Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does everything have an origin?“

Everything comes from nature, which is a quality that functions solely in a direction of bestowal and love. Those who discovered nature as a force of bestowal and love also called it “the Creator.”

We are created in an opposite form to the Creator. While the Creator is a quality of bestowal and love, we are made of a quality to receive for self-benefit alone. We thus perceive everything through a filter of whether and how we will self-benefit. This egoistic filter that makes us constantly calculate self-benefit over benefiting others and nature, which is the Creator’s quality, is the cause of our every misfortune and pain.

Therefore, in order to discover the force that resides in our origin, the Creator, we need its help to invert our intention from being constantly self-directed to being aimed at the benefit of others and nature, i.e. a direction similar to the quality of the Creator—one of bestowal and love.

Our desire to receive for self-benefit alone was given to us from the Creator because He wants us to receive absolutely everything, but on condition that we relate to the Creator in everything we receive, i.e. to intend toward others and to the Creator as the Creator intends toward us. Once we reach such an inversion of our intention—from reception to bestowal—we then enter into equivalence of form with the Creator and discover the final purpose for which we were all created: an existence of eternity and perfection through the intention to bestow and love, upon our innate desires to receive.

Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What qualities make a good politician?“

Before discussing the qualities that make a good politician, we need to understand that there is a higher force of nature determining and directing human development in order to guide us to aim for everything we think and do in connection with it. In the end, human connections will need to be glued together with the higher force of nature in order for human society to shift to a direction where we discover a new form of prosperity and happiness, perfectly adapted to our interconnected and interdependent world.

We thus need to place the attainment of the higher force of nature at the apex of human activity, i.e. at the heart of educational programs, decisions and laws. It should manifest on personal, family, social, state and global scales. By doing so, we will organize human society toward positive future progress, where we will discover the higher force of nature in our connections.

A good politician is thus one who aims to draw the higher force of nature into society, caring that connection-enriching education will fill society, and that people will gain the tools to positively connect and draw the higher force of nature into their lives. Good politicians will also not arouse hatred because they will be grateful to their opposition. They will use their opposition in order to show how correct their methodology is, because it will be the truth.

Based on the video “What Qualities Make a Good Politician?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What social framework should we develop for a better future?“

We are now entering a completely new framework in humanity, spanning families, towns, cities and nations. Today, nations have become replaced with a new kind of mixture, similar to how separate vegetables turn into a salad. This is especially visible in Europe. There is no framework like there was around thirty or forty years ago. For instance, you used to be able to visit a city and see the city’s character, and today it is no longer the case.

It is because we are currently going through serious changes where we will have to determine a new framework for our lives. We will first need to scrutinize what is the meaning of our lives, and accordingly build a new framework.

Toward such an end, we need to seriously ask ourselves: What is the meaning of life? What do we live for? In the past, we had a clear picture of why we lived. We lived in order to get married to a young spouse. We knew their family and they knew ours, and we started living together and building a home. We knew everything in advance. Today, it is far from the case.

If we want to enter certain professions, for instance, to become biologists or psychologists, then we know that we have to prepare ourselves, to go through university, to study from books related to those fields, and to take an interest in various biological or psychological works. We then invest ourselves for several years in such environments and grow into our professions, and we then perhaps also advance to a doctorate or other specializations. It is clear and laid out. But how many people are there in the world who follow the north star in such a way?

We need to determine our goal and build a plan for how to reach it. Society is a key factor in realizing such a plan. In the past, we had societies that supported us. Today, we also need a society that supports such goals. We can understand the need for a supportive society from our professions. We cannot achieve anything if we remain by ourselves, because we are then like animals, and unless we are like animals in the wild that have their own instinctual frameworks, then we are lost.

Based on the video “What Social Framework Should We Develop for a Better Future?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it natural for a person to live in frameworks?“

It is natural for us to live in frameworks because we emerged from the animate level of nature, where there is a very clear framework.

The animate level has a clear framework of instincts: everything in the animate being’s existence, from its turf to its family, is organized in a strict and organized manner, with as little changes as possible.

If we look at the primitive lives of prehistoric people, their frameworks were also very clear. They had also invented various cultures, beliefs and ways of organizing society. It was in order to keep people organized exactly according to their role, status and age in society. Everything was arranged so that people would feel their frameworks without being able to come out of them.

There were clear definitions for masters and slaves, clothing, food, the daily routine, and for the children and grandchildren over generations. Nobody acted outside of their frameworks. We see such an approach in all cultures throughout history.

Based on the video “Is it Natural for People to Live in Frameworks?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is a crime?“

Defining crime is very problematic. In Russian, there is a saying: “Show me a person and I’ll pin a crime on them,” i.e. it is easy to prove, in a serious manner, that anyone is a criminal.

We are all criminals because we make the laws of our society and culture. We set the boundaries. That is, certain people decide on a law, and they think one way or another. At the same time, several people might disagree with that particular law, which goes to show that the laws that we make are not accepted by everyone. This makes defining crime very questionable and problematic.

Are the crimes we define really crimes then? We legislate certain laws and whoever disobeys those laws is defined as a criminal. The problem here is the basis of the very laws we set. Do they come from nature—that we have to obey them because we exist within nature’s boundaries, and we thus have to obey them in order to protect nature, human society, families, and so on, and for this entire system of nature and humanity that we live in to protect us? Or do the laws come from self-interested people who place their own well-being over the well-being of society and nature?

Based on the video “What Is a Crime?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Nitzah Mazoz. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why are gang members so attached with other gang members?“

Gang members are often very tightly connected and have a feeling of devotion to each other, up to a point where they are willing to die for each other. They share a common pride, that what they are doing is just.

What is special about such a connection is their devotion to each other, i.e. a feeling that no one will sell the other out. Gang members could even go as far as getting killed in order to not sell out other gang members.

They share a feeling of a mutual guarantee, that their gang members stand behind each other, that they are parts of a big family willing to go to any lengths in order to get them out of any situation, from collecting money through to breaking them out of jail. Such a connection gives gang members a feeling of warmth, closeness, pride and meaning.

On the other hand, gangs fall short on the point that they are based on group egoism, an “us vs. them” approach that favors its own members and pits themselves up against others. Couple that with criminal activity that aims to benefit the gang through harming others, and it becomes a formula that frequently leads to tragedy.

We should, however, aspire to reach a connection of mutual guarantee in human society where we each look out for one another, not at the expense of others, and with no intent to harm others, but on the contrary—to benefit others over benefiting ourselves. In other words, we should aspire to all belong to one single gang—the humanity gang. If connection-enriching education, upbringing and social and media influences filled our society, then we would be on course to realizing these kinds of upgraded connections.

Based on the video “Why Gang Members Are So Attached to Each Other” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Tim Marshall on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “When do we consider that a person is criminal?“

Until we completely correct our ego, where we can position ourselves to the benefit of society—which is already a degree like we never saw before anywhere in this world—then we are always criminals of sorts.

We are criminals from birth. It is because we are each born with our ego, and so we each wish to benefit ourselves, and besides benefiting ourselves, we might also feel good by harming others, because we measure ourselves in relation to others.

Criminals, in essence, are those who breach “Love your neighbor as yourself,” which is the general law of reality, and a crime is wishing to harm others for the sake of self-benefit. In short, we benefit by feeling better off than others, either by acquiring money or other possessions, or by obtaining some form of honor or control from the crime.

Based on the video “When Do We Consider That a Person Is Criminal?” 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: “Why do we distract ourselves?“

The question about the meaning of our lives constantly lurks underneath everything we do in life, and we distract ourselves in myriad ways in order to avoid this very question.

Around a century ago and earlier, we had much clearer lives. We knew that we had our homes, our parents, our villages and our towns. Our spouse was most often someone nearby, and we knew that our children would grow up where we lived. In general, our lives were clear, well defined and simple, almost animal-like. We did not encounter much uncertainty or insecurity.

Today, on a psychological level, we are torn apart with questions about the universe, life, our own psychology and behavior. Our lives have become turbulent, filled with uncertainty and insecurity, and inner turmoil is running rampant.

Our era is forcing us to understand what we never encountered in the past: the overall picture of the world. And we will find no rest until we realize, understand, connect with, and perhaps even control the whole picture of the world at least to some extent.

Since we avoid facing the question about the meaning of our lives head on—”Why are we alive?” “What are we doing here?”—due to the uncertainty and insecurity it makes us feel, then we do anything possible to distract ourselves from it and its connected negative sensations.

Distractions take on a number of forms: drugs, work, shopping, food, art, music, entertainment, browsing the Internet, going on vacations, traveling the world, sports, engaging in hobbies of all kinds, building and making things—whatever we can possibly do in order to escape from the prison of our world.

Everything we do acts as an antidepressant of sorts. It is all an escape from life’s most fundamental question: “What is the meaning of life?” If we have no answer to it, then we engage in anything we deem as important. Distractions save us from this question and its connected uncertainty and insecurity.

Nevertheless, however, the question about the meaning of life haunts us. It smacks us from behind in all kinds of situations until we will wake up and start actively inquiring about it. Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam) writes about this process in the beginning of his article “Introduction to The Study of the Ten Sefirot.”

Indeed, if we set our hearts to answer but one very famous question, I am certain that all these questions and doubts will vanish from the horizon, and you will look unto their place to find them gone. This indignant question is a question that the whole world asks, namely, “What is the meaning of life?” In other words, these numbered years of our life that cost us so heavily, and the numerous pains and torments that we suffer for them, to complete them to the fullest, who is it who enjoys them? Or even more precisely, whom do I delight?

It is indeed true that historians have grown weary contemplating it, and particularly in our generation. No one even wishes to consider it. Yet the question stands as bitterly and as vehemently as ever. Sometimes it meets us uninvited, pecks at our minds and humiliates us to the ground before we find the famous ploy of flowing mindlessly in the currents of life as always.

While we might be able to temporarily distract ourselves from asking about the meaning of our lives, that very question will continually chase us until we start facing it. We will have to figure it out. It is not in vain that it surfaces in every person. When it arises, we either successfully forget about it through the many distractions that we have created for ourselves, or we face it and seek its resolution.

If we start facing the question about the meaning of life, questioning why we do, think and feel everything that we do, think and feel, then every moment of our lives will become filled with a higher meaning.

Based on the video “Why We Distract Ourselves from Life’s Most Important Question” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Should I try to boost my ego or keep it in check?“

We should know the final goal that we are destined to reach, and that the ego develops within us in order to reach that goal. However, it develops within us in order for us to make correct use of it, and then we can consciously progress toward the final goal that is in front of us. In other words, we need to understand and inquire about the purpose of creation.

What is the purpose of creation? It is for us to resemble nature on the level in which the ego is in control, because the ego actually brings us out of nature’s still, vegetative and animate levels. It makes something very strange out of us where, on one hand, we control nature, and on the other hand, we depend on nature.

Here we have a problem. What were we given such a big ego for? On one hand, the ego is supposed to elevate us above everyone. On the other hand, we see that the ego’s development leads us to the lowest and most ignoble states.

At such a juncture comes the wisdom of Kabbalah that explains how we should use the will to receive, the ego, in a very special way. On one hand, we feel a desire to suppress and control everyone, but on the other hand, we have to work on it the other way around where we suppress and control ourselves.

We then see this ego as a help toward the higher state to which we aspire. It is as if it wants to put us to death, to push us into struggles and to control everyone. We see that it is bad for us and so we take it and control ourselves. This control over our ego elevates us above our ego and ties us to nature. We then reach a state where we truly become superior masters, like nature itself, by wanting to control the ego. We even become greater than how nature created us, because nature created us in an ego, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination,” and we rise above the ego to a higher degree, that of nature itself—the force that created the ego.

Here, we are discussing the ego as the force of reception and separation, a force that makes us wish to enjoy ourselves at the expense of others; and we describe nature as the limitless force of love, bestowal and connection. So when we discuss rising above the ego to a higher degree, we are talking about how we become similar to the altruistic force of nature. Doing so leads us to host a combination of these two forces within us, the natural egoistic force and the higher force of nature, which we develop above it. We then reach a vision of the world from one end to the other—seeing and feeling everything, and that we control everything in the direction of benefiting all people and nature.

Based on the video “How to Navigate a Big Ego” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is the world deteriorating?“

The world is starting to understand where it is. We are starting to agree with the fact that the future will be no better than it is today, and the next generation will be far worse off than we are.

We have passed our peak period of corporeal progress, and we are currently in a withdrawal period with nothing good waiting for us in the future.

We will thus bear witness to more and more negative phenomena across the board, such as rising depression, loneliness, anxiety, stress, drug abuse, suicide rates and a general atmosphere of despair.

Today, it has become more and more commonplace to look at our children and think, “What a shame that they were born! Look at the kind of world they are growing up into! What kind of world are we leaving for them!?” We thus need to learn what lies ahead for us, and to do so very quickly.

Kabbalists wrote about the major transition period our world has entered a long time ago, and described the comprehensive solution for how we can improve our lives: a method for positively connecting with each other above our growing egoistic and divisive drives.

Therefore, the world is deteriorating in order to show us that the current way we live our lives—in increasing inner detachment from one another—leads us to nothing good, and that changing direction to a positive course depends solely on breaking down the walls between us. By connecting to each other, we will discover a better future.

Based on the video “Why the World Is Deteriorating” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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