Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Why is gratitude so powerful?“

Research has found that people who write a few sentences of gratitude for what they feel grateful for on a daily basis become more optimistic, energetic and happier. Also, they were found to be more generous toward others and suffered less from illnesses.

Indeed, gratitude has an immense positive effect, and we would be wise to do such actions on mass scales: that entire countries would take a break for a few minutes in the middle of the day or twice a day, and each person would write positively about others, about what they are grateful to others for.

In short, gratitude is of utmost importance. When we speak favorably about others, and hear positive statements that others tell us, we infuse our lives with a positive energy that makes life happier and brighter.

Based on the video “The Power of Gratitude” 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: “Could the Large Hadron Collider reveal the secrets of the universe?“

These expensive toys will not let us solve the universe’s deepest secrets, because they do not research in the same dimension as the force that controls the universe.

We do not find the force controlling us, the universe and nature through physical means. We find the force controlling us by making ourselves equal to it.

If we invert our egoistic nature to its opposite—altruism—then we equalize our nature with the source quality of the universe itself, and we would then better understand the universe.

The inner force of the universe, of nature, is called “the Creator” or “the upper force.” This force is a quality of love and bestowal. Equalizing our qualities with nature’s means applying such a quality to ourselves. We would then know the secrets of the universe, i.e. we would understand how nature thinks, its desires, thoughts and actions. It is written about such a state, “From Your actions we will know You.”

We do not need to accelerate particles to discover the secrets of the universe. What we need to accelerate are our own thoughts, desires and intentions toward each other, so that they would connect, and then in their collision—where we aim to love above the hatred, and to unite to each other above our divisive drives—then those tendencies would collide and connect. Then, we would see the universe’s secrets internally, emotionally and boundlessly between people.

Based on the video “Could the Large Hadron Collider Reveal the Secrets of the Universe?” 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 is the world becoming more godless?“

We live in times of ever-growing concealment from the upper force, which is why our world seems to be getting darker from one day to the next. That is, we increasingly find ourselves in wars, struggles and anxieties with no end to them in sight.

This is actually the revelation of the upper force, the Creator—but in a negative form. We can invert this revelation into its positive, but one way or another, the Creator is coming closer to us. It is like a big comet flying toward our planet from outer space and we get told that it will hit us in 20 years.

For the time being, we are in the dark, and this darkness is the lack of the correct revelation of the Creator. It is also a sign that the Creator is coming closer to us. The upper light wants to appear, but we do not let it, and we thus perceive an ever-expanding darkness sweeping over our world.

We need to invert this darkness into a great light. Doing so depends solely on human relations. If we change our relations—inverting our attitude to each other from divisive to united, hateful to loving, and prioritizing self-benefit to prioritizing the benefit of others—then everything that we feel as darkness will immediately invert to light. We will then experience a newfound harmony, peace and happiness—the likes of which we have never experienced before.

Based on the video “Why Is Darkness Abounding in Our World?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Will war ever stop?“

War will stop on one condition: that we will want to determine connection as being better than separation, and love as being more important than hatred.

In such a state, there will be no “mine and yours,” but everything will belong to all of us equally. While it could be argued that there were failed models of governing society in the past that exercised such a principle, it is not that those models themselves failed, rather the corrupt egoistic human nature is what failed.

We thus need to correct our egoistic human nature so that it would prioritize benefiting others over benefiting itself. That is possible by increasing the importance of connection and love over separation and hatred through our myriad social and educational influences.

When we correct human nature, then we will want to be together with everyone. By doing so, we will gain a sensation of boundlessness: we will stop being limited by our current limits of separating mine from yours, and perceive that we own everything. That is, the correction of our nature is a correction of how we perceive ourselves, others and the world around us, and we will likewise see an end to all war when such a correction takes effect.

Based on the video “Will There Ever Be an End to Wars and Struggles?” 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 do you think of the US-led air defense alliance with Israel and Arab countries?“

Such agreements are unreliable in the long term because lasting peace requires the Jewish people to first and foremost develop peace among each other.

Until we establish peace among each other, then these agreements are made on a fragile foundation, and we thus continue into the future with uncertainty and ongoing troubles. To the extent that we establish peace among each other, we enable peace in the rest of the world. And such peace has nothing to do with signing a few papers.

As is written in The Zohar, “No calamity comes to the world but for Israel.” We are to blame for all the wars, collisions and difficult situations in the world because we represent the nations of the world toward the single upper force. If we positively connect, then we will see calm, peace, goodness and tranquility throughout the world, and if not, then we can expect increasing problems and crises.

Therefore, we should first establish an “alliance” among each other: that we live with each other according to the condition, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The alliance we now entered—and all such agreements—hold positive effect solely in order to eventually bring us to the need to develop relations of “Love your neighbor as yourself,” by which we can secure for ourselves—the people of Israel, and then also humanity—peace and tranquility.

Based on the video “The US-Led Air Defense Alliance With Israel and Arab Countries – A Kabbalist’s Response” 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: “When should parents support their child, and when shouldn’t they?“

The support we receive from a young age builds us for life, so it is imperative that children receive support. However, together with the support, children need to understand that we give them support in order to progress them, i.e. that they have to realize themselves.

If we end up doing everything instead of the children, then if we later do not do something, they will feel insecure. Moreover, if we do everything instead of the children, then they will have no need for a sense of confidence, which ends up becoming detrimental to their development.

We thus need to support children in a way where they receive everything they need in order to realize themselves.

Based on the video “What Is the Best Way to Support Someone?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Filip Urban on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Do bacteria defend themselves against viral infections? If so, how?“

There is research showing how bacteria defend themselves against viruses. One of my students who was impressed by such research recently asked me how such tiny bacteria could be so smart in order to mobilize against various viral predators.

In terms of deeper processes at work in nature, such activity has nothing to do with their size, but the bacteria discover a common enemy that they are willing to cooperate against in order to stop it.

They share a certain intellect that makes them feel that there is a force working against them, threatening their existence, and they do the math to defend themselves from that force.

There are several examples of collaborations in nature, such as schools of fish or flocks of birds, where we can see that higher guiding intellect in action. We see how multiple individuals moving at fast speeds never collide and do not have any accidents, because they merely realize the orders upon them from that higher guiding intellect in nature.

However, in relation to us human beings, we have free choice, which is why we do not operate similarly to the still, vegetative and animate levels of nature that display such great feats of collaboration. Due to our free choice, we ourselves need to define how to direct ourselves according to the higher guiding mind in nature.

Contrary to the other levels of nature, we mostly fail to cooperate, because it counters the human ego that prioritizes its own interests over the interests of others. We thus need to reach what is called “the recognition of evil” of our egoistic nature, which detaches us from each other. We will then discover that there is a higher guiding intellect ready to guide us. Doing so requires freeing ourselves of our foolishness that we are the ones guiding ourselves. Simply put, we need to place ourselves in the control of the upper force and then we will succeed.

The higher guiding intellect in nature covers everything, and it gives our every result in life. It acts on us as it does all parts of nature, however we do not want to see its actions. In other words, we do not want to hand ourselves over to its control.

The higher guiding intellect, also called the “upper force,” in nature operates in order to connect everyone and everything. It is ultimately what mobilizes bacteria to defend themselves against viruses, and it synchronizes schools of fish, flocks of birds and so on. More generally, this force desires to build positive connections between all created beings on all levels.

If we wish to introduce this higher guiding intellect into our lives, then we need to place ourselves under the control of that force to guide and direct us in the positive direction that it wishes us to reach—a state of complete harmonious connection. Then, on our behalf, we express our desire to hand ourselves over to the higher guiding intellect in nature by developing positive connections among each other, or in simpler words, wishing to do good to everyone.

Based on the video “What’s Behind Bacteria Defending Themselves Against Viral Predators?” 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 the best ways for me to support someone?“

The best way to support someone is by dressing in them out of love. We need to make an image out of ourselves that the person in need would willingly accept and perceive positively.

There is a saying about this in the wisdom of Kabbalah: “Teach the boy according to the boy’s way.” That is, we need to dress in a certain image that would be closer to the person-in-need’s character, ideals and outlook on life, and we would then be able to establish a connection with them. Through such a process of connection, we would be able to provide them with the best support possible.

Based on the video “What Is the Best Way to Support Someone?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Dim Hou on Unsplash

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How does a good supportive connection work?“

A good supportive connection works when we share the good and the bad with others, and then we feel the burden from the good and the bad as more moderate and bearable. By doing so, we gain the strength to continue living. There is a saying that someone who visits an ill person takes a part of the illness upon themselves.

If we support each other, then we share an inner connection in our desires, because we are made of desire. If our desires are connected, we pass the fulfillment that exists in the desire to each other. A desire is like a vessel, and if we support each other, then it is as if we pour the fulfillment that exists in the desire into each other’s vessels. Whether the attitude is toward an illness, life, children or anything else, each person in a good supportive connection gains a mixed kind of fulfillment as a result, which gives us the strength to take more weight onto our shoulders.

Through such supportive relations, we integrate with each other, and include several people into our connection. We can then live our lives through others.

The one who gives support builds a copy of the other person in himself, which gives him the ability to grow. That is, the one who provides the support in such a connection finishes building himself on the current degree, and he can then rise to the next degree. He receives more importance in life and in what he does. He then has more strength to develop as a human being in the fullest sense of the term, i.e. as one who is positively connected to others and who feels not only his own individual life, but the life of a much wider circle of people connected together.

Based on the video “How a Good Supportive Connection Works” 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 people need support in their lives?“

The world operates according to forces that are outside of our perception and sensation. Reality is much broader, profound and complex than the way we are built to perceive it. Therefore, in relation to everything we do in our world, and in every one of our actions, we have to know where we are, what is going on, what we should do, and how we can secure a positive outcome from our actions. And it all comes down to somehow relying on others.

One way or another, we wish to know others’ opinions about us, whether it is our parents, our relatives, people who care about us, our teachers, wise people, doctors, and so on and so forth, up to a point where we turn to the Internet in order to absorb various sources of information. Accordingly, we then decide on our various actions.

We seek support because we wish to strengthen ourselves emotionally. We were created as social beings, and cannot survive on our own in the world. We are in constant need of an environment, a society. We have such inner feelings, desires and deficiencies that we can only fulfill if we truly connect with society.

Based on the video “Why Do People Need Support in Their Lives?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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