Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is gratitude?“

One of my students asked me, as a Kabbalist, what is gratitude according to the wisdom of Kabbalah? Kabbalah is a serious wisdom, and so when it discusses gratitude, it means spiritual gratitude. What, then, is spiritual gratitude?

Spiritual gratitude first and foremost relates to a person with a desire and goal to attain spirituality. Such a person has no knowledge of what spirituality is, but feels an inner need, and eventually starts studying the wisdom of Kabbalah.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, we learn that the purpose of creation is for all people to discover the harmony and bliss of connecting between the force of creation—reception—and its opposite spiritual force—bestowal. What does this mean?

On the way to discovering this sublime connection, we need to reveal how we are under the ego’s control, and that the ego is an evil and destructive force. Why is the ego evil and destructive? It is because it pits people up against each other, devours nature, our environment, and eventually, it also destroys itself, because it makes us want to enjoy things that provide short-term satisfaction, but which are ultimately bad for us in the long term. The revelation of the human ego as an evil and destructive force is called the “recognition of evil” in the wisdom of Kabbalah. “Kabbalah” in Hebrew means “reception,” and through this wisdom, we discover how we exist in a negative form of reception, where we want to receive and pull to ourselves, and that we do not ultimately benefit from trying to do so.

However, opposite this negative force of reception is a positive force of good, the force of bestowal. The force of bestowal can balance the receiving force, and then between these two forces we can exist in harmony by connecting between the positive and negative poles of reality.

The combination of these two forces is at the basis of everything we create, because specifically by the correct combination between these two poles of reality, we can discover how to live error-free and fix all the problems that emanate from relating to reality solely from its negative egoistic side.

By unconsciously letting the human ego drive our considerations and actions, we let the steamroller of evolution flatten us by delving deeper and deeper into seemingly irresolvable problems on personal, social, economic, ecological and global scales. The ego, without its balancing and regulating connection to the force of bestowal, stands behind every problem we experience in life.

We thus need to learn how to work with our ego in order to know how to balance it with its opposite positive force. When we succeed to invite the positive force into our lives, even in the tiniest amount, against the inborn negative force, we become grateful for having been given the negative force as our nature. In other words, by connecting to the positive force of bestowal above the negative egoistic force, we discover that the negative force is in fact a good force if we can use it as an impetus to increase our positive connection above it.

Balancing both positive and negative force is what King David describes in Psalms when he says, “You have saved my soul.” That is, before we receive the positive force, we only exist in the negative force, and we end up feeling terrible in that state. Then, after quite an extended period of time, we reach the state where we also receive the positive force, and when we do, we feel grateful. The gratitude we feel at that point is spiritual.

Based on “Spiritual Gratitude | New Life with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman | 1139,” February 4, 2020. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Watch the full talk here » [27:19]

Filed under: New Life, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you believe will be the next big innovations in humanity?“

There will be no more big innovations in humanity. The era of great discoveries is behind us.

The next major innovation will take place solely through self-transformation, i.e., by working on ourselves to transform our egoistic selves—where we want to benefit ourselves alone—to altruistic ones—where we wish to benefit others.

This egoistic-to-altruistic transformation of ourselves will be at the basis of innovation as we head into the future. On the contrary, if we fail to make such a transformation, then no matter what we do, human society will stagnate.

“Where Is the Business World Headed? | New Life 1255.” Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Filed under: New Life, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is morality?“

Morality is a clear realization of the principle, “Love your friend as yourself,” i.e., a state of absolute positive connection above the ego, where we perceive and sense a completely different reality to the one we feel in our inborn ego. Until we realize the principle of “Love your friend as yourself,” what we define as morality in our world changes the more we develop.

We live in a system of forces, and do not determine the egoistic qualities in each individual. Therefore, we cannot order or define our relations.

Our morals are thus based on the conditions we live in, and they are the outcome of human evolution. They arise from the human ego, which makes us think that how we live our lives is somehow incorrect, that we need to live differently, and by conducting ourselves a certain way, we will all live better lives. In other words, the human ego determines our morals with its control over us.

Based on the talk “Communication Skills: Moral Principles and Social Norms,” October 9, 2020. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Watch the full talk here » [54:02]

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is there such a thing as a “law of love”?“

Love is a law of nature.

Everything is born and lives through love. However, hatred is necessary for love to exist because love needs to become established over another property, otherwise we would have no sense of it.

There are thus two contrasting properties in nature that mutually complement and designate one another.

Based on the talk “Communication Skills: Love as a Law of Nature,” given on October 22, 2020. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Watch the full talk here » [30:45]

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do some people abuse children? Is there some psychological reason for this?“

It is due to the human ego, which is the nature of every person and holds us back from relating to others as to ourselves.

Some people find themselves harming others—whether children, the elderly, or others whom they perceive as able to be their prey—simply because they enjoy such abuse. They feel a great pleasure of control that suddenly fulfills them.

Nothing can get such people out of this need to control. We see how abusive tendencies surface even in well-educated and well-mannered people who might have been philanthropic their entire lives, and all of a sudden, they cannot hold themselves anymore and explode. Usually, it is because they feel that nobody can control them, and so they express their own control.

There will be no end to such upsurges taking place in certain people until the human ego—the desire to benefit at the expense of others—inverts into its opposite form—a desire to positively connect with others above the ego’s harmful drives.

Moreover, we can expect more and more such incidents to occur since the human ego is constantly growing, demanding more and more fulfillment, if we fail to undergo this transformation.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does multiculturalism work?“

Multiculturalism is necessary at a certain period of human development, but when we further develop, it will drift away.

We need to reach a state where we understand that we need to simply be human beings, as alike as possible, without any special distinctions. There will indeed be a great diversity of people, but we will not relate to this diversity as cultural. We were not born into cultures. They are acquired, and are thus not rigid truths.

Diversity should rather pertain to opportunities for progress in positive connection with others until complete unification is achieved. Our inborn diversity coupled with the similarity that we achieve through the realization of opportunities to positively connect to each other, will give rise to a whole new kind of fulfillment and harmony throughout human society. We will feel as if we all share a common language, and that we are all members of the same nation and family.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is evil?“

Evil is a thought that is completely aimed at benefiting oneself alone.

Such a thought also acts to the detriment of others because thinking how to benefit ourselves alone while living in an interdependent and interconnected society means that we aim to benefit ourselves at the expense of others.

Out of the thought to benefit ourselves alone, we can end up trying to bring others down and make them suffer, because while living in our corporeal egoistic nature, we feel an instinctive urge to be better than others. We thus feel that we benefit from harming others because it gives us the sensation of being better, higher, stronger and more successful than them.

While we live and breathe according to our egoistic desire to enjoy at the expense of others, rising above others gives us a sensation of livelihood, while feeling lesser than others gives us a sensation of death. Also, the more that we evolve, the bigger this ego-evil becomes, and thus the amount of negative phenomena and suffering in our world increases from one day to the next. Suffering is a necessary part of this process, because it pushes us to realize that by living according to egoistic desires alone, we cannot achieve true happiness, peace, love and harmony, and ultimately, we will need to rise above this evil nature in order to experience life positively.

In our evolution, we are coming closer a stage called “the recognition of evil.” It is a stage where we become aware of the true cause of evil in our lives—our egoistic human nature that wants to benefit itself at the expense of others—and that our desires to benefit ourselves alone bring none of us to any good place. Together with this revelation, there will emerge a sincere desire to improve our lives by prioritizing the benefit of others over self-benefit—to positively connect to each other above our egoistic impulses—and then we will willingly rearrange our world according to this new goal.

The question is whether we unconsciously let ourselves be run by our egoistic impulses to more and more suffering in order to ultimately feel helpless and wish for a positive transformation—a form of evolution called “the steamroller of development”—or whether we will run ahead of the steamroller and engage in connection-enriching education so that we learn about our true nature and how to rise above it without the need for suffering?

Filed under: Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you experience time?“

Time does not exist.

It is like we live in a black hole where there is no time, and we each live out our own bubble. In that bubble, we feel our own time, and we imagine that there is a universe, people, and the planet, but it just appears that way to us. However, time and the world are nonexistent. All that exists is our sensation that depicts everything to us.

What is the purpose of this illusion? Why did nature create it this way?

It is so that we use the concept of time in order to rise above and control it. In our inborn nature, the desire to receive, where we constantly calculate how to fulfill ourselves, we exist underneath the concept of time. If we rise above our inborn nature and enter the opposite nature—a desire to give—then we rise above the concept of time.

Until then, we exist in a constant race against time. We try to manage ourselves in relation to a pressuring framework. Time that has passed does not come back. We cannot buy it back. If it were possible, I would give everyone a watch that would show how long a person has left to live, and then people would relate differently to life.

Filed under: Perception, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Question: How do you understand the expression: “be yourself”?

Answer: It means finding yourself.

Question: What advice has helped you in life?

Answer: Everything that happens is moving toward perfection.

Question: What was your most daring decision?

Answer: I don’t know. Probably it has not happened yet.

Question: What was the biggest disappointment you faced?

Answer: When, at the beginning of the journey, I discovered that I was not capable of anything.

Question: What was the most incredible coincidence that has happened in your life?

Answer: When I realized that all people are exactly the same as me. All in all, there is absolutely the same opportunity to be a righteous and a sinner.

Question: What episode in your life are you deeply ashamed of?

Answer: The fact is that since I realized that everything comes from above, this question does not come up in me. The feeling of shame arises only when a person stands before the Creator and understands that certain properties and situations were given to him in order to become like the Creator and he did not. In all other respects, the Creator controls us.

Question: What event caused your greatest fear in life?

Answer: I don’t even know. I do not remember.

Question: Is it true that old age has its advantages?

Answer: Each age has its advantages. It all depends on how you perceive youth or old age, strength or weakness.

Question: What was the nicest day of your life?

Answer: When I first found myself in front of my teacher.

Question: Do you have a motto?

Answer: Motto: “Only forward.”

Question: What are the biggest difficulties you experienced in life on the way to the goal?

Answer: If I do not feel any resistance, if I feel that I am forgotten, that I have no haters, then this is the worst of all.

Question: What have you radically changed in your life, and how did it turn out for you?

Answer: I left my previous job, my previous occupations, changed my profession and absolutely my whole life in order to study Kabbalah.

Question: What would happen on earth if each person possessed the maximum intelligence? Would the world be a better place?

Answer: No. All this must be left to the Creator, and we must do what is entrusted to us. That is, within the framework in which we exist, in which He gave birth to us, we try to achieve similarity to Him.

Question: When is it worth breaking off a relationship? How to do it correctly?

Answer: I think it does not depend on the person.

Question: Does the person’s appearance affect your attitude toward him?

Answer: Yes, it does. I always pay attention to a person’s appearance, to his behavior, to his desire to enter into correct communication.

Question: How can you comfort people properly?

Answer: Sympathy, I guess.

Question: What relationship do you remember the most in your life?

Answer: Mutual assistance—that which is required from person to person.

Question: What type of relationship should we come to?

Answer: To the fact that I do not feel the difference, the distance, between me and others.
[272242]
From KabTV’s “Communication Skills” 7/30/20

Related Material:
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 7/16/20
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 7/24/20, Part 2
Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips – 7/24/20, Part 1

Filed under: Education, Q&A, Spiritual Work - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is a dreidel and what symbolism does it have?“

A dreidel is a spinning top, which has an inscription of Hebrew letters around the sides. The letters signify, “a great miracle happened here.”

Spinning a dreidel is one of the Hanukkah customs.

The dreidel is spun in order to see what letter it lands on, and while spinning, the dreidel symbolizes our lives: we “spin” our lives around and around, and eventually reach the awareness that only when we all spin ourselves together around a common center—a common goal to unite as one—will we achieve true happiness, harmony and the purpose of our lives.

Filed under: Holidays, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →