Comment: If you ask any person to name some recent movie, a blockbuster that offers people a good option for the future, one that is not frightening, but kind, any person will have to think. I think there has not been any movie like that for 30 – 35 years. The entire film industry and all human thinking cannot seem to create films with some kind of good future.

Answer: No, everything is aimed at scaring.

Comment: We are constantly being shown some kind of apocalypse and all sorts of dystopias. But this is people’s request. After all, Hollywood clearly feels the demands of the people. If money were paid for a good ending, the endings would have been good.

My Response: I think that today it is really difficult for a person to imagine a good end to the world or even some kind of cloudless, shining future. This is something impossible. Therefore, the best thing that is closer to us, is to create something terrible.

Question: Does a person really not want to watch some kind of fairy tale about a good ending so that he is assured that it can happen? Is it right or not to create such a thing and introduce this into the subconscious?

Answer: But you say that there are people in Hollywood who understand human needs. That is probably why they do it.

Question: This is a paradox for me. A paradox! Doesn’t a person want to go to the cinema?

Answer: People will not go for these sweet things. They do not see it around them, and they will not believe it in the movies either.

You can show movies about love or something else, but not about a good, warm, and kind future.

Question: When there was a great depression in America, in the 20 to 30s, the first musical film The Jazz Singer was released. And the father of a family took the last dollar and gave it to sit with the family and watch this movie. That is, out there is horror and darkness, people jumping out of windows, and here I have this movie playing, and I am sitting and watching.

Do you think it will not be profitable to create such a kind, warm future?

Answer: No one will do it today. Firstly, people no longer believe. Once upon a time they were more naive and believed such things could exist. They sat, cried, and dreamt. And now, after we have gone through such a bumpy path and were all thoroughly shaken up by endless wars that take place every minute in different parts of the world, I think that no movie will calm us down.

Question: Then tell me, what are you personally for? Who are you for?

Answer: I am not for Hollywood because releasing some kind of naive, sweet beauty with a good future is disgusting, cloying, and deceitful. And to release movies about serious suffering, of course it is possible, but how many films like that are possible?

Films, in principle, with a more or less good ending, are still filled with all kinds of suffering. They are successful because they drag the audience into suffering, and then they still show some of his good features. Goodness wins.

Question: What kind of movie would you create? Would you not create a movie with some kind of ending that a person would believe in? You say that we should come to good connections.

Answer: But I am not an artist. I cannot imagine how you can draw such a picture for, say, one and a half to two hours that would still leave a warm impression.

Question: It is possible such movies are created that you can leave the cinema with a warm feeling? How can you make a person believe in a good, kind ending, as you say all the time, in connection, which one way or another will happen, and in love, to which one way or another we will come?

Answer: No. I do not think a person can believe it. The only thing he can do is agree with a movie like, say, Forrest Gump. It is a big movie.

Comment: That is a great movie. In my opinion, it is a wonderful movie.

My Response: But this is about a person who is not quite normal.

Comment: Yes, he is abnormal for everyone, but he turned out to be the most normal of all, loving and able to love.

My Response: But it is still unrealistic. And if such a reality is possible, then only in such an instance. I cannot imagine how you can do something like that to attract people. Even if you attract them, they will leave the cinema and forget.

Comment: Because reality is different.

My Response: How can you make a person different with the help of cinema? I do not think there will be such masters.

Question: Still, what kind of movie would you make? One that would really work. What should it lead to?

Answer: I have not seen such a movie that would change people and lead them to some serious internal changes.

Question: But would you like them to exist?

Answer: Of course! Who would not want that?! Almost everyone wants a good future. But I do not know.

Question: Are you saying that if a movie would change a person, then you are for such a movie?

Answer: Yes.

Question: If the first condition is that the movie changes the person, the second question is: from whom to whom or from what to what?

Answer: From who he is now. Now he is just a beast that thinks only about himself and cannot think about others. Or if he can think about others, then only in what form what he does to them will bring gain to him.

If a person is actually given absolute freedom, then he will be absolutely indifferent to what is around him except to the extent of the space around him that he can look at and see that it is pleasant to his eye.

Comment: This is a man of today.

My Response: This is a man.

Question: We are talking about correction. What should this beast come to?

Answer: He should begin to understand that the most important thing is when you rejoice in others. And for this it is necessary to change the nature of man.

Question: “Rejoice in others,” what do you mean by this?

Answer: It is when it is good for others, it is good for you. But how can this be! On the contrary, you rejoice that you are better than others, that is, when they are worse than you.

Question: So, one way or another, do you always lower others so that they are lower than you?

Answer: Naturally, but you should raise them.

Question: Is this the main change? If there were such a movie and it will attune a person like this, are you in favor of such a movie?

Answer: I am for such a movie, but it would not be successful.

Question: Financially?

Answer: Not in any way. No one will admire it.

Comment: You do not want to imagine, you are returning to reality.

My Response: I cannot dream for a long time, I am not young anymore, to put it mildly.

Question: How will we come to such a movie then? We are in some movie right now. It is clear that this cinema is our world. This movie is mostly a horror movie. How will we come to another movie after all? You say that it is embedded in us to come to it and we will one way or another.

Answer: I do not know. Perhaps this is possible through the younger generation whose love will make us, the elderly, become different. One way can be for the sake of our children and grandchildren.
It can also be a general revelation of evil where we all realize how ugly we are egoistically.

Comment: But this can only be after great suffering.

My Response: I do not know. Suddenly such a revelation will come even without suffering. And we will be ashamed to look at each other.

Question: Does it somehow depend on us?

Answer: Not particularly. Imagine that wherever you are, on the subway, on the bus, somewhere on the road, among people, that everyone is looking at you and everyone understands who you are. And you look at others and also understand who they are. And you cannot run away from it.

Question: Do I have to go further on the bus with them?

Answer: Yes. In general, this is a good setup. And after that you have to work on yourself.

Question: So this movie is not bad when I see who they are; do they see who I am?

Answer: Yes. One day all people will begin to see each other correctly, transparently, through and through.

Question: I see. I am like naked to them, and they are like naked to me. I can see everything. And how will I see myself in such a situation?

Answer: The same. That is how you see yourself. You look where to hide, and there is nowhere to go.

Question: We will make such a movie, we will approach it. And if this happens, like in a glass house, in this bus in which everyone sees everything, there is nowhere to hide, and what should we do in such a situation?

Answer: There is no need to hide anywhere. It should be the opposite. Here it is necessary to work on everyone’s realization that we are all like that and that we must immediately begin to change ourselves every minute on the spot! And without being shy. Literally every minute, what is revealed in us is so that we correct it.

Question: So you are saying that the horror of this realization will unite us?

Answer: Yes. It will unite us and help us become different.
[314050]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/18/23

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Question: Why is my group suffering like I am?

Answer: No, you just see it this way in your distorted perception.

If your thoughts (from morning to evening in your free time from work where you are free to think and feel, or even at work) were about spirituality, and if you also helped the group think about it and advertise this lifestyle to you, you would soon be able to feel all this.

Question: Why is it not only me but also my friend from the group who are shown that we cannot come to this feeling for quite a while?

Answer: In order for him, too, to mobilize all his strength for this.

Question: If the problem is in my perception, why does a friend suffer from this?

Answer: It is in your perception that he suffers; there is nothing other than you. This group and everything else is in your perception.

Comment: But you are constantly under some pressure.

My Response: I feel no pressure. I am in a state as if I am throwing myself into cool water that engulfs me on all sides and feeling myself dissolving in it. It is such a wonderful feeling!

Question: Even if you don’t look at it on the outside?

Answer: Externally, this is my animal body. It can suffer. It feels heaviness, age, and so on.

Also on the inside, I don’t feel the way I described, i.e., in a state of perfection and joy because I am included in everyone else; I depend on them and they depend on me. There are some other factors that force me to do various things.

What’s the difference?! Neither you nor anyone else will be able to understand it until everything is revealed to them.

It is impossible to reconcile the perception of the world in each of us that we all exist: me, the group, and everyone and that I depend on them and they depend on me, and at the same time say: “No, they exist only in my imagination. And all these are my properties that I see before myself.”

A person cannot reconcile these two concepts within himself, nor in general all contradictions pertaining to the perception of the spiritual universe and ours, because he does not yet consist of the spiritual quality. Once he acquires both properties—ours (the property of receiving) and the spiritual (the property of giving)—he will be able to perceive everything correctly.
[312881]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. The Root of Success” 3/6/11

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Comment: In the world there are some people who manipulate others. For example, when a thoughts are introduced to people in order to sell them products, etc.

My Response: These are ordinary, usual PR techniques.

Comment: Essentially, as long as there is egoism, it will always sell something and buy something.

My Response: Yes. As long as there is something to buy and to sell.

Question: But there is still a level where someone enjoys manipulating others. How can we avoid creating circles that deceive themselves?

Answer: You can’t do anything. Naturally our selfishness unites us into various power structures where a group is organized that seeks to push its own opinion, its own will, to lobby. That is also lobbying. There are all sorts of lobbyist groups in the government. These are so-called influence groups that seek to change public opinion and everything else.

Question: Why do we need it if these are all just toys?

Answer: But they don’t know that. They still believe they can change something. On the one hand, everything is controlled from above. On the other hand, the government puppets at the bottom believe that power is in their hands and they can do anything. They are even shown how they can act: “I’ll take you and do this and that.”

In the end everything originates from above and the rulers only implement it, even though what they do harms them and their own people.

We think we are doing something. It would be better if we sat and did nothing. If you don’t want to change yourself, then at least don’t try to change others.
[313816]
From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Brainwashing!” 5/14/11

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Question: In 1862, during the US Civil War, Richard Gatling invented the Gatling gun, a rapid-fire, multi-barreled weapon. He hoped that the gun would demonstrate the folly of war and discourage large-scale war. He is quoted as saying, “It occurred to me that if I could invent a machine – a gun – which could by its rapidity of fire, enable one man to do as much battle duty as a hundred, that it would, to a large extent supersede the necessity of large armies, and consequently, exposure to battle and disease [would] be greatly diminished.”

Was he just calming himself that he was creating weapons of destruction with the certainty that if everyone had such weapons, we would be wary of entering into some kind of war? Or is there some grain in this?

Answer: There is a grain. All the developers of weapons still believe that they are doing some kind of good deed.

They just do not understand that egoism is at the base of nature. And until humanity gets to the point where it sees what remains behind it (mountains of corpses), it will make a lot of people unhappy.

Question: If everyone had nuclear weapons now, would it add to the danger? Or would it add to the danger of entering into conflicts? What more?

Answer: Yes, people would be afraid.

Question: Is it because of the global nature of nuclear war?

Answer: Because the end is clearly visible in front of them. Today, after all, nuclear weapons are not used. And why? Because it already exists on both sides. Therefore, there would be an instant response.

Question: Do you think it adds security when everyone has nuclear weapons?

Answer: I believe that the proliferation of nuclear weapons in normal countries, where it can be controlled, is the way to peace.

What else can you do? Today there are probably thirty countries with nuclear weapons. And now it is still relatively calm globally. They calm each other down, put pressure on each other, do something, hold some secret negotiations. Yet, we are still alive.

Question: Why is it safe? Is this the nature of fear?

Answer: Of course. Restriction is a very serious motivation. If I can get the same thing in return, and I know what it is, because I also have it, then it is already as if it does not exist. Imagine, about thirty countries have nuclear weapons, including Pakistan, Iran, and North Korea. And thanks to this, everything is calm.

Comment: Meaning, the completely headless ones also have it.

My Response: It seems to us that they are headless. No, no. When you have such a thing in your pocket, your head starts working out of fear.

Question: But they say, “fearless people,” “fearless man.” What is it? Is it not good when there is no fear in me at all?

Answer: It can be either a completely mentally ill person or one who thus wants to destroy the world: “After us, even the flood.”

But today, I think it cannot be. Because a whole group of people have to work to push the button in the end.

Comment: Yes, there is some kind of security system.

My Response: Yes. They themselves are interested in this. Nuclear weapons are becoming a threat, nothing more.

Question: What conclusion can be drawn from all this?

Answer: It is thanks to this that we are going the wrong way. But it is thanks to that, that we will come to the need to make the world different.

Question: Will we ever come to the need for disarmament or not?

Answer: I do not know how to say it. I do not think we will come to this by ourselves, but nature will bring us to it.
[313876]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/29/23

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New Life 295 – One Emotion And One Mind
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi and Nitzah Mazoz

What is the connection between emotion and intellect? We consist of desire and emotion. Desire forces our brains to develop new capacities and to create connections between emotions to serve the emotions. This is especially true in groups. As shared emotions created in a group become stronger, collective intelligence will also be developed.

Thus, the main thing is not the quantity or quality of personal achievement, but the connection between them. Then the mind becomes integral, just as nature is integral. Nature is built on relationships. In the measure to which we adapt ourselves to the harmony of nature, that is, when the members of a group are integrated between them, the group adapts to the system of nature and becomes smarter.

The more our emotion and intellect are a result of our connection, the more we will succeed. We must develop connection above the egoism and hatred between us. We can use the friction, distance, and projection in the group as stimuli to connect above them. The gap provides the emotional intensity necessary to connect in a way that leads to greater capacity and an intellectually brilliant result.

Our goal as a team is to treat each as the closest possible people in the world, to envision each other as the most important people. I want to feel what is important to the other person and what will bring them happiness. First, I must study the other and annul myself in order to feel the other. What are his inclinations? What does he hate? What does he love? Each one needs to rise above their ego and cultivate the inclination to fulfill the other in what they want, to do good for them. Second, I must see myself as the greatest of all, someone who is able to fulfill the others and bring them positive influence.

We must then ask ourselves what we really want to do together. We want to reach connection between us, as one man in one heart, similar to the operating system of nature. The purpose of the group is to build an integral sense by which we can feel the entire, comprehensive nature. Then we will know what to advance toward in our place of work and in our family. What do we do in the world and in our life? It can only be done with an integral approach. I strive to help all of you maintain the connection and help all of us to realize our common desire together.

An integral solution is above each one’s individual nature. Our leaders cannot do anything to solve the world’s problems because they do not feel what nature is trying to do with us. We are not the ones in control here. The ego learns through suffering, but through the help of the group, through a common deficiency to solve the problem before us, we will be able to understand what is required. Our common mind evolves according to our common emotion and becomes adapted to nature.

Research has shown that a person’s emotional state has a positive or negative effect on their health. Because I am connected to others, my health is influenced by them. The emotional environment, the quality of the system of connections between people, affects the health of each individual within it. A group with balanced connections helps everyone in the group to feel better and be healthier. Living in balance and harmony—elevating the relations between us to a higher degree—will cause physical symptoms to disappear.

In summary, any decision needs to come from our common emotion, which develops a common mind and intellect between us. Only from such development will we be able to make decisions that are in harmony with the larger system of nature.
From KabTV’s “New Life 295 – One Emotion And One Mind,” 1/26/14

This summary was written and edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Is peace between Israel and Palestinians out of reach?“

Peace between Israel and any other nation depends on the Jewish people being at peace with each other.

In the past, Israeli Jews were once united in times of war. Today, even war fails to unite us.

There is no need for us to fight anyone. We will finish ourselves off with our own hands.

Until we understand that everything depends on uniting above our divisions and discovering a common love, we will have no peace and calm with our neighbors.

How does it work?

It works because we are a special nation that was established not on biological ties, but on achieving the idea of “love your friend as yourself,” and it is that example of unity that will let us function as a healthy organ in the world.

If we achieve such love for each other, then Palestinians will have no drive to fight us, and in general, the hatred against us will subside.

If we wish to be at peace with Palestinians and the entire world, we first need to be at peace with each other.
Based on the video “Is Peace between Israel and Palestinians Out of Reach?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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Preparation to the Lesson

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1st part of the Lesson — Writings of Rabash, Article 4, “What Is a Flood of Water in the Work?”

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2nd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 105

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3rd part of the Lesson — Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom”

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Selected Highlights

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Question: Many people who have gone through clinical death claim that they experienced vivid sensations of a world that is dominated by one force that radiates goodness, love, and mercy. And at the same time, they felt how every moment of their lives, every action and intention, was recorded with pedantic accuracy.

Is there any connection between these sensations and what Kabbalists experience when they reveal the spiritual world? After all, Kabbalah also talks about the love and mercy of the upper force.

Answer: I am afraid to answer this question directly because of the risk of being misunderstood. Of course, everything does not end with the death of the physical body. A body lives and dies, we see it very well, and we even use meat of slaughtered animals for food.

People claim that clinical death was accompanied by very pleasant sensations in complete contrast to the world they left, which was full of suffering. But it is not surprising that there is such a revolution from evil to absolute good because indeed this corporeal world is the worst of all worlds. It is completely ruled by egoism and is opposite to the positive force of the desire to bestow.

In the upper worlds the force of unification acts, and in our world the force of separation does. And it is clear that the difference between the corporeal and the spiritual world is huge.

But it is not worth talking about it because we cannot provide any evidence and cannot broadcast from the upper world into our world. Therefore, a person is so afraid of death and thinks of it as something incomprehensible and shrouded in mystery. And I do not think that I have the right to reveal this secret.

Some people claim that at the moment of clinical death they suddenly realized the huge impact of their seemingly most insignificant actions. And of course, there is a grain of truth in this.

Therefore, in this life it is still worth behaving as the Torah advises, that is, to unite with each other in order to reveal the true form of reality that awaits us in the future in a common desire (Kli). After all, after physical death, we have to discover that we are completely connected and influence each other.

The Creator hides from us what is beyond the threshold of death. And we are like curious children who want to look behind this veil and find out what is there. But in all our life there is no way to step over this barrier and reveal the form of the future world.

What should be the right attitude toward death? Death is not what we imagine. It is just a sensory transition from our world to another world. For a person who has experienced death, this corporeal reality ends and existence in new sensations begins.

Is this transition accompanied by pain? I do not think so. Should we be afraid of the moment of death? I think we should not. We are just afraid of the unknown.

And what happens after death? After it there is no more death, and there is no more this corporeal life. But what is there? We shall wait and see!
[313782]
From a conversation with journalists 6/6/23

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Just as a rose among the thorns is tinged with red and white, the Assembly of Israel contains Din [judgment] and Rachamim [mercy] (Zohar for All “The Rose,” Item 1).

When we talk about the gathering of souls, we mean people who are internally connected to each other, although they are not aware of it. And the realization of their common connection is called a “rose.”

Question: Are souls the common connection of all people in the world?

Answer: The common connection of all people in the world is “like a rose among thorns.” And this is called the soul.

And the thorns symbolize judgment, tough management. If you don’t want to be like a rose, to bloom and spread, then you will feel the control from above with the help of judgment and tough management.

Question: Speaking in Kabbalistic language, souls are our inner desires that are always subject to some kind of restrictions. Why are these restrictions necessary?

Answer: To guide us toward better development. After all, it is up to a person to determine how to use harmful egoistic qualities that are hard as thorns in him.

It is precisely because the rose grows between the thorns that we have the opportunity to correctly use the painful management that is directed as if against us, but only in order for us to be corrected and constantly correct ourselves in a good connection between us.
[313812]
From KabTV’s “Introduction of The Book of Zohar” 6/4/23

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