Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why doesn’t anarchy work?“

A society with no governing body cannot survive. It needs a head that determines and a body that executes.

Anarchy states that there should be no head.

In any system, however, there is a head and a body. What would a head do without a body, or a body without a head? What would activate the body? Our problem is that we cannot build such ideal and correct systems where the head knows what benefits the body, and the body knows how to communicate with the head.

The problem we encounter today is that the head part of society has self-interest at heart. It is because the human ego (the desire to enjoy at the expense of others) is in control. Until you extract the ego from everyone, remaining without the divisive and destructive force, you could never build a harmoniously functioning society.

So what should we do? What does a harmoniously functioning society require?

As we grow increasingly egoistic, society becomes increasingly needy of a system that would keep it sustained in a state of balance. Balance in society requires us to consistently nurture positive connection above the growing ego and the divisiveness it brings.

Human nature is anarchic. At its foundation, it is ready to destroy everything for self-aimed enjoyment, and this is the source of all division and conflict.

However, through the environment, we can influence human nature to positively direct its desires and needs for collective betterment.

Therefore, the body is not to blame for its shortcomings. It is governed by the head. Thus, the head needs to know the laws of nature, how to balance society, to bring society into increasing balance above the constantly growing ego, and to constantly work to fulfill the yearnings and desires of the collective of society.

The head cannot be anarchic: it needs to see where it leads the body according to nature’s tendency, and then we will certainly reach, in a positive, pleasant and healthy way, more and more states nature has paved for us. The head needs to function similarly to Sanhedrin, constantly discussing and sharing with the people how they bring the laws to them.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Are the Amazon fires a problem for the entire Earth?“

We need to see the whole of nature as an integral system. That is, there is a current focus on the Amazon fires, but there is an entanglement of environmental problems including ocean and air pollution, ozone depletion, outbreaks of natural disasters from volcanic eruptions through to earthquakes and hurricanes, not mentioning many others, and they are all influenced by the person, who according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, is a small world.

Therefore, when we reach states where we become internally organized, i.e., when our attitudes to each other become balanced and positive, then we will also experience positive phenomena from the outside, i.e. from nature.

We do not cause environmental problems with our hands. We cause them with our lack of inner correction. By letting our divisive egoistic drives cause us to harm each other, we invite upon us a negative response from nature. Also, the more we develop without correcting our attitudes to each other, the more we will draw to ourselves increasingly severe reactions from nature.

The time has come for us to reach connection among all people as in an integral system. We witness mammoth-scale problems in nature, and we’re unaware of how we cause such phenomena from the point of our attitudes to each other.

Many people, world leaders among them, think that by implementing actions toward nature, like cleaning garbage from the oceans, lessening air pollution or reducing the use of fossil fuels, we will have some kind of positive impact on nature. However, it’s not the case. Politicians especially only use such pleasant rhetoric for the purpose of their own self-promotion.

Nothing we do outside of changing our attitudes to each other will help us. Moreover, the more efforts we apply to fix things externally without undergoing an inner change, the more harm we will bring about. Why? It is because the world would continue developing by not dealing with the cause of all these problems: that we need to correct ourselves by upgrading our attitudes to each other—from egoistic to altruistic, divided to connected, and self-centered benefit to benefiting the whole of humanity. By doing so, we will see a positive response back to us from nature.

The inner change of our attitudes to each other is what nature demands of us. Note that according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, “Nature” and “God” are synonymous (they share the same number in Gematria—the Kabbalistic number system). We need to become integral in our awareness, to understand the system we’re in, the need to resemble the system of nature, and adapt ourselves to it.

Through our adaptation to nature, nature would calm down and become balanced.

Complementarity and wholeness would abound on all of nature’s levels—still, vegetative, animate and human—and we would experience harmony and perfection as a result.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Will the Amazon fires have a significant effect on climate change?“

The Amazon fires won’t have a significant effect on climate change. In order to understand whether nature will act toward us positively or negatively heading into the future, we need to understand how we influence nature, and how nature reacts to our influence.

Contrary to the opinion that we influence nature through our external actions on nature itself, such as the waste and pollution we inflict upon our environment, according to the wisdom of Kabbalah, such actions are not the ones that lead to all kinds of natural disasters and crises.

What leads to natural disasters and crises is solely at the human level, in our connections. At the level of our thoughts, attitudes and behaviors toward each other, we cause ripples throughout human society and nature, and nature reacts to us according to how we relate to each other.

If we relate positively to each other, aiming to positively connect with each other, then we will experience positive reactions from nature. If we relate negatively to each other, aiming to harm and exploit each other for personal benefit, then we will experience negative reactions from nature. This is what we currently experience.

Nature is organized according to four levels: still, vegetative, animate and human.

If we delay our correction in establishing positive connections among us, starting from not harming each other to endlessly improving our connections, then we will experience more and more negative effects upon us from nature.

For instance:

• If we fail to correct our relations at the still level, which for the time being can be interpreted as not working on the hatred toward others that surfaces in us, there will be disruptions in nature at the still level, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
• Likewise, if we fail to correct our relations at the vegetative level, which can be interpreted as failing to stop ourselves from harming others, then there will be problems at the vegetative level, such as fires.
• If we fail to correct ourselves at the animal level, i.e. allowing ourselves to slip into wars and conflicts, then we will find problems on the animal level, such as extinctions of certain species, as well as the resurfacing of past diseases and new diseases.
• Nature’s positive or negative reaction to us in the future depends on how much we activate our human ability, i.e., our ability to connect to each other above our divisive egoistic drives.

Accordingly, when we see the complete system of a person as a small world and the world as our encasing environment, then we will see the level of integration that we humans need to have with the world: that our attitudes to each other need to undergo an upgrade: to become considerate and positively connected as a replacement for the currently antagonistic egoism that’s growing within us and increasingly dividing us.

Then, according to the integration of the still, vegetative, animate and human levels within us, between us, with the environment and with nature’s complete system that envelops us, we will experience either harmony if we realize positive human connections, or crises and blows if we don’t.

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Question: Is it possible to accelerate the attainment of the upper world, not waiting 20 years, but instead getting out earlier in the Light?

Answer: Certainly; it can even happen today! It is only up to you, your ability to relate to the world, to the Creator correctly.

Question: How can I understand that I am on the path that is leading to the Creator?

Answer: It is only according to the degree of unity with your friends.

Question: Why do particular people who are involved with the wisdom of Kabbalah nonetheless suffer in the physical world like ordinary people? Could it be that they feel otherwise?

Answer: No. Why shouldn’t they suffer? If a person who began to study the wisdom of Kabbalah were to stop suffering immediately and some money was transferred into his bank account, he would happily be involved in spiritual work, but it would no longer be spiritual work.

Question: Is it possible to ask for additional materialistic egoism if one doesn’t have a desire to raise a family or work?

Answer: No. Why should you ask for additional materialistic egoism? It is possible to ask for additional spiritual characteristics. You must only strive to go forward.

Question: If all the possibilities in the world are found within me, does it follow that everything only depends on me?

Answer: Certainly; everything depends only on you. The Creator does everything, but only according to the instructions of a person so there cannot be any claims against the Creator. You will get what you ask for.

Question: What is the mechanism that helps you determine the amount of information that you give?

Answer: I generally feel what information is necessary for my students. Moreover, this is also a shared level, the general background. What I mean is, that if today you suddenly came to class and found yourself in this group, I would not refer to you, but to those people who are found here no less than two years. For me, they are the consumers.
[248758]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian, 3/31/19

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Question from Facebook: You talk about spiritual work, but how do we know that the changed values will be better than the previous ones?

Answer: The fact is that all the values we have today are built on the insignificance of our sensations, the insignificance of our world, on the fact that we run away from problems all the time, and we struggle with various difficulties.

In a different state, at the next level of perception of reality, there is a completely different existence—in plus, not in minus. Therefore, the values there are in bestowal, in love, and in fulfillment. In our world, everything is the other way around.

The Book of Zohar says: “Try and see how beautiful the upper world is.”
[249612]
From KabTV’s: “Answers to Questions on Facebook,” 3/10/19

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Question: Is there a difference between an unspoken intention and an intention that was spoken aloud?

Answer: There is no difference.

Question: According to you, ultimately people will be independent, meaning the Creator Himself. Isn’t this just a catch phrase?

Answer: No. The upper force exists; this is the Creator. There is a lower power that was created by Him. According to the parameters one acquires, one must become equal to the Creator.

Question: How is it possible to understand if a desire is a desire of the Creator or a desire of a person?

Answer: The desire of the Creator is in all of nature, and in fact, a person has no desire. Only the desire of the Creator exists. If you could absolutely renounce yourself, you would find that you only have the desire of the Creator.

Question: How must one understand the expression: “Don’t believe in yourself until the day you die” (Pirkei Avot 2:4)? What does “in yourself” mean? Is it your egoism?

Answer: Yes, in your egoism. Never believe in your own powers in any way.
[248771]
From a Virtual Lesson, 03/24/19

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Which side is right in the Israel-Palestine conflict?“

No side is correct because no side knows the truth. The question is: what is the truth?

The people of Israel alone determine the attitude that the nations of the world have toward them. The nations of the world have no free choice in how they perceive Israel. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, Israel are people with free choice, because it was the people of Israel who were granted the ability to rise above the egoistic human nature—the desire to enjoy at the expense of others—that runs on autopilot within each and every person. If the people of Israel make the choice to rise above the divisive egoistic drives and unite, then an abundance of goodness will flow out to the world through them. Likewise, if the people of Israel fail in making that choice, letting egoism continue to grow unabated, then no agreements will help them: it will be bad for them and for the world.

Free choice is the choice to connect among each other and by doing so, reveal the upper force—the force of connection and love—here in this world. If we fail to make that choice, then the negative side of the force of connection and love—division and hatred due to egoistic desires growing without any effective regulation—will ripple out to all humanity in depth and width. This is the root of any positive or negative attitude toward Israel from the nations of the world.

Today, since the people of Israel are not making any effort to realize their unifying role in the world, then anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli sentiment—including denial of the State of Israel—grows in order to pressure the people of Israel to fulfill their duty in the world.

Therefore, Palestinians are not responsible for the way they think and behave toward Israel. The law of nature draws humanity to connection at the peak of its development, and those who resist and deny Israel act according to their function within this system, which is to pressure the people of Israel to exercise their free choice. I thus see in Israel’s haters simply the force of nature, which reveals itself to us in such a way. The people of Israel, however, have free choice, i.e. the ability to change themselves, as they have been given a method of the world’s correction. So who’s to blame? I can’t say that Palestinians or anyone in the world are to blame for any of their hatred toward Israel, since no one in the world other than the people of Israel have free choice. There is a statement in the wisdom of Kabbalah about this: “the heads of ministers are in the hands of God.” That is, those in ruling positions around the world have no free choice in how they think and act, since the demands of the system of nature operate on them in order for them to carry out what needs to unfold in nature.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is Israel an apartheid state? What are the facts that prove or disprove this opinion?“

I have no interest in such labels that people pin on Israel. I evaluate Israel solely according to the authentic Kabbalistic sources that I have been studying for the past 40-plus years.

In any case, taking into consideration the amount of Arabs in Israeli society, from studying at universities through to assuming respected professions such as lawyers and doctors, I wouldn’t consider Israel an apartheid state. Apartheid is something else entirely. But again, whatever name-calling is addressed at Israel doesn’t matter to me. What matters is the intensifying need of the people of Israel to carry out their role in the world: to unite (“love your neighbor as yourself”) and be a conduit for unity to spread worldwide (“a light unto nations”). If the people of Israel will observe such a condition, then it will be good for them and for the world. If they don’t, then it will be the opposite.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your reasons for supporting Israel?“

I support Israel for a single reason: that Israel becomes a source of the world’s connection. Through the special connection that Israel has the potential to bring—a connection above people’s innate divisive drives (“Love covers all transgressions” [Proverbs 10:12])—the world can elevate itself to another level of existence, both corporeally and spiritually:

Corporeally, this means that all human conflicts and natural disasters would cease. We would feel a life filled with happiness and confidence as a result of the balance with nature that such connection would yield.
Spiritually, it means we would rise to a new dimension of eternity and perfection. This is due to awakening the force of connection and love dwelling in nature to reveal in our newly-created connections.

Therefore, I support Israel for this sole reason.

Today, it is very sad for me to see the contrary, how Israel is the source of all of the world’s problems (“No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” [Yevamot 63]). That is, the more that the people of Israel fail to apply efforts in the direction of connection—connection above our differences for the sake of positive global connection—the more the world sinks deeper into division and conflict. It is as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in item 69 of his “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” that “they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing and destruction in the whole world.” Why? It is because the people of Israel possess the method for the correction of human nature, i.e. correction of the egoistic, self-centered drive to benefit at the expense of others, which is growing rampant in our era. The more the ego inflates without an effective form of regulation—the connection above differences that the people of Israel have a method and a role to realize—the more problems and crises abound in the world.

Moreover, the more the nations of the world feel problems in their lives, the more they feel hatred toward Israel. This is because they subconsciously feel that the people of Israel are the source of their problems and are holding something significant away from them. Anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism thus rise due to the people of Israel’s failure to implement the role required of them in the world.

Therefore, the people of Israel need only come to the realization that they hold their own as well as humanity’s life and well-being in their hands. By starting to tilt the scales toward connection, they will bring harmony to themselves and to the world, whereas by continuing to tilt the scales toward division through their indifference and rejection of their role, they will continue inviting problems to the world and hatred to themselves.

It is thus my hope that the people of Israel will acknowledge their role and start making efforts to connect sooner rather than later, because if things keep developing as they currently do, then not only will the elimination of the State of Israel become a reality, but we will experience wars and major suffering on a global scale the likes that we have never seen before.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do you support the existence of Israel? Why?“

I support the existence of Israel as a source of the world’s connection. Through the special connection that Israel has the potential to bring—a connection above people’s innate divisive drives (“Love covers all transgressions” [Proverbs 10:12])—the world can elevate itself to another level of existence, both corporeally and spiritually:

Corporeally, this means that all human conflicts and natural disasters would cease. We would feel a life filled with happiness and confidence as a result of the balance with nature that such connection would yield.
Spiritually, it means we would rise to a new dimension of eternity and perfection. This is due to awakening the force of connection and love dwelling in nature to reveal in our newly-created connections.
Therefore, yes, I do support such a nation’s existence.

Today, it is very sad for me to see the contrary, how Israel is the source of all of the world’s problems (“No calamity comes to the world but for Israel” [Yevamot 63]). That is, the more that the people of Israel fail to apply efforts in the direction of connection—connection above our differences for the sake of positive global connection—the more the world sinks deeper into division and conflict. It is as Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes in item 69 of his “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” that “they cause poverty, ruin, robbery, killing and destruction in the whole world.” Why? It is because the people of Israel possess the method for the correction of human nature, i.e. correction of the egoistic, self-centered drive to benefit at the expense of others, which is growing rampant in our era. The more the ego inflates without an effective form of regulation—the connection above differences that the people of Israel have a method and a role to realize—the more problems and crises abound in the world.

Moreover, the more the nations of the world feel problems in their lives, the more they feel hatred toward Israel. This is because they subconsciously feel that the people of Israel are the source of their problems and are holding something significant away from them. Anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism thus rise due to the people of Israel’s failure to implement the role required of them in the world.

Therefore, the people of Israel need only come to the realization that they hold their own as well as humanity’s life and well-being in their hands. By starting to tilt the scales toward connection, they will bring harmony to themselves and to the world, whereas by continuing to tilt the scales toward division through their indifference and rejection of their role, they will continue inviting problems to the world and hatred to themselves.

It is thus my hope that the people of Israel will acknowledge their role and start making efforts to connect sooner rather than later, because if things keep developing as they currently do, then we will experience wars and major suffering on a whole new level of egoistic relations the likes that we have never seen before.

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