Description

Rav Michael Laitman, PhD takes viewers on a captivating timeless journey through the path of Kabbalah

Transcript

Listening to yourself

Rav Michael Laitman, PhD: Every person has a dot in his heart. This dot must lead him forward, it must develop him correctly, but normally man does not hear it. He hears only what he learns from the surrounding world. He does not hear himself, his inner voice. He never works for himself, but he always does what his environment or his education dictate to him. The most important thing is to feel this inner voice, this inner dot, and to learn to listen to it. For that purpose, man is sent suffering which makes him start asking questions like, "What am I living for?" "What do I need personally?"

To develop this dot, to achieve what he desires, he needs a special book about how to hear this voice, discover his true self. We always do what has to be done. We take examples from our surroundings, and according to what they show us, we are constantly trying to put those costumes and masks.

In order to help us find our own role in this world there's a method called, "Kabbalah." Using this method, formulated by the people who grasp the essence of man's soul, we can also do the same. The best and easiest way to do that is to form a group since people who join it, ask the same questions. They wish to hear their inner voice and know what they live for—why they came to this world, and why they constantly have to return to it—what's the reason for their suffering.

When such people come together, their inner desires merge. When they study special, secret books, each one of them gets a powerful charge from the rest of the group. And each one is able to achieve quickly what his inner dot demands.


The Book

When you have this inner potential which makes you restless, when you feel that something pulls you towards something you have no idea about, you open a book containing all your inner states—and not just yours, but of all souls—so naturally, if you open it with your inner voice, the book will show you exactly your spiritual state. It's utterly precise.

Moreover, perhaps not today, but soon, like most of the students in our group, you will learn how to know what state you are in now, see your previous and future conditions, the evolution of your soul. That is because the Book of Zohar contains absolutely all spiritual states, of all souls, of all times.

As the great Kabbalist, Ari, told his students about their previous incarnations, so we can also see our past lives, the incarnations of our souls. We can control our soul's evolution. Man can become so powerful in this world that he will be able to know the entire prospect of soul evolution, the advancement of humanity. He can rise above our world and literally be in charge of the material world—transcending time and space, life and death. Is it man's goal? It is. He has to evolve so that nothing we see in this world would stand in his way. He would instantly travel in time and space, covering unimaginable differences—being in the past, the present, the future, simultaneously, and in any place.

Interviewer: It sounds like science fiction.

No it doesn't. All these powers are stored in our soul and demands for us to implement them, use them, utilize them.

Interviewer: So is that why people suffer?

Yes, they suffer in order to realize that their low level of development, materialistic…

Interviewer: egoistic…

Well, that's irrelevant. It has always been egoistic and will continue to be. Man does everything only for himself. Later he understands of course that his well-being is only beneficial to others, and that other people's well-being is good for him. Man can achieve such a state when he really becomes a master of his own life, controlling his future. The problem is in seeing the connections between cause and effect. By doing something, I need to clearly see the consequences of my actions. For that purpose, I have to see the picture of the entire universe.


Foreseeing the future

What is the meaning of pre-destination? Everything is pre-determined by the Creator. And if I don't evolve on my own, then he evolves me, but if I want to do it myself, that is, his thoughts will be my thoughts, his desires will become my desires, so that I'll acquire completely all his qualities, then I'll develop not according to His wish, but according to my own.

Interviewer: That resistance?

Well not just with that resistance, but with great pleasure.

Interviewer: With no suffering?

Of course, without suffering. I will understand the purpose of this development.

Interviewer: What does it mean, "pre-determined?"

By saying that there are only two ways: the way of suffering, and the way of intelligent evolution. We state that everything is pre-determined. There is only one road, but you can go along that road in a good or in a bad way. But it is predetermined.

Tell me, what is there in man that is not pre-determined? Everything in you is determined by genes, hormones, in advance. Your environment, the society you live in, provoke your reactions, based on your inner world. All of your reactions and actions can be predicted. So what is not pre-determined then? Where in man is there some empty space unknown to us, allowing him to express his free will?

How would he realize this freedom? Based on his inner qualities, knowledge, experience, for example, on pre-determined parameters? We're just unfamiliar with all these systems. If we knew the internal and the external systems of the universe, we would realize that there can't be any unpredictable actions. All of them are absolutely predictable. It is the same as looking at some small mechanisms, like molecules, or atoms, we can predict what will happen to them. So man, being a huge conglomerate of such small sub-systems, we're still unable to calculate all his reactions, but in principle, it can be modeled quite accurately. So it's just our ignorance of interconnections within this closed system of the entire universe that allows us to say that there is freedom of will in our behavior.

Our freedom of will is just a lack of knowledge. The true freedom of will consists in realization of all essential levels, actions, of thoughts, voluntarily seeing they are the most appropriate, natural, and wonderful things to do.


On suffering

Isn't it inhumane? No, it isn't. Well it is inhumane, but it's not man's prerogative; there is no other way. We can't free man from suffering, since only upon completion of the way he acquires the necessary sensations for rising above nature, time and space. He will be able to move to any point in space in an instant, transcend the boundaries of life and death, see his past lives and feel his future states. He will simply become omnipotent, will satisfy all his spiritual needs, he will reach his ultimate state, really becoming man. And not just some creature, unaware of what is going to happen to it in a moment, and how it will react.

Interviewer: What is in stake for me? 

In stake for you is evolution up to a point when you can control all your life simultaneously, when you will be seeing your past, present and future, and treat them equally.

Interviewer: Let's talk about enjoying the Light, ok? What is prepared for me? What am I driven to by suffering?

You suffer in order to achieve the most perfect state. Suffering drives you to self-knowledge. It is a process in which man finds within him a most eternal, perfect supreme power, thought, action.

Interviewer: It sounds very general…

Does it?

Interviewer: Power, thought, action…What is prepared for me? What am I driven to? Why do I have to run there?

Because you feel bad.

Interviewer: I feel bad?

Of course you do.

Interviewer: Ok, I feel bad. So where am I driven to? Why do I have to run there? What's better for me?

You won't understand it. If you could understand it now, it would be fine, but you don't. You're using your brain on this level. They drive you to the next level, and when you reach it, you'll have an inner powers and knowledge to realize where you were driven. But that's not the case yet. That's what evolution is about.

Interviewer: Rav, where am I driven?

No-one can tell you that on your next level a million dollars are waiting for you. On your present level, a million dollars is a reward for you, while on the next, something different will be a reward, and if you're shown it now, you'll take it as suffering. That's why your next level is concealed from you.

Interviewer: Why should I take it as suffering? Show me a million dollars on my next level.

And it will look like how giving out, not like receiving. This is why you need to evolve and reach the next level, hence the development of Ohr (Light) and Kli (vessel) simultaneously.

Interviewer: So my goal is to become an altruist, give away a million dollars?

No. I can't tell you now what your next goal is, since it won't be a goal for you.

Interviewer: Rav, where am I driven? Where?

Towards your best state, which today, you can't see as such.

Interviewer: Why don't I want it?

Because it is totally opposite to your present state.

Interviewer: My present state is to be happy…

It is impossible to be happy in your present state.

Interviewer: Why?

Because it is brief and vicious. You can't be happy whilst filling a tiny desire of your soul.

Interviewer: On someone else's account?

No, it's not that. A well-satisfied cat, sleeping in the sun, is it a normal state? It is. Is it a good state? Yes. For who? A cat. The Supreme Power presses man to achieve more.

Interviewer: To achieve what?

It's impossible to say, to explain, to see your next spiritual level. You want me to show your audience the world to come. There's no way to describe it; it's a secret science. You can't do anything about it.


On Pleasure

One can't be truly delighted in this world because as soon as he satisfies his desire, he instantly loses taste for it.

If I eat a dinner I wanted so much, I feel its real taste. Only when I started eating, then gradually my appetite disappears and I can't enjoy it. So the pleasure that I receive destroys the pleasure. And I wish the opposite. I want to receive infinite pleasure, but the more I would eat, the more hungry I would become.

In our world, it does not exist. What should we do to be able to receive pleasure endlessly? Both in quality and quantity, in our state it is impossible. It is impossible to lead man to such a state when he will enjoy endlessly. That is, the more that he receives, the more he wants to receive. It's possible, only when pleasure comes in combination with suffering.

Say I receive ten grams of pleasure, and instantly, I want twenty grams. Receive those twenty grams, and immediately feel a desire for thirty grams more. Nothing like that exists in our state; such a state when Ohr and Kli, as we say in Kabbalah, exists simultaneously, is called "spiritual."

There are no other worlds; they are all just man's inner state. So we have to develop our soul, so that it will feel delight and suffering at the same time.

If I eat a bowl of soup, I can enjoy only that, but if I give out a thousand bowls of soup to other people, then I can enjoy the act of giving a thousand times more.

So here, I have a purely psychological problem which can be solved mentally: as long as I receive pleasure, it doesn't matter what actions I perform, does it? So, all we have to do is change people's consciousness, making them understand that regardless of our actions, the goal is pleasure.

We usually see just external actions without knowing the intention behind it. The problem is purely educational. This is what Kabbalah deals with. But when a man rises to a level of unbounded giving, he discovers in himself completely different powers, and that allows him to break through the boundary between life and death.

What is the cause of death and the numerous illnesses and sufferings? It consists in man's ability to just receive, without giving anything. This way, he kills himself. Even dieticians and psychologists say that it's better to eat a little of junk food, than a lot of good, healthy stuff. So death is a result of constant absorption. So, the passage between life and death, between perception of a common man and an extra-sensitive person, or of one attaining the entire universe, is based solely on this transition between egoism to altruism, whereas, this altruism is for the benefit of man.


Revelation

Anyone who starts, starts working on his inner dot, enlargening, widening it, begins to see in it various kinds of desires. As these desires are developed, in contradiction to each other, since otherwise they can't grow, man receives such states as boundless love or boundless hatred. I used to talk about such state, sharing them with my Rav. He laughed. He thought that this was a necessary period in my evolution.

In the process of growing, man goes through different states. I see it in my students. There are certain states which they are unable to interpret, but I know what they feel.

In Kabbalah, there is no place for concealment. On the contrary, the so-called "secret science" is intended for revealing all secrets. So, when a student comes to me, he can't hide anything from me.

Interviewer: He tells you everything?

Practically everything.

Interviewer: There are things that man can't talk about…

Yes, and it's not that he conceals something; he just can't talk about it. But, it is clear to me what he feels.

We are all designed similarly. We're all climbing the same ladder; go through the same states. So, his feelings are familiar to me. My feelings were familiar to my Rav. I help if I can. Sometimes I deepen his problem so that he could come to an important decision, experiences the most important thing.

Interviewer: So you intentionally aggravate his situation?

Yes.

Interviewer: Intentionally?

Normally yes. This way I help him solve his inner conflict. Thus, he gains experience, confidence, and is ready for the next step.

Interviewer: Can a man commit suicide?

No, in Kabbalah there is a safety valve. Man can be lead through terrible ordeals by the Supreme Powers, and he will think that everything is over—problems with people, in the family—but at the last moment, when he realizes there's no solution, everything works out. If he can't find a solution within him, then that is a solution, and then he breaks through.

Interviewer: So man has to come to the brink?

Every time, yes, in order to understand that nothing is decided in this world. All decisions come from a Higher Level.

Interviewer: Does the Creator decide everything for us?

No, we do if we rise to the Creator's level. This boy doesn't live and evolve so that the Creator would do everything for him. The Creator wants him to do it. Man must come to such maturity when he will be able to decide on his own.

Interviewer: Sasha, is it possible at all?

Sasha Demidov: Sitting here, looking at things from our point, it seems impossible, but fortunately, at the last moment, there appears a tiny, aluminous, sweet sensation inside, coming right through the suffering, and little by little you begin to live again. Man wants to escape suffering.

Interviewer: Why are you saying he has to go towards it?

It's impossible to escape, but if you manage to correctly, and clearly, and quickly understand, then you can overcome it.

Interviewer: Understanding is not always easy. Rav, what do you mean by understanding?

Understand the cause of suffering; the cause of suffering. That's our main problem. We don't decide anything. We don't have to. We just have to feel everything inside. Hence, it is a process of self knowledge.

Sasha Demidov: By "the cause of suffering," you mean the way it is described in books? We could see the reason? Well, like in a situation when somebody shoves me, so I punch him back, and I suffer about hurting him, the reason being his shoving me.

The cause of suffering lies between us and the Supreme Power, but each time, between my certain inner quality and a higher inner quality. As soon as I come to a realization of this conflict, the problem immediately gets solved.

Interviewer: Is this conflict between me and the Creator?

Yes.

Interviewer: Well, how can a common man understand it?

All these conflicting situations you encounter in the course of your life, all pressure that you feel, all your discontent, is nothing but a conflict between you and Him. Everything else is merely His representatives, so to speak.

The Creator is the Supreme power, totally unsubstantiated, dresses in all these attires out against you. You are alone against the Creator in His disguises of this world.

Interviewer: So all enemies and murderers are nothing but His representatives.

Of course.

Interviewer: What's the difference between positive and negative roles? How can I see a scoundrel as the Creator's representative? What should I feel?

You should feel that He is playing his role, so that you could act out yours; very much like in a theatre. But, you have to play your role, evaluating yourself against this certain quality.

Sasha Demidov: Actually, I already came across a situation of this kind. First I saw a villain before me, but then I realized that he was sent to me for a purpose.

When a situation is settled, you see that the actors are unimportant. He turned out not to be the villain; he only looked like one for a short time. In general, it becomes very obvious it's only a show; a small theatre, small meaning a very low level.


The Teacher

In principle, man can't escape from his inner-most desire, from what his heart, his soul demands. So, I too lived and worked feeling some discontent—every one of us feels it—but there was nothing I could fill it with. And it started growing so fast that one evening I felt I couldn't stay at home, as if unconsciously, I got out of the house, jumped into the car and started driving. I couldn't imagine what I was looking for.

I got to Bnei-Brak—I've been there a couple of times before—arrived at a junction, I had no idea where to go. I rolled down the window. It was raining outside, the wind was blowing hard. It was a dark February evening, around 8 or 9 o'clock. I shouted to a man, who was waiting for the traffic light to change, asking him, "Where do they study Kabbalah around here?" He quietly instructed me to turn left, and go past an orange grove, to a little synagogue. There, he said, they studied Kabbalah.

I entered a small house, and notice six or seven old men of around seventy, in semi-darkness, studying, and I asked them if they were studying Kabbalah. And they nodded quietly and invited me in. I did.

I a few minutes they closed their books. I couldn't understand what they were studying.

Their leader called me up and enquired who I was. I told him that I was from Rechovet, and explained that I was looking for a place where I could study Kabbalah. "Alright," he answered, "I help you. Come tomorrow and I'll give you a teacher."

The next day I was there, having no high hopes to find something. But, one of the men I saw the previous night, sat down in front of me, opened a book, and we started reading.

Those were the things I had tried to read on my own, but he started explaining and commenting in such a way that in a few minutes I realized it was exactly what I'd been looking for. His explanations were so simple, so easy to understand. Foe many years I've been trying to hear it, and now it was given to me.

At the beginning, there were a couple of lessons a week. Then, I started coming every evening, then every morning. After two years, I was allowed to move to Bnei-Brak, and live near them.

Gradually, I got closer to their leader, Rav Baruch Ashlag, the eldest son of the famous Rav Yehuda Ashlag, Baal HaSulam—the author of [commentary Sulam to] The Book of Zohar. I became his assistant, secretary, driver; constantly accompanying him everywhere.

After a few months of studies, he came down with an ear inflammation, and was to be hospitalized for a month. So, having to take him to the doctor's, I found myself beside him, being involved in all his affairs. I came to the hospital everyday, and I was with him most of the time. I helped him communicate with the doctor, so we actually spent a whole month in each other's company, studying together.

Every night at 3am, I came to the hospital; I climbed over the fence, and studied together with him. Thus, we became close and spent days and nights studying together.

It went on for twelve years. Many times—once every two weeks—we left for Tiberias, or Mount Meron. It was a kind of a routine. Once a fortnight, sometimes even once a week we left and studied only special books, which corresponded only to the places that we went to. You understand of course, that Mount Meron and Tiberias, are very special Kabbalistic places.

Besides this, I studies with Rav from 3a.m. to 6a.m., from 5p.m. to 9p.m., in our synagogue, and from 9a.m. to 1p.m. we normally went to a park and continued our studies while sitting on a bench, or walking. Sometimes after returning from the park we studied for an hour or two. So, it was actually learning non-stop. It was like one intensive lesson lasting twelve years.

I hope that what happens to my students somewhat resembles what was between me and my Rav.

Interviewer: When Rav passed away, did it cut your…

Not at all. Kabbalists take such transitions in a totally different way. The contact doesn't stop. Rising to a completely new level requires a different mode of communication, but it is absolutely clear, distinct, and conscious, based on a dialogue, as before.

Interviewer: Dialogue with Rav?

Certainly.

Interviewer: But Rav does not exist today.

Rav Laitman: What do you mean he doesn't exist? Before that, what did I address, a soul, or his body?

Interviewer: But you could see him.

Rav Laitman: So what? A Kabbalist is a person who developed a sixth sense, totally independent of the other five sensory organs. So, if a man succeeds in doing it, his teacher never parts from him. They're connected by this inner sense.

To feel someone, I don't have to see, hear, feel, smell him; I don't have to touch him. All in all, I feel only man's inner structure, perceive him subconsciously.

Interviewer: Can you hear his voice?

It's inside me. Can you imagine your good friend talking to you? You can hear his voice. Actually, it's not his voice that I hear; it is perceived as pure knowledge, sort of inner contact, requiring no transmits.