A question I received: I have a very important question! Fifteen years ago, I became religious and joined a religious school because the point of my soul awakened in my heart! I wanted Eternity, but did not know how. I found the studies at the religious seminary to be shallow, and anything that reached deeper required me to “break” my personality, making me sad and remorseful (for having a boyfriend). I cried, had conversations with “G-d,” felt hopeless, fearful, envious, and nullified my desires!

I tried to wipe out my personality, and suffered in order to become righteous! But it was all foolish! Little by little I understood that I was doing idolatry, yet I told myself that this was impossible – after all, it was the Torah! And all the rabbis said, “The Torah, the commandments!” For years I knew that this wasn’t it, and I was struggling, yet wasn’t able to explain it! I was studying at a very prestigious religious school in Jerusalem, with the best rabbis, yet I intuitively understood that they were lacking something! I felt depressed, alone, and couldn’t find myself. I argued with them, saying that they were engaging in questions of minor importance! A week ago, I was lucky to turn on the Kabbalah channel, and I said, “This is what I need! This is what I’ve been looking for!” That was after I saw just one TV show.

I got lucky! And this is just the beginning! I pity many rabbis! I got burned, not warmed, by their Torah! Maybe it’s because my father was a righteous man that I merited not to believe their nonsense, their empty words! I’m sorry for saying so, but in my opinion they are all the same – just lecturers!

Finally, here is my question. After being so suppressed, that I can’t even describe it, do I have a chance to be spiritually revived to the state I was born into? By my nature, I was connected to society, and I understood what “Israel” is, but religion spoiled this eternity for me! I apologize for such a long question and the efforts you’re making for me! In the past I thought, “It’s fine to break your character.” That’s what I was taught, and I simply wiped myself out, I fasted and was even happy to suffer spiritually. Later, I began crying because everything was passing me by!

Do I have a chance? If yes, what is it? It’s very important to me! Will I ever regain the strength I once had? I used to feel love for the people, love for deliverance, love for modesty, love for eternity, love for society! And suddenly all of this turned into anger, fear, failure, religious egoism, collecting commandments, and religious idolatry.

My Answer: Everything you studied, and everything that happened to you, was supposed to happen exactly the way it did, and will be of use to you. You shouldn’t accuse anybody, because until this moment in your life, everything took place according to the Creator’s will. From this moment onward, you should continue behaving as usual, but supplement your life with Kabbalah study. Start with the book Shamati (ed. see below), and then continue with the articles of Baal HaSulam. Or it could be better for you to listen and watch our lessons (ed. see below) instead of reading by yourself. Try it. You should only look forward – never backward!

The Book Shamati (I Heard):
Free PDF Download
Read at Kabbalah Library
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Lessons by Michael Laitman:
Daily Kabbalah Lessons given by Rav Michael Laitman, PhD are broadcast live on Kabbalah TV: 3:20am until 6:00am Israel (GMT+2) time, Sunday to Friday, [Time Zone Converter], and are archived on the Kabbalah Media Archive.

Related Posts:
Laitman.com Post: Stop Thinking about the Past!
Laitman.com Post: Onwards and Upwards

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Two questions I received on our perception of the world:

Question: How can I understand this paradox: On the one hand, we are being treated as one integral system of Adam, but at the same time we feel like individuals? And what about the individual who is incorporated into all the general suffering and woes, which happen to the entire system? How can he go through this path pleasantly and safely? And who is to blame for the fact that this system is so opposite to the laws of bestowal?

My Answer: Everything is built perfectly and logically. What you perceive is not a lousy world, but your own imperfections, your own picture of the world. If you correct yourself, then everything will radiate harmony.

It is because the screen on which you see yourself and your surroundings is your qualities, and in order to change yourself to see the world as eternal and perfect, or in other words, to live in this kind of world you depict, is by acquiring eternal and perfect qualities. This is why Kabbalah has been given to us.

Question: Why was the world created precisely the way it is? Why is there nature, attitude, change in attitude, suffering, pleasure, the will to receive, the will to bestow, etc.? Who needs all this? Why can’t we just enjoy and so be it? What is there to do for someone who has no patience and who doesn’t even have a desire to exist (not in a body or without a body, but to simply not exist)?

My Answer: The soul was created in perfection, in the World of Infinity. It lacks only one thing: the perception of this perfection. The only way to achieve this perception is by comparing the opposites of darkness and light – the absence of perfection and its presence. Its presence is there, but its absence is missing. This is why our world was created; it is the place where we have to fully perceive the absence of perfection, and together with it, return to the world of infinite perfection. There we will feel true fulfillment through these opposites.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: I Saw a Reversed World
Article: Perfection and the World
Shamati Article #34: The Profit of a Land
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 – The Profit of a Land [53:59]
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 – The Profit of a Land [53:59]

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A question I received: We learn that our world is a reflection of the Upper World – “As it is above, so it is below.” We also learn that all the disorder among us is a result of our evolving egoism. One only needs to take a look at the world and our current situation to understand that it is all true. Nonetheless, secret theories circulate about families and clans called “Illuminati,” who engage in magic rituals in secret societies. Their main goal is to not only to gain world domination, but to gain the power of the Creator. Is there any truth to this?

My Answer: There are no secrets or miracles in our world, no matter how much we might want them to exist. We want to believe that the world is magical in some way, and more interesting than what we see. However, everything rests upon strict laws of nature. If one knows these laws, one can expand the limits of the perceivable world. We can develop additional qualities within ourselves and as such, feel a broader world. However, all of this also happens according to the physical laws of equivalence of form.

A question I received: All of this talk I hear about Kabbalah, regarding miracles and abilities to see supernatural occurrences – do these things indicate that one is advanced in Kabbalah?

My Answer: There are no miracles, mysticism, or anything of what you wrote in Kabbalah. Read Baal HaSulam’s article “The Essence of the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” and others (see the right sidebar’s “Kabbalah Source Materials” section for Baal HaSulam’s materials).

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A question I received: Kabbalah says that we are governed by the Upper Force. In this case, how should I relate to raising my children? How can I raise them when they and I are controlled from above? Children aren’t something inanimate, like a traffic light or a computer, so how should I raise them?

My Answer: In one way or another, children live in a society or environment from which they receive all “the good and the bad.” Nature has given you the responsibility to raise them, to determine what will fill them during their initial ten to fifteen years of their life. In other words, you are “molding” them, and you also determine what educational institutions they attend and who their teachers and friends are.

A question I received: How soon will a Kabbalistic elementary school be established? I am afraid of sending my children to a regular school or day care.

My Answer: We already have such schools, to some extent. And you can try creating them in other places as well.

A question I received: Is it possible to visit your center in Israel with children?

My Answer: Yes. You need to coordinate your visit with our reception by calling 1-700-509-209.

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A question I received: Deepak Chopra wrote that a human organism is renewed every few hours, as well as all the parasites, viruses and diseases in it. Apparently, it’s not a matter of physiology, but programming. Can we use the power of intention to influence our body’s changes, cure serious diseases, and even grow limbs? And another question: If we progress further, can we change the reality around us or our life’s situation? And the main question: Do we need to learn how to do it if it’s possible?

My Answer: Kabbalah is the revelation of the Creator to a person. The Creator reveals Himself to a person to the extent of the level of correction of one’s egoism to altruism, and love toward people. This world has no miracles in it. Fairy tales are either for children or are the products of charlatans. There are laws; laws of nature. We will learn how to grow limbs, but within the boundaries of these laws. Reality depends on you, on your properties. Take a look at how you can change it: “Preface to the Book of Zohar.”

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News Story: Global Warming Spells Bad News for Tropical Insects

American scientists are stating that global warming on our planet will primarily affect the animal kingdom in the Earth’s tropical zone. According to the specialists, tropical insects that are the most susceptible to temperature changes will suffer first. The scientists are asserting that the disappearance of only several kinds of insects will cause an imbalance in nature.

My Comment: Popular opinion states that global warming is a result of people’s physical attitude toward nature, and not as a result of our relationships with one another. However, it will soon become revealed that our egoism and hatred of one another, instead of loving one another (i.e. according to the spiritual criteria of “love”), are the cause of all the world’s problems.

Related Material:
* ARTICLE: The Tip of the Iceberg – Where it wasn’t scorching hot in North America this past summer, it was flooded. But it wasn’t just in North America. Large parts of Europe and Asia seemed to be either blazing (literally) or submerged under flash floods, mudslides, or overflowing rivers. And where harm didn’t come from the sky, it came from beneath the ground: Peru is recovering from a deadly earthquake, and in Japan the biggest nuclear power station was shut down after a quake triggered radiation leakage.

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A question I received: What do you think, will Kabbalah be able to compromise with other teachings, or will it swallow everything in its process of spreading? I’m talking with regard to religions, other views of Kabbalah, and other teachings in general. We who spread Kabbalah will have to react in some kind of way sooner or later. So how should we react?

My Answer: Truth will emerge on its own, but by means of lengthy suffering, wars, and destruction. Every person who disseminates Kabbalah is motivated by the aspiration to diminish the suffering of the masses. Thus, to answer your question of how we should react: we need to speak the truth about the world and the cause of suffering. And then, should we criticize others in the process? Generally, no – because the evolution of egoism itself will bring them to their failure, and they will gradually change and become like Kabbalah, or they’ll disappear altogether. Compromising means coming to terms on common grounds and agreeing on certain matters, but this is impossible when it comes to Kabbalah, as there is no compromising with the laws of nature.

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News Story: UN Urges Biofuel Investment Halt

“The UN’s new top adviser on food, Olivier de Schutter, has urged a freeze on biofuel investment, saying the blind pursuit of the policy is ‘irresponsible.’ He also wants curbs on investors whose speculation is, he says, driving food prices higher.

UN officials liken the rise in food prices to a silent tsunami, threatening 100 million of the world’s poorest.”

My Response: What comes to mind is “Cannons instead of butter!” – Goebbels’ proclamation in his 1937 New Year’s Eve speech. As usual, we’ve wanted to do what’s best, and it’s turned out like it always has. Furthermore, we will continue ending up with unfavorable results every time, because our egoistic intentions are in disharmony with the force of Nature controlling us. While aiming ourselves egoistically, any “good initiative” we can come up with is destined to fail from the start, and moreover, as a result of our “great minds” and “good intentions” throughout history (since the time of Ancient Babylon), we are today witnessing an avalanche of collapses all at once.

It’s time to realize that we can no longer act against Nature. On the contrary, we need to study Nature and act in harmony with it. For this purpose, Kabbalah reveals Nature’s Upper Governing Force to us.

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News Story: Could a ‘brain cap’ warn us of mistakes we are about to make?

“The possibility that car drivers could one day wear a special cap to warn when they are showing dangerous lapses in concentration is raised today.

Scientists have found that it is possible to tell if a person is likely to make a mistake up to half a minute before they are even aware they have made it.”

My Response: According to Kabbalah, we learn how to make mistake-free actions through our mistakes. It is said that “there is no righteous person on Earth who has done good and not made a mistake,” and also, “one cannot perform a commandment before having erred in performing it.” As such, no “brain caps” or any devices we make can help us avoid making mistakes. Nature’s program, which is teaching us all the time, will find its way around every gimmick we come up with, and it will make us realize that only by attaining similarity with Nature itself can we become mistake-free.

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A question I received: These days, many women are taking national leading positions. Some examples are Angela Merkel (Germany), Tarja Halonen (Finland), Vaira Vike-Freiberg (Latvia), Cristina Kirshner (Argentina), Pratibha Patil (India), Gloria Macapagal (The Philippines), Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf (Liberia), and Yulia Tymoshenko (Ukraine). It also looks like France and the USA are next. What does Kabbalah have to say about this situation of women taking national leadership?

My Answer: It doesn’t correspond to the spiritual system. In our era, equal rights seems correct and just, while the demands of spirituality (where the woman helps, directs, strengthens and approves, while the man attains the Upper Light of correction and fulfillment) seem sexist.

Nevertheless, if we don’t correspond (as much as humanity’s desire for spirituality develops) to Nature (the Creator, the property of absolute love), we’ll disfigure our existence. Our dissimilarity and imbalance evoke the negative forces of correction, which we feel as suffering, and Nature (the Creator) will nevertheless make us follow its laws by force.

So we can follow Nature laws either by being forced, i.e. through the path of suffering, or we can consciously will ourselves to follow them. The place of our freedom is not in inventing our own paths, because there’s only one truth and only one path to it (the same path through which we descended from the World of Infinity). The place of our freedom is in our aspiration (our request for correction), above our egoistic aspirations (to receive), and our striving toward the goal of Nature (to bestow).

Why is it that women are being allowed to take leadership positions in our times? It’s because they use their egoism more carefully than men. When it comes to today’s enormous egoism, a woman’s egoism is better and calmer than a man’s.

(In the photo: my daughter and I.)

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