Beauty For The Sake Of Prestige

Question: Formerly, plastic surgery was available only to Hollywood stars. But these days it is popular among ordinary people who want to look younger and more beautiful.

People say these operations free them from many psychological problems they had.

Why doesn’t a person agree with what nature gives him instead of trying to reach perfection with the help of such corrections to his or her appearance?

Answer: A person seeks to preserve his youth because of  his natural desire to live eternally. He knows that he is bound to die and no one knows what will happen afterward.

Even despite the fact that our life in this world is not serene, requires a lot of exertion, and tries our nerves, it is better than total darkness and disappearing.

Therefore, no matter how hard life is, a person’s instinct for self-preservation makes him strive to continue to exist.

There are cases of suicide, but this is an exceptional phenomenon. From nature, the human being tends to protect his life and extend it as long as possible. Only greatsuffering can force a person to agree that his life be cut short, but not otherwise.

That is, the desire for eternal life is a natural phenomenon. And it is very important for a person to feel beautiful, strong, dignified, and confident. He is willing to invest a lot of effort and money for it.

It would be possible to work for half a day in some simple position to secure the necessities of life. But we want to be as good as our neighbors and show off our expensive cars and fashionable clothes and, therefore, must work hard.

External beauty is the same object of pride as a new car, which has value in the eyes of society and determines our status. If we didn’t live in human society, we wouldn’t worry about our beauty and would care only about what is necessary for existence and nothing else.

It would be possible to wear pajamas all the time—soft, warm and comfortable—and just as easy to arrange our entire environment. But our pride and desire to show off in front of others make us care about our appearance.

If we did not live in a competitive environment, neither men nor women would have cared about their looks. This occurs only under the influence of society.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 2/6/15

The Meaning Of Life: The Question That Cannot Be Avoided

Question: Why do you popularize the spreading of the wisdom of Kabbalah?

Answer: As a result of our development, we are beginning to ask about the meaning of life, about its purpose, and about the nature of suffering. So, we must give the common man, far from attaining the meaning of life and the nature of the suffering, the possibility of knowing about this. This is because the depression, sadness, and lack of understanding of the purpose of existence appearing in our time brings aggression, violence, hatred, and wars. We see how peoples and nations clash in a mad, wild “sword dance,” and all of this is because they don’t understand the meaning of life.

Look at what is happening in politics, in the economy, everywhere and in everything! Ignorance and stupidity—people puff themselves up like turkeys, harming others and annihilating each other. Today, many internally ask this question, but don’t express it out loud. Subconsciously, it presses down on them. They would like to find the answer to it, but they cannot, and so it depresses them even more. Instead, they begin to occupy themselves in “games” with bombs, airplanes, terrorism, etc, which end in terrible events, especially these days.

So, we must invest maximum effort so that people will understand how and what is truly carried within the question about the meaning of life, the meaning of the universe, the meaning of our existence here and in other states.

We must make it possible for our people to become the people of Israel, meaning that they yearn for a goal, because they don’t have the right to hide from their destiny. They are obliged to discover the characteristics, foundations, and qualities that exist in them, and thus save humanity from great suffering that would otherwise await us on the way of development.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 6/1/15

The Blessing Of The Priest

As it is written in The Book of Zohar, When the Cohen extends his hands, the Shechina dwells on his fingers, because the Creator agreed with the Cohen in these blessings. Israel is blessed from above, from the Shechina that dwells on his fingers, and from below, from the Cohen, pronouncing a blessing.

The prayer of the Cohen (priest) has a very interesting effect. He is covered by a special cloth called a Tallit and holds his hands up in a certain manner and says, “The Lord bless you,” and so forth.

At the same time, the people must not look at him because the priest embodies theUpper Light which is forbidden to look at directly, only through a Masach (Screen), the Returning Light, received with the preparation of the intention of in order to bestow.

Therefore, everyone present lowers his eyes. There is nothing special in this corporeal action in our world except for a hint of the inner spiritual state of a person who receives the Light of an upper state.

It is said that, “When the Cohen extends his hands, the Shechina dwells on his fingers.” This is a condition where the Upper Light passes through all nine Sefirot up to Malchut, through all the states of Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey of the Creator’s name, and thus imprints inMalchut.

Malchut, by itself, produces the Returning Light (Ohr Hozer). This says, Amen. “Amen” means truth. This word is commonly used, but hardly anyone understands its true value.

When Malchut says “Amen,” it means that it receives everything that descends down on it from above and becomes the recipient of the first nine Sefirot.

In other words, if it is ready to receive the nine Sefirot, it becomes Nukva, the female part of the nine Sefirot, and it represents the whole nation.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 1/28/15

Illness Is A Lack Of Connection

Question: Does a person die when his organs don’t function together harmoniously? I thought the reason was that a certain organ is weakened and cannot function properly. And for that reason all of the organs don’t function properly, and not that the problem was simply in the relationship between them?

Answer: If we examine the organ that stopped functioning normally, we would see that its malfunction is caused by lack of proper communication within the internal parts of the organ. It is only the connection that can go wrong and not the cell itself. Even if a cell doesn’t function, it means that the problem is in the connection within its system.

The only reason for weakness and disorder is the lack of the proper connection between the parts of the whole, starting from the larger parts down to microscopic molecules. Every illness in a body arises only from the lack of the right connection. External and internal forces emerge that disrupt and breakdown the right connection between the parts of the body, whether it’s the large or the small ones. It makes no difference which parts we speak of. We believe that the heart or the kidneys may be weak or ill, but if we examine these organs more deeply, we will see that it stems from the lack of connection between their internal components.

Therefore, we must understand that the connection between us is the only thing that needs to be corrected. There is nothing to correct in a person himself, but he must install an anti-egoistic Masach (Screen) and the Returning Light on his desire in order to properly connect with the other parts. We don’t correct the actual desire but only the intention above the desire that accompanies it. The intention is the connection between us.
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From theFrom the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/9/15, Writing of Baal HaSulam

Where Should One Search For A Longevity Drug?

Question: Do you suppose that people should look for a way to extend human life?

Answer: It is not necessary to think about ways to extend our lives since we see that large numbers of people in the world willingly would give up living entirely. Rather, we must think about how to make our lives qualitatively better. Just because of the fact that people fear death does not mean it makes sense to prolong life. It makes sense only if life in our world would take on a positive and qualitative form for all of humanity.

I think that when a person attains the scheme of creation and sees the logic and the wholeness of the entire system, he will not think at all about existence in physical life; this will not interest him. He already exists within the entire system of mutual connections, and, when he attains that, his physical, beastly body will stop being important for him or felt by him, and this means that he is dead. He is within the entire system, beyond feeling the beastly life of the physical body, and so the entire physical state disappears, and his physical body is considered as if it were dead.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 5/27/14

The Creator’s Name Is Four Letters

 The Torah, “Numbers” 6:27: They shall bestow My Name upon the children of Israel, so that I will bless them.

Saying the Creator’s name is the revelation of the essence of the Creator’s four-letter name. Just like a seal imprinted in wax that leaves its mark, so does the Creator imprint His attributes in a person in an opposite form, and a person must correct them by making them resemble the Creator.

This is the mutual cooperation between the host and the guest when I, the guest, must imprint the desires of the host inside me. I must receive all the refreshments that He serves me so that He will be imprinted in me and carve His name in me, that is, the attitude of the host. When I enable that because I want His attitude, His attribute, to enter me, I receive it and thus connect to Him. The unity between the male part (the Creator) and the female part (the created being, the desire to receive) takes place as one enters the others, like a seal that that is imprinted in a soft pad leaves its mark.

Question: Why is it forbidden to say the Creator’s four-letter name aloud?

Answer: Saying the Creator’s name aloud means to reveal the Creator. The revelation takes place only inside a person, and he cannot convey his feelings to anyone else. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the word “forbidden” means impossible. You cannot reveal the Creator enough to pronounce His name. You can only absorb Him, perceive and receive His form that is totally imprinted on all of your matter, in all of your desire to receive, which leaves His mark (imprint) of His bestowal. This means that you should relate to His four-letter name Yud-Hey-Vav-Hey when you are advancing in the exact opposite direction, not from the top down, but from the bottom up.

In other words, the ten Sefirot of the Direct Light connect to the ten Sefirot of the Returning Light into one unique whole, and this state is called the goal of creation. However, unless His attributes have been attained, we mustn’t express His names. Even the name that is commonly used, like God—El is pronounced “Kel” in order to emphasize the respect we have for it. In our world, we also don’t call our father by name, but use the name “father.” This is a sign of respect for a person who is special to us, and thus we distinguish him from billions of other people. It is the same in spirituality.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 1/28/15

Don’t Put Off Until Tomorrow

Baal HaSulam, “The Last Generation,” Part 1, Section 12: However, a secular return such as today’s does not impress the nations whatsoever, and we must fear lest they will sell Israel’s independence for their needs…

Question: Does it follow that if the Jews don’t realize the program of the last generation, then they will sell the independence of Israel for their personal needs?

Answer: Recognition of the independence of Israel was a very interesting action because Israel was founded by the nations of the world. In its day, through the decision by the United Nations, the possibility was given to the Jewish people to return to their historical birthplace. If the nations of the world did not want this, nothing would have happened. This was done intentionally from above through the forces of nature so that the nations of the world, without understanding it themselves, would themselves lay the foundation for their future correction.

The people of Israel had to return to this land and realize itself as a united people and then, as it is written in the Torah, it could become a Light to the nations, meaning that it would show them an example of how it is necessary to properly cooperate mutually internally and externally.

The world is waiting for this from us. But if the wait is too long, then the backlash will begin again. For example, if I wait for a good attitude from some person, for love, for mutual cooperation, for a good heart, but instead of this get disrespect and disdain from him, then what appears in me is something from a sharp antipathy to real hatred, which is commonly called anti-Semitism.

So, if we don’t want to realize our true individuality, meaning the unity, that no one besides us can accomplish, to show the world and to teach it, then the anti-Semitism and hatred toward us will continue to grow more and more. This will bring a new annihilation, a new Holocaust. This is programmed in nature; we have no choice! On the other hand, to the contrary, if the people will understand that we exist to unite and that it is up to us to give an example of this to the whole world so that following this it will go and also reach unity, then in this manner we will discover the higher power in our world.

We find some kind of elevator for ourselves that will bring us up to the next level of existence where we exist in adhesion and in the merger of our souls into one single soul in which the higher power and the new method for our existence called the “upper world” is revealed that is eternal and perfect, which is not connected in any form to our physical body. The body is given to us only so that we can realize the connection between us. If we begin to unite today, without putting this off until tomorrow, we immediately will feel that we are causing some kind of positive response from the higher nature. This is what we must and can do.
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From KabTV’s “About Our Life” 5/18/15

There Is Not Enough Good In Our World

Question: What is the relationship between the revelation of the good force of nature and unity among people?

Answer: We are connected to each other now by bad connections, and this causes all the negative consequences in our lives. If we reveal the good force of nature by which we connect to each other in one union properly, we will come to a good life.

Our life lacks only the good force of unity. Everyone needs it: children and adults, at home and at work, to make us all equal in all the friends. This is possible only due to the force of unity—the good force that the wisdom of Kabbalah reveals.

Kabbalah is the science of reveling the good force, the Light, the force of unity—the only thing that is missed in our world. This revelation will put an end to all wars, confrontations, and conflicts between individuals, entire countries and nations, and religions.

The cause of all problems is a lack of the force of unity. This is the good force that the wisdom of Kabbalah reveals to us.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 12/18/14