Question: You speak about the spiritual world as a world of harmony, and about our world as disharmony. Is there any example from animate or vegetative nature that when looking at it from the outside it is immediately clear that it is a nightmare and needs to be corrected?

Answer: We have nothing to correct in this world except ourselves because we can only correct our desires. The desires of objects of inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature are given from above, and all of them instinctively follow the laws and rules that exist within them. They do not have any freewill.

So we cannot say that some reptile ate a person, and therefore this crocodile is bad and must be killed. Why kill it? For the fact that it has such a program? Then you should turn to the Creator and not to this unfortunate crocodile.

I remember once we were visiting a friend of mine in Miami, and he said: “This is the second day that I have not seen my dog.” There were small lakes around his house where alligators lived, and they freely crawled out onto land. The dog owner thought that his dog jumped over the fence and was eaten by alligators. So do we have to shoot these alligators now? What are they guilty of?

This is the natural reaction of an animal to an animal desire when a large animal desire absorbs a small one. At the same time, they are mutually absorbed, ensuring each other’s existence, and thus the movement of nature continues.

Any desire always consists of inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human levels. It can only be corrected on a human level. If you correct it, then all these desires connect together, and all of them are considered corrected, since the human level is, so to speak, the head of all desires.

Therefore, it is said that when we come to a complete correction, the wolf and the lamb will walk together in a friendly manner on the green lawn, and a little boy will guide them.

This is actually so because all these desires will come to the right combination with each other. That is, the correct human desire will connect the inanimate, vegetative, and animate desires and give them the right direction to work in this symbiosis.
[314315]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Ugly World” 6/27/11

Related Material:
“And The Leopard Shall Lie Down With The Kid”
Nature’s Self-Cleaning
Disorder In Nature Or In Me?

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the meaning of the Tefilat HaDerech (Traveler’s Prayer or Wayfarer’s Prayer)?“

The meaning of the Tefilat HaDerech (Traveler’s Prayer or Wayfarer’s Prayer) is that we leave the place where we think we live, to another place and path.

We do not know how long we will be on the road and when we will reach our destination. Maybe we think it will take just a couple of minutes, and then we find ourselves on a path that takes several years, which could start seeming endless.

Where the prayer writes, “lead us in peace,” it means that we should bring no harm to anyone in our path forward in life, i.e., in what comes from us outwardly to others.

Likewise, “direct our steps in peace” means to let there be peace for ourselves and for everyone we encounter on our path forward.

“And cause us to reach our destination in life, joy and peace” means that ultimately, everything we do on our path should be good for everyone.

The direct literal translation of “Tefilat HaDerech” is “prayer of the path.” What is the path? It is absolutely everything, and it is endless: the prayer of our direction and our existence, i.e., how our lives should be.

“Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world” means that we should observe our movements from one inner state to another. It does not discuss geographical locations. Rather, it emphasizes our peaceful progress so that we avoid problematic encounters with anyone and so that we safely reach our destination: a “place” where we connect with others with ever-greater bonds of kindness.

The path is thus the direction to more and more connection with others and nature. Why else would we wish to leave our abodes? It is so that we exit to a greater connection time and again.

The robbers are then those obstacles sent to us on the path, which help us further connect with each other in order to reach our true and final destination in life, the purpose of our lives.

We never make a prayer in order to have a smoother path, but we wish for the path to bring us to our destination, to more and more closeness among each other and with the single good and benevolent force in reality, which Kabbalists call “the Creator.” Since coming to closeness with each other and the Creator depends on us adjusting our attitude to be good and benevolent outwardly to them, then we come to discover that they are one and the same.

Then the prayer continues: “May You confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant me grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us.” It refers to us treating the world and everything that comes our way as best as we possibly can, i.e., trying to justify everything and staying connected to the idea that everything stems from the single good and benevolent force, the Creator. By doing so, we ourselves become benevolent conduits of goodness. This is the meaning of “May You confer blessing upon the work of our hands.”

There can only be a blessing if we strive for greater closeness. Without an effort to reach more closeness with each other and the Creator, then we would not be able to ask for such a connection, and we would accordingly receive no blessing.

The prayer then ends: “And bestow upon us abundant kindness and hearken to the voice of our prayer, for You hear the prayers of all. Blessed are You G‑d, who hearkens to prayer.” That is, the prayer ends in us thanking the Creator for hearing the prayer.

However, does the Creator really hear this prayer?

It is important to understand that the Creator is the single force of reality that acts within us, and so everything we think and say, we say practically with His desire. In general, He does it all Himself. In other words, the Creator Himself places the prayer into our mouths as He is the single force that exists in everything.

It is important to understand that this prayer is not simply a prayer for travelers who leave onto the road from one geographic location to another, but it is a prayer for the path of life. Everything that is implied in the Torah, in prayers, is all a means for our exit into life, and “life” in its fullest meaning is the eternal and perfect life that we attain when we learn to apply the same attitude of the Creator—goodness and benevolence—from ourselves outwardly.

In order for such a prayer to truly be heard, it is insufficient to simply say it with our mouths. We rather need to pronounce it in our hearts. When the prayer comes from our heart, then it is of utmost importance, and it influences the Creator.

Here is the prayer, Tefilat HaDerech:

May it be Your will, G‑d, our G‑d and the G‑d of our fathers, that You should lead us in peace and direct our steps in peace, and guide us in peace, and support us in peace, and cause us to reach our destination in life, joy, and peace. Save us from every enemy and ambush, from robbers and wild beasts on the trip, and from all kinds of punishments that rage and come to the world. May You confer blessing upon the work of our hands and grant me grace, kindness, and mercy in Your eyes and in the eyes of all who see us, and bestow upon us abundant kindness and hearken to the voice of our prayer, for You hear the prayers of all. Blessed are You G‑d, who hearkens to prayer.

Based on KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur on May 22, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman
[314754]

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you find a soul mate?“

It depends on you and not on who you find.

If you like someone as a person and see that they are serious and responsive, then it all depends on you.

Try to treat them as gently as possible, and see if they understand you, and if you begin to feel and support each other. What matters most is mutual support and the need for each other.

You can understand whether or not you are with the right person if you try to be kind, helpful and supportive of them. Then, you will see how that person accordingly reacts, i.e., whether they sincerely and wholeheartedly wish to support and preserve such states or whether they take them for granted, as if they do not matter.

Based on KabTV’s “Blitz of Kabbalah Tips” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on May 18, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Question: When you work with students, do you invest in those in whom you see potential and do not invest in someone who does not have it at all?

Answer: This is not quite true. In no case do I rob anyone, and I do not take away the possibility of realization from anyone. I give everyone the maximum and do not prefer one over the other.

Eventually, those who are moving forward get closer to me spiritually, but those who are standing still do not.

I can be closer or further to a person in our work and in dissemination because I work more with people who translate, process, and make films than with others.

But, in principle, I have no preference for anyone even if it is my own son or son-in-law, who are also within our organization. No way! I have no right! And I think everyone can see it.

Question: Do you not give preference even when you pass spiritual information to a person? You said that Rabash gave you so much light so that in the future you could use it and reveal it.

Answer: But I worked with him, studied, served him, did everything just to get this charge from him, this strength, this opportunity to somehow change myself.
[314253]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Laitman ‘s Favorites” 7/6/11

Related Material:
There Are No Differences Between The Students
Hear The Teacher
Who Is Closer To The Teacher?

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

Question: Walt Disney, a famous animator, considered his main work not cartoons, but the creation of the city of the future, which he was building in the last years of his life. If you decided to build such a city, what would it be like?

Answer: The kingdom of the good king, where the Creator would be the king, and people would live there according to His laws. They would come, take some kind of course, adapt to that life for a while, and then leave. That is, a kingdom in the form of a boarding house.

Question: What is a city from Kabbalah’s point of view?

Answer: A city is a limited space in which there are people who agree to exist according to a certain code of life.
[314036]
From KabTV’s “Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips” 5/18/23

Related Material:
Education in Future Society
The Concerns Of The Future Society
The Goal Of The Future Society

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is sin in one sentence?“

Sin is to think about yourself all the time, and not about others.

Based on KabTV’s “Blitz Of Kabbalah Tips” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on May 18, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are we made of?“

Creation consists of two forces: bestowal and reception, plus and minus.

These two forces exist in every person.

By connecting the adducting and rejecting forces between us, we discover them more powerfully and clearly, and we can then use them and incorporate in them.

The force of bestowal underwent a process of shattering within us.

Why? It is so that we would piece it back together and reach the perception and sensation of that very force. In the process, we play out our connection to each other similar to how children play with Lego.

Whatever we discover without the inner connection between us is called “this world,” i.e., the world we perceive and sense through our five senses, and which we process in our minds. That is how we perceive reality when we view ourselves detached from the force of bestowal and from each other.

When we start connecting to each other and to the force of bestowal as we had once existed before we shattered into our detached perceptions of reality, then the various views will incorporate and connect with one another.

We will then start discovering their integrality, a single and whole system with no division into galaxies, stars, planets, vegetation, animals and people—one system with a single force guiding it.

When we reveal this system in its entirety, we will then start feeling the thought that fills the world, reality, the universe and all the worlds. In the wisdom of Kabbalah, that thought is called “the thought of creation.”

Based on the video “What Are We Made Of?” with Kabalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Comment: Baal HaSulam’s book Shamati (I Heard) is written logically, beautifully, and understandable for a person. But this text seems to be encoded because it speaks about something slightly different than what is written in the book.

My Response: Yes, but a person can discover this code. It cannot be passed on secretly from one person to another. One who can understand, understands. One who does not understand cannot do anything about it.

Put a dog next to a Kabbalist, what will it understand? It must first attain the qualities of a human, and then turn from a human into a Kabbalist.

It all depends on us. While we read Shamati, we feel this text differently due to our corrections, not because something exists in the text, but because everything exists in a person.

Let’s say you have a musical score in front of you. If you have a musical instrument, you can play it. If you understand the notes, you can sing without an instrument. But if you do not have an understanding of what these symbols are, what can you do?

Therefore, a person who constantly reads Shamati reveals more and more information in it. There is a deeper code in this book than we imagine when we first read it. It describes the entire spiritual path of a person.
[314305]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Entire Spiritual Path of a Person” 7/9/11

Related Material:
Cursory Thoughts On Shamati, “What Is The Difference Between A Shade of Kedusha And A Shade Of Sitra Achra”
Shamati – The Most Valuable Book In the World
New Book – Shamati (I Heard)

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

Question: Why is music so much more sufficient than a visual picture? For example, if I do not see a person, but I hear what he is saying, I can understand him. Yet, if I do not hear, but I see that he is waving his arms, then I can only understand certain symbolism.

Answer: Hearing is the level of Bina, and sight is the level of Hochma. That is, sight and hearing cannot be connected with other sensations. These are already the channels through which, as it were, spiritual information is transmitted.

Through smells, tastes, and tactile sensations, you cannot convey internal, semantic information. This requires special codes. But through words, music, and especially through pictures, this can already be done.

It is like laser frequencies or high frequencies in radio engineering, through which you can transmit a huge amount of video and audio information. At low frequencies, however, only small packets of sound or some other information can be transmitted.

So here, from organ to organ, the possibility of transmitting semantic information increases.

Question: Is sound in any case more meaningful than sight?

Answer: No, 90% of information is perceived through sight, not by hearing, because sight is closer to direct perception than hearing.

We must hear the words, translate them inside ourselves into the language of pictures, because we perceive only them. We feel these pictures, which have moved from their sound format to semantic ones within us, and something happens to them.

The visual range, however, is immediately perceived by our desires in a sensory form. This is the difference between hearing and seeing, as between Bina and Hochma.

If someone speaks, I must listen, understand the words, build their semantic series in myself, translate this series into feelings, and so on. But if I see a picture, it immediately evokes feelings in me. There is no buffer in the form of a link of words.

You might ask, “How is this perceived with regard to the amount of information?” You can talk a lot about this topic, but, in principle, this already applies to psychology, and not to Kabbalah.
[314297]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Secret of Hearing and Vision” 6/27/11

Related Material:
Why Do We Perceive A Divided Reality?
A Kabbalist Is A Person Who Lives In Two Worlds
Transition To Spiritual Perception

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

Question: You say that you give us information and the rest is our work. What is the implementation of this information?

Answer: You must annul yourself before the teacher as much as possible in order to take his advice and instructions and follow them the way he tells you to in the group and in the study. That is it! Nothing else.

Additional work is dissemination. By disseminating the Kabbalistic methodology in the world, you receive from the world its desires, its emptiness, and thus you raise them. You are excited by the world and its striving forward and by the lack of its ability to be fulfilled.

That is, dissemination is also of great importance. But, in principle, the priorities are arranged as follows: the teacher, then the group, and together with the teacher and the group, study with books.

By correctly implementing this in yourself, you awaken the hidden force in nature that develops, corrects, creates, and animates everything—the force of bestowal and love called the Creator or light.
[314408]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. I am Giving You Everything!!!” 7/22/11

Related Material:
The Basic Principles For Success Along The Spiritual Path
There Is No Backstairs Way Up
The Missing Half Shekel

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