Entries in the 'Religion' Category

The Question About The The Devil And Quran

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Out of all the material published by you and Anthony Kosinec, it was  easy for me to synchronize all your teachings with the Holy Quran. This made it clear for me that both the Torah and the Quran came from the same source. However, I don’t see you talking at all about the devil or how he can affect our desires. Could you please explain from your teachings where you can position him or his effects? (Saudi Arabia)

Answer: All positive (giving) and negative (egoistic) forces exist only in a person himself. There is nothing outside a person but the concealed correcting force (the Light, the Creator), which manifests to the extent of our aspiration to become similar to it in our relations.

That is why “love thy neighbor as yourself” is the general rule of the Torah (the method of correction). There is no doubt that the Holy Quran is also a consequence of the same laws of nature (the Creator) that the Torah (Kabbalah) speaks of.
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Question About Observing Customs

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion (from the Hebrew blog): Last year, while studying Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, I was granted the revelation of the Creator in my heart. His teachings continue to illuminate my path and fill my heart. I turned to faith, began to put on tefillin (phylacteries), and try to fulfill the commandments, as I understand them.

Once, I came to your class in Haifa before Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and was very surprised by the fact that before such an important day as the Day of Atonement, you completed the lesson without saying a single word about keeping the commandments.

I was hoping that at least at the end of the lesson they would read a prayer. But even this did not happen. Don’t your lessons and the method of transmitting our holy Torah include prayers and performing the commandments? It is important to note that I really enjoyed the lesson. I would like to know whether it is possible to talk about such exalted matters without including the direct interpretation of the Torah and the fulfillment of commandments.

Answer: I address all the citizens of the country and the world, and that is why I do not present my explanations in the framework of customs so as not to scare people away, but to attract them towards the main commandment: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”
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Questions About Kabbalah Terminology And Religion

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Time and time again I hear you correcting false perceptions of your students during lessons, and I also hear how in my local group the inner meaning of the terms “Creator,” “faith,” “prayer,” and so on gets revealed as opposed to their idolatrous meaning. I understand that Kabbalists hid this wisdom in this language for a reason centuries ago, but why must we continue in this way now?

We have all spent years being shaped by our religions and society to the point that these terms have become inextricably linked to false images. If we are behind in our work towards the public, and the speed of our correction is essential, wouldn’t it be better if we finally dropped this double-speak and only talked with people using the right language? It seems that we are wasting precious time with the confusion and misunderstanding.

Answer: You are right, and lately our language is changing, especially because of the need to talk about the crisis and its causes to people who are not interested in Kabbalah. I hope that we will switch to a more understandable language and get away from the confusion in definitions.

Question: I work in the religious sector. It is difficult because people with whom I work every day do not want to develop by studying the wisdom of Kabbalah. They believe that it is forbidden. How can I influence them?

Answer: Keep quiet about your studies!
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A Question About Kabbalah And Religion

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Someone asked where is Jesus in Kabbalah, and the answer came back: “He is absent.” How can Jesus be absent? Kabbalah says that it deals with physical energy, so how can you separate it from the One who generates it? It’s like separating the gas from the car. How can it run without it?

God is the source of all things. In Genesis God spoke: “Let there be light, and there was light.” But isn’t light energy? Then why would God separate Himself from what He created? How can Kabbalah have no relation to religion? Regardless what religion it is, God is the source of all energy, all things in Heaven, on Earth, and beneath it.

Answer: Are you talking about the Creator or man, about what is revealed or what people believe in? I think this is a question of faith, which has nothing to do with science. Do you ask a physicist: “Where is the divine force in your particle accelerator?” Kabbalah talks only about what is revealed to us, people, as we develop within the force of bestowal and love.
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A Question About Why Women Need To Cover Their Hair

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: I googled this question: “Why do married Orthodox Jewish women cover their hair?” This is what I found:

“According to The Zohar and Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism, the woman is considered Malchut, or the “vessel.” The man is considered Zeir Unpin, or the “drawer of Light and energy.” When a Jewish man and woman marry, their Neshamot (souls) become one and they create a complete system. Universally speaking, the man draws the light down from the universe, and the woman is the vessel in which this Light goes—for her, her husband, and any children they have together.

How does she manage this energy? Through her hair. A woman’s hair on her head (and a man’s hair on his beard and certain parts of his head) act as conduits for this Light and energy. By covering the hair on her head a woman is managing this energy, containing it, and essentially “saving” it for her family. When she does not cover her hair, this energy can escape or become unmanageable bringing challenges to her and her family.”

Is this something that exists in authentic Kabbalah, and if it does, can you please explain what it actually means? Does a woman need to cover her hair? And if so, where can I read about this in the texts?

I thought that we shouldn’t associate our true self with our body because it was just matter? So what’s the reason for these “weird” rules about dead skin cells?

Answer: Unfortunately, the books are written by people uneducated in Kabbalah, and that is why they understand Kabbalistic texts literary, as if they talk about people in our world, and not the souls. It refers only to the desire, the only thing that was created, and its correction by way of the screen or intention.
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A Question On Religious Practices And Kabbalah

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Many of us belong to a religious group in addition to Bnei Baruch and attend church services regularly; and some of us even teach Sunday School or Bible Studies at the church we go to. Perhaps it’s being generous to say so, but it seems the vast majority of the people who associate themselves with a religion are indeed searching for answers to life’s questions.

Is it a worthy task to introduce the Kabbalistic method of Baal HaSulam into the Bible study curriculum of the Western religious institutions? And if so, what is the correct approach?

Answer: Religion exists due to the concealment of the Creator, while Kabbalah is the method of His revelation in the corrected desires of man. Therefore, religion and Kabbalah have opposite purposes. As soon as the Creator becomes revealed, there is no place for religion.
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Questions On The Evil Inclination

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: My question is that there are people I know who are religious, and they complain about their lives. They pray for things to change, and when it doesn’t change, they blame others around them.

All of this is coming from their egoism. I’ve tried explaining this to them without mentioning Kabbalah at all, but they don’t get it. It’s frustrating for me to watch them make the same mistakes over and over again. But it seems like even if I try to help, it only gets through a little and then they are back to the same old complaints about their lives and problems.

How can I actually help them? I used to get defensive because they would blame me for their problems and started fights with me. How do you approach egoistic people without getting into arguments or making them think you are judging them?

Answer: Only development and a strong public opinion will gradually change them. They will be the last to reach correction. For the time being, leave them be. Correction must start with the lightest part of egoism.

Question: Our job is to reveal the evil inclination. However, what if we reveal it, but cannot get rid of it ? How can we correct evil inclinations like stealing or cheating ?

Answer: To the extent that you find the evil inside yourself, you have the power to correct it!
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The Only Religion Is The Revelation Of The Creator

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Throughout history, lots of people have done terrible things in the name of God, and the question is: Was it their immorality that did it, or was it a correct interpretation of immoral scriptures that commanded it?

Invariably however, despite it being completely unrelated to the question, people will point to the terrible atheists throughout history, such as Stalin, Pol Pot, and Mao, and erroneously, Hitler.

Hitler certainly didn’t like Catholicism, and he certainly did toss priests and Catholics into camps. He tried several times to impose his type of Christianity on the country during his regime, he thought of himself as doing God’s work (according to Mein Kampf and several speeches), his soldiers had to take an oath to God of allegiance and many featured the phrase “Gott Mit Uns” (God with us) prominently on their uniforms. His regime even banned books that “belittled” the faith or God, or that advocated Darwinism.

The question is: “Are there fundamental elements of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, that result in such events, even (or especially) when correctly applied?”

Answer: According to Kabbalah, the only religion in the world is the firsthand revelation of the Creator to all people in the world as the sole controlling force. We can disclose the force only in its material manifestation. This matter is us ourselves.

If we try to change ourselves from egoism to bestowal and love, then according to the law of equivalence of form, the upper force of nature is revealed, which is called “Boreh,” from the words “Bo” or “come” (reach) and “Reh” or “see” (discover). All the rest are human inventions, and thus, there are so many of them, and they are not based on a study of the world or nature.
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Edward Topol: Save Israel!


A Russian newspaper has published an article by Edward Topol, a famous novelist, screenwriter, and essayist, called “Save Israel!” Below are some excerpts from the article.

“Recently Barack Obama declared that Israel has to return to the boundaries of 1967. For most of the civilized world, this came like lightning out of a clear sky because it signaled a clear shift of American politics to pro-Arab, even pro-Hamas positions because returning Israel to the boundaries of 1967 would narrow down the country to an eight-mile long stretch along the ocean, which could be leveled by any Arab tank brigade in a couple of minutes….

“In September, meaning immediately after summer vacation, the UN will hold their next meeting, where most of the voices have long belonged to the Muslim countries. Once this resolution is passed, any aggression against Israel will become legitimate, and more important – inevitable, because Israel protected by the USA and Israel abandoned by the USA are two very different things….

“Today I turn to all those who understand that Israel’s demise (no matter what you think of Israel!) will unleash a total Arab expansion to the south of Russia and Europe and will be the beginning of the demise of the entire Christian, European, and Russian civilization. Let’s act before it’s too late and not allow the extermination of Israel! And finally, believe my words…: History has allotted just two months for this rescue operation….”
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The Theory Of Two Authorities And The Source Of Human Culture

Dr. Michael LaitmanBaal HaSulam, “The Peace”: They found it difficult to accept the assumption of Nature’s supervision… Consequently, they came to a second assumption that there are two supervisors here: One creates and sustains the good, and the other creates and sustains the evil. They have also greatly elaborated that method with evidence and signs along their way.

As I develop, I encounter different problems, discover new things, and gradually begin to project a copy of myself outwardly, populating the world with my qualities. For example, the computer irritates me by being slow, and I curse the failing machine with all seriousness.

This is instilled in human nature according to the principle of “We will know You by Your actions.” My attitude towards the external world comes from the inner world. Indeed, an objective external reality does not exist: Everything I see externally is a reflection of my qualities.

And for this reason, I transfer the degree of my development to the surrounding world without realizing it, and I expect it to correspond to my standards. Sometimes, when I communicate with people, I wonder sincerely: “How can they not understand or feel the way I do?” I have a deep-rooted requirement for the external world, a firm conviction that it must correspond to my understanding and perception.

This way the ancient approach of nature as a system of impassible and strict laws was replaced with a system of two authorities. People have discovered that nature also has potential and action, cause and consequence, will and unwillingness.

In their imagination, people have endowed it with something like a “soul,” given it reason, a purpose, and started a dialogue with it: “If I do this, the result will be good. If I do that, the result will only be worse. Thus, nature can react in a positive and a negative way. It is like me and other people.”

This way people started attributing their own qualities, desires, thoughts, and intentions to nature. There are two opposite forces in man: good and evil. Accordingly, they also exist in nature. People can either treat me well or badly, I myself can treat others and myself either well or badly, thus nature also has the same division into two forces.

In this case, how do I appease the good force? Or, on the contrary, the evil force? This marks the start of calculations arising from the idea of dual authority.

Moreover, there is an even deeper layer here. There is no way for me to “bring to life,” spiritualize, and endow with independent existence the authority of the single soulless nature. The single authority is always the same. This means it has no reason. How can you plan something when good and evil do not conflict within you, with your making your calculations based on their opposition?

Absolute rule is nature in its pure, mechanical form. But as soon as I attribute two forces to it, good and evil, the calculations begin. After all, I myself do calculations based on the correlation between two possibilities, two forces. And then, once I project myself outwardly, I find them in nature.

This way the resistance begins, but now man regards reality as an authority, power. Unified nature is not enough to account for the current rule, and only two powers put man between two authorities as between two fires. This is our perception of reality. Two authorities presuppose calculations, a plan, a fight of good and evil, and so on.

Religion appears at this point, including mysticism and different “squabbles” with nature. As man develops psychologically, he projects and transfers his inner world onto nature, attributing his own powers and qualities.

This is how beliefs blossom and place deities and idols of all kinds upon a pedestal. As time went by, they became the mythology of the ancient world.

Thus, initially the first theory marked the transition from the animate state: As man distinguished himself from nature and separated himself from it, he became man. And the second theory is connected to the subsequent development, the opposition of good and evil within us, the relationship between man and society. When two opposites arise within us, we can attribute corresponding considerations to nature as well.

This is where human culture originates. In relation to nature, we develop specifically as the human kind, and in this world culture and science are inherent to man by definition. This is exclusively his prerogative, which results from the theory of two authorities. Without it we would not develop culture, which distinguishes us from animals. Culture is everything: from clothes to speech and self-expression.

This is how the human race gradually developed in their perception of the world.
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From the 5th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 8/1/2011, “The Peace”

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