Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you gain from rising above the ego?“

You gain upper knowledge, sensation and attainment with which you acquire absolute fulfillment.

You then see the entire universe from one end to the other, indefinitely and integrally, and you feel and realize how interconnected everything is.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Pride” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on July 30, 2012. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is Passover important today?“

Kabbalists relate to Passover with utmost importance because it represents an exit from our egoistic nature, the desire to enjoy at the expense of others and nature, which separates us from sensing the eternal and whole reality in which we exist.

The exit from our narrow egoistic perception into one where we exist in a common positive connection is the start of the spiritual path. The more we develop, the more we feel our egoistic nature suffocating us, leading us to an increasing entanglement of problems and crises.

Why? It is in order to grow a new desire in us: to escape from our egoistic closure in order to move toward a new state of positive human connection.

In the language of Kabbalah, this shift is described as the restoration of the common vessel of Adam HaRishon, our return to one common soul in which we feel ourselves—all of humanity—as parts of one massive desire that is filled with an immense force of love and bestowal, which binds us together in complete harmony.

It is for that reason that Kabbalists consider Passover the most important of all holidays. The word for Passover in Hebrew, “Pesach,” means to “leap” (pasach). Making a leap means shifting from a state of egoistic reception to altruistic bestowal.

It is truly a special holiday when we exit our egoism and begin a fascinating journey into the spiritual world.

Preparing for Passover means preparing our desire to want to include everyone together as one, for everyone to fill our innermost desire, that our thoughts and aspirations would be aimed in a purely spiritual direction: to connect among each other and with the Creator—the force of love and bestowal that connects us.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on March 6, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do people relate to their reflection in others?“

We do not see other people but our own reflection in them.

Kabbalistic sources describe this phenomenon of our perception extensively, that we do not see others, but we see them in our perception, and what we see as their positive or negative traits or behaviors depends on our own habits, mentality and upbringing.

We do not perceive other people in and of themselves. Rather, we perceive them as correlations of themselves and ourselves.

The world is a reflection of your desire. Everything you see is your desire outside of you.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. I Am a Mirror for Others” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on September 6, 2012. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is English considered an international language?“

England once fought with Germany to spread their respective influences on American territory, and the German language was set to prevail at a certain point. If it did, then today we would very likely be in a world with German as the common international language.

But human development took a different turn.

Instead, the English branch of culture—which is not far from the German one, but which is more open—became the international one.

At that time, the Germans wished to overpower and enslave others by force. The British, however, planted their own culture and language, expanding in a completely different way.

The English had a softer and more preferable attitude to the world and to the discovery of new lands than the Germans, and English thus prevailed. Due to this difference in approaches, English is closer to being corrected as an international language than German.

Despite the prevalence and spread of German culture throughout Europe, we find that the German language is not used other than in Germany and some nearby countries.

Unlike our past development, however, today’s path to unification will not be through the expansion of nations and languages. Instead, our next form of unification is one that nature is forcing on us, where we become increasingly interconnected and interdependent worldwide.

We are now developing to a critical tipping point where we will need a new method of connecting to each other above nationalities and languages. Without upgrading our attitudes to each other—to positively connect above our differences and divisions—then we will feel our tightening global interdependence as a negative phenomenon that brings us more and more suffering.

I thus hope that we undergo this major transition to new positive, supportive, considerate and encouraging attitudes to each other above our differences sooner rather than later, and realize how much better, harmonious, joyful and peaceful our lives can be.

Based on KabTV’s “I Got a Call. English Language” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on June 2, 2012. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the difference between God and Nature?“

“It is best for us to agree and accept the words of the Kabbalists that ‘the nature’ (Heb. ‘HaTeva’ [‘הטבע’]) has the same numerical value as ‘God’ (Heb. ‘Elohim’ [‘אלהים’]—eighty-six. Then, I will be able to call the laws of God ‘nature’s commandments [Mitzvot],’ or vice-versa (God’s commandments [Mitzvot] by the name ‘nature’s laws’), for they are one and the same.” – Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Peace.”

There is nothing besides the system of nature, which Kabbalists equally refer to as “nature” or “God,” and we are integral parts of this system.

Therefore, when we say that there is one God, it means that there is nothing besides one force acting in this single system we are parts of.

The desire of the single force acting in reality is to bring us into connection with it—not via coercion, but through awareness in a positive manner.

As much as we understand, feel and attain this force as one that is good and benevolent, then we can adhere to it and reach its level of complete awareness.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson on March 13, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do some people find thrill-seeking activities such as bungee jumping or skydiving exciting rather than scary?“

Whether it is bungee jumping, skydiving, other extreme sports, thrill-seeking theme park rides and even scary movies, in such instances we want to feel the limit and how we breach it: that we reach a state beyond our capabilities.

We then enjoy the state. There is pleasure in exercising a certain level of control over fear.

The pleasure of having control over fear then becomes stronger than the instinct of fear that surfaces.

When fear dominates us, it feels like it penetrates every cell of our bodies, all the way to our bones’ marrow. That is why the pleasure we experience when we feel a certain level of control over fear is very powerful.

However, if we felt that our lives had a higher eternal purpose, and we set ourselves on a path to attain that purpose, we would then feel no need for these kinds of transient pleasures, no matter how strong they are.

We would also then not fear anything because we would see that we are controlled by the upper force, which wishes solely to develop us in order to benefit us with its eternal and perfect quality of love, bestowal and connection.

Based on the video “What Are You Afraid Of?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are you afraid of and why?“

I am afraid of nothing anymore.

In the past, I was afraid not having enough time to complete everything that I wanted to in life.

That passed a long time ago though.

What is there to fear? If we would see the truth, then we would have no fear of anything at all, because we would then see that we are in the hands of the good and benevolent upper force. Also, we would see that we have no control over our lives, and we thus have nothing to fear. In short, we have nothing to be afraid of.

Based on the video “What Are You Afraid Of?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do people change for the worse when they get older?“

I received this question from my student after he was touched by a story of a seven-year-old girl who placed parking tickets on cars’ windshields in her neighborhood, where she wrote “You parked very nicely!” with a heart-shaped drawing.

My student asked: Why do only kids come up with such sweet ideas?

Indeed, in many ways, kids are smarter than grownups, because when we grow up, we are under our ego’s control, and we thus do not see grownups doing such pleasant actions toward each other.

For the time being, this girl wishes to express her good inclination, but we can expect that when she grows up, her evil inclination—egoistic desires to benefit oneself at the expense of others—will also grow in her. Then, we can expect that she will start giving out other kinds of items that might favor some people and go against others. We could expect that she would mingle in the divisive atmosphere that permeates our society, with certain group identities opposing and competing against others, which leads to quite terrible outcomes.

Our salvation from this mess we find ourselves in today is that we raise the importance of connection above our divisions. Otherwise, we will finish ourselves off. We are ready to build our success against others, but not against our ego that resides within us—and that very ego will bury us.

We thus need to realize that there is something much more important in life than being right, that “love will cover all crimes.” If we direct ourselves at positively connecting with each other above everything else, then we will see how much better, more harmonious, peaceful and joyful our lives will become.

Based on the video “Do People Change for the Worse as They Get Older?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the biggest regret people have on their deathbed?“

A very common regret people have before death is in relation to what they did not do in their lives, for instance, the regret of working too much and not dedicating enough time to their family and friends.

Such moments, however, can also awaken feelings of gratitude—for one’s spouse, children and friends surrounding them in their last moments.

Indeed, why do people think of what is more important in life in their life’s closing moments?

It is because they are making their final calculation in life, and they see their inability to do any more good. They thus feel regretful. Then they think that they should simply forgive everyone and ask everyone for forgiveness, and conclude by asking the Creator for forgiveness due to their inability to correctly connect with Him.

While many people awaken with such thoughts in their life’s closing moments, we should exercise these thoughts throughout our lives, from the moment we gain some self-awareness. The end of this line of inquiry should awaken in us the question: “Do we find favor in the upper force?”

And how would we know whether or not we find favor in the upper force?

We would not know. But by asking ourselves time and again, we correct ourselves bit by bit.

Moreover, we should be grateful as much as possible to the Creator for everything we have endured. Gratitude is important because we do not truly know what is good or bad, and so we need to bless the bad as well as the good while trying to be good.

Based on the video “Why Do So Many People Feel Regretful Just Before Death?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does nature require of us all?“

I received this question from one of my students after the tragic Turkey-Syria earthquake, when dozens of thousands of people got killed, and hundreds of thousands were left homeless in the freezing cold with no food.

The student asked me what did people do to deserve such a blow from nature, and what does nature want from us all?

In short, we need to stop the way we live in a rat race, to calm ourselves down, and to do as nature wants. And, indeed, what does nature require of us all?

Nature needs us to be good to each other. In other words, nature wants us to be positively connected with each other with a good and kind desire.

The law of nature is that its parts need to interconnect in a harmonious and balanced manner. We humans are the only part in nature that interferes with its balance.

How? It is our egoistic nature, which makes us want to exploit others and nature for personal gain.

We thus need to correct the way we use our desires so that we do not try to harm others and nature for personal gain, but on the contrary, that we rise above our egoistic use of people and nature and positively connect.

We need to bring ourselves to a state of positive reciprocity and mutual connection. We would then see how our desire to bring peace among each other would bring us positive feedback from nature. We would then experience harmonious and peaceful lives, and nature would no longer send us various disasters and pandemics.

Based on the video “Turkey-Syria Earthquake: What Does Nature Want from Us?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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