Entries in the 'Q&A' Category

A Spiritual Principle

929Question: Is it possible to put a spiritual principle on the Internet?

Answer: A spiritual principle is the revelation of the Creator. This is what we need to guide a person toward. To guide someone means to create in them the greatest possible need for connection with others and for exiting themselves. After all, as soon as a person begins to feel others as himself, he will immediately discover the Creator outside himself.

Why do we need the surrounding society? To practice “exiting ourselves” through it.

The Creator exists outside of me, but I do not feel Him. The surrounding society, however, is within me, but the Creator deliberately arranged it so that it appears to me as if it exists outside of me.

If I take this seemingly external, illusory picture and attach it to myself so closely that the external and internal merge within me, meaning that my “self” and the surrounding world become one whole, then I prepare my perception to feel what is truly outside me. And immediately, I perceive the Creator because the only thing that exists outside of me is Him.

And where is all of humanity? I reveal that it is within me. It always was within me. It only appeared to exist outside of me so that I could tune myself like a musical instrument or a sensory organ to perceive the Creator.

This is why we are given such a perception of ourselves split into two parts—myself and the world. In reality, there is no world outside of me.

We need to demonstrate to others the necessity of this tuning: to explain the purpose of Kabbalah, which speaks of “love your neighbor as yourself.” It is solely to bring us to the perception of the Creator—the source of all goodness and perfection.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Spiritual principle” 4/23/10

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According to the Will of the Environment

528.02Question: In Kabbalah, working against one’s desire is considered the most effective method. But if a person constantly goes against his desires, he may not endure the process. Either you ride the wave and flow with it, or you go against your desire. Which is more effective?

Answer: If I want to be overweight, but the environment around me obligates me to be slim, meaning they bully me and laugh at me from all sides, eventually, I will be forced to lose weight. Slimming down will become desirable for me.

The environment can change me so profoundly that I will act against my desires according to the will of the environment, and I will even take pleasure in it. The opinion of the surrounding environment will outweigh my original personal opinion. That is how we are built.

This is why a person is initially placed in an environment of their peers. If they properly organize this environment in relation to themselves so that it educates them and provides clear guidance toward the goal, then there will be no difficulty in progressing toward that goal even by limiting, compelling, or forcing themselves to do anything. They will feel perfection, power, and enjoyment in fulfilling the will of the environment.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. How to lose weight?” 4/19/10

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Allow The Zohar to Influence Us

526Question: You mentioned that for a long time, you could not accept The Book of Zohar.

Answer: Yes, it repelled me. I considered it unnecessary. Then the light affected me in such a way that a transformation occurred within me. I always use this example with my students.

Question: But if someone simply takes a quote from The Zohar and reads it, will it have an effect on them?

Answer: No, it will only have an effect to the extent that a person wants to correct himself through this book and strives, in some way, to extract something from it. But if, for example, a linguist wants to study it and reads it without any inner drive or demand, they will receive very little influence.

Question: So if we want it to influence us, should we read it with this intention?

Answer: Yes that is enough. However, it is even better if it happens through friends when you all study The Zohar together so that it can influence you and unite you into a single desire against the egoism that divides you.

Question: Let’s say I am sitting in a lesson and I want The Zohar to influence me. How can I build an intention that will also influence everyone else?

Answer: You want it to be this way.

Question: Even if I cannot gather all of this in my mind?

Answer: Try. This attempt is your intention, your inner work. Everything else doesn’t matter.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Hate to The Zohar” 4/19/10

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Working with Kabbalistic Books

504Question: If an an ordinary person who has no connection to Kabbalah watches one of your videos, what will it give him? What should he do next?

Answer: Open a book and start reading. Then he will see how much he is changing and changing the world at the same time. Everything is explained in the books on Kabbalah!

On one hand, these books tell a person about the general structure of nature and a person’s connection with it, how he influences nature, and how nature influences him. On the other hand, through the connection of a person with a Kabbalistic book, there is an entire system of initiating positive forces of nature that change him and the surrounding world in a positive direction, toward harmony.

During study, a person’s understanding, awareness, and rapprochement with this science, give one confidence, strength, and a clear foundation to stand on on one hand, and immediate integration in a normal, effective, practical correction on the other hand; these two parameters that one stimulates with one’s studies resolve everything.

Therefore, all that remains is to give a person the opportunity to correctly discover the appropriate, comfortable material for him.

Comment: You have just explained very clearly what the books talk about. But a person might get scared. He will say: “It describes how I influence nature.”

My Response: So what? Who is afraid of this today? It is nothing to be afraid of. I believe that nothing scares a person today; people are perfectly capable of navigating the material. Nowadays there are no such narrow-minded, superstitious, ignorant individuals as before. Over the last ten to fifteen years, humanity has risen above all fears and superstitions and is calm about everything.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. How to change the world” 4/19/10

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When Dealing with a Person’s Soul

559Question: You once said that a friend is an obstacle in me that appears to me as someone close to me. What does it mean?

Answer: I do not know in what context this was said at the time. I probably meant that all the people I see existing around me are actually pieces of my soul.

And when I achieve my final correction, and my perception of the world is corrected, I will discover that there is no one but me and the Creator. And everything that I feel today as inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human will turn out to be parts of my desire that represent a desire created by the Creator, a desire in which I will be completely similar to the Creator.

In the same way, you will reveal the entire universe within yourself as your integral part. And so will absolutely each of us without in any way preventing others from achieving the same feeling and revelation.

Perhaps this is what I meant when I said that my friend is my obstacle. In other words, until I discover him as my integral part, he is an obstacle to me because my still uncorrected state divides us into me and him.

Comment: But you were talking about my attitude, not toward any person, but specifically toward a friend. Let us say he may physically look a certain way, but it is my distortion that depicts him. That is how we perceive each other at the moment.

My Response: How is this so?! Am I interested in your hair, eyes, and everything else? What does that have to do with what is inside you? Am I worshiping idols?!

I strive to connect only with a person’s aspiration toward the Creator because it is his true, eternal, innermost desire that will not change and will only grow. And everything else in him will change. And in general, you should not relate to a friend based on some earthly information or passport data.

If I want to discover the true creation for myself, to enter the spiritual world, then I am dealing only with a person’s soul and in no way with his body. What difference does it make to me what kind of body he has, whether he has arms and legs, or not? I want to reach a state where it does not matter to me whether he is in his animalistic body or already beyond it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The Whole Problem Is in Me,” 4/13/10

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Preparation for The Zohar

65Question: How should a person prepare themselves for reading The Book of Zohar? There were suggestions that one should prepare before going to sleep since what a person falls asleep with is what they wake up with in the morning. Is it acceptable to read just any Kabbalistic books before bed?

Answer: Yes, of course. However, it is preferable to read books that are thematically and stylistically closer to The Book of Zohar; otherwise, you might approach it with a slightly different focus.

The point is, you can read Kabbalistic articles related to philosophy, religion, our world, or our life. But what you need to read is the part of Kabbalah (this is a science with many sections) that specifically directs you toward the revelation of The Book of Zohar. That way, you can pass through it like a filter into that world.

Question: Can one, for example, read Shamati?

Answer: Shamati is also good, but I usually prefer to read a passage from The Zohar before going to sleep. It is The Zohar! And even though you read it without understanding anything, it tunes you correctly and elevates you to a certain level. With it, you fall asleep, wake up in the morning, and go to the lesson.

Before the lesson, I typically read, work on materials, or write, and only on the subject of the upcoming lesson. After all, I want to provide people with the most relevant material, and I need to prepare myself accordingly.

Question: So is it not necessary to read The Zohar? Is it enough to simply listen to it?

Answer: Yes, you can listen to it. The key is to be immersed in it. If our first lesson is The Zohar, this is especially important. But if it is something else, you should align yourself with that material. If it is Shamati, then we focus on articles from Shamati. If it is The Zohar, then The Zohar. If it is The Study of the Ten Sefirot, then The Study of the Ten Sefirot. It is essential to align oneself with a specific perspective on the universe as it varies.

Question: Generally, one should prepare for studying The Zohar throughout the day. Many people ask: “How do we do that?” Listening is not always an option for everyone at work. How can one remain connected to this thought?

Answer: Try whenever possible to listen or read in brief moments. Strive to see what connects you to this book, understanding that it is not systematic.

It is not The Study of the Ten Sefirot or a systematic, logically presented study. The Zohar is a very enigmatic book with a unique style. But the essence embedded in it provides a powerful light of correction. If a person respects this book and does not abandon it, they will literally begin to feel changes within a couple of weeks.

We see this within our group. Since we started studying The Book of Zohar, the group has become more inwardly focused.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Preparation for The Zohar,” 3/11/10

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External Pressure

963.4Question: Do you clearly see the forces pressing down on us and do you perceive this pressure?

Answer: I feel it on my skin. This is what drives me to disseminate. That is why I am shouting: “Let’s disseminate as quickly as possible!”

Do I have any personal benefit from this other than the nerves and forces that I have to expend? Or do I have some kind of obsession? I am well aware that I am burning the last days of my life in this work, but I feel that this is the most important thing. At least that is how I see it, and that is why I’m doing it.

People are already beginning to understand that there is a higher purpose here that simply obliges us to engage in dissemination. The situation is so dire and global that it simply forces us to act.

I feel it very strongly. Every day is a crucial factor for the next day. What could happen from minute to minute is being determined right now. That is why I am in such tension, and it gets passed on to others, even though they think I’m getting on their nerves. Actually, this is not the case.

You can read what the Kabbalists write, what Baal HaSulam writes, and how they shout to us from their pages. That is, a person who feels this sees all this horror, as if on an X-ray, and the rest see nothing but bones.

Question: But your function is to push?

Answer: Not only that! We teach, develop the methodology, translate, publish books and videos in all languages, and organize congresses. It is not just pushing.

We need to organize and create an educational system. Our organization is an educational organization, and it should become global. In fact, it already is. We just need to grow larger, deepen, expand, and become above all other organizations, meaning, above all possible differences between people and nations. In other words, it must be something that humanity will accept as a unified whole and will begin to unite around it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. External Pressure” 4/17/10

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Why Do Jews Have Everything the Other Way Around

549.02Question: Igor asks: “Why do you Jews have everything the other way around? Why does everyone write from left to right while you write from right to left?”

Answer: Not just us, but in general, yes.

Question: Why?

Answer: The right side is the spiritual side and the left is not. That is why in Hebrew, they write from right to left.

The right side is the right, and the left is the left.

Question: In general, how do you define closeness to spirituality? What does it mean?

Answer: It is a spiritual root that exists in nature. And it is closer to the right side than to the left.

Question: What is this root?

Answer: It is the spiritual force, the quality of bestowal.

We shake with the right hand. We still treat the right side better than the left.

Question: So a person is even unconsciously drawn to this because it is his root?

Answer: Yes.

Question: “Why does the whole world celebrate birthdays, but you, on the contrary, celebrate the death day?”

Answer: We do not celebrate the death day, but simply honor it for the deceased because we believe that this is an important date for him. That he has departed from us and entered completely into the spiritual world. The death of a person, the exit from this world, the ascension to the upper world, is the correction of the soul.

Question: What ascends into the spiritual world?

Answer: The soul.

Question: What do you call the soul?

Answer: The soul is the inner essence of a person.

Question: What is it like?

Answer: It is impossible to point a finger at it. But a person ascends and becomes closer to the Creator.

Question: When you say a person becomes closer to the Creator, what do you mean?

Answer: I mean the spiritual entity, the one that does not die.

Question: “Why does the next day begin with the sunset for you and with the sunrise for everyone else?”

Answer: This is a really interesting question. The next day begins with sunset for us because everything begins with darkness. Our nature, our world, space, and everything else, everything begins with darkness. And the next day also begins with darkness.

Question: And when dawn comes, what does it represent?

Answer: It represents a person’s attainment, one’s contact with the world, with the Creator. And therefore, on one hand, the 24 hours are measured by the hours after sunset, and the days are marked by sunrise.

Question: Then he asks: “Why do Jews wear a headdress out of respect for God, while the rest of the world, on the contrary, takes off its headwear out of respect?”

Answer: I do not know how the rest of the world views it. Headwear is a sign of respect. When I honor someone, I put on headwear. I don’t think it is important. The main thing is what you feel.

Question: Why do observant Jews wear a Kippah on their heads?

Answer: A Kippah is the minimal head covering that a person should never part with and should always wear. In this way, he expresses his respect for the Creator. He covers his brain.

Question: Next. “Why do most nations celebrate the New Year in winter, and Jews do so in the fall?”

Answer: It is written in the Torah that we should celebrate the New Year in the fall. There is nothing we can do about it. This was long before January 1st was adopted.

Comment: Christmas and so on.

My Response: Yes, none of this existed yet.

Question: But our chronology is different, naturally. We are already approaching the 6,000th milestone. Tell me, where does this chronology come from? All years are different. Where does it begin?

Answer: It all comes from Adam. He decided everything, he initiated it, he substantiated these facts, and from here the years begin.

He revealed the Creator, the connection with Him, from which day, on which days are which holidays, which special days. That is why we continue like that.

Question: You are now saying “he.” Can we even say that there was such a person Adam?

Answer: Adam HaRishon, yes.

Question: That is, the person who revealed the Creator? And from that moment he said: “We begin the chronology”?

Answer: Yes.

Question: And is this the correct chronology?

Answer: It is correct because he is the first. That is all.

Question: That is, if this is the revelation of the Creator, then it is correct?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Further. “Why do Jews bury the dead as quickly as possible, while in the world, on the contrary, it is customary to say a long farewell to the deceased?”

Answer: The Jews believe that the deceased must be buried on the same day.

Question: Why so quickly?

Answer: From the earth you came, to the earth you return. And there is nothing you can do about it.

Question: That is, long mourning for the body, farewells…

Answer: No, that is also not allowed because there is the upper mind above all of this, and it commands everything. So, we have no right to do what is beneficial or convenient for us, or what we think. No, it must be done very clearly and very simply.

Question: And quickly?

Answer: Yes.

Question: Tell me, what does placing the body into the earth represent?

Answer: Returning to the earth. From the earth you came and to the earth you will return. The spiritual root is that we are connected to the earth.

Question: And the last question: “Why does the Jewish tradition begin the new year with the Day of Judgment and not with a celebration?” Everyone celebrates the New Year, but for us it is Yom Kippur and so on.

Answer: Because this is the end of the previous year, and a person must evaluate his actions and in this way appear before the judgment as if to start a new life.

Question: So, it is judgment first?

Answer: Of course.

Question: Should I admit my guilt, or should I be declared guilty?

Answer: You should admit it.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 10/21/24

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Invite the Upper Light!

65Comment: I would like to ask a question about intention. In everyday life, I just take medicine, and it helps me.

My Response: No, here much depends on how much you believe in the medicine. There is the placebo effect, which is significant up to a quarter of a medicine’s impact. That is, our impression, confidence, and belief that it will help account for 25% of the success, or conversely, its effectiveness diminishes without it.

Question: In any case, the medicine works somehow. But in Kabbalah, we work with intention. Only with the correct intention can the correct medicine be formed. For example, can The Book of Zohar influence us solely through the right intention?

Answer: Yes, because The Book of Zohar is activated through the intention that we must correct.

Otherwise we cannot accomplish anything unless we transform our egoistic intention into an altruistic one. This is why we expose ourselves to the influence of the light. I want my intention to change in relation to the entire surrounding world.

Instead of using the world for my own benefit and trying to see my personal gain in everything, I begin to realize that such an intention is killing me, it confines me in the narrow prison of this world like a solitary cell. I want to break free!

The only way to escape is to move beyond the intention for myself, because “for myself” means for my body, for this beast. I no longer want to serve it! I want to break free from it, to become a human. A human is something beyond and above this beast.

How can I do this? I am told: “To achieve this, imagine yourself outside your physical body. Try it!” But how? How can I do that? Invite the surrounding upper light to act upon you, to open your pores, your feelings, and pull you outward. Then, to hell with this body! Let it die if it must, it does not matter anymore. You will already exist outside of it.

Question: So Kabbalah is just the intention?

Answer: Yes, exactly. As soon as my intention changes from reception to bestowal, it is in this intention to bestow, to exit myself, to relate to everything as one single whole that I begin to feel the upper world—a completely different reality, entirely different properties and qualities! Everything is different and new!
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. The remedy of The Book of Zohar” 3/11/10

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What Can We Do if a Child Has Lost the Taste for Life?

627.2Comment: Question from Natalia: “I have an adult son. When he was a kid, he was happy about everything. Every new discovery made him genuinely smile: books, camping, movies, and music. Now that he has grown up, it is like the world has dimmed for him. He looks around, but he does not see anything. His heart is closed as if he has lost a taste for life. I often wonder where we made a mistake as his parents? Perhaps we have not given him enough? Perhaps we have missed something important? I am scared to watch how my son is losing interest for this world! I do not know how to help him.”

Answer: Basically, our entire life is made so we would lose attraction to this world, to this life. This is a problem. But what can we do?

Comment: This is exactly what she is asking you: “I do not know how to help him.”

My Response: To help him is just to explain how the world is structured, how it should be transformed, and how we should see a different world.

Comment: But you understand that parents do not really know how to explain this to the child. “The child” is a grown young man.

My Response: So get used to it.

Question: is this the way he will go on and develop?

Answer: The way all people live.

Question: But do you think that everyone is losing a taste for life today?

Answer: Of course. They either disconnect themselves from the question, or they think that they are doing the most correct thing.

Question: So you think that precisely this question has matured in him: “What do I live for?” This is why this change happened?

Answer: Yes, the lack of goal-setting.

Question: Meaning, “Where to go and why do I keep going?” That is it, and the person lies down and disconnects?

Answer: Yes

Question: This kid’s joy, where did it disappear?

Answer: There is no basis anymore to be joyful about life. What should I do next? Nobody knows.

Question: At what point does this transformation within a person come? It is not necessarily at this age; it can be at any age. How does it come, at what moment?

Answer: It comes the moment a person seems to have everything, but there is no goal.

Question: Does the upper one, the Creator, take away the goal? Why does He do that?

Answer: So that a person would consciously understand what he lacks and would consciously seek the Creator in his life.

Question: Tell me please, people are asking: “Should the parents help their adult child, or is it better to give him freedom?”

Answer: Parents can shorten the child’s path by a lot!

Question: Do you mean the quest?

Answer: The quest, yes, but in general, it does not matter. It depends on the nature of a person. If they wish to help their child, they have to be good psychologists.

Question: Where to direct him? Here he is in this state. Natasha and her husband write: “We are unable to help him.” Where to direct him?

Answer: You are unable to help, but you still have to point him to that state, a place that can direct him. I think that we should give the child the maximum development, and he will find it. There is no way without that.

Question: Tell us please, how can parents cope with the sense of guilt? Natasha writes, and one can feel that there is a sense of guilt for what has happened to him. How is it possible to get rid of this feeling?

Answer: If the parents had a clear sense of the goal, they would not be disturbed so much. However, since they do not have it themselves, then the child does not have it either, and they do not know what to give him.

Question: Does it mean you think that this moment is the time for the parents to search in addition to everything else?

Answer: Yes, of course.

Question: Does it mean it is like he is directing them to search for the purpose of life?

Answer: Yes

Question: Can parents in their efforts to return this vital force to their children harm them?

Answer: Yes, it is necessary here to select some very fine middle line that will be directing the child to the search without pressure.

Question: But the most important in your answer is the search?

Answer: Yes, our entire life is like that. It is given to us for that.

The Creator is doing that so that the child would find the source in this life, the source of his states so that he would want to reveal this source. Then he will not have any more questions. He will be attached to this source, he will be revealing it more and more, and the source will fulfill him more and more.
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 9/1/24

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