Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why do we compare ourselves with anyone?“

We are made of a desire to enjoy, which enjoys at the expense of others. This is our human ego, and it gives us a sense of self by comparing ourselves with others. When we compare ourselves to others, we separate ourselves from them, and wish to be superior—to control and suppress them in various ways.

Such an inclination does not exist on the still, vegetative and animate degrees of nature, but only at the human level. Physically, we exist on the animate level, but our inner desire and inclination belongs to a higher degree called the “human” or “speaking.” At such a level, we wish to swallow the whole world.

Rocks, plants and animals, i.e. the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature, have no such desire to make others bow down to their commands as we humans do. We are the only ones who have such a problem. We waste our lives on it, wanting to fulfill this inclination and desire, and nature compels us to do so.

If we would not compare ourselves, then we would not feel as if we exist. We would feel like any animal, which lives in the moment and has no additional desires. We, however, contain a higher degree called “the evil inclination,” the human ego that compares itself to others and that desires its superiority. On one hand, it is called “evil,” but on the other hand, it pushes humanity to progress and try out different things—to realize that desire. We feel that we have to realize it otherwise we feel nonexistent.

Based on the video “Why Do We Compare Ourselves?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Nitzah Mazoz. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “I want to change myself. What should I do?“

If we understand that the most important aspect of our lives is to be with people who understand, help, love and appreciate us, then we need to cherish such an attitude as much as possible.

By doing so, we sacrifice our “I” that always demands to suit itself, and we enter into an approach of wanting to learn how to love others. If the ones we try to love also have the same goal, then we can unlock a truly remarkable mutual feeling.

The approach of learning to love should radiate over everything we do, and it needs to be nurtured. However, unfortunately, such education does not exist in society at large. Moreover, when we age and understand such a need, we no longer have the strength to realize it. That is why it is impossible to convey such an approach to the younger generation. They disregard us, and although we might try, we cannot get closer to them.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to permeate the learning of how to love as much as possible into literature, schools, the media, entertainment—that society becomes saturated with connection-enriching learning. It will then become possible to achieve love for one another.

Based on the video “How to Change Myself [And Not Try Change Others to Suit Myself]” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the basis for negative emotions?“

We should first understand that negative emotions surface in order to change us and bring us to a more positive state. Similar to diseases, they are signs that something is wrong. For instance, if my foot hurts, it is not that there is a problem with the foot, but it shows me that there is a certain problem that I have to take care of. I thus have to delve into the depth of the problem and take care of it.

Therefore, negative emotions tell us that there is something wrong in ourselves, our families, society, and our relationships. Today, we cloud our negative emotions with leisure of all sorts. Whether it is travel, sports, entertainment, getting drunk, taking drugs or going out to various clubs, negative emotions have become so strong that there is a great need in people to forget about and suppress them, and so leisure has become a much-sought-out solution.

The fact that we turn to forgetting about and suppressing our negative emotions so much shows that we fail to understand the root cause of the problem. Negative emotions are symptoms of a deeper problem that we need to accurately diagnose in order to heal ourselves of them.

The root cause of negative emotions is in fact the root cause of all problems on individual, social and global scales, and between the person and the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature. From the tiniest problem to the worst possible disaster, our every problem is sourced in our very egoistic nature, where we wish to benefit ourselves at the expense of others and nature.

The more we evolve, the more our egos grow, and thus the more we experience outbursts of all kinds of problems. This is why we feel much more negative emotions today than in the past, and we can see such phenomena in the rising cases of depression, loneliness, anxiety, stress, drug abuse and suicide worldwide. Eventually, we will reach a state where the increasing negative emotions we experience will make us ask about their deeper cause, and we will increasingly recognize our very egoistic human nature as their base cause.

The problem with our egoistic nature is not that we want to enjoy ourselves. It is that we want to enjoy ourselves at the expense of others, and by doing so, we harm others and only then feel that we gain. Until we correct our egoism, switching the desire to enjoy at the expense of others to a desire that enjoys by benefiting others—a process that we can implement if we upgrade the way in which we educate and influence each other—then we will experience more and more negative emotions and other problems in order to show us that we are failing to conduct ourselves correctly and that desperate need to change.

Based on the video “Why Do We Have Negative Emotions?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Nitzah Mazoz. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the human ego?“

It is a key law of nature that any existing body—still, vegetative or animate—desires to sustain and protect its existence. That is not considered ego. It can be called the desire to live and to exist.

The human ego begins where we desire to harm others. It is not that we prefer our own existence over the existence of others, which happens also in the animal world, but that we want to harm others without justification. Animals, for instance, kill each other for survival purposes, and feel that nature forces them to kill and to eat other animals. However, if nature does not give an animal such an urge, then it does not kill. If a lion is not hungry, then you could walk past it, and it might not even look your way. It would simply mind its own business.

The still, vegetative and animate levels of nature have no inner program that operates in order to harm others. They derive no enjoyment from suppressing others. They harm others only for their needs of feeding themselves and their offspring, surviving and growing. Therefore, the nature in animals is not an ego. It is not an evil inclination, but just a desire.

In the wisdom of Kabbalah, the human ego is called “evil inclination” because it exists only in the human being. It makes us enjoy from harming, suppressing, subordinating and controlling others. The ego is considered evil because of how it enjoys from intentionally harming others, beyond the need for mere survival necessities, as is the case with animals.

In short, we have base survival desires, which are not considered the human ego. The ego begins where we wish to feel pleasure by harming others.

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

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are disadvantages of marrying your first love?“

Marrying our first love does not guarantee a good marriage.

We usually encounter several mistakes, breakages, arguments and perhaps also divorces, and only later, at an age closer to the end rather than the beginning, do we perhaps meet someone and start appreciating the marital connection.

People usually change since the time they had their first love. Their ideas of connection, closeness and relationships become totally different.

We need to go through hard times, ups and downs, the destruction of previous states that we lived through, and we can then cherish our relationships.

In short, after we meet, we need to learn a lot about ourselves, go through alternating positive and negative experiences and encounter states of desperation in the process, and then we understand how to build a life where we strive solely for positive relations. We need to accumulate an arsenal of various negative sensations and states, and only afterward can we avoid them. It is like storing weapons for a period, entering into a war, and then casting the weapons aside after the war.

As it is with partners, so it is with humanity in general. Humanity is now accumulating various weapons, and then it will understand they need to be cast aside. All wars take place for this purpose.

There can be no good without the recognition of evil, whether in our individual lives, between couples, or in the world in general.

Therefore, the advice for young couples is to have very long and nagging conversations with each other, where each partner spills out everything that they think about their partner, like two researchers, and gradually, little by little, they will be able to reach a state where they will mutually explore themselves and one another.

Life then becomes interesting. It turns into research of how can we can improve our relationships from one day to the next, how to change them in order to continually come closer together, and we regularly try to discover each other’s qualities, feelings and the relationship in general as vibrantly as possible.

For the time being, such relationships take a long time to build, say about fifty or sixty years, but the time will come when all people will live in such a way. Until then, we need to encourage young couples and people in general to go through a form of education that teaches and encourages them to treat relationships similarly to a research lab, where we can constantly seek how to improve our relationships, changing ourselves in order to get closer and more positively connected to each other above all forms of destruction that can emerge in our lives. It is indeed possible and doable, and the more such connection-enriching learning spreads throughout human society, the quicker and easier we will all be able to progress through all negative states with more awareness and understanding.

Based on the video “Does Marrying Your First Love Guarantee a Good Marriage?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

Filed under: Man and Woman, Marriage, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the causes of monkeypox?“

Not just monkeypox, but all kinds of diseases emerge internally from within humanity as a result of our overblown egocentric desire.

The more we evolve, the more the human ego grows, and the coarser the ego we live in, the greater problems we bring upon ourselves. They emerge from the depths of nature; our very own nature. In other words, if we fail to work out how to regulate our overblown egos, then we continually use them and bear witness to new diseases and misfortunes that surface.

Likewise, if the ego continues growing unabated, we will unleash more and more negative phenomena that we will be unable to handle. It is like we hold Pandora’s box within us, and we either let all kinds of problems run rampant from it, or we learn how to retrain it, correct it, and stop it from breaking out of its depths.

As the cause of all kinds of diseases and misfortunes is within us, so too the solution depends on us. We need to learn how to conduct human relations in ways that will not let the ego surface. By definition, the human ego is a force that prioritizes self-benefit over benefiting others, and which enjoys from being more well-off than others. It is the essence of nature, and all problems we encounter in our lives—from diseases through to problems in our relationships, finances and the ecology—swirl around it. The more we use the ego in an unrestricted manner, the greater the problems we bring upon ourselves on all scales: biological, physical and social. It thus makes sense that such nascent ailments as monkeypox materialize, and we can expect worse ones to come about.

Therefore, if we wish to discuss the root cause of monkeypox, then it is none other than the human ego. With our regular means in our world, we never reach such a realization because it runs against the same nature. Instead, we spend truckloads of money on research, technologies and medicines, and all we ever reach are Band-Aid solutions, at best. Eventually, we will have no choice but to work against our own egoistic nature. That is the antidote to all diseases and other problems on every level.

We should thus continually raise awareness of the cause of our every disease and problem as rooted in the overblown human ego, and their comprehensive solution in the ego’s correction, via educational means. The more such awareness spreads throughout humanity, the more we will find our lives change trajectory to a positive course, becoming filled with harmony, peace, balance and good health.

Based on the video “What Is the Cause of Monkeypox?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Should great teachers be rewarded?“

I think it is incorrect to involve other calculations in teaching.

It is one thing for students to grade their teachers as a means of developing the students, but not that the teachers receive any public excellence rewards for their teaching. Doing so has nothing to do with being a good teacher.

A good teacher is one who can positively connect the students in their class, guiding their students correctly so that they can grow together.

Based on the video “Should Good Teachers Get Monetary Excellence Rewards?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do Israeli Jews rely on American Jews to advocate for them?“

Most American Jews feel no connection to Israel. Even if they talk about it, it does not come from the heart. They do not feel it. We do not feel ourselves as belonging to one another.

To begin with, we come from the 70 nations of the world. We were the most egoistic people from the nations of the world, the ones who connected back in the times of ancient Babylon. We were immersed in a common hatred, and we then listened to Abraham’s guidance who guided us to unite above our divisions. By doing so, we became known as “the people of Israel,” and later as “the Jewish people” (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]). Today, too, if we unite above our divisions, we will save ourselves from a terrible life worse than death.

Only calamities remind us that we share a brotherly connection. The hatred of the nations of the world toward the Jews can connect us Jews with each other. If we fail to connect, then we will die. It is a law of nature.

Such a connection needs to begin in Israel. What else are we here for? If we start our process of unification above our differences here in Israel, then our stronger connection here will influence our relationship with Jews in the United States, and also with humanity in general.

Thanks to the rising antisemitic climate around the world, we will increasingly find no rest and scurry to seek a solution to the rising hatred against us. And the solution is in our unity.

Based on the video “Do Israeli Jews Rely on American Jews to Advocate for Them?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you think of the Diderot effect?“

After living a life of poverty and not caring much about material wealth, Denis Diderot received a fancy new red scarlet satin robe as a gift. Afterward, he noticed that his chair was just an old straw chair, and changed it to a beautiful new leather one; and he then also spotted that his desk was shabby, and replaced it with a large gorgeous table. Eventually, Diderot fell into debt over the fulfillment of his newly-discovered material desires, and he wrote that where he was once the absolute master of his old robe, he became the slave of his new one.

Generally speaking, he was right—that we would be better off living in our “old robes.” There is nothing wrong with living our lives without investing energy into materialistic acquisitions.

We need to have everything in order to comfortably pursue our goals, but beyond meeting those basic needs, we should make sure not to become slaves to our possessions or to the changing times we live in. Why should we work for new robes, chairs and desks, i.e. for material possessions? We would be better off to not waste our lives in such a way, and stay in our “old robes,” so to speak, while taking care of ourselves.

In such a context, “taking care of ourselves” means doing what we deem as important, and not what our surrounding society projects to us as important. We should never fall into such traps as valuing surplus materialistic acquisitions.

We should instead focus on our goal at the basic human development stage that is called “the animate level” within us, i.e. to not follow any goals and habits that society projects onto us, but to live for ourselves. Choose a goal and live for it. People need to validate their paths; to direct and shape them in ways that bring no harm to anyone, including themselves.

Based on the video “The Diderot Effect – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are your thoughts on freedom of speech?“

There is no freedom in our world, and while our world exists in its current form—running on a motor of human egoism, where we each aim at benefiting ourselves at the expense of others—then we can expect no freedom.

Freedom of speech, the way we currently understand it, is that we let everyone take to the streets, so to speak, and yell whatever they want. Everyone yells and no one listens to or understands one another. If it is genuine freedom of speech in such a form, then no one listens to anyone else because everyone only focuses on what they yell. In other words, we currently define freedom of speech as everyone’s opportunity to yell whatever anyone wants.

I see freedom of speech differently—as the freedom to remain silent. It is much more beneficial for us to keep our mouths shut. Instead of pressuring, influencing, coercing and deceiving each other, we would do ourselves a much bigger favor by staying silent.

If our current media would freeze and enter into a new mode of stillness, then we would start feeling our own selves. Instead of pressure coming at us from all directions, we would instead start feeling questions such as “Who am I?” “What am I?” “What do I live for?” and “What do I truly want?” We would discover that we each want to say something, but we would think hard about what we want to say, what others expect of us, and what we should ideally convey to other people. In other words, we would discover that we really have no freedom of speech.

True freedom of speech is when we have the most important, sacred and beneficial information to bring people. It is a speech of the heart, where we open up our hearts so that we understand each other without words.

We need to reach a state where we peel off the egoistic crust that has accumulated over our hearts, open our hearts, aim them at positive human connection, and enter into a common heartbeat of the entire planet. We do not need to pay billions of dollars, like Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter, for freedom of speech. Instead, we need to live and breathe the inclination to open our hearts.

Based on the video “What Is Freedom of Speech for a Kabbalist?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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