Natural Disasters
With Rav Michael Laitman, PhD
Hello everybody.
Due to many requests from our viewers, we have decided to dedicate this show to the subject of ‘natural disasters’ and ‘destructive acts of nature. Here with us again is Rav Laitman.
Question: Are the disasters and natural calamities that we see happening around the world, and to people, preventable or not?
Well, it’s not new. It is possible to say that through the entire history of humanity, we have experienced major and minor disasters. Is this preventable or not?
Question: Can we say that on one hand it simply comes to show the insignificance of man as opposed to nature, to show how small man is compared to 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 it, whether to accept it naturally or perhaps to resist it. Maybe if we prevent something from happening here, it will pop up somewhere else and be even worse…so we shouldn’t, and so on. And there are many approaches to it.
I would say this: I usually love explaining how Kabbalah relates to this subject. And everyone will, as a result of it, be able to explain to him or herself, in everything that happens 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 Creator, or ‘The 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 do not change My Name," 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 involving us and the Light that we’re in is such that every time, every moment, we have to adopt ourselves to the Light.
Desires are revealed in me, and my desires are of a nature that is opposite to the Light; they are egoistic—in order to receive. However, the nature of the Light is in order to bestow, as it is said about the Creator, "The Good and Benevolent."
So I have to correct my desire accordingly, so that I will be like that—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 suffer in all sorts of ways.
Actually the entire humanity and our entire world, the inanimate, the vegetative, the living and the speaking, sense this. They sense a difference from the Light that we are in, which actually streams and fills the entire reality. And because the desire to receive constantly grows in us and intensifies more and more in every generation, it accumulates and rises in us and we don’t succeed. We don’t even think about the fact that we have to correct it, and so we find ourselves in the chain of generations, suffering more and more.
This is happening to such an extent that the Zohar indicates that at the end of the twentieth century, humanity will reach a state that will simply be intolerable.
People will begin to use drugs and to commit suicide. Despair will take hold as the predominant problem or illness, out of all the other human illnesses and problems. Terrorism will emerge and all kinds of other eruptions, because man will feel his existence in a world of suffering. The reason for this is only one: the lack of equality of our form with the Upper Light that we are in.
And it turns out that the correction for this, what Kabbalah recommends for us to do is quite simple. But there is a psychological problem with it—one has to agree with it, to grasp it, to take it and change oneself, and then we can really feel eternity, wholeness, benevolence.
Question: So actually according to Kabbalah you are saying that it can be avoided?
It is preventable only through the inner correction of a person. There is no other way. No external actions will help us.
Question: What do you mean by external actions?
Suppose we start to place all sorts of sensors to detect earthquakes—to put it simply, any technical means that we develop, except inner correction, will eventually be to our disadvantage.
We will see that the more drugs we produce, the more ill we become. The more we advance in any area, in any field of development, we eventually arrive at the recognition of something bad.
Question: So the wisdom of Kabbalah agrees with the approach that there really is pre-determination, and all these disasters are predetermined? Because there are prophecies in theKoran, in the New Testament, in the Bible, and in the Prophets—they actually talk about this time as a period of disasters. So is Kabbalah the same kind of framework?
Let me explain this. Up until the beginning of the twentieth century, until the point where the nation of Israel began to return to the land of Israel, all of humanity needed to go through all these years and to suffer and accumulate a bitter experience.
Out of that, eventually comes evolution, so that humanity will discern that external development doesn’t bring it to a place good. Today we have reached a general crisis in technology, in education, in family life; we have social problems, international problems, of all sorts. And It really is a general crisis, where in all areas that humanity, we see that we don’t know how to progress.
We do not know what direction to take. Because whatever direction we take, we see that after a few years we actually come to a bitter result. And until now, any development that took place, was only in order for us to arrive at such a situation and conclusion, and to have this question awakened in us: "What should we do? What is the meaning of our life? Why do we live this way? And is there some plan for evolution, that doesn’t bring us to failure and a bitter sensation?"
Question: So is there any gain from all of these disasters and sufferings?
This is exactly when the Zohar claims that the wisdom of Kabbalah will be revealed, because there will be a need for it.
That is why now, in our time, we see people everywhere talking about Kabbalah, although they still do not understand why or what the truth is about it. It is already coming from above, as the next step of development.
Question: Is it correct to see a gain in each and every disaster? Can we learn something from this, to see the Upper Power hinting at us somehow?
It used to be this way until the beginning of the twentieth century, and because of the fact that there was a return to the land of Israel and the nation of Israel received its place. Now the nation must perform its role, meaning that it must realize itself, implement itself, as the wisdom of Kabbalah claims. This is for the general correction of the nation and later on to become a “Light for the world,” or to bring Kabbalah to the nations of the world.
By that, surely all disasters will end, and as the prophets wrote; not just evil things but also good things. And we will see that we will reach them as well.
Question: So, I would like to understand one point. I can take a certain disaster, and now try to understand. Let's say an earth quake has killed tens of thousands of people; it doesn’t matter what it is.
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 of Israel.
Question: But why does it happen that way? There is some kind of a disaster and I’m supposed to learn from this disaster that an inner correction is necessary?
Because all of man has to reach that conclusion. But, the people of Israel are the ones that have to begin the correction. They are responsible for nature’s existence according to the inner similarity to the Light, or the opposition to It.
And this causes all sorts of disasters, even explosions on a star, or maybe a forest can catch on fire somewhere even without seeing any connection to man. These events, at any level, inanimate, vegetative, animate, don’t seem relevant to us, but they depend on our lack of correction, which depends on us only.
Question: Does the 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 it does, because we are included in each other within the system of the First Man, where all souls are inter-connected as one soul towards the Upper Light.
There is an important part that has to be corrected first like the souls of the people of Israel, and there is a part that waits for a later time to be corrected, which is the part of the souls of the nations of the world. Thus, the accounting is quite complicated because the inclusion of the souls creates a situation as is written, “The righteous suffers, and the evil benefits,” where we do not exactly see where the blow is aimed.
Indeed we see that fundamentally in nature, the nations of the world sense that it is up to Israel. And Israel today is gaining a very bad reputation in the world, even though we seemingly do not cause any harm and just want to live peacefully and be good to everyone; we see that doesn’t help.
Question: So, the Jewish nation should get all the suffering. Why should the world have to suffer? First the Jewish people should begin the correction.
True, but because we are all inter-mingled, all the souls are connected, as it is written, “Israel went into exile only in order for them to join with the soul of the gentiles,” so from this it turns out that we are very impressed by what the nations of the world are saying, because we are in exile, in descent, in a state that is like them. And we want to be with them, like them.
So because we are highly impressed by what they tell us, then this hatred reaches us, meaning that the forces bring us back to an understanding that there is a higher reason that we must correct ourselves. In order to stop this hatred, this anti-Semitism, to have a chance to escape it, something has to be done.
Question: So do you actually see these disasters as punishment for the fact that the nation of Israel has not corrected itself?
No, not punishments. As I drew in the general picture, you can see it is not punishment, but it is a system that functions according to the plan of equality of form between the forces—between our inner forces and the force of the Light, the Upper Light.
To the extent that there is a balance, everyone feels eternity and wholeness. To the extent that there is no balance, the souls suffer, and Israel is the first, because it is the reason for this situation.
And this system or program was written in advance, and nothing changes in it, except for our desire, our free choice, which can really save the situation here and achieve correction.
Question: So how is the approach now different from any other approach? They say take a book; you read it once, things get better, the world will change. You do this or that. Is there an 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 himself, according to this system.
The essential difference I would say is this: you can have books in the world that discuss inner correction, improving your own attributes, “love thy neighbor” and all those kinds of things, but the essential difference is that in the wisdom of Kabbalah opens the Upper World for you. You begin to see it, and once you see the system and the mechanism, and that you are an inseparable, integral part of it, then you see how to behave correctly, because no theoretical proofs, lectures, or arguments can help. We see that.
Only if a person can feel it and see that it is so, this is what convinces a person, and then he can act out of his nature. A person cannot put his or her hand in a fire, or jump from a tremendous height; a person just can’t. And in the same way, the person will behave correctly as soon as he or she sees how the entire natural system, the system of reality behaves.
Question: Does a person who studies Kabbalah and advances to attain a sensation of the spiritual world, does he receive fewer blows, or does he receive the same, but has a different way of relating to them because he sees the reason behind them?
First of all, this person doesn’t perceive blows as blows, because only if a person reveals the true picture, is it easier for him or her, because the person sees his situation, even if it is bitter, as something purposeful.
It is like a person who is ill and needs to go through some treatments, but knowing that eventually there will be a good, healthy state. The person is already happy about the state that will exist. It is called “sweetening of the judgments,” “sweetening of the sufferings.”
The person also immediately sees how he or she can correct the situation and attain a good life, not having to go through a reincarnation, another thousand years, and be some poor, destitute person, not knowing what will happen tomorrow, lower than all other creatures.
And here, you have a method which is healthful, simple, and open, and is today being revealed to everybody.
This did not exist previously. It was talked about for thousands of years, but nobody understood it. And now, it is starting to be revealed, and anybody can reach it, anybody who really is interested and needs it.
Question: So you are actually saying that the wisdom of Kabbalah, its revelation, and humanity that is suffering need to meet somewhere, at some point along the path?
Yes.
Question: What does the point depend on? The truth is that it depends on the feeling of suffering. So maybe it is better that there are more sufferings now?
No. It would be much better if could convince the nation of Israel to begin corrections so that we will not reach a state of hatred from all the nations of the world towards us; have to reach states that would be beyond control; that terrorism will not have to be revealed in all these forms that we can’t control.
The way of correction is much better. It is better than suffering. And suffering means blows that who knows how much man will have to go through, as we did in the past, until we decide that we need to change something.
We can see even now that suffering does not bring man the right answer. We went through the holocaust, and thus, some people began to ask themselves, "Why; why was this done?" They did not say that there is no Creator, no God, no control. Some even removed that issue, but spoke about studying of ‘why’ it happened.
Thus, if a phenomenon like this doesn’t bring us to a state where we have to somehow deal with the reason of why it happens, that indicates that we have to go about it another way. We have to reveal the method, the wisdom, and the general system and how it behaves, so that man can see it and open it up. Out of that, man will realize that it can be achieved; that there can be correction.
Perhaps to end; the last question –
Question: There are many people, many approaches in the world that use crisis and disasters to try to explain, to convince people that they are right, to try to take advantage of the pain of others. How is the Kabbalah any different, if it comes out trying to explain and convince to humanity, to people who are in pain?
No. Here you have…I say it like this…Maybe there is no difference in me saying, 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 is such and such, that this is human nature; that man must change - everybody says that. What’s next? Do they have anything further? Do they have something in their hand called the Upper Power, Light that brings correction, that they can change human nature with, or not?
Human nature is the one thing that changes in the entire reality. Can we apply some force that can change nature or not? This is the difference between all the other methods and the method of Kabbalah.
Question: So there is actually no issue here with convincing?
Well, there is no convincing at all. And it is not possible to talk to a person and convince him or her.
If a person doesn’t feel that this is his problem, that his suffering is related to some higher cause, and he doesn't ask himself about the cause of this suffering.
Baal HaSulam asks in the introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot—we have six such volumes, it is our main book of study, the study of the Ten Sefirot. He asks there, in the beginning, in the introduction, why he is even writing this book; It is very deep and a very difficult book to learn. So he asks, “Who is the book intended for?” He does not say religious people, or secular people, or philosophers. The only person he says it is for is for the person who asks, “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 shoe maker or a professor. It doesn’t matter, but whoever begins to sense that it is coming from within, can not ignore it. The person must understand why he or she is suffering. Why is his life full of suffering? And they don’t ask to escape it, because escaping it is not an essential question about life, it is just a question about everyday survival.
But the person asks about a deeper cause in life, "What is life? Where does it come from? Why is it full of trouble?"
Meaning, that this question has a deeper foundation, and a deeper foundation is already a spiritual cause. That is because everything in our world evolves from the spiritual world. And there are a lot of people who come to us, and they are all different, and you can’t say at all in advance who can receive this.
Question: So what does it actually depend on? If a person receives a thousand blows and more and more pain, and the point awakens in him or her, or if they just continue to receive more blows?
The wise one is the one who sees what is coming and that is the whole difference. There is a person who is beaten for an entire lifetime and just bows his head and goes on saying, ‘what can we do, that’s life.’
Meaning that he or she still doesn’t have the brains to go along with the bitter feeling which can help him or her escape the blows and prevent the next blow, to start to study and find out where it comes from and why, so that he can sweeten everything and change the steps of his development.
And there are those who develop along with their experience, until their intelligence begins to work on them, and these people begin to ask and evolve this way.
There is a lot of suffering necessary, but 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 are able to equalize ourselves with the Upper Light, we will enter peace and eternity.
Question: And that also includes the entire humanity?
And then to all of humanity, we will be a Light for the gentiles because that is actually our duty.