Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How can humans rise above their animal nature?“

There are three key steps involved in humans rising above the animal nature:

1. Acknowledge that “love your neighbor as yourself” is the comprehensive law of nature that we have to achieve, and nature will make us reach it one way or another, i.e. either through our own conscious participation, where we progress to that law pleasurably and with ever-growing awareness, perception and sensation; or without our conscious participation, where increasing suffering will prod us to acknowledge this law.
2. We have to examine the extent to which our nature is opposite to the law of nature. It is written about our nature that “man’s inclination is evil from his youth.” In other words, our animal nature initially takes no one but itself into consideration, and such a quality is evil. It is evil specifically because it leads us to enjoy from harming others. Enjoyment from harming others is a quality specific to the animal nature in people, and it should not be confused with the nature in animals, where some animals harm other animals solely out of survival necessity. With us, however, beyond our survival necessities for food, sex, family and shelter, our animal nature further develops us by making us want what others have—to receive, buy and even steal from them—up to a point where we enjoy harming them without there being any other kind of benefit in it for ourselves. In other words, our animal nature develops to a point where we might not need anything that others have, but we enjoy stripping them away from what they have.
3. We then go through different forms of recognition of evil, i.e. understanding different magnitudes of the evil in our animal nature. That is, the second stage is mere knowledge of our animal nature’s oppositeness to nature. We can have knowledge of such a quality yet still enjoy being evil. The recognition of evil is a more developed stage where we understand and feel that our evil animal nature actually harms us, the very person that it resides in, and to the extent in which we gain such a recognition, we correct this animal nature—we start the process of rising above it to reach the higher nature of love, bestowal and connection. This is called a process of “correction” of our nature, and there is a specific method that guides this correction process up to the full attainment of nature’s law, i.e. fully rising above our animal nature and becoming human—a being with an intention similar to nature’s law of love, bestowal and connection.

Based on the video “How Humans Can Rise Above Their Animal Nature [in 3 Steps]” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Yael Leshed-Harel and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Pablo Soriano on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What are the Third Commandment prohibitions?“

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, prohibition equates to impossibility.

Accordingly, the third commandment—”You shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”—means that we cannot reproduce the name of the Creator because doing so requires making ourselves similar to the Creator. In other words, it is impossible to reach a perception and sensation of the Creator if not through exercising His quality through connections with other people.

How does this work? It is because our inborn nature is egoistic, a desire to benefit oneself alone, and the Creator’s quality is the opposite, one of love and giving. It is thus only possible to reveal the Creator if we invert our inborn egoistic quality to one of love and giving, similar to the Creator.

Since the Creator is concealed from our inborn egoistic nature, then we cannot establish a direct connection to the Creator by ourselves; we would be dabbling in fantasy and imagination. We thus need to exercise the quality of love and giving in connection with other people, where we can more tangibly examine and work on our attitude.

Based on the video “Spiritual States” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Michael Sanilevich on June 7, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How will society improve in the future?“

Society will improve in the future by becoming the happiest and most perfect society ever, where positive connection, love, mutual responsibility and unity become the sole criteria for humanity to live in total harmony, peace and joy.

We could imagine the future state of human society as a family, where we all mutually wish to make each other happy, helping each other wherever possible, raising each other’s spirits, and likewise our systems would function to help us receive whatever we need in order to reach balance among each other and with nature.

The laws operating in a loving family are the exact same laws that we now break as a society—laws of a single, integral and perfect system—which is the reason we feel society filled with myriad problems and crises. By making moves to implement laws of a single, integral and perfect system in our social connections, we draw positive forces dwelling in nature upon ourselves, which let us observe such laws, and which also start filling us with a sensation of harmony and perfection.

Based on the video “Kabbalah Express” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Israel Shimshon on June 24, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How important is education?“

First of all, what is education? Education means any kind of environmental influence on us—any one of us, and any kind of influence, anything that we absorb. It could be natural phenomena, animals, a forest where we live, or the ocean. It could be society or several societies that we mingle with throughout the day. Everything that we absorb from outside of us influences and changes us. That is the general meaning of the term “education.”

We are constantly receiving an education. We are enveloped in an atmosphere and an environment that educates us, whether intentionally or otherwise, and each day is new. Therefore, if we are discussing education, we have to precisely discern whether our influences are intentionally directed at us, at each and every person—that we shape them a certain way—or whether the influence is unintentional and seemingly random.

We then also need to examine the kinds of environmental and social influences we receive on a daily basis, and the kind of societies we belong to. The examination and choice of our environmental and social influences is crucial to how we advance in our lives, but we also have to know how society influences us, because otherwise we do not know where we currently are and where will we end up.

We have to see our future and the future of humanity, or an entire society in a certain country, as the outcome of our impressions in life. If such impressions are intentionally directed at us, and they influence our thoughts, values and behaviors, then we have to take that into consideration. It is like parents who want their children to be free from influences of crime, drugs and other negative phenomena. As it is obvious with parents toward their children, so it is with adults, too. Also, our social influences include what we absorb on the Internet, the television, movies, the radio, and other such media. Everything influences us, so we have to reexamine the environment and the values that we find ourselves in, and check whether our influences are positive or negative, and what kind of environmental and social influences—i.e. what kind of education—we would need in order to guide our development to a harmonious and peaceful state.

I discuss such an educational method in several other places and if you are interested, I recommend following the links in my Quora bio for more info on it.

Based on the video “What Is Education and How Important Is Education?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Yael Leshed-Harel and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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

Human is the highest of four levels in nature, the still, vegetative, animate and human. In fact, there is no form of a human in nature itself, there is only the still, vegetative and animate, and the human level emerges as a result of our undergoing a special kind of education that elevates us to such a level.

When we look around at humanity, can we say that it is full of people who live at the human or at the animate level of nature? Here, we need a clear definition of the two levels.

There are people in this corporeal world who know how to behave with each other in a cultured and civilized manner, i.e. in ways that do not harm others. Perhaps they did not even go to school, but they have a certain kind of inner intelligence that guides their behavior. On the contrary, we might also see somebody who graduated from Harvard University, but who acts like an animal. Therefore, we need to understand the difference between the two levels, human and animate.

The wisdom of Kabbalah differentiates two-legged creatures into “human” and “animal.” An animal means one who has the same image as a human, but who desires to fulfill the inborn egoistic desire with food, sex, family, money, honor, control and knowledge. That is, we could fulfill ourselves with everything that this world has to offer, all the wealth, respect, fame, power, knowledge and artistry, however we would still be defined as being on the animate level—not the human—if our intention is to self-benefit from such a range of fulfillment.

The human level defines those who change their intention from the inborn self-aimed one, to aim at the benefit of others and nature. In Hebrew, the word for human is “Adam,” which comes from the word for “similar” (“Domeh”), from the phrase “Domeh le Elyon” (“similar to the most high”). The “most high” is the loftiest quality in reality, nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection, which has no shred of self-benefit attached to it. That is, just as nature at its foundation functions as a quality to love, bestow, connect and hold everything within itself together, if we set the achievement of nature’s quality as our goal, and we learn to benefit others and nature to the same extent as we naturally wish to self-benefit, then we are called “human” according to such an inclination.

It is important to understand that nature is a quality of love, which we attain in our connections to each other. When we attain love for each other up to a level of, as it is written, “love your neighbor as yourself,” then we reach a state of similarity to nature. According to Kabbalah, achieving resemblance to nature’s quality of love, bestowal and connection—rising from the animate to the human level—is the highest state we can reach in our lives; it is the purpose of our lives, and its attainment gives us a sensation of eternity and perfection, unlike any limited and incomplete sensation we experience in our animate lives.

Based on the video “What Is a Human?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Yael Leshed-Harel and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What do you think is the true goal of education?“

The true goal of education is to build an inner model that is nonexistent in us to being with, where the substance of this model is our desire. In this desire, we want to shape the image of what we consider a “good person,” that there will be an image of a good person within us, of what a good person is, so that we can compare anything external that we encounter with that image and check whether what we encounter is correct, good and worthwhile for us, or the contrary.

For instance, when I talk to my child or to my little grandchild, I want to give him a good and correct form of life, but one that is real and not imaginary. I want to create in him a small image of what a fully-realized human being is, so that he can always see life in relation to that small image, and discern whether what he encounters is correct, good and worthwhile, or not, and whether he has to correct things or to run away from them. This image should be like a compass that guides his life. That is the purpose of education in general. Within this process, we develop by going through various milestones, where through examples and various games and exercises, we build this image and shape of a fully-realized human being.

Based on the video “What Is the True Goal of Education?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman, Yael Leshed-Harel and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “To what do you attribute the recent upswing in violent attacks against Jewish people?“

The core reason for hatred and attacks against Jews is that there is no mutual responsibility among the Jewish people.

The foundation of the Jewish people is ideological, not biological: that we once united according to the tenet “love your friend as yourself” during the increasingly divisive times of ancient Babylon, and by doing so, became a conduit for the force of love and bestowal to enter among us and spread to others.

Since those times, human egoism grew and we lost our sense of such connection. However, whether we know it or not (and the vast majority of us today are unaware of it), we hold potential and the method to achieve a state that can elevate humanity to a state of common love.

Why does achieving such a state of connection hold immense importance today? It is because reaching a state of love among humanity holds the key to solving every problem humanity faces today on all scales: personal, social, economic, ecological and global.

The fact that hatred and attacks against Jews have been on the rise in recent times is due to the need for love and connection to enter the world—and the Jews hold the key to unite. In the mid-2000s, I warned American Jews about a forthcoming rise in antisemitic crimes and threats through various lectures across the country, and the idea was publicly dismissed as nonsense by various American Jews in attendance. Today, however, we are in the midst of exponentially increasing antisemitic crimes and threats, and the solution to the problem—the unity of the Jewish people, forming ties of mutual responsibility—remains elusive.

By failing to acknowledge our need to come together, we invite hatred and attacks upon ourselves. On the contrary, if we develop the power of unification among us, then we will see an inversion of that very hatred into its opposites of love and respect for a nation that brings goodness to the world. It is my hope that we will take heed to our need to unite above all of our differences, and by doing so spread the unifying force to humanity at large.

Based on the video “Why Is There a Recent Israel-Arab Uprising Against Israeli Jews?” 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 economic crises happen?“

Economic crises happen in order to lead to the truth, that a well-oiled economy with a high standard of living for all is not the reason we are here. What is the reason for our existence if not for us to have it good here on Earth?

We need to ask ourselves precisely this question: Why are we here? We are not here just to live well for a few years and then to die, but our lives have a greater purpose, and we need to clarify what it is, where we are from and where we are headed.

We should each engage in such scrutiny in order to reach its resolution, and then we will find out how we can organize our lives harmoniously and peacefully. Otherwise, we will head to more and more crises, as if stumbling and falling time and again.

If we would better understand the harmonious and peaceful state that we are supposed to reach, then we would have no need for any more economic or other crises, because we would then be able to organize ourselves in adaptation to our perfect future state, at our own pace and in our own way.

Based on the video “Elon Musk’s ‘Super-Bad Feeling’ about the Economy – A Kabbalist’s Response” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Will Jews and Arabs ever live with peace and tranquility in Israel? It is a shame that Jerusalem, which means “city of peace,” has not experienced peace in the last 75 years.“

Indeed, Jerusalem means the “city of peace” (“Ir Shalom”), and it is the center of the world’s spiritual force, but at the same time, Jerusalem is the furthest place from peace that I know. It is because we Jews do not want peace (Heb. Shalom); we do not want to reach a state of perfection (Heb. Shlemut).

Peace means reaching a state of “love your neighbor as yourself.” That is the condition for peace. It is a whole and complete state. Moreover, according to what makes us Jewish to begin with, that we once united (the Hebrew word for “Jew” [Yehudi] comes from the word for “united” [yihudi] [Yaarot Devash, Part 2, Drush no. 2]) to a point of a common love, then we need to first realize our unification among each other, and then humanity will follow suit.

We need to turn to ourselves, to our relatives and friends, to the people around us, and build a state of peace. If we would each do so, among all Jews, then we would be able to also turn to our Arab cousins. At that time, they will understand us and will also want peace, as the upper force would help us reach it and would be felt within the peace that it brings.

Based on the video “Will Jews and Arabs Ever Live Peacefully in Jerusalem?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Robert Bye on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Can we live in a disease-free world?“

It is possible to live in a disease-free world on condition that we take care of human connections.

Human connections, i.e. the attitudes we hold toward each other, our relationships, are the higher source of all good and bad that we experience in our lives.

If we elevate human connections to a level of “love others as yourself,” reaching a common understanding of how to organize our lives in a way where we treat each other with love and mutual consideration, and enter into a common embrace, then we will experience no less than perfection in our lives. We would put an end to the hatred and division that stand in the way of such perfection, and diseases would also end in such a state.

Based on the video “Can We Live in a Disease-Free World?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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