Entries in the 'Q&A' Category

The Difference between a Kabbalist, a Rabbi, and a Scientist

226Question: What is the difference between a lesson conducted by a Kabbalist and lessons by a rabbi or lectures of a professor?

Answer: A rabbi or a professor talk about our world. And the Kabbalist speaks about the next degree of man and how to ascend to it. That is the difference.

The Kabbalist brings revelation of the upper world to the world, and a professor and a rabbi simply bring knowledge.

Question: Based on what needs does a professor or a rabbi do this? What is their fuel?

Answer: Based on everything that governs a person: fame, power, knowledge, it doesn’t matter what.

Even that same professor (who is only interested in knowledge and wholeheartedly wants to pass it on to his students) has even more egoism because knowledge is higher than fame and power. Knowledge includes all previous degrees.

Therefore, it cannot be said that he has locked himself somewhere in a corner and does not need anything from the world. On the contrary, it is huge egoism.

And above this ego, there is egoism that arises in the Kabbalist, and he corrects it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Difference Between A Kabbalist And A Rabbi And A Scientist” 3/11/12

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“How would you become the best version of yourself?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “How would you become the best version of yourself?“

We can become the best versions of ourselves when we realize that we need to achieve love for one another.

When we reach a state of loving others, we exert our energy into that love, and we then want nothing for ourselves but only the ability to benefit, support and encourage people.

Realizing this ability means overcoming the egoistic force within us—human nature, our desire to enjoy at the expense of others—with the altruistic force of nature. With such an overcoming, we reach balance with nature.

The egoistic force remains within. It acts as a minus, and then the minus and plus—the altruistic force—function optimally in order for us to achieve our common goal: the unification of everyone and everything into a single whole.

Based on the video “Jewish Self-Realization” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

The General Opinion–The Consequence of the Influence of the Upper Force

530Question: What does it mean to come to one opinion during a workshop?

Answer: One opinion means that it is common, not personally mine, not personally yours, not personally someone else’s, but our common opinion. It is not the sum of our personal opinions. The common opinion is a consequence of the influence of the upper force between us.

There is no yours, mine, his, and others’ opinions! There is no addition of them! There is just a willingness for the upper opinion to come and become ours. It should in no way relate to us because by being at a certain degree, we want the upper opinion of the next degree to come, and we raise ourselves up to it.

Comment: I’m trying to do it, but as a result I realize that I can’t.

My Response: No, this is wrong!

If you try to do it well, normally, slowly, and calmly, then you will be able to feel at least a small result of your effort. After all, you are waiting for the upper force that will lift you up and give you a completely different thought, and a different desire–not your own, not others, but its own.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Lithuanian Experiment” 3/13/12

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Why Did the Nazis Hate the Jews?

293Question: Why did the Nazis pursue a policy directed against Jews?

Answer: The fact is that after the Weimar National Assembly, which adopted a constitution that equalized the rights of all the peoples of Germany, in particular Jews with Germans, it suddenly became clear that Jews occupied high positions in industry, science, and culture for several decades. According to the studies of political scientists and psychologists, this caused great envy and increased anti-Semitism.

Before that, everything was relatively quiet, although everyday, anti-Semitism has always existed because it is in the blood of mankind. This is the realization by the peoples of the world that the Jews have something secret, and supposedly they rule the world, they know something, they hide something.

Indeed, these people have a method of correcting the world. And now, when he offers it to everyone, no one wants to hear about it, because it is an anti-egoistic technique. But the feeling that the Jews have something is true. This attitude has always been with them.

After all, the main thing is the struggle for whose God is either yours or mine; it cannot be both is what Christians believed.

The Jews did not have this at all. God is the general force of nature. He is one!
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Why Did the Nazis Hate the Jews?”

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The Difference Between the 20th and 21st Centuries

235Question: What is the difference between the beginning of the 21st century and the beginning of the 2oth century, which was marked by the First World War and the need for changes in society?

Answer: At the beginning of the 2oth century, there was a fight for division, governance, and influence in the world. And today, at the beginning of the 21st century, there is a struggle for survival.

It is clear to everyone that it is impossible to rule the world, as it was thought before.

The world is governed by other forces, not ours, and we must comprehend them and enter them. The 21st century is the century of comprehension of the upper collective governance, the upper mind, and our common “I.”

Until the 2oth century, we developed in the search for knowledge, science, literature, and culture. The 2oth century is the century of integration when we were obliged to communicate with each other through mutual trade, separation–connection, war, and peace. People began to move, relocate, and understand that the world is round. They lost the sense of the flatness on which they live and developed a feeling of a sphere. This is very important and is the result of the 2oth century.

And then we began to experience huge problems with integration. It happened very quickly and imperceptibly because we are entering a state where changes occur much faster than we can realize with our feelings and mind. It turns out that today we are in a state that we do not understand at all.

There was a time when rulers would say, “It will be so,” and it was so. Then they would look at the world around them, consult their advisors, and say, “It is better to do this or that.” Today neither they nor their advisers understand anything. The time of kings has passed because it is impossible to follow whatever pops into the king’s and his advisers’ heads. Besides, there are no wise advisers left. So, we don’t know what to rely on and what to do with ourselves. That is the problem.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Difference between the 2oth and 21st Centuries” 2/11/12

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“Are the Jewish people still in exile?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “Are the Jewish people still in exile?“

Being Jewish means attaining the sensation of two contrasting forces in nature, the egoistic force, which is our human nature, and its opposite altruistic force, which is the force of nature itself.

The attainment of these two forces define the people who, first under Abraham, developed this feeling of reality. They became known as the people of Israel, and later, as the Jews.

At a certain point, around 2,000 years ago, they lost the sensation of the two forces and lived solely in the egoistic force. That is the meaning of being in exile.

Exile has no geographic connotations, i.e. leaving some geographic Land of Israel. It is rather a matter of an inner exile, that we lack the sensation of the altruistic nature—the quality of love, bestowal and connection—in our relations. When we departed from this sensation, we then entered our period of exile and ceased to exist as the people of Israel.

Based on the video “What Is the Exile of the Jews?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

The Body Strives for Stillness

281.01Question: In order for us to not lose the taste for spiritual work, you sometimes have to joke, then scold someone, or say something new so that people do not sleep. Why do we have such bluntness? Why do you constantly need to try to come up with something new?

Answer: Because the body (egoism) strives for constant calmness. What else can it strive for? According to its nature it only wants to be filled and unchanged. This is egoism! As soon as it does not have any feelings of emptiness, suffering, or shortcomings, then this is the state it wants to reach and stop.

Question: Students often come to this state, and they are stuck for a long time. Are they stopped by egoism or simply do not have the strength?

Answer: They do not get stuck, they move. Now they are moving much faster than before.

Naturally, a person starts from afar. When he comes to us he does not understand what, how, and for what. He can nod his head at you even though he does not understand anything. And while he begins to feel something and to understand, a couple of years pass.

This is our work! We all have to go through the same stages. We cannot jump over any of them! We can only speed up time. But it depends only on the person and the extent of his luck when he hears that he has to delve into the group.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Body Strives for Constant Rest” 3/11/12

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It Is Forbidden to Reveal the Soul

962.4Question: You said that you cannot open your soul, meaning, talk about what you are feeling right now. But all the same, a person speaks from what he feels. How can one work here? Where can you hurt yourself and others and where are you still protected?

Answer: You are not hurting anyone yet. We are not talking about these degrees. But in general, it is better to be silent. Why talk about what you are going through internally?

Comment: When something happens to another person, you, in general, if you have also passed this state, you can at least analyze how he feels. It is like a picture in which you most likely see your external states.

My Response: If you want to move forward normally, then there is a technique for this. There is nothing to be clever about, no one understands anything about it anyway. Take this technique and do exactly as it says.

If you do not want to advance, then go into philosophy. Do you want to test love with physics or biology with veterinary medicine? I do not know what and how, but this is nonsense. There is no point trying to compare the incomparable. You want to use the tools of this world—psychology or various other methods—to get into a world where you cannot enter with your feet.

But you do not have the qualities of that world to do this, and you strive without changing yourself and your qualities to get in there: “Maybe I will find something there, I will dig it out and I will have some kind of hocus-pocus in this world, I can manipulate something.” It will not work! Otherwise, all special services would already be “grazing” in Kabbalah.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. It is Forbidden to Reveal the Soul” 3/31/12

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“Is there a difference in the sensation of an anti-Semite from the Middle Ages and today?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: “Is there a difference in the sensation of an anti-Semite from the Middle Ages and today?“

Yes, there is. In the Middle Ages, people felt a much deeper dependence on the Jews than people today.

Today, we have medicine, chemistry, technology and other means by which we can use nature to our benefit. Humanity has accumulated much more knowledge, and many more people today engage in fields that Jews more typically occupied in the past.

However, the fact that Jews no longer uniquely hold certain positions and engagements in society does not lessen antisemitism in our times. On the contrary, antisemitism is rising and taking on a new evolutionary form.

The hatred of Jews in our era is not due to Jews’ disproportionate success in fields such as science, technology and medicine. It is rather due to a certain kind of force that the Jews possess: a hidden force that is rooted in what made Jews a united people in their establishment, a force capable of uniting humanity above all differences and divisions.

Before all the rationalizations of Jew hatred in our world today, there is a deeper feeling of hatred toward the Jews that antisemites themselves often cannot understand at its core: that as the Jewish people once united and became a conduit for the positive force of connection dwelling in nature to spread and cover human society, likewise today, the more people feel increasing troubles and dissatisfaction in their lives, the more they feel that Jews are somehow behind their problems.

Antisemitism today thus becomes sharper, subtler, more threatening and more global. If the Jewish people unite above their differences like they did when they first became the people of Israel, they become a conduit for the positive force dwelling in nature to spread and heal the world of its problems.

Therefore, antisemitism can be uprooted if we Jews start functioning according to what made us Jews to begin with: to start uniting above our differences, and by doing so, unclog a certain inner pipeline to human consciousness—to let the positive force of nature enter the world, and to let unity cover the growing differences and divisions in human society.

Based on the video “Antisemites in the Middle Ages Vs. Antisemites Today: Is There a Difference?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

From One Source

232.06Question: Is there always a confrontation of forces in the spiritual work?

Answer: No, it only seems that way to us so that we use these forces correctly. They come from the same source, but they do not agree yet within us, so their confrontation occurs only within us.

We need to treat them exactly the same way and correctly, rationally, and effectively use both the force of reception and the force of bestowal. There can be no love without hate.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Men’s Games” 4/2/12

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