Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is it true that after people die, they become angels and go to heaven?“

No.

The myriad phenomena that people believe takes place after death are merely theories about death, and even the phenomena that people have experienced in near-death experiences are psychological reactions within the temporary state of clinical death that they enter.

If we do not attain a clear perception and sensation of our soul during our current lives, then our body dies and rots away, and the level of desire we reach in our current lives assumes a new body. Such a process continues until we eventually attain our soul while we are alive in our world, in our bodies.

Therefore, while we are alive in our current bodies, if we hear about an opportunity to attain our soul, to access the spiritual world, then we we would be wise to take hold of that opportunity with both hands and start our spiritual ascent.

We need to stop believing in all kinds of angels and other phenomena that we think happens to us when we die. If we achieve no revelation of the spiritual world in our current lives, then we have no soul, and we simply keep incarnating in new bodies, accumulating experience and suffering, until our desire eventually ripens to embark on the process of spiritual ascent. It is as is written in the kabbalistic texts, “You shall see your world in your life.”

Based on “Ask the Kabbalist, episode 4” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Joseph (Asaf) Ohayon. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. For more information on what happens when we die, visit this page.

Filed under: Q&A, Quora | Add Comment / Ask Question →

New Life 1323 – Feeling Equal To Others
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Yael Leshed-Harel

Being equal to others is generally not enough for us; rather, we want to stand out, to be unique and different in some way. If not, if we compare ourselves to others and measure our worth as “less than” or “not enough,” we feel great suffering. We measure ourselves through the eyes of others.

We need to look for how we can give our unique gifts to others. If we help and love those around us, no one will stand in our way. There is room for everyone. Even a small contribution is important since it joins with others’ contributions to create success for the whole.

The most successful people are those who properly arrange their mutual connection with others. If we pay attention to where our gifts can match others’ lacks, there is no doubt that our lives will be lifted by the appreciation of others for the positive effect we have on our environment. By recognizing each one’s specific offering, we become equal partners in attaining the goal, and by our mutual help we will reach the top.
This summary is written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
[289609]
From KabTV’s “New Life 1323 – Feeling Equal To Others,” 11/7/21

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: New Life | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Preparation to the Lesson

Writings of Baal HaSulam, Shamati #70 “With a Mighty Hand and with Fury Poured Out”

Selected Highlights

Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson | Add Comment / Ask Question →

Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio

Filed under: Audio Version of the Blog | Add Comment / Ask Question →

New Life 1322 – How Can We Restore Our Emotional Balance?
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

Today, as never before in history, we experience internal pressure to fulfill our growing desires. We are never content, always trying to outdo others, which leads to great stress and dissatisfaction. Although we have unprecedented abundance, the experience of satisfaction disappears as soon as our desires are met and only emptiness remains.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah we can find fulfillment only if we connect to each other and nourish each other. We need to learn together how to receive pleasure through fulfilling the desires of others, to connect to others so that the more we give the more we are filled. If we can think about others and not about ourselves, we will feel emotionally balanced, tranquil, and internally elated.
This summary is written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman
[289327]
From KabTV’s “New Life 1322 – How Can We Restore Our Emotional Balance?,” 10/31/21

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: New Life | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My new article on Linkedin “When the World Votes Unanimously Against You, It Is Time to Wake Up”

About ten days ago, the UN General Assembly voted 160-1 in favor of a draft resolution to renew funding for UNRWA, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine. Hidden within the six items of the resolution were clauses stating that “refugees [from 1948, including their children and children’s children] wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date.” The resolution also states that “compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return.”

Following the vote, the draft was referred to what is known as the “Fourth Committee,” to formulate the resolution that will be submitted to the UN General Assembly on December 1 for a final vote. If the resolution is adopted, and it will be, it states that its “recommendations” are to be implemented by September 1, 2022. De facto, this means that the UN has decided to terminate the State of Israel as a Jewish state.

If there is anything good about this decision, it is that we can finally see how undesirable we are in the eyes of the world, and I always prefer the bitter truth to sweet lies. I think that in the near future, we will see the UN calling on all “residents” (a PC word for “Jews”) who are not indigenous to the region and moved to Israel over the past century and a half to return to their original countries. I am certain that the UN will even assist in their return, as this is what the world wants.

Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, I believe that our greatest concern and the key to saving the country is not the UN’s decision but our own opinion about it. It is bad enough that the world voted unanimously against us, but it is nothing compared to our real problem, that we tacitly agree with the UN. This is why we have not protested or plan to protest, why we have no plan to stop the final resolution, and no desire to bring the matter up for public discussion. Most Israelis do not even know the resolution exists.

No one will benefit from the abolition of the State of Israel. Before the State of Israel existed, we had two world wars in just over two decades. The State of Israel was established so that Jews could fulfill their historic role. Even if Israelis are unaware of this and the world has given up on Israel, the Jews will not be relieved of their calling.

We are a nation forged by unity above huge chasms, and we were designated to set an example to the world that such unity is possible. That is why the State of Israel was established soon after the most horrific display of hatred among nations in history, which ended in nuclear explosions. If Israel fails to live up to its vocation, what will stop the world from repeating that scenario?

If we justify our existence here by striving to unite as our ancestors did, above the huge chasms among us, we will not need to explain anything to anyone. On the contrary, the world will stop anyone who tries to disrupt our work toward unity.

Just as the world watches our every move and condemns us now that we are divided, it will watch our every move and praise us when we are united. This UN resolution is proof that the world wants none of the myriad things we have given it. It is time to give it what it really needs: the ability to unite. And the world will be able to unite only if we lead by example.

For more on the importance of Jewish unity, see my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.
[290083]

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My new article on Linkedin “Consideration – The Buzzword that Will Mark the Change”

From east to west, the world is sinking into another wave of the coronavirus. Despite the vaccines and the booster shots, the future of the world seems bleak. Until we learn the lesson that the virus has come to teach us, we will not be rid of it. We have not changed our core values, the ones that inflicted on us the virus to begin with, so there is no reason for it to go away. Only once we change our attitude to every one and every thing around us will we see a relief in the contagion.

Why are prices soaring all of a sudden? There is nothing in it but wicked greed, an intention to make me richer and others poorer.

As for us, why are we so focused on shopping? What is it that we really need? Will another gadget make us happy people? If all it took to make us happy was buying another toy, we wouldn’t see more than 100,000 Americans dying of overdose in a single year, most of whom were young. We wouldn’t see so much violence, so much depression, so much hatred and division.

If we worked on these problems rather than burying our heads in the Amazon.com quicksand, we would feel so much better, and we also wouldn’t suffer from tenacious viruses. Just as the virus has taught us, we are interdependent. You can’t have healthy and content people in one place while people elsewhere feel miserable. Today, unless everyone is well, no one will be well. This is true not only of the virus, but of air, water, wealth, and every other aspect of life.

I measure progress or regression by the changes I see in people. Since I see no changes in them, I cannot say that we have made any progress, so there is no reason for the virus to leave. We are still as abusive toward each other as we were in 2019, and we are just as ruthless toward the environment as then. To paraphrase the words of Albert Einstein, stupidity is to do the same thing over and over again yet expecting different results. We all understand this except when it comes to our own behavior. As a result, millions have died and thousands more are dying each day for no other reason but our carelessness.

The world can provide for everyone abundantly; there is no shortage of anything; there is surplus! So why are people hungry, thirsty, sick, homeless? Why are they not getting decent education and decent health care? It is because we don’t care about each other.

It does not end with the basics in life. Look at the pervasive fundamentalism that has taken over society. We regard those who disagree with us as enemies of the public. When diversity of views becomes a crime, totalitarianism takes over and any means is legal to curb free thought.

We may not see the connection between diversity and mutual consideration and the virus, but the connection exists: It is our selfishness. We exploit everyone—people, animals, and all of nature. We feel that only we matter, and everything else should serve us or become extinct.

When that feeling becomes intense enough in a critical mass of people, it tears apart the system and everything collapses—from human society through the animal kingdom to the ground we stand on. Indeed, try to find one area where there is no crisis and you will fail.

The problem is the common cause—humankind. No highbrow speeches about equity and equality will change the fact that we hate each other. Until we realize that we are different and must nonetheless allow everyone to be who they are, we will not begin to change things for the better.

The buzzword that will mark the beginning of change is consideration. Until we learn to be considerate toward others, the world will not be considerate toward us.
[290165]

Filed under: Coronavirus, New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My new article on Linkedin “Likelihood of Second Holocaust Increases”

About two weeks ago, The Guardian published the results of a survey commissioned by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. The survey found that “Just over half of Britons did not know that 6 million Jewish people were murdered during the Holocaust, and less than a quarter thought that 2 million or fewer were killed, a new survey has found. The study also found that 67% of UK respondents wrongly believed that the government allowed all or some Jewish immigration, when in fact the British government shut the door to Jewish immigration at the outbreak of the war.” Even more disconcerting is the fact that “56% believe that something like the Holocaust could happen again today.”

Surveys conducted in other western countries found similar results. The writing is already on the wall; will we read it in time?

When we consider what is happening in Poland today, the soaring antisemitism in Germany, the rapid Islamization of France, Britain, and other countries, it is clear that soon, there will be no need to ask people their opinions about Jews. They will show their hatred very openly and very violently. If we could plead ignorance before and during World War II, we cannot plead it now when everything is caught on video, often in real time.

Nothing has changed over the past eighty years. Just as the most “enlightened” country struck the Jews then, the most “enlightened” countries are leading the campaign against us now. The deeper the world falls into crises—from viruses to inflation to international tensions, migration, fundamentalism, you name it—the more it blames the Jews. For now, it is happening under the guise of criticism of Israel, but we should not kid ourselves; it is pure, old-fashioned Jew-hatred, and it will end very badly, as it always has.

If we want to eliminate antisemitism, we must understand its root. All of the world’s problems stem from poor human relations. There are no problems other than our hatred for each other.

No animal hates another animal. The hunted are afraid of the hunters, but there is no hatred among them. In fact, it has been proven that were it not for the hunters, the hunted animals would not thrive in good health.

The world’s anger at the Jews is the result of the vocation of our nation. We were meant to set an example of unity. We were designated to demonstrate such sublime notions as “Love your neighbor as yourself” and mutual responsibility, which we have given to the world.

But we have failed the world. Our division is not only our problem. It is first and foremost the problem of the world because when we are divided, we are not an example of unity, but of division. As a result, conflicts break out all over the world and the nations blame them on the Jews. Instinctively, they feel that their conflicts are the fault of the Jews, even if they cannot rationalize it in words. Nevertheless, if you look at our history (see reference below), you will find that the world embraces us when we are united, and punishes us when we are divided.

Indeed, the Holocaust could reoccur. However, it is not because the world is growing hateful toward us once again, but because we are growing hateful toward each other to levels that the world cannot tolerate. Whatever efforts we make to curb antisemitism, they will fail unless we unite. If we unite, we will need no efforts to curb antisemitism; it will dissolve by itself.

For more on the importance of Jewish unity, see my book The Jewish Choice: Unity or Anti-Semitism.
[290162]

Filed under: Anti-Semitism, New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My new article on Linkedin “Have We Given Up on Happiness?”

A student told me that a new report claims that the coronavirus is no longer the world’s no. 1 concern. Apparently, it is outperformed by poverty and unemployment. Besides those three, the world is worried, according to the report, about crime, education, climate change, and immigration. To me, humanity seems so confused and burned out that I don’t think it is concerned with anything anymore. And it is not that there are too many problems, but that there is no goal to achieve. If there are no goals, there are no aspirations; and if there are no aspirations, there is nothing to live for.

You might argue that everyone’s goal is to be happy, and this is true, of course. However, when we all have our own idea of happiness and only our own happiness in mind, we each go our own way and end up unhappy, burned out, and we eventually give up on happiness altogether.

Therefore, the first thing we need to define is what we regard as the most important thing in life and how we want to achieve it. Afterwards, we can determine what will help or hinder us in achieving the goal.

Our first task is to recognize that the whole world is interconnected, as demonstrated by the numerous global crises. Personal happiness that ignores the happiness of the rest of us is a prerogative we no longer have. Therefore, we must come to define happiness as the happiness of all people, or at least we should strive to do so. Only if we progress in this direction will we make real progress toward happiness, since it will have the support of the entire society.

Once we realize that this should be our goal, and start working toward it, things will improve not only for people, but for the entire planet. If we are convinced that we must look after the well-being of all people, then we must see that they do not suffer from pollution, that they have clean water and air, that they have sufficient energy and healthy food, and that their health, housing, and education are cared for. As a result, we will balance our use of resources and consume only what is necessary, out of consideration for everyone else’s well-being.

We will not need regulations and conferences to which world leaders fly in jets that pollute the atmosphere to make hollow speeches. We will regulate ourselves because of our awareness that our own happiness depends on the happiness of everyone else. In other words, we will achieve sustainability and build a happy life for ourselves if we focus not on preventing pollution and curbing emissions, but on mutual consideration and caring for each other. This is the only way we can find sustainability and happiness in today’s world.
[289955]

Filed under: New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →

My new article on Linkedin “No Choice but to Start Monitoring Content”

With every passing day, the situation worsens. Violence is growing everywhere, people feel unsafe, depression is soaring, and deaths by overdose have reached inconceivable numbers because people have nowhere to run from the misery. During last year alone, more than 100,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdose. Moreover, the total number of people who die because of drug abuse has doubled over the past five years. There is only one way to put a stop to it: start monitoring what we feed into people’s minds. Call it censorship, monitoring, regulation, or whatever, but the lack of control over the content that people consume causes them to act in ways that end up killing them.

Until a few centuries ago, child rearing was the sole responsibility of parents. Since the Industrial Revolution, schools began to develop and the state began to assume responsibility for children’s education, while the ability of parents to determine their children’s upbringing waned.

When mass-media began to develop in the 1950s, children began to receive much of their “education” from entertainment and news channels, and even schools began to lose control over education. The media penetrated our homes, reflecting whatever messages it chose to show young and susceptible children, as well as unsuspecting adults, and we began to be indoctrinated through “the tube,” as TVs were called then.

But since the beginning of the 2010s, when smartphones became ubiquitous, we have lost all control over what people of all ages consume. We do not know what our children are exposed to. Even the materials that we adults are exposed to influence us in ways we do not notice. We can only imagine what it does to the innocent and open minds of our children.

Whatever it is that they are absorbing, it is killing them. It makes them violent, depressed, apathetic, socially isolated, narcissistic, and suicidal. And it is claiming hundreds of thousands of mostly young people’s lives. Deaths of young people were the sole cause of the decline in life expectancy in the US before the arrival of the coronavirus, and the plague has only accelerated the deterioration. It is time to step up and intervene in order to reverse course.

I think that all content on social media, internet sites, TV channels, and the radio must be monitored with strict regulations about what is permissible and what is not. I am not speaking about political content, but about content that encourages violence, substance abuse, and narcissism. We, and especially children, learn by example. When they see negative and antisocial behavior, they become negative and antisocial people.

Parents cannot control what their children absorb from the media. They are busy working, often more than one job, struggling to sustain their families, and their children are left on their own for many hours. This is when they are most vulnerable because this is when they consume harmful content from the media.

Instead of the current content, the media should show content that promotes friendship, caring, and social-responsibility. If you think such content constitutes brainwashing, ask yourself whether the content we see now, with its extreme violence and adoration of egoism, does not constitute brainwashing.

It is understandable that we like this type of media. After all, “The inclination of a man’s heart is evil from his youth,” the Bible tells us, and we know it’s true. So we naturally embrace protagonists that glorify themselves and we tend to adopt their values.

However, we have come to a point where our corrupt nature is so detrimental that we must find a way to restrain it. This is why we must nurture mutual consideration among people. I am not speaking about loving others, that would be too much to ask, but simply about basic consideration for every human being. Even if we achieve only this, it will be huge progress.

Currently, I want everyone to dance only to my tune. But since everyone wants this, too, and no one wants to dance to someone else’s tune, society is disintegrating. This is what we are seeing now. If we leave it at that, we are going to fall very low, very soon, and it will be impossible to stop it.
[290092]

Filed under: New Publications | Add Comment / Ask Question →