Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the best way to make a wish come true?“

First, you should have a great desire for your wish to come true.

Also, you should examine whether your desire aligns with—or is in contradiction with—the developmental course of nature, which leads everyone and everything to higher states of connection.

After such an examination, you should find and surround yourself with people who also wish to achieve a state of positive connection. You will then gain an understanding of how to advance to your desired result of a harmonious and peaceful connection with others and nature.

Based on “Kabbalah in the Modern Turbulent World” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What’s the difference between mind and thought?“

Thoughts are nonexistent in and of themselves. Rather, they occur in the mind.

The mind derives from desires.

Our desires derive from the desire that exists in nature.

The desire that exists in nature derives from the intention that exists in nature.

Such a chain manifests in us in order to create desires. Accordingly, desires surface thoughts, and thoughts weave together the mind.

When a certain network of thoughts forms within us, which we can own and operate, we can then evaluate our desires—the influences from nature—and try to connect our mind with nature’s mind, and our desires with nature’s desires.

Desires are primary, and the mind serves them. It turns out that the size and versatility of our desires corresponds to the size of our mind that tries to serve and satisfy them.

Based on a Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on January 15, 2017. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Anthony Tori on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What determines a good goal?“

A good goal is one that is set for the benefit of all people and not just for one person or a single group.

Secondly, a good goal needs to cause no irreparable harm to nature in the process.

These two rules are essentially complex and they encompass a lot.

Based on “Kabbalah Express” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on July 31, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What was the happiest moment in your life?“

I think the happiest moment in my life was when I found my teacher, Kabbalist Baruch Ashlag (the Rabash).

I had been looking for a teacher for several years. I traveled to many different teachers, asked them many questions, but I received no answers.

Then one day, all of a sudden, by chance, I found my teacher.

Based on KabTV’s “Kabbalah in the Modern Turbulent World” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on August 3, 2023.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Does karma only decide our fate or can we influence it by learning from our mistakes?“

We indeed have the ability to influence our fate, but karma plays no role in doing so. We can influence our fate solely by increasing our aspiration for unity.

Especially if we involve ourselves with others who share an aspiration for unity, we can then amplify such a longing and positively influence our fate.

If, however, we do not increase our aspiration for unity according to such opportunities that present themselves, then we enact a negative influence on our fate.

Nature is leading us all in the direction of greater and greater unity, and we thus have one way to influence our lives positively or negatively: whether or not we align ourselves with the unifying direction that nature guides us to.

Accordingly, we either become cut off from nature’s unifying forces and discover negative influences, losses and suffering across the board, or we make it possible for the unifying forces to pass through us and generate a positive influence.

Based on a Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on November 8, 2015. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What does it mean to be like the Creator?“

To be like the Creator means to be like the singular force of love, bestowal and connection that governs reality and leads us toward the goal it has set for us, which is to enjoy through resembling and identifying with that force.

The wisdom of Kabbalah engages precisely in how to shift from our inborn animate state of existence, where we are opposite to the Creator, to a state of existence where we become like the Creator. It involves learning about the two opposite natures—our egoistic nature and the altruistic nature of the Creator—and how we can attract and work with the higher altruistic nature until we fully resemble it.

Such a transition is considered shifting from the animate to the human level of existence. The word for “human” in Hebrew (“Adam”) comes from the word for “similar” (“Domeh”) because the concept of becoming human means that we become similar to the Creator (“similar to the most high” [“Domeh le Elyon”]).

“What was the purpose for which the Creator created this lot? Indeed, it is to elevate him to a higher and more important degree, to feel his God like the human sensation, which is already given to him.” – Kabbalist Yehuda Ashlag (Baal HaSulam), “The Teaching of the Kabbalah and Its Essence.”

Based on KabTV’s “Kabbalah in the Modern Turbulent World” on August 3, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is lacking in AI?“

As advanced as AI becomes, it will always be just an auxiliary component existing beside the person. It will never be able to manage itself and to invent and implement laws.

We humans are made of different material. We have higher matter—the quality of bestowal—in addition to the quality of receiving. Accordingly, we have the possibility of rising above ourselves. We still do not know how to do that, but we possess such potential and given the method to do so, we can advance in that direction.

Artificial intelligence is not intelligence. It is just a calculating machine. It is the same zeros and ones, only with much faster calculations. The person does not just count zeros and ones, but also has emotions. While society is in a frenzy about AI at the moment, since it is lacking key human elements, the passion for it will eventually pass.

Based on KabTV’s “Meetings with Kabbalah” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on January 5, 2022. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Alexander Sinn on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “What is the difference between learn and read Torah?“

“When a person learns Torah, he must intend that the Torah and Mitzvot he is doing will help him emerge from the control of the evil.” – Kabbalist Baruch Ashlag (Rabash), “What Is ‘The Earth Feared and Was Still,’ in the Work.”

Learning Torah requires applying an intention to change our egoistic nature, which makes us want to enjoy ourselves at the expense of others, to its opposite.

By intending to turn ourselves into altruists who connect positively to each other, it means that we use what is called “the light”—the upper light, the upper energy, the light of the Torah, or the Torah itself—in order to correct ourselves, i.e., to change ourselves from egoists to altruists.

Learning Torah thus means constantly feeling what is happening to us at the level of our desires, thoughts and actions. It is learning not with the mind, but with the heart.

By learning Torah, we conduct inner work on the path to life’s goal, and we use the Torah as the force that corrects us, i.e., which inverts our nature from egoistic to altruistic. Thanks to such a force, we can then identify the evil within us—our egoistic nature—to the extent that it eventually ceases to exist.

After such a diagnosis, the Torah turns the evil in us into goodness and we then resemble the Creator, the absolute good force of love, bestowal and connection. We then become filled with love and bestowal toward others and through them to the Creator, the force of love and bestowal itself. We then discover what is called “the whole world is filled with His glory.” In other words, we reveal the Creator—the force of love, bestowal and connection—as existing in everyone and everything.

Based on the Daily Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on August 6, 2023. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Taylor Flowe on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do you connect with different people?“

It is hard for us to accept different people because we have no integral perspective on the world. If we had one, then we would see how we all complement each other, and that we each have our own special roles.

We can perhaps understand this concept clearer with professions, for instance, that one person is an engineer, another is a teacher, another a cleaner, and another a doctor, and so on. Together we provide each other with services that we all need, and we are mutually dependent on each person performing their duty responsibly.

If we learn how to connect above our differences and use them to complement each other, then the greater our differences are, the stronger our connection will be.

When we can finally connect above our differences, then it is as if we piece together a complex jigsaw puzzle, and such a connection surfaces a special force of connection that dwells in nature.

What is the basis for this connection between different people?

We can connect in such a way on the basis of viewing the need for every person in this global puzzle that we have to piece correctly together. When we understand that every person is a unique piece of the puzzle, then we can support and encourage each other to find each one’s place.

In such a process, it is important to understand that we change nobody but ourselves. We cannot force people to change. Instead, we need to find our optimal relationship to one another. This is because we each have our inborn nature-made characteristics, as well as those that develop under social influences. When we eventually develop in a social environment that guides our development to connect above our differences, then we find how vital and essential our characteristics are.

Then, when we connect, it is actually our differences that create a collective, integral and complete jigsaw puzzle. Moreover, by connecting correctly, we can then truly appreciate the richness and versatility we have when we feel how vastly different we are from each other, and upon our differences we together make one integral whole.

Based on a talk with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman in a radio interview on Israel’s 103FM on August 2, 2015. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash.

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I make a good future?“

To secure ourselves a good future, we need to make sure that everyone has a good future, and not that we each try to build a good future for ourselves at the expense of one another.

We need to also know how to come closer to each other in a harmonious and peaceful manner, so that everyone will enjoy safe, comfortable, happy and confident lives.

Verbally, everyone agrees to these ideas. But due to our egoistic nature, where we each desire to self-benefit at the expense of others, we cannot observe them.

We thus find two opposites in the same place. On one hand, everyone understands that they will be well-off if there will be positive connections among everyone, but on the other hand, according to our overblown egoistic nature, we each want to hold ourselves in a somewhat superior position to others.

We thus need to acknowledge that humanity’s good future depends solely on directing ourselves to achieve positive human relations, where we all treat each other favorably.

Based on the video “Is the US a Declining Global Superpower?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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