Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do we improve spiritual health?“

Spiritual health is a state where we positively connect among each other in order to draw closer to spirituality, i.e., to a state where we are united with a common intention to love and care for each other.

It is a state where we establish a connection with the upper force of love, bestowal and connection that fills reality through our common intention to connect as a single soul with such qualities in our connections.

By doing so, we evoke the upper force of love, bestowal and connection, a force that in the wisdom of Kabbalah is called “the reforming light,” into the connection between us, and this force binds us together with a common intention to love, care and bestow to each other.

Several people try to reach a state of spiritual health and well-being on their own, assuming that it is possible to do so. However, it is impossible to attain anything spiritual alone.

In order to attain spiritual health and well-being, we need to feel that we are in the field of the upper force, a force of love, bestowal and connection, and that we depend on this force. If we understand the extent to which we depend on this force in order to hold any sort of connection with spirituality, then we will aim our requests, demands and prayers at this force, similar to how a child holds its parents’ hand, not letting it go. We will then turn to this force in order to make improvements and corrections on ourselves, that whenever we discover anti-spiritual egoistic thoughts and desires in ourselves, i.e., thoughts and desires that prioritize self-benefit over benefiting others and nature, then we will request a change the direction of these thoughts so that they will be loving, giving and positively connecting, similar to the bestowing direction of the upper force.

We thus move toward a state of spiritual health and well-being by learning about spirituality, participating in a environment that supports our spiritual progress, and drawing the influence of spiritual forces (the “reforming light”). Such a process takes place until we discover where we are spiritually unhealthy, i.e., by reaching a state called “recognition of evil” in Kabbalah, where we see how our egoistic nature opposes and resists spirituality. Through such states, we gradually develop a true demand for spiritual health and well-being, a state called “correction” in Kabbalah, i.e., the correction of our ego that brings about division and hatred among people, to its altruistic opposite, which brings about unity and love among us—the qualities of the soul.

This is how we become spiritually healthy. We place ourselves in the place of the upper force of love, bestowal and connection, and become more and more like that force until we completely discover spirituality.

Thus, we should consider how to strengthen human connection and make it more positive, with bonds of love, care and giving. We will then eventually discover the great single soul that we are all parts of, perceiving and sensing how we are all like its cells and organs, mutually complementing one another to sustain the spiritual health of the entire system.

For the time being, we are still far from such a state. We have yet to begin a process of realizing our interdependence and interconnectedness in a positive manner, where we each aim to love, bestow and positively connect above all the egoistic forms of indifference, apathy, division and hatred that surface. We would thus be wise to learn and scrutinize the laws of mutual guarantee and mutual responsibility that bind the spiritual system together, which should lead us to actively seek how we can draw the spiritual forces into our connections and establish a spiritually healthy, peaceful, harmonious and balanced state among us.

Based on a Kabbalah Lesson at the World Kabbalah Convention in New Jersey, on May 12, 2012. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Comment: Iliya writes to us: “I watched your video clip where you say that if you want to help someone, you must not expect any kind attitude, or gift, or gratitude, not even simple “thank you,” nothing. This is what you call real help. But this is impossible. To do something good and not to expect at least a grateful glance or a smiley face for it. Dear Michael Laitman, this is utopia! You have to agree that this just cannot be!”

My Response: I understand you. It is really very difficult, even impossible. However, if at the same time you think that you are bringing a good force, a good state into the world, then your self-esteem, the greatness of your action, will increase.

Question: Does pride also increase at the same time?

Answer: No. Provided you think that you want to make the world better, to bring kindness to the world.

Question: If I do a good deed and think that I will get a thank you, some gift, even a small smiley face, or at least a grateful look, do you think this is not a good deed?

Answer: You are doing business at the same time. One will say thank you, give you a look, a woman will smile, a child too.

Comment: And right away I begin to feel good.

My Response: Yes, of course.

Comment: What you are suggesting is a very tall order.

My Response: No. Anyone in the world can say that our world needs kindness or it will fall apart, and let us arrange so that we just think about how to bring good actions, deeds, and good force into it. Let us do it and be thankful that our egoism allowed us to do it.

Comment: That sounds really nice.

My Response: Yes. Is this a big deal? Can you do this?

Comment: But I am an egoist by nature.

My Response: But you do give pleasure to your egoism: “I will do good for the world.” I can respect myself for this.

Question: Does this require some kind of preliminary education or is a person really capable of it?

Answer: I need to calibrate myself so that I respect myself for this.

Question: How will the world change then?

Answer: The world will change for the better. I will suddenly begin to see a lot of good in the world instead of what I see today, that there is only evil in it.

Question: Is it just because I changed my intention?

Answer: Yes. After all, it all depends on how I look at the world.

Question: That is, I am changing and the world is changing?

Answer: Exactly!

Question: Is it possible?

Answer: It depends on you! So, it is possible.
[281111]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 2/18/21

Relater Material:
A Day Of Spontaneous Kindness
What Is Good?
All Of Us Are One Family

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does Amalek mean in the Bible?“

Amalek is a quality that is very close to us. It appears to be absolutely evil, a disturbance that needs to be destroyed, and not only destroyed, but it is written that even its memory should be erased. However, nothing was created unnecessarily. Everything in existence was created solely to benefit our development.

Amalek is a quality that helps us develop optimally, and it constantly guards us. It is as if we walk along a path, and wherever we can fall or deviate from it, thorns appear and send us a “Keep away!” warning signal. That is how Amalek stands guard to guide us in the right direction.

The desire comes from Amalek and unwillingness also comes from him.

In Hebrew, Amalek is a shortened form of the words “Al Minat Lekabel,” which means “in order to receive.” It describes the egoistic intention over a desire—to receive for one’s own personal benefit. It is written about such an intention, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah, a spice.” The evil inclination (the egoistic use of desire) is positioned directly against the Torah, which means both spiritual light (Ohr) and also spiritual instruction (Hora’ah).

They both operate on us in order to guide us to a balanced state between the two.

We thus need to relate respectfully to Amalek, i.e., to the ego, since it is a necessary quality for us to establish our spiritual connection. The evil inclination—the ego—which resists and incites us against spirituality—the quality of love, bestowal and positive connection—helps us discover our spiritual connection by showing us how to find such a connection where we initially discover the qualities of Amalek, i.e., the egoistic intention.

Amalek is thus a very cunning quality that shows us the extent to which we are immersed in thoughts and desires for self-benefit, and when we see this egoistic intention operating on us, we can then identify how we need to act in an opposite direction.

Amalek, the ego, thus develops our spiritual skills, letting us attain more spiritual qualities of love, bestowal and connection by showing us the opposites of those spiritual qualities within us.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on April 18, 2021.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is a good solution to the worldwide drug addiction problem?“

Behind every drug addict are unanswered questions about the meaning and purpose of life.

We are all born, live and die against our will, and we thus all question the meaning and purpose of our lives. Drug addiction emerges as one of the means by which several people try to turn away from these questions. However, the questions will always remain and work away at us no matter what we do to try and distract ourselves from them.

Therefore, I see no solution to the problem of drug addiction other than the need to learn the meaning and purpose of life, the process of our development, who we are, what our nature is, how nature works, what nature wants from us, regardless of our different opinions and beliefs.

If we solve the problems of meaninglessness and purposelessness by learning the answers to these fundamental questions, we will then solve the problem of drug addiction.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Matthew T Rader on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What life lesson did your first love teach you?“

Our first love gives us a wonderful feeling, totally overwhelming us and making us feel alive.

However, most of us don’t end up marrying our first love. It is as if we are tricked into receiving a divine taste, which is then taken away from us.

Why do we experience these elevated feelings that soon fade away?

It is in order to develop our feelings, especially regarding the special feeling of love. After losing our first love, we can then learn to work on ourselves in order to understand what love truly is and how to reach it.

We can then add intellect to the original emotion of love that we had from childhood, before our hormones developed, and which swept us into a frenzy. Afterward, we can discern how our initial feeling of love gave us a special sense of life.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, we are given the elated feelings associated with our first love in order to show us that the light of love—an eternal creative force beyond our current perception and sensation of reality—is greater than anything else we feel in our lives.

We can bring this light into our lives by wanting to love as the force of love does: with no calculation of self-benefit embedded within. It was this same force of love that illuminated upon us and gave us the feeling of love through what we felt as the object of our first love.

We have the opportunity to reach a much greater sensation of love by thinking about the source of love from which we receive everything, including our first love. However, we have problems connecting the eternal force of love that is behind everything we feel (which is called “the Creator” or “nature” in the wisdom of Kabbalah) to the original juvenile love that we felt.

All love comes from the same single source. Hatred also stems from the same source, existing in love as its opposite, like the opposite side of a coin. We are given such emotions in order to develop ourselves and become as loving as the force of love itself—with no shred of self-interest in our love—and by doing so, experience eternity and perfection.

Therefore, the elated feeling of our first love is given to us and then stripped from us in order to help us work toward achieving it by ourselves. Love is the ultimate source of all life, the force of nature that creates, sustains and develops everything in existence, and toward us.

Instead of receiving an object of love and yearning with no choice, as we did with our first love, we can learn from such an experience in order to apply our own yearning to love all humanity, nature and the reality surrounding us. By doing so, we acquire the greatest possible love, and we all develop toward such a sensation. Everything happening to us ultimately comes to develop us in order to discover the perfect and all-encompassing love that exists in reality.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Nellia Kurme on Unsplash

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you think about 150 mass shootings taking place so far in the United States?“

Meaninglessness and purposelessness are the key problems. More and more people have no idea what they live for, and life with no meaning and purpose makes human life lose its importance and preciousness. Mass shooters thus feel human life as cheap and worthless, and the more this meaninglessness and purposelessness spreads throughout human society today, the more mass shooters surface.

The remedy to this problem is simply education.

Education does not mean the education systems that abound today, which are mostly systems for acquiring knowledge. The aim of education should not be to simply fill job positions and create a workforce. On the contrary, education needs to aim at creating happy, fulfilled, confident and well-connected human beings. And this is possible if we learn why we are alive, what the meaning of life is, who we are, what is our nature, how nature works and how we can elevate ourselves to a dimension above life and death, above love and hatred—to realize principles and values that are eternal and whole, and which lead us all to a new harmonious state that completely fulfills us.

If we all knew and felt how nature operates, then we would become more considerate of other people, because we would clearly sense our interdependence.

When we feel that we are all parts of a single closed system, then we would be incapable of causing any harm to others, because we would feel how doing so solves nothing. On the contrary, we would feel that harming others destroys us.

Therefore, the alleviation of future mass shootings and all kinds of other violence and suffering that we inflict on each other depends on our education. If we fail to upgrade our education to raise human beings who know why they are alive, how nature works, and how they can achieve lasting genuine happiness, then we can expect more and more mass shootings and other tragedies to befall us.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is it important to develop a positive self-image?“

Developing a solely positive self-image is actually detrimental to our development because it can blind us from what we need to change in ourselves.

On the contrary, we need control and balance between a positive and negative self-image. For example, doubting ourselves as we head into exams at school or university urges us to study more and prepare better. Excessive self-confidence and being a know-it-all are harmful to our progress. We thus have to be able to direct the shift of our self-image from positive to negative and vice versa.

In addition, we should aim our self-image at a goal that we set out to achieve, so that we measure ourselves in relation to that goal. We thus need to regularly examine that goal and how we progress toward it—questioning whether we have the necessary means to achieve it, and accordingly adjust our self-image to be optimally goal-oriented.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Malcolm Lightbody on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “For the purpose of people unity, what are the proven methods throughout history?“

The wisdom of Kabbalah is a time-tested method of unity, which was first implemented to unite people above their differences and disputes in the time of ancient Babylon, some 4,000 years ago.

It acts on the premise that we people are by nature in a broken and divided state, and when we start bringing ourselves together in order to connect, we discover the impossibility of connecting positively without the guidance of a method.

The reason we cannot connect positively is because we are egoistic by nature, instinctively prioritizing self-benefit over benefiting others, and the latter tendency needs to be higher in priority if we are to positively connect.

The wisdom of Kabbalah is a method that explains first and foremost not to move in a direction that opposes another person’s opinion, but how to make a sandwich, so to speak, of forces of separation (our egoistic nature) and forces of connection, which we draw through study. It is written about such a sandwich that “Love will cover all crimes.” That is, we understand that due to our egoistic nature, we are divided, that we endlessly criticize each other, and feel varying degrees of rejection to one another, from indifference to hatred. However, we pay no attention to this natural rejection we feel toward each other.

Instead, the wisdom of Kabbalah provides a method for how to concentrate ourselves on uniting above the ego. All of our differences remain, and we focus on connecting positively to each other above the differences. We maintain the differences and build a second level upon them.

Moreover, the wisdom of Kabbalah states that humanity is going to reach a level where everyone will unite above their divisions, however for the time being, only a small critical mass of people will be drawn to such a wisdom in order to implement unity above their differences. Through this critical mass realizing this method on themselves, their unity will start acting throughout humanity. In other words, the current period involves a group of people applying the method of unity on themselves similar to how a small group of scientists perform several experiments in a lab with the goal of discovering a new technology to improve human life in a certain way. Once they discover it, then it becomes patented and released on a mass scale, and humanity receives the ability to use it with a few simple instructions.

Based on New Life episode 1145, “The Image of the People of Israel,” 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: “What is the Counting of the Omer?“

An Omer is a sheaf gathered from produce that is harvested and tied together. The spiritual meaning of “Omer” is a share (count, numbering) of levels that we attain, which are seven levels of successive connection. The connection becomes stronger and tighter on each level, and we constantly count our seven Sefirot in such a process, namely the Sefirot of Hesed, Gevura, Tifferet, Netzach, Hod, Yesod and Malchut.

Each of these Sefirot is made of another seven Sefirot, for instance, Hesed of Hesed, Gevura of Hesed, Tifferet of Hesed, Netzach of Hesed and so on. Seven times seven equals 49, which is where the 49 days discussed in the Torah about the Omer count come from.

During the Omer count, we undergo introspection and scrutiny of our inner qualities in how they connect to one Omer with all the rest. Such connection is different to that which helped the people of Israel escape from Egypt. The Omer count starts on the second day of Passover. It is a time when we each scrutinize in what Sefira and states we perform corrections on our desire to receive.

We connect more and more among each other, i.e., adding to our bundle of sheaves, until we eventually discover ourselves standing at the foot of Mount Sinai. The spiritual meaning of Mount Sinai is a mountain of hatred (“Sinai” from the word, “Sinah” [“hatred”]). It is when we discover the tremendous size of the ego that separates us from connecting to each other and with the Creator. We arrive at this state on the day 50 of the Omer count, i.e., during the process of correcting ourselves in order to become increasingly connected.

In other words, the more we connect, the more we discover our inborn ego blocking us from genuinely connecting. However, together with the discovery of our immensely divisive egoistic nature, we also develop a great desire to connect, which becomes expressed as the condition of “Arvut” (“mutual guarantee”). That is, we want to be connected to each other in one Omer, but we lack the strength to annul our egos. We thus agree to the Torah’s conditions and method to increasingly connect and thus gradually correct the ego, and we also do not outright eliminate the ego.

The Omer count thus represents the start of our progress toward a deep spiritual connection among each other and with the Creator—the force of love and bestowal that connects us. It describes a process that we undergo toward a more corrected future state of positive connection among each other, where on the way to such a state, we discover the vastness of our ego standing in the way of our connection. We experience several inner contradictions and paradoxes on this path, and ultimately a tiny point within us—our spiritual desire, called a “point in the heart”—lets us scale Mount Sinai, where our egoistic selves are unable to.

The idea of a major obstacle in the form of the ego that stands in our way to positively connect was also expressed in the story about the Tower of Babel. However, with Mount Sinai, it assumes a completely different form, and exists on a whole new level. Specifically, it is in that we have passed through the states of Babylon and the exodus from Egypt, and we start understanding that if we rise above the ego, then at its peak, we will discover the Creator in our connection.

Spirituality is attained through opposite states residing in the same place. We aim at increasing our positive connection to each other, and discover a massive ego in the process, i.e., pride, arrogance, and our failure to control such states, and we also agree to lower our heads and accept the need to correct our ego in order to genuinely connect and discover the Creator—the force of love and bestowal dwelling in our connection.

Based on “Secrets of the Eternal Book” on May 28, 2014. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are some tips for boosting self esteem?“

Self-esteem is the starting point from which we shape ourselves, our image, in relation to our goals, our needs, the world, society and ourselves.

Therefore, shaping ourselves in relation to a goal that we envision to ourselves is key here, and self-esteem is an element that we can work with in the process.

In order to develop or boost our self-esteem, we need to clarify the goal that we want to reach, depict our image or form when we reach such a goal, and then we can measure ourselves accordingly and determine whether or not we are on route to its achievement.

We should thus view self-esteem as a means by which we can progress to the goal. We should not feel guilty about any traits that we were born with, but be at peace with them, understanding that we were given exactly the right qualities in order to fully realize ourselves.

Then, we should question what is our correct realization? What image, form and goal should we aspire to? Also, how can we advance toward it?

After clarifying these questions to ourselves, we should be able to discern what should we be content and discontent with about ourselves, and that it is all in order to advance us optimally toward our goal.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Emmanuel Bior on Unsplash.

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