Kabbalah with Rav Michael Laitman

Excuse me as this is my first time on this forum. I used to heavily read philosophy a couple of years ago and then came across Kabbalah which I began to study, and gradually faded from philosophy. I am attaching an interview here, translated from Hebrew on the Israeli TV program “Kabbalah with Rav Michael Laitman PhD”. I am interested to see what one who studies philosophy can opine about anything presented in this interview, about how Kabbalah is presented here.

Kabbalah with Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Events in the life of mankind

(transcribed Karma TV (Israel) show)

Due to many requests from our viewers, we’ve decided to dedicate one program to the subject of natural disasters and catastrophes. Here with us is Rav Laitman. Hello Rav Laitman.

Hello.

And… we wanted to talk today about disasters. So, maybe we will begin with the first question,

Yes

which is the most essential. Are disasters, catastrophes, natural calamities, such things that we see happening to people, that hurt several people, preventable, or aren’t they?

Well, this is not new; it is possible to say that through our entire history we have experienced minor or major disasters. Is it preventable or not, does it actually depend on us?

Yes, we can say that on one hand it simply comes to show the insignificance of man against nature, to show how small man is compared with the entire universe. On the other hand we may say that man is controlling this, or… that it comes from above.

Yes, all sorts of philosophies are derived from this kind of speculation. Should we accept it as something that is a natural part of life? Or perhaps we should resist it? Maybe if we prevent something here it will pop up somewhere else and be even worse, so we should not touch it, and so on. There are many approaches to it.

I would say this: that I usually love explaining how Kabbalah relates to the subject.

Okay.

And, as a result of it, each and every one will be able to explain to himself or herself, in all that happens, what, how it is right to interpret the situation.
The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that we are living in a reality which is invariable. This reality is called the Creator, or upper law, nature.

And this upper light, the Creator, the general law, is at complete rest.

Just as there are many verses about this: “I did not change my name” (Ani HaVaYaH lo Shiniti – Hebrew), and so on.

It means that we are in something permanent, in some ocean of the upper light, which has an unchanging nature.

And what happens is that we change.

The overall plan of ours, and the light that we are in, is such that at every time, every moment, we have to adapt ourselves to the light.

Desires are revealed in me, and my desires are of a nature which is opposite to the light - egoistic, in order to receive - while the nature of the light is to bestow.

As it is said about the Creator: “The good and benevolent".

So I have to correct my desire accordingly, that I would be aimed in order to bestow as well. I have to go through a correction of myself. And if I do not perform this correction, to the extent that I am opposite to the light, I feel suffering in all kinds of ways.

Actually, all of humanity and our entire world - inanimate, vegetative, living and speaking - sense that difference from the light we are in, which in fact pours and fills the entire reality.

And because the will to receive in us constantly grows and intensifies more and more in every generation, it accumulates and rises in us and we don’t even think about the fact that we have to correct it. Thus we find ourselves in the chain of generations, our growing, uncorrected egoism causing more and more suffering.

Since the end of the twentieth century onwards, this accumulation of suffering has grown and will continue to grow to the extent that was indicated in the Zohar; that we will arrive at such a state which will simply be intolerable.

The use of drugs will increase dramatically, as also the amount of suicide deaths. The predominant problem in the world will be a person’s state of depression and this will outnumber all other human illnesses and problems. Terror will emerge as well as all sorts of manic outbursts, all coming out of a person who feels his or her existence in a world full of suffering.

And there is only one reason for all this; the lack of equivalence of our form with the form of the upper light which we are in.

It turns out that there is a correction that can be carried out against it, which is quite simple, and which is what Kabbalah recommends for us to take upon ourselves. However there is a psychological dilemma here; to agree with it, to grasp it, to take it and change ourselves, and consequently come to feel eternity, wholeness and benevolence.

So actually, according to Kabbalah, you are saying that it can be avoided. Meaning that…

It is preventable only through the inner correction of a person.

There is no other way. No external actions will help us.

What do you mean by external actions?

Well, suppose we would now begin to place all sorts of sensors to detect earthquakes and other possible disastrous phenomena. In short, any technical means other than our inner correction will eventually turn to our disadvantage.
We see that the more medicines we produce, the more ill we become. We advance in one certain field of development and eventually we come to a state of “recognition of evil”; a point of crisis for which we cannot find a solution.

So you are actually saying that the wisdom of Kabbalah agrees with the approach that claims that everything is predetermined, that all disasters are predetermined, and there are all sorts of prophecies in the Koran, the New Testament, the Bible, from the prophets, who actually talk about this time as a period of disasters. So you are saying that the wisdom of Kabbalah fits in the same framework?

No. I will explain. Especially throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the human race needed to develop forcefully and to suffer, to accumulate bitter experience, and out of this experience to evolve. Humanity will come to discern that development does not bring it to any kind of substantial fulfillment.

And eventually, a general crisis in all areas that humanity deals with will emerge, and we are reaching that state today, in our very era. This general crisis spans the domains of technology, education, family life, society, international relations, and many other areas now filled with problems. In all the fields that we engage in, we see that we do not know how to progress.

We do not know what direction to take. Whatever direction we take, we reveal that after a few years what we actually achieved was a bitter result.

Until now, any development that took place was only in order for us to arrive at such a conclusion, and for this fundamental question to awaken in us: What should we do? “What is the meaning of our life?”

What do we live here for? Is there some plan for evolution that does not lead us towards failure and to a bitter sensation?

So is there any gain from all of these disasters and sufferings?

And here is exactly where the Zohar claims that this is the time when the wisdom of Kabbalah will be revealed, because there will be a need for it.

That is why in our days we see that people from everywhere begin to talk about Kabbalah, even though they still do not understand the reason for it, or the truth about why they talk about it. It is already coming from above, as the next step of development.

So, I would like to understand one point. I can take a certain disaster, and now try to understand, let’s say an earthquake, has killed tens of thousands of people.

It is not important. They say that if there is trouble anywhere in the world, at any level, human, natural, no matter what, it is the fault of the people who are meant to correct themselves but have not.

But why does it come in such a way? Meaning, there is an earthquake, and out of having an earthquake, and some fatal disaster, I need to now realize that an inner correction is necessary.

It is because, out of the entire human race, there are people responsible for beginning the correction. Whether or not they correct themselves determines the entire existence of nature either in accordance with the upper light, or opposite to it.

Their refusal to correct their egoism could cause all sorts of disasters and events, explosions on some stars, some forest would burn somewhere, or even without any connection to a person, even at such levels of inanimate, vegetative or animate which are less relevant to us; all catastrophes come out of our lack of correction, and the acceptance of the process of correction depends solely on us.

Now another question: Does location have a meaning?
You spoke about explosions in the stars. Does it mean anything if a disaster takes place in Europe or in Asia, or America?

Yes. But it does because we are included in each other, within the system of Adam HaRishon (the First Man), where all souls are included together as one soul toward the upper light.

There is a part that is more important which is required to be corrected first, consisting of the souls called “the people of Israel”, and there is a part that awaits a later time to be corrected, so called souls of “the nations of the world”.

So the account is quite complicated. Because the inclusion of the souls creates a situation as is written: “The righteous suffer, and the wicked benefit”, where we do not exactly see where the blow is aimed.

So do you actually see these disasters as punishment for the fact that people have not corrected themselves?

No. It is not punishment at all. It is as I drew in the general picture. You can see that it is not punishment, but a system that functions according to the plan of equivalence of form between forces, between our inner forces and the force of this light, the upper light. To the extent that there is balance, everyone feels eternity and wholeness. To the extent that there is no balance, the souls suffer.

And this program was written in advance, nothing changes in it, except for our desire and free choice, which can really save the situation here and achieve correction.

So how is this approach different from any other approach that tells you to take a book, read it once a day, and then things will get better. If you do this or that then the world will change. Where is the essential difference here? Is there anything new here?

The essential difference is not in reading a book. It is in the fact that a person learns what he or she needs to do with him or her self according to the system.
The essential difference I would say is this: that you may have many books in the world that discuss inner correction, improving one’s attributes, “love thy neighbor” and all sorts of things. The essential thing here about the wisdom of Kabbalah is that it opens for you the upper world.

You begin to see it, and once you see the system, the mechanism that you are in as an inseparable integral part, you see how to behave correctly.

We can see that no theoretical proofs, lectures, or arguments will help.

Only if a person can clearly see and feel the way this system is designed will he or she be convinced that it is so, and then the person acts out of his or her nature. A person cannot put his or her hand in a fire, or jump from dangerous heights, the person just does not have that capacity.

And in such a way the person will also behave as soon as he or she will see how the entire natural system, the system of reality, behaves.

So there is an interesting question here about this point: Does a person who studies Kabbalah and advances, let’s say even attains the sensation of the spiritual world, receive less “blows”, or does he receive the same amount, but has a different way of relating to them because the person sees the reason behind them?

The person, first of all, does not perceive the blows as blows. Because even if he or she revealed the true picture, it is already easier for him or her because the person sees the situation, even if it is uncorrected and bitter, as something purposeful. So it is like a person who is ill and needs to go through some treatments, knowing that eventually there will be a good, healthy state. The person is already happy about the state that will exist. It is a so-called “Sweetening of the Judgments”, a sweetening of the sufferings.

In addition, the person immediately sees how he or she can correct this situation and attain a good life, not having to do it through reincarnating another thousand years and being some poor, desperate person who would not know what will happen in the next moment, and in this, really being lower than all other creatures.

And here you are provided with a method which is healthy, open, simple, and is today being revealed to everyone.

This did not exist previously. It has been discussed for thousands of years, but no one who talked about it knew what it was, and it is still like this today. However, now it is starting to be revealed and can be reached by anyone who feels interested in it and has a desire for it.

So you are actually saying that the wisdom of Kabbalah, its revelation, and humanity which is suffering, need to meet somewhere, at some point along the path?

Yes.

What does this point depend on?

The truth is that it depends on the feeling of suffering.

So perhaps it is better if there would be more sufferings now?

No. It would be much better if we could convince people to begin their corrections. This would alleviate the sufferings.

The way of correction is much more preferable to suffering. The way of suffering would entail such blows that, as we have witnessed in the past, who knows how much we would have to go through until we decide that we need to change something?

We see that even now, suffering in itself does not bring anybody to any right answer. We see all throughout history, such as when the nation of Israel went through the holocaust, some people begin to ask themselves why such a thing happens to them. They do not say that there is no Creator, no God, no control. Some even erased this issue from studying why it happened.

And even if such phenomena do not bring us back to research, to a state where we have to somehow deal with the reason why it happens, then it indicates that we have to go the other way, to reveal the method, the wisdom, the general system and how it behaves, so that people will see it and open it up. Out of that, humanity will realize that it will be possible to achieve its correction.

And here, perhaps another question, perhaps to end, last question, there are many people, many approaches in the world, we also see that some use crisis and disasters to try to convince people of their being right, try to take advantage of the pain.

How is the Kabbalah any different, in coming now and trying to explain and convince humanity at a time of pain?

No. So what you are asking is that maybe there is no difference when I say: “You know, there is suffering in the world and there is a reason for it.” Everyone says it. And then they say that the reason that so and so did such and such is because it is simple human nature and that somehow we have to change. Yes, everyone says that.

What’s next? Do they have anything further? Something in their hand? Do they have the upper power, the light that brings correction, so that they would actually be able to change human nature, or not?

Human nature is the only thing that changes in the entire reality.

Can we apply some force that will change nature or not? It is in this one point that makes all the difference between any other method and the method of Kabbalah.

So there is actually no issue here with trying to convince someone?

No. No convincing at all. And it is not possible to talk with somebody and convince them if they do not feel that his or her trouble, suffering, is related to some higher cause, who do not ask themselves about the cause of the suffering.

Baal HaSulam asks in the introduction to the book, Talmud Eser Sefirot (the main Kabbalistic study text for our era), why does he even write this six-volume set? It is a very deep and very difficult book to study.

So he asks: Who is the book intended for? He does not say religious people, or secular people, or philosophers, or anybody. He rather opens the study to any person who has ever asked the question: “What is the meaning of my life?”

It is a simple question.

It depends only on the inner maturity of the person. He or she can be a construction worker, a shoemaker or a professor. It does not matter who.
Whoever begins to sense that it is coming from within cannot ignore it, the person just has to understand why he or she suffers, why his or her life is full of suffering. It is not asked in order to escape it. To simply escape from suffering is not as essential question about life. It is just a question about everyday survival.

The person instead seeks for something much more substantial about a deeper cause in life. Why is our life as it is? Where does life come from? Where does trouble come from?

Meaning that the question has a deeper foundation, and a deeper foundation is already a spiritual cause. That is because everything that there is in our world evolves from the spiritual world. And everybody that comes to us, from all of these different people, we cannot even say in advance which population to turn to.

So, what does it actually depend on, if a person will now receive a thousand blows, more and more painful, and the point will awaken in him or her, or if the person will just continue to receive another thousand blows?

Wise is the one who sees what is coming. That is the whole difference. There is a person who is beaten for his or her whole life and just lowers his or her head, going by saying “what can I do, that’s life”.

Meaning that he or she still does not have the brains along with the bitter feeling, which may help him or her to escape the blows, to prevent the next blow, to start to study where it comes from and why it comes to him or her in order to sweeten everything, to change the steps of his or her development. And there are some who develop brains alongside the suffering until the intellect begins to work on the person and the person begins to ask and evolve this way. Much suffering is necessary.

I am very optimistic because I see how the wisdom of Kabbalah is starting to take an important place in our lives. We will perform the correction demanded of us, and to the extent that we will be able to equalize ourselves with the upper light we will enter peace and eternity.

And that also includes all of humanity?

We will then be the light for the gentiles, because that is actually our duty.

Okay, so thank you Rav Laitman, thank you to the viewers at home, and here ends another program of “Mekubal Alai” on the subject of disasters, as we end with an optimistic message after all.

I always like to promote the Talmud as an interesting secular read in ethics. It’s good stuff if the religious nonsense is excised

Anyway, all of that business is a good example of why the middle-east is a hotbed of insanity and has been for centuries. Somehow that cultures over there continue to install a near psychotic thought process into people that come into contact. The message is always the same: if you don’t follow us then there will be misery a catastrophe. Usually, it’s that you will go to hell, but this is focused on the idea that their will be hell on Earth.

The person in the interview mentions that life has been getting worse steadily. Does he mean for Jews? He must, because I see life on Earth as being a lot better than during the Roman empire or the dark ages. Maybe this movement has developed out of a fear of all the pain and suffering that has been going one in the homeland. As usual with religion: if we wish it away it will go away. Hey did you hear that Avi just got blown up. Yeah, he wasn’t wishing hard enough.

Perhaps if one simply stopped practicing insane bigoted religions the world would get better. I think that’s the secret.

1.We will then be the light for the gentiles, because that is actually our duty.

Frankly, I don’t need any light on my genitals, thank you very much! They have been doing well in the dark clammy zone that they have occupied for decades now. Keep your mind out of the gutter.