December 10, 2007 at 8:53 am · Filed under Interviews
L. Novozhenov: You have said that a person, who is in balance with the laws of nature, does not get sick. This person doesn’t die either? If one doesn’t get sick, means that one doesn’t die?
M. Laitman: Death is not the consequence of an illness. Death is a natural period of time that exists for the purpose of limiting the carrying out of man’s mission on a certain stage of his egoistic development. There are different periods and types of death. Someday we will be able to speak about these states in more detail. But these periods do not depend on illnesses. One can be healthy, but gradually animalistic egoism burns out. Why does a person die? He exhausts his egoism. Man no longer wishes to keep fulfilling it.
L. Novozhenov: If you want to live a long life—be an egoist!
M. Laitman: Let’s say so. Old age comes when egoism burns out, it wants less and less. But why? It is a mistake to think that in order to continue to live it is necessary to have a large egoism. Man’s disappointment and decay happen because he no longer can fulfill himself egoistically and naturally. Egoistic desires cannot be satisfied through natural means. A person buys a car, an apartment, it doesn’t matter what—at most one week later his pleasure from the things that he has acquired disappears, everything becomes plain. Or a person was hungry, he finally reaches food, he swallows several pieces, and that’s it, his pleasure disappears. In order to extend the pleasure, man must switch to something else.
When pleasure enters the desire egoistically, it nullifies it, and pleasure stops being perceived as pleasure. Egoism deadens itself. This is the secret and the cause of our death. If, when acting this way, we would not draw death near, then we would experience immortality.
What does “immortality” mean? We would not perceive the death of our biological body as the death of our own “I.” Man would have a sensation of the eternal flow of information, matter, his own “I.” Even before the death of the body we would stop relating ourselves to it. Because “I” is not a biological body. “I” is a different, spiritual one. One can replace all of the organs of the body, but my “I” will remain my “I.” A body is nothing but a jacket, a machine. Once we used to think that the “I” is a person’s heart. Now we think that maybe it’s the mind, the consciousness. Soon we will be able to replace people’s heads, and it will be the same, we will not discover anything new. The person’s “I” remains.
When the desire becomes altruistic it will not fade away under the influence of the pleasure that is being received, and man will be able to perceive immortality. One who studies Kabbalah attains this state, he ascends to the level of the eternal flow of information, relates his “I” to this eternal flow. And the death of the body is like a change of shirt. more…
Society’s Approval Is the Greatest Award - Rav Michael Laitman, PhD interviewed by writer, journalist, and popular Russian TV anchor, Lev Novozhenov, Sept. 5, 2006.
BLOOMBERG TV (October 24, 2007): Mike Schneider, on Bloomberg’s “Night Talk,” interviewed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD investigating Kabbalah from a variety of angles. The interview was composed of 3 parts, each detailing a specific angle on Kabbalah:
Part 1: The Mystery Surrounding Kabbalah
• Kabbalah – What Is It?
• An Ancient Wisdom that Predates Judaism
• Kabbalah and Judaism – What Is their Connection (if any)?
• Is there One Individual Figure Who Occupies a Position of Leadership in Kabbalah?
• Prophecy – Is there such a thing in Kabbalah?
Part 2: The Buzz Surrounding Kabbalah
• Madonna in Kabbalah – What’s the Deal?
• Ethics – Why We Don’t Need Them
• Science and Kabbalah – Are they Competitive or Complementary?
• Kabbalah Involves No Rituals of Any Kind
• Kabbalah Is a Method. Is it a Philosophy as Well?
• You Don’t Need to be Trained in Traditional Judaism Before Studying Kabbalah
Part 3: The Modern World Surrounding Kabbalah
• World Problems. Their Causes. Their Solutions.
• Improve Personal Behavior, Relationships and Family Connections
• Terrorism – the Source of the Problem (Is the Same Source as Every Problem)
• Philosophers and Kabbalah
• What Is the Main Change that Happens to You When You Study Kabbalah?
Listen to the file by clicking on the Flash player’s button below:
FOX NEWS RADIO (October 24, 2007): Todd Starnes, from the radio show “A Few Moments With,” interviewed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on
* What is Kabbalah?
* Is Kabbalah is a religion?
* Is it possible to study Kabbalah if you are a Christian, Muslim, or Jewish?
* How connected are celebrities to Kabbalah?
* Why are people getting attracted to Kabbalah in our world today?
* What can the average American family living in the suburbs get from Kabbalah?
* What is fun about studying Kabbalah?
COURIER POST (October 20, 2007): Spirituality columnist Kim Mulford interviewed Rav Michael Laitman, PhD for her Saturday column “Keeping the Faith.” As well as the usual ice-breaking questions about Kabbalah that Rav Laitman often gets asked by journalists, like whether it is a religion or mysticism, whether someone practising a religion can also study Kabbalah, and whether the Kabbalah Rav Laitman teaches is connected to the Kabbalah Madonna studies… Kim Mulford also asked unique questions about the experience of Kabbalah; what it’s like to connect to the Creator and how this is related to its dissemination.
Kim Mulford: What is it like to connect with the Creator?
Rav Laitman: It’s a personal connection. It’s as if you stop caring for yourself and you experience everybody else’s thoughts and cares. You become connected and related and you feel beyond. You don’t just feel it, you really are beyond time and place and motion. You become eternal in a way, because you have eternal perception. It gets you to a point where you just want to give and give.
Kim Mulford: Is that why you want to share this with other people, because you want to give them this same experience?
Rav Laitman: Yes, of course. You experience the harmony of nature and reality and you want to share it. Also, it’s not just a privilege. It’s really an obligation, because the whole of humanity must come to that point where all of us experience that harmony. Actually, the crisis we are experiencing today isn’t coming for no reason. It’s there to prompt us to think about life, to see how we can build our harmony with it. more…
Listen to the file by clicking on the Flash player’s button below:
SAN FRANCISCO (October 11, 2007):Rav Michael Laitman, PhD was interviewed on the Brian Sussman Show, KSFO-560AM. Sussman tried clarifying both what is Kabbalah and also extended the investigation to see what Kabbalah’s outlook is on political and religious issues.
In an interview with Shalom Toronto columnist Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi, Rav Michael Laitman, PhD explained that studying the Kabbalah can help humanity have a positive influence on the forces at work in the world and reach a high spiritual level to become one with nature and God. The following is an excerpt from the interview:
Shalom Toronto: Does the Kabbalah have the power to solve global problems?
Rav Laitman: The Kabbalah is the answer to all the world’s problems because it deals with the world in general. Man is driven by his ego. The development of the ego leads to hatred, despair, drugs, terrorism and air pollution, and for all those things there is the Kabbalah which teaches us how to relate to the world and our fellow men to reach harmony, to have a positive influence and to reduce human suffering.
Shalom Toronto: How can the Kabbalah solve the problem of air pollution?
Rav Laitman: The Kyoto Protocol [an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions] and other agreements cannot reduce air pollution. Nature has another program. Nature needs to bring us into a state of balance. It is a mistake to think that all we have to do is burn less. What we have to do is understand nature’s program and then we will know what path to take. Air pollution is not the main issue, but human thoughts and behavior are what influence nature and everything else is completely marginal.
Listen to the file by clicking on the Flash player’s button below:
LOS ANGELES (October 9, 2007):Rav Michael Laitman, PhD was interviewed on LA radio station “The Connection - 1590am” on The Maria Sanchez Morning Show.
Interviewer Maria Sanchez asked basic questions to clarify what Kabbalah is, how to study and what does it mean to study Kabbalah, and about common myths connected with Kabbalah today, such as the use of red wristbands.
In recent years, Kabbalah has made a name for itself in the United States. But its fame has not always done justice to the ancient lore that was kept secret until only a few years ago. Now, with the publishing of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Kabbalah and his upcoming North America book tour this October, we at Kabbalah Today editorial staff decided it was an excellent time to interview Rav Michael Laitman, PhD, co-author of the book. Click here to read the full interview
When we knock on his office door, he hollers, “Come in!” We enter a small, barely furnished office with a large, plain looking desk occupying the bulk of the room. The only noteworthy object on the table is a large LCD computer screen displaying his latest book or article. Rav Laitman, a man of average height in his sixties with vivid eyes and a hint of a smile, ushers us in and gets right to the point: “What do you want to know?” he asks. His direct gaze leaves no room for doubt—there is no small talk with this man. more…
Journalist and anchorman Vladimir Molchanov interviews Rav Michael Laitman, PhD on the purpose of egoism, the situation with Israel in relation to its neighboring Muslim countries, the restoration of Nazi regimes, the behavior and practise of religious leaders, the increase of hatred, Kabbalah as a supranational concept, how Rav Laitman began studying Kabbalah, the laws of nature, the use of science in the world and its relation to Kabbalah, the spiritual root of political unacceptance of drug legalization, Kabbalah’s view on new-age gurus and movements, Zephath as a Kabbalistic center, Kabbalah’s view on amulets and icons as symbols of faith, the upbringing and education of children, the reason for Kabbalah’s widespread dissemination today and the sixth sense.
This is a section of the interview, on the laws of nature:
V. Molchanov: You claim that there exist objective laws of society, and no one, including Bush or Stalin, can do anything. What are these laws? Are the millions of people who were destroyed by Stalin and Hitler a consequence of these objective laws? Do they fall into these laws?
Rav Laitman: Unfortunately, yes. If we talk about laws, we need to part from our feelings. We just need to learn what happens with the forces that influence our world.
The picture is the following: a single, all-encompassing and absolutely altruistic force directing humanity toward equivalence with it. Like any physical force, it performs actions without taking our feelings into account. This is the state we are in.
You are talking about a kind God, feelings, and the fact that He takes care of His creatures. There is no such thing. Objective laws of nature are described in Kabbalistic sources, as well as in my books and our translations, which are all recitations of old books. A scientific description of Kabbalistic knowledge was first done in the times of ancient Babylon, when Sefer Yetzira (The Book of Creation) was written. This whole conception, the whole scheme of Upper governance, is already described there.
If we look at what is happening to us from aside, not like creatures that experience various feelings and suffering, we will see that it is the influence of forces. And they will continue to lead us further ahead in this manner. If we don’t come to understand them, and if we don’t begin to know precisely how to act, like in physics or chemistry, how to implement and realize these laws with a benefit to us, we will continue to suffer further. more…
Bestselling novelist Edward Topol interviews Rav Laitman on topics ranging “What is God?”, the Bible code, smoking, human evolution, judgment, body and soul, freedom of choice, and Rav Laitman’s personal life. The following is a section from the interview:
What is God?
Edward Topol: I’ll tell you honestly. I’m not at all prepared. You are on one level and I’m somewhere there. My questions are simple, from the very first lower level.
What is God?
Rav Laitman: The general law of the universe which surrounds us, and in relation to us reveals itself as absolute and total love, is called “God.” This is felt on all of the inanimate, animal, and vegetative levels in the capacity of the universe. We don’t feel this because our nature is opposite to that of the Creator.
The Creator is the quality of bestowal, the quality of love, a totally altruistic quality which surrounds us. This quality is invariable and constant, like the tremendous love of a mother towards her child. The child feels it to the degree of either its corruption or its correction. This is the relationship we are in with the Creator.
In Hebrew, the Creator and nature are described by the same word Elokim, the same word. The Creator and nature are one. There isn’t anything outside of our surrounding nature, the nature we perceive as well as the part of nature which we don’t perceive. There are higher layers of nature which are concealed from us, but are still within our scope. All of them together are called “nature” or “Creator.”
Edward Topol: If the Creator is love, if the Creator is something that surrounds us, then why do I have to move towards Him? He’s already right here, inside of me, and around me. Why do I need to study Kabbalah or other methods of attaining or comprehending the Creator? more…
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