depend exclusively on our attitudes toward each other and nature.

We experience such crises not due to nature shifting out of balance. Instead, we ourselves bring about the imbalance in nature at the level of our attitudes to each other and nature.

Based on a Q&A with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 9, 2006. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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