Question: Did the Kabbalists predict that an information explosion would take place in the last generation and people would not be able to cope with the processing and use of information? What kind of reboot should society make today for the information use?

Answer: We can say that now we are facing another revolution. The fact is that we quite often encounter such states.

When we felt the need for a million horses to transport something from place to place, we invented the locomotive. When we felt that it was impossible to drag what we needed on the ground with the help of a locomotive, we invented other means of transportation, other possibilities, etc. Nature is constantly pushing us to do this.

Today we are at an information impasse. We dirtied the whole atmosphere with all kinds of “likes.” In the end, this is all emptiness. But we are still sitting in this and cannot get rid of it. It’s like we’re stuck in the mud and unable to get ourselves out of it.

I think this will all lead to orderliness, to the fact that we will stop twitching in our information world and rise to the next level. Essentially, it will be important for us to communicate with each other. This is the solution to today’s technological, informational deadlock.
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From KabTV’s “Integral Course” 3/19/21

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Question: By striving for pleasure and running away from suffering, is it possible to predict your next step?

Answer: You cannot predict the next step because you do not know exactly what desires will awaken in you and what will be needed to realize them. But you will always reflect based on the desires that arise in you how to best realize them: give as little as possible and receive as much as possible in all your actions.

See how you sit, as comfortably as possible in the present condition, how you talk, how you behave, subconsciously or consciously, no matter how.

Question: What is wrong with this behavior? What doesn’t work in it?

Answer: In principle, this model itself could be correct. It is aimed at ensuring that we realize ourselves with maximum profit, and at every moment of time maintain greater confidence, security, fulfillment, and advancement.

But the fact is that I am commanded by the values ​​that I receive from society. And it imposes on me things that I do not at all need.

Each of us brings our aspirations for wealth, fame, power to society. And it turns out that I want to use society to make money, to impose on it absolutely not the values ​​that it needs, but what I need to get from it. I invent all sorts of things in order to sell and thus gain knowledge, power, fame, and money.

As a result, I impose my values ​​on others, and since this already becomes a legacy of the whole society, it imposes on everyone else in the form of advertising and everything else. It turns out that we advertise to each other absolutely unnecessary things, on which each of us wants to earn something, either fame, or power, or money. Thus, we sell each other completely unnecessary stuff.

Question: But why are we sure that we need it?

Answer: Because society makes us believe it. If society says that this is good, then striving to win recognition and respect in its eyes, I do what it imposes on me.

For example, now I am sitting in a suit. It would be more comfortable for me to sit in my pajamas. Why am I not doing this? Because society forces me to dress like this, and I want to get approval in its eyes so that they will listen to me, respect me. Therefore, we behave this way, whether we understand it or not.

Thus, society forces us to actions that, in principle, are opposite to my natural impulses and desires. In fact, I would not want this, I would just like to exist in peace. Society is constantly developing in its desires and it forces me to desire what I absolutely do not need. But this is how we go.
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From KabTV’s “Close-Up. Marriage Contract” 8/19/09

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My new article on Linkedin “Diversity – the Key to Success”

A few weeks ago, several news outlets published a story that went largely unnoticed by legacy media, but which defies reason. Apparently, the Grace Church School in Lower Manhattan issued a 12-page guide to students and staff explaining the school’s mission of inclusivity. The guide encouraged them to replace some of the most essential words in any language with substitutes that denied them of their meaning. For example, the guide reads, “Instead of ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad,’ at Grace we say ‘grown-ups,’ ‘folks,’ or ‘family.’” Or, “Instead of ‘husband,’ ‘wife,’ ‘boyfriend,’ ‘girlfriend,’ at Grace we say ‘spouse,’ ‘partner,’ ‘significant other.’”

Instead of making everyone the same, we should boldly emphasize our differences and use them for the common good. All of a sudden, we will discover that everyone is beautiful in their own unique way! Building a robust society depends not on making everyone the same, but on embracing everyone’s differences. Diversity is the key to success; uniformity—the road to failure.

The guide does not stop there. It continues its effort to engineer the consciousness of students and teachers by clearly stating its agenda: “We actively try to undo notions of a ‘typical’ or ‘normal’ family structure, each family is unique.” Also, the guide points to a problem it defines as “Heterosexism,” which is “The assumption that heterosexuality is the natural or default form of sexuality, and is inherently good or inevitable.”

Religion, too, is “treated” in the guide. “Instead of [asking] ‘What religion are you?’ say ‘Are any religious/faith traditions important to you?’” Or, “Instead of [saying] ‘Merry Christmas!/Happy Holidays!’ say ‘Have a great break!’” There is much more but you get the point.

The thing is that the blatant attempt at consciousness engineering was largely ignored. The children and parents were afraid for their future, teachers were afraid for their jobs, and legacy media had no interest in protesting the obvious oppression of free thought, so very few outlets reported it.

But one person could not keep quiet. Paul Rossi, a teacher at Grace Church, wrote a piece titled “I Refuse to Stand By While My Students Are Indoctrinated,” and published it on Bari Weiss’ blog Common Sense. In the subtitle, he wrote, “Children are afraid to challenge the repressive ideology that rules our school. That’s why I am.”

Rossi admits that he is afraid for his future, but feels he has no choice since the problem isn’t only with Grace Church, but a widespread issue. “I know that by attaching my name to this I’m risking not only my current job but my career as an educator, since most schools, both public and private, are now captive to this backward ideology,” he admits. “But witnessing the harmful impact it has on children, I can’t stay silent.”

Luckily for Rossi, and for all of us, although it may take a while, and may still spread further, eventually, forced elimination of differences among people will not work. Nature created us different, not the same, and we cannot “undo” our making on a whim. If it contradicts nature, it will not work. It will only torment those who try.

The Procrustean bed to which the “inclusive” ideology is attempting to chain us will create the suffering that all Procrustean beds are made to create, but it will not make us the same or equal; it is totally useless and redundant. Mom and Dad are the two most important figures in our lives, which is why every culture since antiquity has dedicated specific pronouns to designate them. They are not “family” and they are certainly not “folks.” They have given us our very lives, and to a great extent, they are responsible for the people we are. It is almost the same with “husband” and “wife”: “Partner” just doesn’t carry the same weight. “Husband” and “wife” imply commitment, and “partner” implies much less of it, if any. Each person that we meet is unique, and merits a unique name or title. Denying uniqueness deprives all of us of personality.

Diversity is not something to erase; it is something to embrace! It is a source of power, resilience, and beauty! We can only appreciate the qualities of one race when we know how unique it is. However, we will know that it is unique only if we know the qualities of all the other races. Therefore, we cannot appreciate one another unless we know who we are and how different we are from one another. Erase the differences, and you have erased our uniqueness and, even worse, our ability to appreciate one another.

Instead of making everyone the same, we should boldly emphasize our differences and use them for the common good. All of a sudden, we will discover that everyone is beautiful in their own unique way! Building a robust society depends not on making everyone the same, but on embracing everyone’s differences. Diversity is the key to success; uniformity—the road to failure.
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New Life 1089 – Indifference Within Society
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

The indifference we find in today’s society will advance us toward a new, spiritual world. In ancient times, we required others for survival but today, children are immersed in technology of all sorts and don’t feel a need for people. Eventually, this social dryness and egoism will push us toward change and spirituality. The spiritual world is full of mutual support and connection based on the principle “You shall love your friend as yourself.” In the future, people will get fulfillment from communication with one another and everyone will be filled with a higher power.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 1089 – Indifference Within Society,” 3/5/19

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My new article on Linkedin “World Happiness Report – Perceived Happiness Is Not Happiness”

According to the latest World Happiness Report (WHR), the Finnish are the happiest people in the world, and the people of Afghanistan are the most unhappy. Also, the top four countries on the list are from Northern Europe, with the Netherlands at number five. This is interesting because if these countries have the best life on the planet, why are they not flooded with immigrants? Is it because people from poor countries migrate to richer countries as a first step toward the countries that can offer the happiest life? Probably not, since the happiest countries are not that high up on the popularity scale. Apparently, what makes one person happy isn’t what makes another person happy. There is a big difference between what we perceive as happiness and what happiness really is.

There is no miracle here; it’s a psychological shift. Instead of focusing on our own desires, we need to focus on the desires of others, and they on ours. This is all it takes to change the world and make all of us, every person in the world, truly eternally happy. Then, we will not need reports to tell us whether or not we are happy; we would know for ourselves.

The WHR surveyed several factors in order to determine which nation is the happiest. Among them are GDP (a country’s economic output), income inequality, the freedom to make life choices, trust and the ability to count on others, confidence in public institutions, healthy life expectancy, well-being, and generosity. It seems plausible that such factors would play a big part in determining people’s happiness, but in truth, they overlook a key factor without which the whole project is meaningless: people’s expectations, namely what they perceive as happiness, as opposed to what the composers of the survey perceive it.

For example, if people aren’t bothered by income inequality, it will not make them happy if they have more than others, or unhappy if they have less. The same goes for trust: If a person settles for being able to trust his or her family members, and doesn’t expect anything more, then even if a country is ranked among the most corrupt in the world, it will not make the country’s people any more miserable. Apparently, the survey was conceived by Western minds and ranks countries’ happiness by what Western minds consider important for happiness. But Western minds aren’t the objective truth.

The truth is that there is no objective truth; you cannot compare people’s happiness—not between countries or between eras. That said, individually, people can determine if they are happy or not. We can measure our happiness, grade it, compare it to previous stages in our lives, and plan how to make ourselves happier because inside we know what makes us happy: Simply stated, we are happy when we get what we want. When our desires are satisfied, we feel happy. Or, perhaps I should rephrase it: We feel content.

Regrettably, we are never content, nor can we be. Our sages already said in the Midrash (Kohelet Rabbah): “One does not leave the world with half of one’s wishes in one’s hand, for one who has one hundred wants two hundred; one who has two hundred wants four hundred.” In other words, human nature itself denies our contentment. If we were content with what we had, we would not have had civilization because we would feel no urge to improve our lives. As a result, we wouldn’t have technology, and we wouldn’t have noble social ideals about what makes people happy. So by the WHR’s own standards, we wouldn’t be happy. But then, if we didn’t want those things that are said to make us happy in the first place, why would not having them make us unhappy?

The apparent catch is resolved if we understand not what makes us content, but what makes us truly happy. If you’ve ever observed a mother to a newborn baby, you know what it is: the pleasure of pleasing others! Even when the baby is sound asleep, tucked in her blanket and her belly full, her mother still watches her, needlessly fixes her blanket and smiles. No person is happier than a mother satisfying her baby’s needs.

If we strove to please the desires of others the way mothers strive to please their babies, and others strove to do the same for us, everyone would be happy. We would have a never ending pool of desires to please, everyone’s personal needs would always be met to the fullest, and everyone would always be happily pleasing others. There is truly no end to the happiness that such a state of mind can induce.

There is no miracle here; it’s a psychological shift. Instead of focusing on our own desires, we need to focus on the desires of others, and they on ours. This is all it takes to change the world and make all of us, every person in the world, truly eternally happy. Then, we will not need reports to tell us whether or not we are happy; we would know for ourselves.
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My new article on Linkedin “Envy – How to Rein In the Monster”

As Israel is opening up malls and commerce is returning to full speed, the ailments of Western society are reappearing as though we’ve never had Covid. High-end stores are so crammed that people are standing in long lines outside of them hoping to spend a lot of money on posh accessories. You’d think that the coronavirus would have cured us of these ills, but it has done nothing of the kind. On the contrary, it seems as though people are shopping with vengeance.

People value what they see that others value. They buy things that others appreciate because it makes other people jealous. If we promote other values, people will naturally shift to showing off that they excel in those other values, for the exact same purpose of arousing other people’s envy. If we showed admiration to people who contribute to unity, solidarity, and cohesion in society, many people would want to be that way.

But why are they shopping in the first place? Do they really need new accessories? Probably not. In most cases, they are shopping to show that they shopped; that is the only reason they need. People are shopping, especially when it comes to elite fashion, in order to show that they have lots of money and make other people jealous. Were it not for jealousy, they wouldn’t bother spending hours in crammed lines and crowded shops for the questionable fun of blowing their salaries of high-end status symbols they don’t need, and possibly don’t even like.

Nevertheless, I’m happy that they’re so eager to buy. The more intensely they spend, the quicker they’ll understand that there is no real satisfaction in buying stuff that they don’t need, and the impression they make on others doesn’t make them really happy, unless you consider glee at having what others don’t a real form of happiness.

There is something more that we can do to accelerate the transition to more lasting happiness: People value what they see that others value. They buy things that others appreciate because it makes other people jealous. If we promote other values, people will naturally shift to showing off that they excel in those other values, for the exact same purpose of arousing other people’s envy. If we showed admiration to people who contribute to unity, solidarity, and cohesion in society, many people would want to be that way. They would act as if they’re kind and caring even if they aren’t, simply in order to arouse envy or not to feel inferior because they are uncaring. Other people wouldn’t know who is genuinely caring and who is not, and the impression they would get would be that everyone is like that. This would make them behave similarly, and very quickly, all of society will transform itself.

We mustn’t underestimate the power of envy; it is the most powerful force in human nature. We only need to rein it in, to direct it toward a positive direction, and our way to mending the ills of society is paved. And the sooner we start working on it, the better.
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Comment: In science, there is great confusion between consciousness, reason, and intellect. Everything is piled into one heap.

My Response: Let’s try to understand these definitions. Frankly speaking, I never did this intentionally. I found my teacher at a young age, and he “bought” me with an absolutely clear, systematic approach to everything.

Comment: The problem is that for hundreds of years we have made almost no progress on this issue. Descartes, for example, searched for the soul in the brain, found the pineal gland, and said “This is the soul.” And today it is the same: consciousness is sought after in the brain.

Surprisingly, it seems that exactly in these areas there is great progress, there is tomography, a large number of tools, but we have not made any progress.

My Response: The fact is that these devices will not be able to give us any impression about the soul, about consciousness, nor about the mind.

Comment: Unfortunately, scientists continue their research in this direction. Some of them say, “Consciousness research is a waste of time.” Others feel that they have reached a dead end and can do nothing. Yet, all of them still continue to cling to a purely materialistic approach.

My Response: Kabbalah also deals with pure materialism. It says, “It is necessary to find a way to rise above our nature. Our entire nature is egoism. We must try to rise above it.”

Do we have this opportunity or not? Kabbalah says that we have it, and accordingly it gives some tools, some opportunities.

On one hand, this is, in principle, a clear, sober, materialistic approach. On the other hand, it goes against our nature, our egoistic desires. Therefore, scientists do not need it.

Within the framework of our nature, scientists agree to anything because there is a visible benefit in the place where you invest. They are willing to take risks and sacrifice themselves, but they understand this in their mind at the same level. There are well-known examples of when scientists really sacrificed their lives in dangerous experiments.

However, the average person cannot understand what Kabbalah offers. Here we need a different atmosphere, a different laboratory. Here you yourself are the laboratory.

How can we talk about the mind if we do not try to rise above it?! How can we study it?! This is clear to anyone: If I need to research something, I need to be at least a small step higher than this object of research. It is impossible to do anything without exiting yourself. Therefore, I agree with those who say that this is beyond their control.

Without the auxiliary tool that Kabbalah offers,—to extract from the surrounding world, from the field surrounding us, a force that is opposite to our nature, and make it change us, raise us above our nature to the next level—it is impossible to explore our current degree. Then we will know what the mind is and what consciousness is. It will be possible for anyone.

In the meantime, we just have to accept without proof that there is such a force that can take us to the next degree. Then from this degree, we will explore our consciousness and our mind.
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From KabTV’s “Meetings with Kabbalah” 1/3/19

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Question: Several hundred years ago, women did not have any rights. These rights exist today. Do you think this is correct?

Answer: It is the responsibility of the state to give everyone the opportunity to realize themselves for the benefit of society. This is what Kabbalah thinks.

Nature has made us different. Everyone has one’s own functions, one’s own abilities. You can’t do anything about it. Equality is not an equalization, but a complement to each other. The harmony of society is achieved exactly by complementing.

Question: So equality does not mean getting the same salary, wearing the same clothes, etc.?

Answer: No. We must maximally extract from each person the realization of their potential that they can give to society. It doesn’t matter if it’s a cook or the head of a state. If each of them does what he can and gives it for the good of society, then they are equal. From the point of view of Kabbalah, they are entitled to the same thing.
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From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 4/29/19

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My new article on Linkedin “Mastering Human Connection”

The world is advancing towards a more interconnected state, towards reciprocity and integration. One who already perceives this trend of development can pass along to others the spirit of connection. We bear witness to the signs of humanity’s ripening process which has been accelerated by the pandemic. Complete maturity will be reached only when we rise to the level of love of others. The transition period toward it can be either painful or pleasant depending on our level of willing participation in ushering in that positive change.

What can move us towards a state of emotional closeness and harmony despite all the legitimate disagreements? Each of us as a “connection cultivator” must constantly put before his or her eyes one principle: in order to influence someone for the better, I must first connect with the person in sympathy, praise, and understanding, while thinking together how to further improve mutual care and reciprocity. In other words, we each must put into practice love of others to create the most fertile ground for a gratifying existence.

Until now, we have let our inborn selfish nature dominate our thoughts and actions in life. The more we continue in that direction the more we distance ourselves from the essential unifying law of nature, which leads to everyone’s suffering as the division proliferates. Thus, the ongoing virus outbreak is conducting us towards a more conscious society, one that is aware of our interdependence so that our aspirations for a better future bear fruit.

How can we yield ideal results in our human relationships and cohesion? First of all it is important to realize that every person acts as a type of receiver and transmitter. We constantly receive messages, process them within ourselves, and transmit them. So when I start thinking about good connections and complementary relationships between people, a field of positive feeling already spreads around me, even without words.

Moreover, in order to increase the positive impact in the circles among which we move throughout life, first and foremost we need to assess our surrounding environment. This means we need to check the current situation of the people we associate with, the state they aspire to reach, what they would consider success, and how they define a good future. Then, we need to build an outreach action plan based on that vision that is tailored to them and offer to deepen the mutual connection as a means of helping them realize those goals.

This kind of sensitivity to the needs and aspirations of others is relevant in our relations with our children and family members, as well as with friends and colleagues at work. It might also be related to improved health, career and business success, to better relationships—in reality, to anything and everything. Whatever the exact situation, the principle is always the same: first understand where the people are and what they are aiming for, and then think about how to demonstrate them that through good connections between people around can they achieve their goals.

In order to better understand what is meant by the word “connection”, let’s consider the family circle for the sake of illustration. What does a connected family look like? It is a place where everyone feels open to each other, willing to understand and support each other, without having to defend or hide from anyone. A family must be a unit in which the atmosphere is like a warm, gentle cloud encircling everyone.

If we want to broaden our perspective, we can go one step further and try to envisage how differently our country would be run with this connection-focused approach. If people could sit together and connect in the same way as within a family, our societies would behave in a vastly different manner. Instead of fighting from morning to evening in such ruthless ways, there would be more peaceful interactions between us every step of the way.

What can move us towards a state of emotional closeness and harmony despite all the legitimate disagreements? Each of us as a “connection cultivator” must constantly put before his or her eyes one principle: in order to influence someone for the better, I must first connect with the person in sympathy, praise, and understanding, while thinking together how to further improve mutual care and reciprocity. In other words, we each must put into practice love of others to create the most fertile ground for a gratifying existence.
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My new article on Linkedin “Harnessing Society’s Power of Complementing Contrasts”

When you look at societies around the world, it is clear that tensions are rising everywhere. Whether it is between Right and Left, religious and secular, Conservatives and Progressives, Blacks and Whites, or locals and immigrants, the reasons are countless but the tension is the same: Two opposites that want to cancel one another.

The contrasts in society are its source of energy; we must harness them to build a better, stronger, and healthier society. We must not, and cannot agree, but rather complement each other. Once we do this, all of us will benefit from the power of society, the power of complementing contrasts.

It will not work. The contrasts will only grow, as will the tensions. All of reality is built on complementing contrasts that are interdependent. Take one away and you have canceled the other. Human society is no exception, except that we don’t recognize our interdependence and therefore do not want to complement each other. Instead, we want to cancel one another. We regard anyone who does not think or speak like us as backward and ignorant, hence the cancel culture.

But if two complementing contrasts are required for development, how can one party be right and the other one is wrong? If reality itself requires the presence of opposites, how can we want to cancel those we regard as opposite from us, when in truth, it is the existence of the opposite view from mine that justifies the existence of my own view? If, for example, there were no Conservatives, would there be Progressives? The whole concept of Progressivism exists because there is the concept of Conservatism.

Moreover, and this is the most important point: Neither side matters in and of itself. Only the tension between them matters! The frictions between opposing views makes people think, move, build, explore, challenge, or in short, live!

Therefore, we must feel our objection, our dismay at the opinion of our opposers. At the same time, we must not cancel them; we must acknowledge that they are the reason that we feel so strongly about the subject. Their zeal about their views excites our own, and together, we keep each other growing.

The contrasts in society are its source of energy; we must harness them to build a better, stronger, and healthier society. We must not, and cannot agree, but rather complement each other. Once we do this, all of us will benefit from the power of society, the power of complementing contrasts.
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