Question: I want to ask about thought and speech. How can a person keep themselves in check? Is it by restraining their impulses or by fully expressing even their negative traits? Let’s say someone wants to say something nasty to another person, either they say it or they do not?

Answer: The rule is very simple: strive toward the goal, and everything that arises along the way will unfold. Bad or good does not matter; the main thing is to keep moving toward the goal.

For example, you are driving along a road. There are potholes, uneven pavement, and some hills, but you must keep going toward your destination, always choosing the straightest, most direct path. And whatever you encounter along the way is given to you by the Creator to shape you in some way.

That is why on the spiritual path you must be grateful equally for both the bad and the good. Equally! This is the test for a person. Let’s say today you “got hit on the head,” but yesterday everything was wonderful. Yet, in your heart, you feel the same. Absolutely the same! That means you are already moving straight ahead.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Correcting evil into good” 6/17/10

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Question: How should one behave toward the group? How can one integrate into it as much as possible and receive the light?

Answer: To integrate into the group as much as possible means to influence it as much as possible so that the greatness of the goal, the greatness of the Creator, and the greatness of unity become revealed within it.

Moreover, one must humble oneself before the group so what you have put into it, you can get back, multiplied by the group’s power. You cannot get from it what is in it. You can only receive as much as you desire to receive and as much as you have shown yourself in this desire.

Question: What does it mean to humble oneself? Does it mean becoming like a “rag”?

Answer: On the contrary! I do not humble myself, but my ego. I feel that I am pressing my ego down. There is something within me that I reject, pull away from myself, and at the same time I am in unity with my friends.

I do not feel inferior to them. If my egoistic mind and egoistic desires are lower than theirs, then I, my inner, spiritual “I,” merge with them at that moment because I am in a way removing the partition between us, lower it down. And between my point in the heart and their vast common vessel, there are no longer any obstacles—the barrier is removed.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. To belittle egoism” 6/3/10

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There is a powerful exercise that is quite simple and I started using many years ago.

Whoever I have met on my way, be it man or insect, the first thought that I allow is: “I wish you happiness!”

But the most important thing is that this thought should really come first: “I wish you happiness.”

This thought will completely change what happens between you and this person. I say this from personal experience.

Sometimes it is very difficult when you meet an enemy, when you find yourself face to face with an unexpected, tough situation. But it is at this moment that you get the opportunity to create a different space around yourself. Before the negative emotion takes over you, you have time to transform it: “I wish you happiness.”

Try it and see how much everything in your life changes” (Richard Gere).

Question: Can this first thought “I wish you happiness” change the space between people?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Why?

Answer: Because one person sets himself in a positive way toward another without expecting anything in return.

Comment: That is remarkable.

My Response: It is incredible, yes.

Question: If I practice this exercise and mechanically try to do it, can it change me?

Answer: Yes, from egoism to altruism, from being a cold person to being kind.

Question: Can a person change?

Answer: Yes, this is the desire of a person to change. If he does not let go of this desire and constantly imagines how he can change in every instance, it transforms him.

Question: And does it work?

Answer: That is why it works.

Question: Tell me, can this exercise really be applied when meeting an enemy you hate, when emotions are overwhelming? Can one manage to insert this thought?

Answer: This needs preparation. A person must understand how he should relate to the enemy.

Question: But how? After all, it is still an enemy.

Answer: Why is it an enemy? This requires significant preliminary work. If such work has truly been done, a person would not be able to harm another. I am absolutely sure of this because we must become different. We must make the world different. If it depends on us, on people, we must remake ourselves.

Question: And where is the Creator in what you are saying?

Answer: The Creator does not want to be among people.

Question: Among such people?

Answer: At all! He gave us nature, He gave us the foundation to change ourselves. Based on this, He will relate to us differently.

Question: So do we have this spark within us to change ourselves? This point of light?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Even in complete darkness?

Answer: We are the most sophisticated egoists.

Comment: And still, you say there is this spark of light inside.

My Response: Yes.

Question: Why does Richard Gere, and you as well, insist that this thought must be the first, before all others, that it must push its way through?

Answer: Yes, before it gets spoiled.

Question: So all other thoughts spoil it?

Answer: Yes, but this thought, if it is first, it is interesting to see how a person will respond to you.

Question: If you constantly practice this exercise, falling, getting up, succeeding or not succeeding, can it change a person’s perspective on the world? Could this world suddenly become bright?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But isn’t it dark? Or is it bright? What is it?

Answer: It’s neither. That is, we can make it bright.

Question: If I tell everyone, “I want you to be happy,” and suddenly it works, does the world change and become happy?

Answer: Yes.

Question: But who is happy? The world or me?

Answer: You are happy.

Question: I am happy? So, the whole thing is for me to change?

Answer: The world is just a reflection of our inner states.

Question: So what I have inside is what I see?

Answer: Yes.

Question: What spiritual principles are involved here? Human principles are clear, but what about spiritual ones?

Answer: The spiritual principle is very simple: If you wish happiness to another and act on it, you create wonderful relationships between yourself and them.

Question: And that is a spiritual principle?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Can we say that in this way I also establish similar relations with the Creator?

Answer: Of course.

Question: And He with me?

Answer: Yes.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/9/24

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Question: At conventions we are given strength that must be realized afterward, otherwise it will dissolve. What does this mean?

Answer: At the convention we achieve a certain connection with each other, and for the sake of that connection, we are ready to sacrifice some small egoistic fulfillments, pleasures, and weaknesses in this life. We are ready to give ourselves to achieve something higher.

Subsequently inspiration fades because the connection between us disintegrates. We cannot keep it from a distance.

We are small people. Everyone returns to their old ways, and, as a result, we lose mutual strength, plunge into our philistinism, and can no longer think so intensely about spiritual elevation, correction, the meaning of life, or how to really achieve it here and now.

So it turns out that we need some kind of constant connection, maybe not as intense as at conventions, but one which would excite, tug, prick us more intensely because we only occasionally remember and ask ourselves: “What will become of us?” We need to restore this connection somehow.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Congress for Connection!!!” 5/1/10

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Question: Why do you say it is preferable to watch lessons in a large group? Does it  amplify your information?

Answer: Of course. It is said: “In the multitude of people is the King’s glory.” We are very small by ourselves. But if a thousand people are listening to a lesson, wow! And if it is ten thousand? WOW! We look at the headcount and the numbers, but we do not understand the quality.

Question: Is the group a very strong amplifier?

Answer: Yes, there is a big difference between whether I give information to one person or a thousand. After all, it is distributed among all according to each person’s disposition. There are instances when you can study with one person, expressly tune them in, and lead them toward a spiritual goal. However, there is no such thing today. Today it is only going out to the masses.

At one time I was a student of Rabash, and he was constantly engaged with me. Every morning we went for walks together, and every week we would go on a two-day trip to Tiberias. However, these are isolated instances that Kabbalists had in the past.

But now we have crossed a line, and I do not think it can happen again. There is no such option today. I do not see anyone I can bring near me and shape into a leader of the next generation.

This would be in great contrast with all the others and would harm the general dissemination of Kabbalah, which is very relevant now.

In the past, there was no way to disseminate, but this is no longer the case. Nowadays dissemination is only for the masses.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Group—Informational Amplifier” 4/17/10

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Question: You often talk about the correct use of disturbances that arise on a person’s path of development. How do you personally manage to use a disturbance correctly in order to progress?

Answer: If I know that these disturbances come from the Creator, that already removes the perception of them as disturbances and instantly shifts them from the category of disturbances to the category of help. It is like in training when you have to overcome certain hurdles to become stronger, reach higher, and go further.

In other words, you need to view these disturbances as the acquisition of new degrees.

This is a big job. Is it really a disturbance? You can’t ascend from one degree to another relying solely on your own strength, on the power of your mind, because you need to gain new awareness, a new sensation, and new revelation.

To achieve this, you must acquire new qualities. And to acquire them, you must struggle and create them within yourself. Otherwise, you won’t have the necessary sensations, the sensitivity to new, subtler layers of reality.

Comment: Suppose I have to overcome some disturbance. There are situations where you genuinely don’t know which direction to take.

My Response: Always toward the Creator. It is very simple: “There is none else besides Him.” This is the one and only force that governs you, always with a benevolent purpose. Even though it may seem to you that there are millions of problems coming from different sources and it is hard to see any benevolent purpose in that. What is happening to you may seem completely unclear. But your task is to connect it all together.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Use the Enemy” 4/19/10

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Question: You constantly say that the group is the most important thing we should focus on. But at the same time, you’ve mentioned that you didn’t have a group. How were you able to overcome that and make progress without it?

Answer: Everyone has their own path, and often we don’t even understand why things happen to us the way they do. For each person, it’s very individual both internally and externally. That’s fate. This is how I was led to the study of Kabbalah, and this is how I continue to be guided.

Is it really me doing or creating anything today? Absolutely not. When someone says the name “Michael Laitman,” I don’t associate myself with it at all! It feels like I’m nameless.

When I’m introduced as a doctor, philosopher, Kabbalist, or head of Bnei Baruch, it feels like that’s the title of someone else. It’s as if I put on a robe, sit in an important chair, and lead from there. Then I move over here and sit in my “pajamas.” Because these are completely different people. Completely different!

Comment: But you have only one mind.

My Response: I’m not talking about that, but about the role I have to play. I know that I’m compelled to do it, that I’m being driven to it, it’s necessary, and I do it. I agree with it, I’m grateful for it because I understand its importance and, essentially, I know that I need it.

This is the case for many people in the world who hold significant positions. A person can’t just leave it behind; the role obligates them. Any major leader would probably love to escape to a village somewhere, relax, and just be themselves for a while. And if we’re talking about a mother of a large family, she knows she’s obligated to do what she does for the sake of her children.

I simply feel my duty. And beyond that, I feel an obligation from above, not just on a corporeal level, where someone appoints you and that’s it. In the same way, I was led to Rabash, and that’s exactly how he related to me.

One of my friends who studied with Rabash once recalled going to the sea with him and asking why he treated Laitman the way he did. Rabash replied, “That’s his soul. It makes me relate to him this way.” I didn’t even know or imagine that he would say something like that to others.

So, it’s a role, not some sort of privilege, a role imposed on a person based on the root of their soul so that they fulfill it within the general system. It may be important or not important relative to others, but that doesn’t matter. It’s simply a role.

We can talk about the importance of parents in relation to their children. But fundamentally, their importance lies in the fact that they are obligated to care for their children, not in the fact that they are bigger, stronger, or smarter. On the contrary, they are obliged to do everything to serve their children. The same goes for me.

You might say, “But there’s also vanity and self-importance.” If that’s the case, then a person loses everything. Because when fulfilling a role assigned by the Creator, ultimately doing His work, if a person seeks personal satisfaction, power, or vanity instead of asking for spiritual elevation, the quality of bestowal, they miss the point entirely.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Your Way” 5/29/10

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Question: Have you ever done anything in life that might seem strange to an outside person?

Answer: Never! I have never done anything like that! On the contrary. I act like the most ordinary person or even lower—like I might crack a joke, and so on. And it comes naturally.

Imagine you are carrying millions of dollars in a small suitcase. Would you show it off? No. You would hide it as if you were carrying a worn-out bag with old sneakers, heading to a workout.

That is how everything should appear in essence. You would wear modest clothing, something a bit worn-out, to avoid drawing the attention of others.

If I really have great inner potential, a reserve, wealth, then I keep it hidden from others.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Without Showing Off” 5/21/10

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Question: How can one find the spiritual image to which they can nullify themselves?

Answer: I cannot even say. It simply arises, that is all. It is the result of the influence of the upper light.

There is nothing to invent here. You do not need to imagine anything. There are no fantasies or meditations, no fairy-tale notions. You simply have to wait until the upper light creates a clear inner vision in you when you begin to understand that in all people, it is their soul that speaks, and they are all connected through it into one unified whole.

Let’s say there is a pot of soup in front of you. You can scoop out a spoonful, a second, a third, but each spoonful is part of the same soup. You separated it out.

I see one person, another, a third… I can distinguish them in some way from this “soup,” from the collective soul, but in essence, they are absolutely united within it. And it is only my “spoon” that separates them: this one is Vladek, that one is Grisha, Misha, Vova, and so on. But in reality, this separation does not exist, it is only relative to my “spoon.”

Question: You say that by humbling oneself before one’s friends during study, one can attract the light. Will this reveal the feeling of separation to me?

Answer: On the contrary, I will see the common bond between friends, that it is one single soul.

I do not see them as faces or even as separate individuals. I see their unity, something like a “pot of soup.”

Question: But you have many students. Over time, do you not see their distinct images?

Answer: No, I do not scan them. Not at all! I do not remember faces, and names even less.

Maybe I remember 30 to 40 names, and even that is unlikely because for me, a person is not associated with their name or face, with any external factors. I simply see them; they are inside together with the others, they wish to be with them, they strive for this.

In essence, all people are together, we are all one unified soul, one single “soup.”
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Image in the Spiritual” 6/2/10

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Comment: To convey all the information that Kabbalists talk about, we need to create a completely unique system.

My Response: In our world, we teach children how to adapt to it, to study and understand it. As a result, they gradually master this world and use it to the maximum. Although they often use it incorrectly and end up suffering, it is still possible to educate a person.

You take a little “monkey” who knows nothing and understands nothing and turn it into a rational human being who can navigate this world and adapt it to himself. We can do the same to a person in relation to the spiritual world. For this, we have the wisdom of Kabbalah, which explains how we should act.

We are instructed to build a new society. But how do we build it? Let’s start by modeling it together.

Question: But the main problem people face is how to implement this system. It is very difficult to convey this information. Suppose someone opens a website. What happens step by step? What do they encounter?

Answer: It should be a kind, welcoming website where a person enters and learns about kindness, about the correct connection with all people in the world. He learns how to interact correctly with himself and with others and begins to understand how necessary this is and how it is the only correct solution.

Examples from nature, from human society, and from all kinds of systems at various levels, whether inanimate, vegetative, or animate, are provided to him, so he can see how to build correct relationships on the human level. This is not something unattainable.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The System of the Future, Part 1” 5/10/10

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