Meaning of life
The question of the meaning of life, as far back as I can remember, never let me go ...(Part 1)
Phil Blazer: You arrived in Israel in 1973, at a time when there was the Yom Kippur War. How has your life in Russia prepared you for the deep reflections that you are telling us about today?
M. Laitman: I grew up as an ordinary child. My parents were doctors. They prepared me well. We lived in Belarus, in the small town of Vitebsk, where most of the population were Jews. This city gave the world such famous people as the outstanding artist Marc Chagall and many others. I asked myself as a child (and I am sure that all children are interested in this): "Why do we live?" Then I heard this question from my children, and now I hear it from my grandchildren: "Why do I live?" This question haunted me. Usually people forget about him, but I have not forgotten. I chose biological cybernetics for myself, because I believed that it would help me learn the secret of life. But having studied this area of ​​science, I did not receive an answer to my question. Already, being a scientist, I came to Israel and continued my search until I heard, that perhaps the science of Kabbalah will be able to answer my question. I knew nothing about her and was not a religious person. And then I started looking for Kabbalists. It took many years until in 1979 I found my teacher. During my search, I met different people: those who sold cameos, red threads and holy water under the brand of Kabbalah; those who meditated and taught some movements and dances, passing it off as Kabbalah. Suddenly I discovered that they want to stick the name "Kabbalah" to anything. Nevertheless, I went everywhere to get acquainted with what is passed off as Kabbalah, and to understand whether this is true or not, although I knew then that Kabbalah should be a science. who sold cameos, red threads and holy water under the brand of Kabbalah; those who meditated and taught some movements and dances, passing it off as Kabbalah. Suddenly I discovered that they want to stick the name "Kabbalah" to anything. Nevertheless, I went everywhere to get acquainted with what is passed off as Kabbalah, and to understand whether this is true or not, although I knew then that Kabbalah should be a science. who sold cameos, red threads and holy water under the brand of Kabbalah; those who meditated and taught some movements and dances, passing it off as Kabbalah. Suddenly I discovered that they want to stick the name "Kabbalah" to anything. Nevertheless, I went everywhere to get acquainted with what is passed off as Kabbalah, and to understand whether this is true or not, although I knew then that Kabbalah should be a science.
I was almost disappointed in my search, because I visited Jerusalem, Baba Sali and other very famous Kabbalists. But none of them could teach me and give a clear explanation of the meaning of life. I wanted to know where life comes from, why we live, what is a person's free choice, how life ends, how can I realize it, how can I feel what will happen after my death, where did a person come from? These are typical scientific questions. But no one could give an answer to them. Only after many years, when I found my teacher, Rabbi Baruch Ashlag, and asked him about it, I immediately received really accurate answers. That's when I realized that this was my place and stayed with him to study.
Could you tell us what Kabbalah studies, what is its main goal?
- Kabbalah is a science that allows us to study human nature, find the meaning of life and the possibility of perceiving the true reality that is beyond the five senses with which we perceive our material world. Therefore, hidden for all millennia, Kabbalah is being revealed to us today in order to offer ourselves to a person as a means for building connections between people, in order to overcome the crisis in all spheres of our life. -
You call Kabbalah a science. Please tell us about the method of studying Kabbalah?
Is Kabbalah related to religion?
- The peculiarity of the Kabbalah technique is that it directly connects a person with the studied part of the universe. Reading the texts written by Kabbalists, a person invokes the influence of a special power hidden in these books. This power develops him to the level of understanding the laws operating at each stage of the universe, up to the comprehension of its deepest secrets.
The Science of Kabbalah has nothing to do with religion. That is, it is connected to the same degree as, say, physics, chemistry, mathematics, but no more. Kabbalah is not a religion, and this is easy to discover, if only from the fact that none of the religious people knows it and does not understand a single word in it. The deepest knowledge of the foundations of the universe, its Laws, the methodology of cognizing the world, the achievement of the Purpose of creation, Kabbalah concealed primarily from the religious masses. For she was waiting for the time when the main part of humanity would develop to such a level that it would be able to accept Kabbalistic knowledge and use it correctly. Kabbalah is the science of managing destiny, it is Knowledge that is transmitted to all mankind, for all peoples of the earth. - Previously, the science of Kabbalah was secret and only a few people could study.
- In all Kabbalistic sources, starting with the very first (for example, The Book of Yetzira was written in Ancient Babylon, about four thousand years ago), it is said that Kabbalah must be hidden until humanity understands that it is insane development in accordance with egoism, which is constantly growing in us, is a completely wrong path. Now the crisis is becoming all-encompassing. Depression is the number one disease, an unprecedented diversion to drugs, although all of them have been known since ancient times. There has never been such general disappointment.
We always thought that the children would be better off than us, but now we, in general, do not think so. "Tomorrow" is not something cloudless for us. And all this is just beginning to unfold. The spread of the science of Kabbalah is permitted and recommended only since the 90s of the XX century. Why? Because people are no longer so strongly connected with religion, they have become above primitive ideas about the forces of nature as humanoid beings, mermaids, centaurs, etc. People are ready to imagine the Upper World as a world of forces, force fields, the world is higher than matter. It is this world of forces, thoughts that is studied by the science of Kabbalah. And not only studies, but allows a person to understand these forces and change himself, bring himself and society in line with these forces, come to balance, harmony with them.
- You have written several dozen books on Kabbalah. Tell me, what are the main issues you consider in your books, and what Kabbalistic works do you comment on?
- My books are in-depth commentaries on all the original Kabbalistic sources: The Book of Zohar, the texts of Ari, Baal HaSulam. In my works, I offer a new look at Kabbalah and show and explain it as the knowledge necessary for all mankind.
I would like to know what is the connection between the science of Kabbalah and Hollywood? I won't be doing my journalistic duty if I don't ask a question about popular celebrities. So what exactly is the Hollywood Kabbalah?
M. Laitman: Hollywood Kabbalah is not Kabbalah. I have written forty books on the science of Kabbalah, nine of which were written jointly with scientists from different fields - biologists, quantum physicists, philosophers. And both scientists and Kabbalists understand that Kabbalah is a science. Philosophers such as Leibniz and Reuchlin, who lived in the Middle Ages, argued that Kabbalah is a science, because even in the days of Pythagoras and Aristotle it was common knowledge. And today, thanks to the popularity of Kabbalah (and I can explain why it is becoming popular), people want to sell frivolous things and mysticism under its brand name that have absolutely nothing to do with it.
Does Albert Einstein have anything to do with Kabbalah?
M. Laitman: No. Many scholars were already close to Kabbalah. Albert Einstein also approached the border where physics ends and Kabbalah begins. After all, Kabbalah talks about what happens behind matter, i.e. about the forces that put it into action. And he almost approached her. All physicists today are very close to Kabbalah, and therefore we keep in touch with them and can jointly write books. Right now, we have found a point of contact, which, in fact, connects us, because Kabbalah talks about what is happening outside this world. This is similar to how, when you see flowers embroidered in a painting, you perceive only its outer side. And Kabbalah tells about the reverse side of the picture - about the interweaving of threads connecting its seamy side with the outside. In other words, this science speaks of forces, activating matter, i.e. reality. It turns out that physics speaks about the forces acting from the external, visible side, and the science of Kabbalah - about the impact from the other side. It is on this border that we meet with physics.
Therefore, if Albert Einstein were alive today, it would be easier for us to find mutual understanding, and in general I would be very happy to keep in touch with people like him. In essence, the science of Kabbalah is the physics of forces acting behind matter ........
part 2
only at the end of the XX - beginning of the XXI century was it allowed to open knowledge about the science of Kabbalah. Why did this happen right now?
M. Laitman: Yes, this is so, because in our time humanity has already developed to such a state that it understands: without a clear knowledge of our world, its causes, of the whole process and purpose, it can reach self-destruction. Human egoism has developed to such an extent that it has reduced all of humanity to one small village. And we feel now, on the one hand, a huge dependence on each other, all countries in the world (now this is beginning to manifest itself, despite the fact that we do not see this clearly, in full measure, and in the future this dependence will increase), and with on the other hand, our egoism is such that we cannot stand each other and cannot get along even within the family ...
Why do families collapse, a person goes into drugs, what is the cause of depression, terror? The magnitude of egoism is such that we cannot stand the environment. As a result, we are forced to live as if in the same room, but at the same time we cannot get along together. And this state is the best - it forces you to figure out where a person is and what he can do. Therefore, The Zohar, written in the 1st century AD, was hidden all this time, all 20 centuries. This book says: at the end of the twentieth century, namely from 1995, humanity will reach such a state of development that it will be possible to reveal Kabbalah, because a real need for it will arise. And not in order, say, to sell red threads or to succeed in something - this is not Kabbalah - but in order to give a person the opportunity to realize what is happening with him, with his world, whether there is free will,
- agatha christi (2 ships)
Ships without captains
captain without a ship
We need to re-invent
some sense of being
. What for? (The song was written in the spring of 1996)
The date was indicated - 1995. Do you really think that humanity is ready to comprehend the meaning of life?
M. Laitman: Yes, because nature outside and our inner nature mutually influence a person and reach maximum pressure in our time. Inside, we become the most selfish. Throughout history, our egoism has been slowly-slowly growing, and this has determined development, a change in socio-political formations, social changes. Today humanity does not know the direction of further development: there is neither communism nor capitalism ahead - nothing at all. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, there are environmental problems, nature puts pressure on us so much that we are not able to wait any longer. We have already passed the tipping point and are putting ourselves at risk of physical existence. I'm not talking about the human threat that people can blow themselves up, for example.
I speak from the side of nature, and this movement is inevitable. In general, in all internal and external parameters, we have already reached such pressure on ourselves, when humanity has a serious question: what should we do? Previously, such a clear question did not arise. It was among philosophers, among great thinkers, but nothing more. Today, every person, in principle, sees that his life is rather meaningless and leads him to a state of helplessness, hopelessness. And the fact that depression is becoming the main disease of the world, the number of suicides is growing, drugs are the only way to escape from reality, and terror is the only way out when you see nothing else - all these are consequences of this state.
Kabbalah often speaks of the gradual development of the sixth sense organ in every person. What is the "sixth sense organ"?
M. Laitman: If you and I explore the animal world, we will see that birds, bees, snakes, monkeys, etc. - everyone feels the world in different ways, although they are on an animal level, it would seem, next to us. Their picture of the world consists either of color images, or of sound, or only of tactile images. People have a picture of the world, mainly, of visual images. In other words, every living creature feels this world in its own way, not to mention how it realizes it within itself. What is the world like in reality? Does it consist of some images? Why do I perceive it this way and the other differently? And if I perceive it correctly, then someone - in a completely different way? What picture does the world really have outside of us? In order to see this picture, we have to leave our body. I have to hear and see it not through my eyes and ears,
This perception is not limited by anything, one, not divided into private senses, is called the "sixth sense organ" or "soul." And this is not what we imagine. “Soul†is a huge organ of sensation, with the help of which a person perceives reality outside his egoism, without introducing any distortions, restrictions, perturbations of his material senses into it. A person feels himself to be in a huge field of forces that govern the entire universe: the higher and lower worlds, the movements of souls, bodies and people.
When a person enters this sensation, he has a full and obvious opportunity to influence himself and everyone else, but, naturally, in a good direction, because if he has some egoistic properties to the detriment of others, then he simply will not will be able to enter this dimension. Kabbalah develops the sixth sense organ in a person, through which he begins to feel the universe and learns to influence it. At the same time, a person enters an area where he feels himself eternal, infinite, outside the framework of movement, space and time. This can be likened to what happens with speeds above light, according to Einstein's theory.
I have heard that Kabbalists quite often identify themselves with eternity. How to understand this?
M. Laitman: This is because they perceive the universe this way ...
Correspondent: Is it eternal, endless?
M. Laitman: Yes.
Correspondent: And a person can also be eternal, infinite?
M. Laitman: If you feel it this way. Not your body, but your "I". And we feel it. Example: people are going to die, they do not feel that they are dying. A person feels that there is something eternal in him. You just need to develop this point into a state in which you would actually live, in reality, then existence, enclosed in a narrow range of hearing, sight, touch and other sensations, will seem negligible, not determining life. Large and strong sensations that a person receives through the sixth sense organ absolutely suppress these small sensations in our world. In addition, a person sees the forces that stand behind the objects and objects of our world, sees how everything is controlled, and therefore does not attach importance to the objects themselves - he already interacts with the forces that are behind them and determine everything.
According to Kabbalists, is this the meaning of life?
M. Laitman: Each person must reach the exit into this space. And it will reach. Either in this life, or in the next, you still have to make it. Every person on Earth is obliged to reach the highest point of existence. Each. In order to do this faster, easier, happier, more attractive, Kabbalists reveal Kabbalah to the world in our time, and because people are already beginning to feel: only this is salvation from frailty, insignificance and hopelessness ...