November 6, 2016 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Ego, Quotes
The cause of all conflicts is human nature: egoism, the desire to fulfill ourselves at the expense of others.
Human egoism is the only destructive force that exists; hence, the world will not be able to persist unless we change our egoistic approach to society. Egoism of a part leads to the death of the whole. If a cell in a living organism begins to relate egoistically to other cells it becomes cancerous. Such a cell begins to consume surrounding cells, oblivious to them or to the needs of the whole organism, and thus, eventually extinguishes the entire body, including itself. The same applies to human egoism with respect to nature: while developing for itself, detached from the rest of nature and not as an integral part of nature, the egoism leads everything to death, including itself.
October 26, 2016 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Connection, Quotes
Humanity is interconnected like parts of one integrated system, but human senses do not let people recognize this connection.
We strive to change ourselves and start sensing a new life, a new dimension within our corrected desires. To reach this revelation, we need to correct our desires and obtain spiritual “sight.” After it occurs, his own experience allows him to sense a new reality rather than trust someone else’s words. While we are still alive, we have to elevate to a level of existence that is above death, called “the world to come.”
October 5, 2016 at 5:30 pm · Filed under Humanity, Quotes
Until we correct ourselves, change our nature from egoistic to altruistic, there will be hunger, disease and inequality in the world.
Today, Nature forces us to gain love for our neighbors since the only alternative to it is death from hunger, disease, and cataclysms. It’s our duty to form an alternate force that would oblige us to move towards mutual love. What kind of force is that? It is our surroundings that are organized in a way that pushes us to unite even more than ecology, economics, education, possible lack of food supply do. Society must be strong enough to sustain our egoistic nature, impose a new type of relations among us, and thus lead us from one edge to another—from hatred to love.
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.
Click Here to Sign Up for a Free Kabbalah Introductory Course – Starts Soon!
