Michael Laitman, On Quora: “In one sentence, what is true happiness?“
Happiness is a state in which the upper light fills us with the sensation of an eternal and perfect existence.
Based on a Kabbalah lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on December 11, 2016.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Michael Laitman, On Quora: “In one sentence only, why do you believe or not believe in God?“
I don’t believe in God. I have been studying and teaching the wisdom of Kabbalah for over 40 years, which is the method for the revelation of God to every single person in this life, in this world, i.e. “revealing” not “believing.”
Based on a talk between Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Larry King.
Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Question: “Mountain” in Hebrew is “Har” from the word “Hirhurim”—doubt; “Sinai” is from the word “Sina”—hatred. Does the concept of Mount Sinai symbolize the state of a person who is in doubt?
Answer: Doubts and hatred precede the correct understanding of the Torah. Our generation is in this state.
Question: Does a huge hatred manifest in a person before he unites with other people?
Answer: Yes.
Question: But an ordinary person, reading the Torah, imagines Egypt, Mount Sinai, several hundred thousand people standing at its foot, while we are talking about some kind of internal states, hatred, love?
Answer: Yes, we are talking about the contradiction of a person with what surrounds him.
Comment: There is a lot of confusion.
My Response: You cannot do anything. We left this state three thousand years ago and long ago stopped understanding the Torah as it really is. Today we are studying it like children at school, like some kind of fairy tales. And that is why it happens.
In fact, the Torah is a coded instruction for connecting people. With the right unification between them, a higher power manifests itself, which absorbs and surrounds everyone. It becomes clear to everyone where they exist, to what extent, that this is an eternal, perfect existence, and not some unfortunate, base, earthly one.
Let us hope that we will reach the state when the holiday of receiving the Torah really comes and we will see it in it’s true form.
Once it was given to us, and now every generation and every person must decide for himself whether he is receiving it or not on the terms that were set.
[282295]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
Related Material:
Two Levels Of Interpretation Of The Torah
Everything Is Vanity Of Vanities
The Plague Of The Century
Question: Is the Creator a good force?
Answer: Regarding creation He is kind. And not regarding creation, we cannot say anything about Him. We speak about Him as about Atzmuto—He by Himself—meaning, acting neither positively or negatively.
Comment: And like in a good fairy tale, of course, the good force always wins.
My Response: In fact, this fairy tale is kind, and it is not a fairy tale. This is a planned program of creation. Its ending is visible in the spiritual world. When we rise from the degree of our world, from things that are happening in the earthly senses, to a level higher than our perception, to the so-called “Lishma” (“for the sake of others”), then we see the future.
Now we are beginning to understand that the present and the future flow both in the forward and in the reverse direction. Therefore, when we ascend to the upper world, we can clearly see its future states. Kabbalists see this.
Question: Do they see it all in forces and not as it manifests itself in our world?
Answer: Of course. But they see it and tell us about it. Where did they get it from? How could they describe everything? From the fact that they discovered it all.
[282925]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
Related Material:
Endless Pleasure
Why Does The Creator Need Me?
Together Without Any Losses
Question: What does spirituality mean?
Answer: Spirituality is when I am connected to the Creator through people and sometimes directly. However, it is better and more reliable if I form connections with the Creator through others.
Spirituality is the correct connection with the Creator. If it really is correct, it runs through people, and the quality called the Creator is manifested in it.
[283007]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
Related Material:
Spiritual Acquisition
What Is Spiritual Attainment?
Spiritual Attainment Is Sensual
Question: The Jews had to constantly fight for connection. But why, even if we look at what is written in the Torah, did they first fight with external enemies, and then began to fight against each other and with those Jews who accepted Hellenism?
Answer: All the Jewish wars were between the original representatives of the Jews and those who wanted to break away from this nation and preach other values but also remain part of them.
They wanted to convince the entire nation that the new values that the Hellenes or the Romans carry are correct. Supporters of the observance of true national values rebelled against them. Wars were fought between them.
There were practically no serious wars between Jews and Romans and Jews and Greeks. To a certain degree, they happened later, and more with the Romans than with the Greeks.
The confrontation that consumed the entire country greatly bothered the Romans who did not know what to do with it, and therefore, sent their representatives, governors, up to the point that they were forced to send troops.
Question: It turns out that the conflicts within the nation caused a kind of response from the upper force, which was manifested precisely in the fact that the Greeks and Romans came here and did their job.
If we transfer this to the internal war, then can we say that the “Greeks” are my desires?
Answer: All that a person is made of is his desires. They are all egoistic and are divided into several degrees. One of these degrees is called “Romans,” the other one “Greeks,” and so on.
If you, as a Jew, do not cope with them, then you become under their control and enter a state of war. You are forced to destroy them, and they destroy you until you get a certain result from these clashes.
That is, those wars that you cannot fight internally within yourself, ideologically, you will have to fight outside of yourself, physically.
[282931]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States” 5/14/21
Related Material:
The Jewish War
Internal Wars At The External Level
Is The War Against Terrorists Or Concealment?
Comment: In all Kabbalistic sources, two forces are always considered, for example, Haman and Mordecai, Moses and Pharaoh, etc.
My Response: There is nothing else in nature but plus and a minus.
Question: In principle, can we describe this simply in terms of the interaction of two forces?
Answer: No, you cannot describe it as two physical forces. Between them there are many possible actions, conditions that cannot be revealed, and therefore they cannot be described in any other way than allegorically, in the images of our world. You cannot take plus and a minus and say, “This is how they approach each other, this is how they move away…”
Therefore, Kabbalah uses the language of our world to explain all the problems of our correction to people. When a person begins to correct himself, he feels these qualities, but try to ask him: “What do you feel?”—he has nothing to say. It is because he feels the forces and can only explain them in their embodiment in our world. This is the problem.
The main thing is that we go through this, feel this, and achieve this.
[283158]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
Related Material:
Two Forces, Emanating From The Creator
Unifying The Two Forces Of Nature Within
A Mutual Connection Between Two Forces
In the story of Purim, there is a character King Ahasuerus, who sometimes interacts with the positive force (Mordechai) and sometimes with the negative force (Aman). And it is not clear who he is with because the Creator, personified by the King, is represented in a double form.
On one hand, the entire creation is egoistic and whoever has more power rules the world. Therefore, we cannot say that the Creator is good and does good. In what way is He good? What good does He do? It would be better if He did not exist, then there would be no evil. This is Ahasuerus.
On the other hand, it is still the Creator, because He secretly, hiding behind the King’s image, pushes all of humanity toward a good goal.
The problem is that the Creator is the absolutely good and benevolent force that exists by itself. It does not need any other kind of force, any other foundation for its existence. And the creatures were created as negative, opposite to the Creator, in order to differ from Him and not to dissolve in Him, because then they would not have any identity.
It follows that it is impossible to create creations other than being different from the Creator. And if the Creator is absolutely good, then the creation must be different to the point of absolute evil.
[282864]
From KabTV’s “Spiritual States”
Related Material:
Spiritual Holidays, Part 8
Rosh Hashanah: If We Unite, We Cover All Crimes With Love
Haman Today
Preparation to the Lesson
| [media 1] | [media 2] |
Lesson on the Topic “I, to My Beloved, and My Beloved to Me,” Part 1
| [media 3] | [media 4] |
Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Study of the Ten Sefirot, Vol. 1, Part 2
| [media 5] | [media 6] |
Lesson on the Topic “I, to My Beloved, and My Beloved to Me,” Part 2
| [media 7] | [media 8] |
Selected Highlights
| [media 9] | [media 10] |
Listen to an Audio Version of the Blog
Download:MP3 Audio
Daily Audio Version-MP3
Get the Weekly eNewsletter
Follow on Twitter
