Where Can We Find The Answers To Burning Questions?

Question: People ask you questions about different issues on the Internet. Some are worried about the issue of autism in children, others worry that a war may break out, and others about the economic situation, etc. Do you give concrete answers to these questions or do you give general answers?

Answer: The point is that humanity has been facing all these issues for centuries. If these issues are so ordinary and concern each of us, why hasn’t anyone found an answer to these questions by now? It is because a person must find the answer to these questions inside him and it is impossible to give someone the answer. A person has to change himself in order to do so!

This isn’t actually such a big problem because it can be solved in a discussion circle with people who conduct it according to a certain method, and then we can see how we can change the world. We will feel that we suddenly have a tool for changing and correcting the world and it will give every person the specific answer to any question he may have.
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From an Interview on RTN, New York, 7/21/15

The Spiritual Conquest Of The Land Of Israel

When the Jewish people entered the land of Israel, they had to continuously fight their egoistic desires. The first thing we should expect is a very long period of conquering the land, which means fighting an internal war among us and within each one of us.

Great hostility and hatred appear between us that is in opposition to our wish to unite in order to receive the Light of Hochma that shines in the land of Israel.

If we cannot receive this light, it will operate and affect us negatively by invoking different problems and hared towards everyone, including our friends and brothers with whom who we had good relations just the other day.

In the desert, on the level of Bina, we were one whole. Suddenly we began to fall into a dark and infinite abyss called the land of Israel. To where have we been brought? Yesterday we hugged each other, sat around the bonfire, sang songs together, and everything was fine, nice, and calm. What now?! Women cursed and enticed the men, turning them against one another, and children have become so stubborn! Suddenly one nation starts a war against us and then another! Different internal problems suddenly come up!

How can we make the switch from a peaceful normal state, while being only in slight adhesion with the Creator, and without knowing why, to suddenly want to overcome all these oppositions because it is the Creator’s command? We see how the transition to the future state is made difficult for us to begin with. We are told to get ready, for now you will begin to discover differences between you and life will seem terrible! You will not be able to unite! And by losing the unity between you, you will lose the connection with the Creator! In fact you are advancing towards the snake’s mouth, the one you escaped from when you escaped from Egypt.

Therefore, when we enter the land of Israel, we have to be prepared so that no interruption will stop us. We have to fight systematically, knowing that there is no way back and that we have to keep on advancing. We have to clearly understand this so that we will be able to succeed.
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From KabTV’s “Secrets of the Eternal Book” 4/2/15

The World Is On The Threshold Of A New Era Of Development

Question: Why has so much hatred been revealed in the world lately?

Answer: It is because our egoism is developing very intensely, exponentially, and lately it is rising on an unprecedented sharp, upward curve. Every moment is radically different in its nature from its predecessor, and the acceleration and depth of the discovery of egoism is the main characteristic of nature.

So, it is not surprising that egoism will continue to be discovered more deeply, clearly, and acutely. People will shamelessly begin to demand what is theirs, knowing precisely what they want. And even though they understand that they will not succeed in attaining anything, with all their might they will insist upon what is theirs. The ego will force a person to be rigid and unreasonable, even though everyone will begin to convince himself of its inappropriate demands. And that is how it will be for each one of us.

This is being expressed today, specifically because in the present stage of development, humanity has reached the end of the realization of its earth’s history. We need to rise to the next level of existence where we will feel ourselves, not as physical bodies living in an environment of the substance of the still, vegetative, and animate levels, which is supposedly our home, but in the form of forces that are not limited by physical bodies. So now we need to depart from our beastly state.

And in order to obligate us to begin to be engaged with development outside of our bodies, to forget them, and to stop feeling them, the egoism of our bodies, of our lives, of our consciousness is being revealed. It will push us forward towards a situation where our egoistic drives will be perceived by us as disgusting, an abomination, and this is not because we will become idealists, but because we feel how much our evil nature directs us. In other words, we won’t begin to run away from egoism, but will simply be unable to be at peace with it because we will see how from morning to evening it gives us commands, spurs us on, pushes us forward, throws us on the ground, and drags us up.

This means that it forces us to exist in an absolutely useless form in which we invest energy that brings us only suffering, despair, and disappointment. Nature, or more precisely its program, is leading us to this, according to which we need to ascend spiritually precisely at a time of full disappointment in the egoistic system of management, and we must demand a new and different system of management. But it will be discovered in us through that same ego.

Therefore, the ego is called a “helpmate against him” (Genesis 2:18). It is said specifically about Pharaoh, who symbolizes the ego, that he brought the children of Israel closer to the Creator through his coarse and cruel actions. The present terrible, egoistic opposition of all people, nations, and countries, the absolute disappointment in everything, the deterioration of the foundation of our world and the economy, which has guided the world for thousands of years, indicates that the ego has exhausted itself on all levels.

Presently, hatred will reach its limit, but simultaneously it will bring powerlessness and disappointment. Why should I kill, burn, and annihilate someone? There was a time during the Crusades, that this seemed like the solution to the problem, whereas today, it doesn’t! So it is necessary to look at the whole process from the point of view of the benefit that is received from all stages of development.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

Which Is The Happiest Nation In The World?

Question: Which nation is the happiest nation in the world?

Answer: The happiest people are the Papuans (the inhabitants of New Guinea), who walk around half naked and don’t think about anything but hunting in order to eat. It says in Pirkei Avot: “He who has more assets has more worries,” and “the more you know, the more you suffer.”

Question: How can we become the happiest nation in the world?

Answer: The happiest nation is the nation that will be in accordance with the plan of creation: advancing in the same pace, in the same direction, according to the instructions from above that spread in nature and which nature fulfills in us. If we precede the instructions from above and fulfill them by understanding them, nature will not pressure us in any way and will not push us from behind and be forced to place obstacles before us. In that case, we will live in heaven on earth: a wonderful climate, a wonderful socialistic society, abundance, life free of diseases, everything we can only wish for! We will see that people are happy to meet us and we will be happy to meet them, and everything will be balanced. Nature that is totally balanced in all its parts is heaven on earth.

However, all that can be fulfilled only if we understand how the upper law is fulfilled, how it pressures us systematically and leads us somewhere, and if we begin to change by ourselves before it brings down the upper influence on us. Therefore it says in the Torah, that the Creator created the ego that should push us forward, but if we use the force called the Torah or the Light of correction from above, in addition to the ego, we will be able to correct the ego by it in advance, and thus will not feel any impulses or negative pressures in it but only positive ones. You will actually look for how to use and fulfill the ego by yourself, in order to advance independently. This is called freedom!

But it isn’t the same freedom when you don’t know what to do and you jump in every direction like a child who runs around in a room. Freedom means understanding the thought of creation, understanding its wonderful goal, when you can advance towards it independently, by yourself, and not by being spurred to do so.
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From KabTV’s “Conversations with Michael Laitman” 8/5/15

The First Gram In Correction

Question: What must happen to create a new Kli (vessel) in a person above his present desires?

Answer: For this, first of all, there is a need for support that can be obtained thanks to the group, the teacher, the study, anddissemination.

Submission is the first and principle act regarding the Creator upon which, afterward, all the rest is built. After all, our desire is egoistic, so the first action must be the submission of the ego. Someone who is ready for this tries to implement what the group needs and what the teacher asks, to be stimulated by the learning, and to invest himself in dissemination.

The main work here is clarification through the emotion and intellect. After all, it could be that a person carries out many physical actions, yet doesn’t make any calculations about them, or the opposite, all day he makes various calculations, yet doesn’t realize anything. These calculations aren’t worth anything. This is only philosophy.

Everything begins from submission because without the submission of the ego and the intellect that serves it, it is impossible to begin to work above it. I must pull out my desire to receive, study it, and subdue it. Submission is the first activity on the way to adhesion. After all, with the desire that is in me now, I will not be able to get closer to the Creator in any way.

So, I bend it, criticize it, and clarify with which part it is possible to work and with which part it is not possible. I don’t have anything except a desire to receive, so I begin to learn how it is possible to change it, in which directions. For example, I approach the friends even though I don’t feel anything at all, but I understand that I must do this.

Thanks to this, by implementing changes in my previous state and bringing myself forward a bit, I correct my attitude. I sacrificed myself. I helped the friends. I carried out the advice of the teacher. I passed from the F₁ state to the F₂ state. Even though these two states are within my ego, there is a difference between them, a delta due to my change. I can learn from the example of the change that I made and the results that were received by using this as the first brick in building my nullification of the self.

I already have something in my hands. The state that I have attained is better than the previous state, and so I call it a “pleasant and kind bride” (Talmud Babyli, Ketubot 16b). I received a higher and more beautiful Kli, and so Beit Hillel (the school of Hillel) doesn’t force me to lie. It only shows me that it is up to me to attain this state.

Beit Shammai speaks about the present situation, whereas Beit Hillel speaks about a desired state, but one that will happen eventually. When I attain it, reach it, then, state F₂becomes the main state for me. This state needs further work so that the F₂ state of Beit Hillel will become realistic. It is the point of view of Beit Shammai from which I clarify the desired state F₃ of Beit Hillel. That is how I continue and advance further.

However, I first use the delta between the states of F₁ and F₂ as the unit of measure: a millimeter, a centimeter, and a gram of correction. I use it as a model, as a standard, a scale of measurement, and armed with this, I can advance.

Question: What must be done to advance from state F₁ to state F₂?

Answer: It is necessary to see the two states from the point of view of Beit Shammaiand from the point of view of Beit Hillel, “a beautiful bride as she is” and simultaneously “a pleasant and kind bride.” However, a person himself has no chance of seeing state F_2; for this purpose, he is given a teacher and the books that he must listen to. He must accept what is said by the teacher as truth, and the teacher says, “There is none else besides Him,” “the Good who does good.”

If he sees the bride only as unattractive as she is, then it is necessary to continue to work in a group, study, and disseminate. Respecting the teacher means carrying out what he advises regarding your advancement. This means carrying out activities and watching for a response of the Light, similar to a bride who must prepare herself, and only then will the groom come. The right actions will necessarily cause a response from the Upper Light.
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From the preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/12/14

Two Questions In The Heavenly Court

Question: Why is it said that it was refusal and rejection that later become a new receptive Kli?

Answer: I have nothing other than an appetite, hunger, a feeling of lack or fulfillment. This is our essence. This is the unique characteristic that I can use. Also within me is that point fromBina, which helps me change my attitude towards the desire to receive and the feeling in it, the feeling of lack or the feeling of fulfillment. The desire to receive with the feeling of lack or fulfillment is Malchut. The point from which I can observe and examine it is the point of Bina. Because Malchut is an offspring of Bina; this ability exists within it.

When I use the point of Bina and identify with it, I can see how Malchut suffers or enjoys fulfillment or the lack of fulfillment. I now want to take Malchut and change it so that it will be like Keter. To do this I must bestow, like Keter. So I summon all of the Light that there is in my Malchut, but I don’t enjoy feeling this within me but through passing it through me to others. In this way I will be like Keter, like the guest who makes himself like the host.

I enjoy the Light that I receive—not the Light itself, but transmitting it to others. If I were simply to return the Light to the Host, I would not give Him contentment. I must enjoy the Light within my Kelim by giving pleasure to the Host, and this is the enjoyment that I transmit back to the Host.

And here we can already see what the NRNHY is. I simply receive Light, and to the degree that within me I am ready to feel the pleasure that I am giving to the Host, it receives the form that is called Ohr HaNefesh, Ohr HaRuach, Ohr HaNeshama, Ohr HaHaya, and Ohr HaYechida. This depends on how much I allow myself to enjoy it and whether I can transmit this to the Host and feel how much He enjoys the entire extraction that I am prepared to bring out from this enjoyment, and how we connect together in the same enjoyment. The Light is shared between us; otherwise we cannot connect. Here my desire and His desire are connected into one. All of this is done using the receptiveKelim, yet not in their usual form, but above them, meaning, above their usual significance and usage.

Question: How do I know that the Creator has pleasure?

Answer: For this you need to feel Him. So you demand revelation. You demand revelation not to enjoy it, but only to know if you are giving Him pleasure. This is the right request. This is exactly what we must demand in order to work.

Question: In the physical world, how must I feel pleasure from the Light within my desire?

Answer: There is no this world or next world; they differ only in the different attitude to pleasure, where it is felt. If you enjoy giving pleasure to others, this is called “the spiritual world.” If you cannot enjoy transferring it to someone else, it means that you don’t feel him as yourself, so you are still found in the material world. In your eyes, the system is still not connected.

Question: What force can keep me on the way because it is impossible to exist without any pleasure?

Answer: Help from heaven—only the Creator can help. It is good when a person depends on the Light that Reforms. This is called “help from heaven.” It is written that after death when a person reaches the heavenly court, he is asked: “Were you engaged in Torah? Did you expect salvation?” “Engaged in Torah” means, did you attract the Light that Reforms and “you shall love your friend as yourself” meaning, did you realize the great general rule of the Torah?

When you were involved with this, did you expect salvation, that the Light that Reforms would come to you and give you the power of bestowal and love of others and through that the love of the Creator? A person is only asked about this.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/10/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Love For Animals Or Love For People

Question: A human being is a part of the animal world, albeit a most developed one. Animals can be herbivores or predators who consume each other. Throughout the entire history of humanity, people ate animals, so we can be placed into the category of predators.

Why, then, did vegetarianism became so popular lately? Could it be a result of people’s development to such a degree where they are uncomfortable with killing animals for their own pleasure?

Answer: I do not think that humanity has developed that greatly because development should be internal, not simply the growth of intellect. We know that high intelligence does not make a person kind to others. That does not depend on the level of education, on what university a person graduated from, or how many Nobel prizes he or she has.

In general, I do not see that man is evolving in the human sense. It is impossible to find an example where a nation reached high inner development by virtue of its technical progress and technological accomplishments, or even by achievements in literature, music, and medicine.

Germany was the most developed country before the second World War, and look at what kind of suffering the Germans brought to the entire world.

Question: But I am speaking about just one specific aspect: a person’s treatment of animals!

Answer: And I am not talking about animals but about a person’s treatment of people! We know that the most developed nation at the time made lampshades from human skin. This is why I do not see any signs of advancement in the fact that a person refuses to consume animals as food.

We are talking about the development of human qualities in a person. If vegetarianism would be a consequence of such development, then it will be a different story. However, for now, we are not talking about that. Vegetarianism has no connection to the good treatment of people.

Question: Is it not kindness if a person refuses to kill an animal for his own satiation?

Answer: It is a completely wrong approach because, even given that, we kill and torture animals daily through our egoistic relationships with people, and killing and eating a chicken is not egoism because a chicken exists in order to lift a person. The inner premise of a chicken is to help a person live and to raise him to a higher level.

Moreover, our bodies have such needs that are impossible to satisfy by consuming only a vegetarian diet. A person needs meat. We do not understand this yet and have not researched it enough. I am sure that such research exists, but it is being hidden and not allowed to be published.

A person cannot live without eating meat. Our body and its digestive system, the entire system of food intake, is arranged in such a way that we are required to eat meat, except for those who do not like it by nature. There is a special type of people who do not like meat.

The conclusion is very simple. We cannot spread vegetarianism as an ideology through persistent means of pressure. We need to stop advertising it across all channels. Ardent vegetarians themselves look like predators who are ready to tear other people apart for eating a piece of chicken.

Let vegetarians show others how much kinder vegetarianism has made them, how much their attitude toward people, and not just toward animals, has changed for the better. Let them first correct their relationship to people and only after that toward animals and show an example to everyone! Only then will I understand that it is a revolution in humanity and not just a vegetarian revolution.

A vegetarian diet is being referred to as natural, as closer to nature. However, is it natural? If a person wants to follow his nature, then he needs to eat meat.
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From KabTV’s “A New Life” 7/30/15

Equipped With An Intention

Question: How can we unite if the breach between the different streams and sectors seems impossible to bridge?

Answer: That’s the way it should be at the end of the exile. It doesn’t surprise me. We have reached this state as a result of ages of evolution. The modern world is the advanced level of the evolution of our ego. It is good because the ego is revealed in its clear and specific form on this level. The only thing missing is the recognition of evil: we have to understand that we feel bad precisely because our ego shows us that it is the source of all evil.

We still lack this recognition, which means that we shouldn’t just suffer because we feel bad, but rather we need to discover the reason for this evil. At the moment we don’t associate the split between us with a military escalation somewhere in the world, with demonstrations, with problems that come up all the time, and with the rising cost of living. We don’t associate all that with our ego, and therefore we still lack the recognition of evil and simply feel bad.

We have to work on that and to explain that it is actually the lack of connection between us that is the source of every form of evil and that the correction is also lies in the same cause—the renewal of the connection between us.

Humanity itself will never be able to discover this dependency and that the lack of connection between people has a destructive effect on nature and on the ecology. We can convince people that the separation has a bad influence on society and leads to breaches between religious and non religious sectors, between the rich and the poor, between different streams; it also leads to problems in the educations system—but all this belongs to the human level. When we speak about the effect on the inanimate, vegetative, and animate levels of nature it becomes hard to explain that.

People have to undergo terrible afflictions before they can see the connection between these things. Therefore, it is our obligation to disseminate the wisdom of Kabbalah, and Baal HaSulam says that the time for that has come.

Question: Can we convince people by setting a personal example for them, by showing them the good outcomes that the study of Kabbalah can lead to?

Answer: I don’t think it will help even if we run around and demonstrate beautiful examples of connection between people. Our main work is to use our intention. We have to perform actions, but most of all we have to focus on our intention and not look for solutions other than integral education.

I don’t think we will be able to make any progress through our actions. Actions are important, but they take place on the account of the Upper Light that operates according to our intention. The action itself on which the intention is based is not so important. We simply have to use all the options that open up from above.

We are nearing the right intention all the time—this is all our work. Consequently, we draw the Light and we don’t need anything else except the Light. I am not armed with a gun or a spear, but only with the intention that I have to use in order to draw the Light.
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From the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/13/14, Writings of Baal HaSulam