Welcome,
open-minded viewers to
Science and Spirituality
on Supreme Master
Television.
In March 2005, a unique
scientific conference
entitled “Quantum
Physics Meets Kabbalah”
took place in
San Francisco, California,
USA with Kabbalist Rav
Michael Laitman
and American quantum
physicists William Tiller,
Jeffrey Satinover,
and Fred Alan Wolf
in attendance.
Rav Laitman is
the founder and director
of the Bnei Baruch
World Center
for Kabbalah Studies and
founder and president
of the ARI—
Ashlag Research Institute.
The three scientists
appeared
in the critically acclaimed
American documentary
“What the Bleep
Do We Know?!”
The conference was
fascinating and featured
closed discussions
and panel presentations
before students
and teachers from the
University of California-
Berkeley, USA and
Stanford University, USA.
Rav. Laitman gave
a concentrated overview
of Kabbalah, an ancient
spiritual wisdom,
explaining the structure
of reality and how
the main substance
of creation, the desire to
receive pleasure, evolves.
We now present excerpts
of a documentary
that was produced
about the event by the
Bnei Baruch Kabbalah
Education & Research
Institute entitled
“Ups and Downs
in San Francisco.”
It all started
when we saw the film
“What the Bleep
Do We Know?!”
We are members of
the World Academy
of Kabbalah headed by
Rav Michael Laitman.
Having seen the film,
we were surprised at
how close modern science
has come to confirming
the Kabbalistic view
of the Universe.
Scientists, specializing
in quantum physics, have
discovered on their own
the depth of matter
described by Kabbalists
more than 3000 years ago.
And we decided to
go meet with them.
We arrived
in San Francisco
in March 2005.
What did we expect
from the meeting?
We wanted to be heard.
The people in the audience
were mostly
young students who
had come to meet
their favorite scientists.
The film was a hit in
North and South America,
Europe and Japan.
It had collected more
than 10 million dollars
in box office revenue
by that time.
More than 420 thousand
DVDs had been ordered
the previous month.
It started out as a regular
scientific conference.
Scientists approached
the podium, and began to
speak about the science
to which they had
devoted their entire lives;
about the film that had
turned them into stars.
I gather pretty much
everybody here
saw the film;
is that a fair assessment?
So I don't have to
review anything in it.
In exotic physics there is
a higher electromagnetic
gauge symmetry state
than our normal
environment, which
is called the SU2 state,
and at that state, electric
and magnetic monopoles
are naturally supposed
to co-exist.
Our next speaker
is Dr. Wolf.
And then Dr. Wolf
approached the podium.
No one had anticipated
what was about to unfold.
He didn't say a word
about his own science:
I really don't know what
I'm going to say to you.
You know, I had been
studying physics and
I knew something about
that technology, but
Kabbalah as a science
was something that never
would have even dawned
on me.
I don't care
what you're doing,
there is something
about this field of way of
thinking, of seeing, which
can improve anything.
And I don't care if you're
a Jew, a Muslim, Gentile;
I don't care what you are.
I don't care
what nationality;
I don't care what religion
you belong to,
there's something in this
that will, I think, awaken
something in you.
In order to understand
what had happened,
we need to go back
to the previous day, to
his one-on-one with Rav.
Unfortunately
we did not start shooting
from the beginning, but
Wolf’s question was—
"How to stop
endless conflicts
all over the world?"
The soul consists of
three lines:
middle, left and right.
All the conflicts
in the world are over who
controls the middle line.
There is no use trying to
settle these conflicts
on our level; we have to
rise along the middle line.
The two lines on the sides
are long,
containing 10 Sefirot
The middle line is short—
it begins above
the lower third
of the other two lines.
The left and the right
lines are connected
to the middle line
and provide it
with their lower thirds.
And that causes
all the conflicts, pain and
suffering in the world.
We need to disengage
from this lower third and
rise up to our own part,
which are the vessels
of bestowal.
We can accomplish this
only with the help
of the Upper Light,
the Light of Kabbalah,
the Light that surrounds
our souls, that enhances
our vessels of bestowal,
and that makes them
stronger than
the lower third.
If we can transform
ourselves this way,
the same process
will take place
in all of humanity,
in the billions of people
that live today.
I will give you
the introduction to
the Book of Zohar today.
This process is described
there, starting
from item 60.
It tells us how we can
change the entire world
through
inner transformation,
because each person has
a small world within him.
When people study
Kabbalah it gets them
because suddenly
certain truths about
what is going on,
what is this happening,
begin to become clear,
clearer than they were
before.
And suddenly you begin
to see whatever it is that
you’re working on,
whatever it is
that you think is
the most important thing
in the world, begins to
kind of dissipate
into something less,
of less importance, and
you begin to see a bigger
picture of what's going on.
Kabbalah will help
liberate your mind from
any shackles of thought
that keep you ensconced
or enclosed into
a certain way of thinking.
Now, if these words are
awakening you right now,
you know it.
If they are not awakening
you right now, then
I’m suggesting to you
that you’ve fallen asleep.
Thank you.
We will pause briefly
for some messages.
This is Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
Science and Spirituality.
We now continue
with excerpts from
the documentary about
the intersection
of science and
the spiritual tradition
of Kabbalah entitled,
“Ups and Downs
in San Francisco.”
We agreed to
meet later that day
behind closed doors.
We drove along the
streets of San Francisco
and shared our
impression of the past day.
We were preparing
for the day to come.
We knew
from personal experience
the effect that
Kabbalah has
by repeating the same
question day after day
that they no longer
come from the mind;
they come from the heart.
One begins to search for
the middle line that
Rabbi had described—
the middle line within.
And it is not easy.
And so it happened?
Are you a practitioner
of this observing of
the six or more senses?
Can you talk about your
experiences in that world?
I would like to
learn from you what
you are talking about;
otherwise it's just all gas.
No.
No, he does not want to
talk about it?
Because he doesn’t
have the same sense and
the same reminiscence.
You can’t just throw that
at me and say, "Accept it,
this is the way it is,
I'm Kabbalah,
that's what it teaches you,
and if you just do this
you'll be…”
So please allow me to talk.
Sure.
The wisdom of Kabbalah
states that reality is
only a will to receive,
for self-fulfillment.
That desire is built
through expansion
of the Upper Light
Light is giving,
bestowal, love.
We call it “Creator.”
It created something
called a Kli, a vessel
or a desire to enjoy,
which wants to be
fulfilled by precisely
what is in the Light.
And then Rav began to
describe four phases
of the Upper Light.
If the creature receives
pleasure,
the Creator enjoy;
if the creature doesn’t
enjoy, the Creator
does not enjoy.
We must give full credit
to the scientists.
They sat, listened,
took notes, and
began to understand.
The fact that
they were open was
a testimony to them
being genuine scientists.
Then Dr. Wolf
raised another question:
You laid it out beautifully,
but I want to understand
better, if I may, to see if
I understand this right:
1 – There is a Creator
who desires to give, yes?
Yes.
So whoever gives to
a dummy, a dummy.
It's just a golem,
it gives to a golem.
Golem, that’s right, golem.
Right? Ok.
Now, the next thing,
from two to three,
what happens there?
In state two, it begins to
feel the Giver itself,
its nature.
In stage two, the Golem
is coming alive,
is that what's happening?
What’s happening?
And everybody joined
in the discussion.
It requires
a threshold of Light
(Dr William Tiller)
to spontaneously
generate consciousness.
Entrance of the Light
and its departure
builds these impressions,
these vibrations in the Kli
and the consciousness.
Dr. Jeffrey Satinover.
As it turned out, this was
not his first encounter
with Kabbalah.
The Ramchal talks about
the world
having a deterministic
and an in-deterministic
component
and also about,
some human beings
just having no place
whatsoever—
I'm referencing that from
his book, Derech Hashem.
Ramchal was one of
the greatest Kabbalists.
Ramchal taught Kabbalah.
He was thrown out
of his city;
he was boycotted.
Derech Hashem,
the Path of God,
is a path of 10 Sefirot.
The entire spiritual ladder
is divided into 10 parts.
Even the first part
in this ladder is already
above the barrier.
A tornado swept over
San Francisco
that evening,
but we didn’t notice it.
We felt that
we were close to finding
a common language,
but there were clashes
to come.
Back at the lecture.
If the heart is the desire,
and the point in the heart
that awakens is the
sensation of the Creator,
and at that time a person
through this point begins
to want something
that’s beyond the desire,
such people—there aren't
many in the world,
but those who awaken,
and they grow,
and they grow—
those people want to
realize that point,
but at the end of the day
everyone,
in the end all humanity,
the billions of people
will have to come to the
evolution of that point
and they will have to
reach the same level
as the Creator Himself.
And then Rav mentioned
a topic that we now know
is a touchy one.
Because the Creator,
because He is good, well
He created the creature
with the sole intention
of bringing it to the good.
What kind of God is this?
Rav approached
the board again and
continued to explain.
Our common soul
is called "Adam."
That Kli, that vessel that
the Creator had created
with our will to receive,
and it's filled with
the Upper Light.
Now, within this body
called Adam, there are
all the parts connected
like in one body,
harmoniously.
Now this soul is broken.
It falls into a degree
which is called
“below the barrier,”
and at the “barrier,” the
spiritual sensation ends.
Here, below the barrier,
there are those,
the same parts,
but feeling that
they are disconnected
from each other.
That's the breaking—
everyone's ego, egoism.
Because of that we’ll
understand why we need
to willingly rise up
back to unification.
There were moments
when we thought we'd
have to pack up and leave.
We had the sense
of a total lack
of communication.
This is a glance back
at one of our meetings.
You seem to be
presenting the Kabbalah
as the truth
and it read like dogma.
Be open; be open
to the fact that there are
other powerful models.
People come to me
from every generation;
they are so different.
No one is limited;
anyone can begin to
study and see how
it works within them.
That's not what
we're saying here.
In physics, we had
Newtonian mechanics;
it was wonderful,
it explained everything!
And everybody believed
it was right.
And then
came quantum physics.
Now people don't accept
new things
when they commit.
I have developed a model
which I find is very useful
in explaining.
I know
I have not proven it;
I know it is not the truth,
it is a work in progress,
it's a theory in progress,
and it will take a long,
long time to prove.
Because they attain reality
from below upward…
How does he even
know this?
You make a statement
like that.
Still, despite it all,
the scientists stayed on.
They listened;
they took notes.
As scientists,
they know that ultimately
this is the only way to
discover the truth.
Please join us next week
for the continuation
of this fascinating
interaction of scientists
with Kabbalah wisdom.
Thank you for joining us
for this edition of
Science and Spirituality.
Coming up is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May the world
be enveloped in love.
Welcome,
fine viewers to
Science and Spirituality
on Supreme Master
Television.
In March 2005, a unique
scientific conference
entitled “Quantum
Physics Meets Kabbalah”
took place in
San Francisco, California,
USA with Kabbalist Rav
Michael Laitman
and American quantum
physicists William Tiller,
Jeffrey Satinover,
and Fred Alan Wolf
in attendance.
Rav Laitman is
the founder and director
of the Bnei Baruch
World Center
for Kabbalah Studies and
founder and president
of the ARI—
Ashlag Research Institute.
The three scientists
appeared
in the critically acclaimed
American documentary
“What the Bleep
Do We Know?!”
The conference was
fascinating and featured
closed discussions
and panel presentations
before students
and teachers from the
University of California-
Berkeley, USA and
Stanford University, USA.
Rav. Laitman gave
a concentrated overview
of Kabbalah, an ancient
spiritual wisdom,
explaining the structure
of reality and how
the main substance
of creation, the desire to
receive pleasure, evolves.
A documentary was
produced about the event
by the Bnei Baruch
Kabbalah Education
and Research Institute
entitled “Ups and Downs
in San Francisco.”
Last week we showed
excerpts of this work
which featured
the interactions between
the three scientists
and Rav. Laitman
as he explained to them
the basics of Kabbalah.
This week we bring you
further portions of
the documentary which
fascinatingly depicts
the intersection
of the perspectives
of those trained
in quantum physics
with that of spirituality,
as represented by
the wisdom of Kabbalah.
Still, despite it all,
the scientists stayed on.
They listened;
they took notes.
As scientists,
they know that ultimately
this is the only way to
discover the truth.
Once more at the lecture:
Love, will, Light, wisdom
flows through
into the world and
that benefits the Creator...
I am afraid to tell you
it is not so...
Pour quoi? (Why?)
Because in order for us
to be a hose for the Light,
we have to have the same
properties as the Light
because it all connects
through a process
of equivalence of form.
Now if you can take
your desire— to first of all,
discern what exactly it is.
It is not some intentions
or properties;
it is a desire.
You can begin
to relate to the pleasure
that comes to you,
as it is says here,
by even one percent;
if you begin to do that,
you will feel the Creator.
Thus,
lecture followed lecture.
We’ve captured ten hours
of lectures on video—
videos of Rav
explaining all of
the wisdom of Kabbalah.
We saw the city only
through the car window
on our way back
and forth from the hotel.
They tell us it's beautiful.
Let’s return
to the lecture…
We have letters, say like
Aleph, Aleph, Bet, Gimel,
and then Aleph again, etc.
There are no words there,
they're dots there.
And we might have
20 such letters,
or six such letters,
or three or four.
All in all they give us,
how should I put it,
a formula, in which we
have to do things inside,
with our desire, and
that's how one is taught
how we should
perform actions
of receiving in order
to give to the Creator.
That's what we call God.
It is an unchanging law,
operating on
every item in creation.
Let's say that’s creation
So that's the creature.
And that law operates
on the creature in order
to bring it to equivalence
of form with the Creator,
so that they equalize.
So that the creature
and Creator will
merge together to
the point of no difference.
So what's so special?
It could do it
in the beginning?
The thing is though,
that the creature
has to develop
within itself a desire
to be like the Creator.
Now there is a sensation
that every word
is being heard
but how hard it was
to get there. We recall …
In our world,
there is nothing
that doesn't come down
from the world Atzilut—
the forces, the substance,
actions, time, space,
motion,
everything possible.
What is here,
in this world, is called
a "branch," which is
an upshot of what exists
in the Upper World.
So how do I
tell someone something
about the Upper World?
I take the names from
this world—of people,
things, places, society.
I refer to
what happens here
in the World of Atzilut,
but I take the names
from here, and there.
If one knows only about
this world, then the story
takes place in this world.
Then he imagines the
Creator as a big person.
But one who understands
that he talks
about something
beyond this world,
seeks where it is up there.
We will pause briefly
for some messages.
This is
Supreme Master Television.
Welcome back to
Science and Spirituality.
We now continue
with excerpts
from the documentary
about the intersection of
science and the spiritual
tradition of Kabbalah
entitled, “Ups and Downs
in San Francisco.”
In Kabbalah,
you never know when
that moment will come,
when all the pieces
fall together.
A major inversion
takes place and it all
begins to make sense.
Back at the lecture…
But still, how do I
receive pleasure and
constantly enjoy endlessly?
So, there has to be
someone up there
that I enjoy
because He enjoys.
It's as if the pleasure
goes through me, to Him.
So then, I'm not put out,
because my pleasure is
always here, like a mother
who enjoys with her baby.
She wants always
to give to it.
Do you recognize yourself
as part of the whole;
of course.
Right, that's it.
That's the purpose.
Why do we need to be
broken and go back up?
It is to learn the physics
of the lower level,
and then to go back
across the line
and learn the physics
of the higher level.
So here we have it.
Leading scientists
who recognize
the limits of their field,
meet Kabbalah, which
tells them that in order to
overcome that limit, they
need to alter themselves,
to change,
and only then can they
reveal a new world.
And that's not easy to
hear, not easy to accept,
and yet, they endured,
but it was very hard.
I think
I'm a giving person;
I think I give a lot
of myself in what I do.
Maybe it's my ego talking,
I don't know, but I…
I think we're all egoists.
I have no idea what God is,
but I feel God's presence.
Every once in a while
I see God,
so what does that tell me?
What do you mean?
You know, you don't feel?
There's no such thing.
What do you mean?
If you feel it,
can you measure it?
What are you
talking about?
I understand.
What are we
talking about then?
If you can't know God,
you can't feel God,
you can't…
We are talking
about a research
what the Creator is, only
in a scientific manner.
Meaning, I feel Him;
I measure Him;
I give measurements
and numbers
to every sensation;
I check the tool
with which I feel Him.
That's the wisdom
of Kabbalah, of course.
I have numbers.
Let's say from 0% to 100%,
and I know exactly
which Lights go where,
and how powerfully,
under which conditions.
When I take something
off the table, I define it as
taking it from the Creator,
and what pleasure
I give Him by that,
and then,
what kind of connection
it creates between us.
That was our
first experience of talking
to leading scientists.
Maybe we were unaware
of certain things—
the mentality is different.
But Rav
continued to lecture.
In Kabbalah, there is
no such thing as mentality.
In Kabbalah, everyone
is absolutely equal.
Back at the lecture…
How do we learn
about the two levels?
If we—
the ones who really feel
from within the heart,
the point in the heart,
the desire to go back to
spirituality and feel it—
we begin to learn about
our situation up here.
And that's
the wisdom of Kabbalah.
So, we learn
about us being here,
when in fact we are
already in that state,
but we don't feel it.
But, by wanting,
in our blocked states,
to awaken and feel
the true states, if we learn
about our true situation,
we draw on ourselves—
it's as if we draw the
Light that's present there.
Because I'm in that world,
in that state,
I'm not aware of it.
But, if I make every effort
to become conscious of it,
to be awakened,
my desire, my impulse
to do it, opens up
my additional vessels,
and then we begin
to feel spirituality.
What does that mean?
We begin to feel how
we are all interconnected,
as one body, and then,
through each and every
one, Infinite Light follows
endlessly, and
without any limitations.
All the problems that
we feel today in the world
is only so
as to force humanity
to begin to go back up.
Clearly,
you know your stuff,
there's no question about,
and I would learn,
I’d love to sit at your feet
for a long time.
It would be very useful,
it would help me
tremendously,
and I have no question
about that.
We were witnesses of
a new reality being born,
as a second breath.
Science saw in Kabbalah,
a unique opportunity,
a chance of
a breakthrough.
What was it that
made such a change?
Was it the hours
of Rav's lectures;
arguments and doubts;
perhaps it was simply
that the time has come.
Indeed Kabbalah, it does
have an awful lot to say.
I don't hear anything;
I don't see anything,
but I feel it.
What you know
is really amazing and
I honor your teaching
and your wisdom.
So the whole
phenomenon of Kabbalah
kind of emerging
out of its hidden-ness—
and in a genuine form,
as opposed to just fluff—
I think is very fascinating,
very valuable.
All possible ways
to awaken the people,
and have them become,
work on themselves,
I think it's the way to go.
Because this is something
that means a great deal
to me and because
I have a very
positive impression
of this meeting,
I'm certainly happy to help
in any way that I can.
I certainly can
contribute ideas to the film
and I'd be happy
to work with you on it,
sure, as long as there's
life, and breath,
and limb within me;
I'm willing to travel.
There are these three
dimensional pictures,
like wallpaper.
If you look at them, and
you de-focus your eye,
and you go
into the picture
and you find the
three-dimensional picture.
When you look at it
at the beginning,
it looks like just a jagged,
random pattern, and then
after a while you see
a kind of flat 3-D image.
So these things.
What the wisdom of
Kabbalah actually does
is it helps you
get that picture.
It does not do
anything new actually.
It just focuses
and aims your attributes
and everything in you
in such a way that you
begin to see into matter.
We are glad to have been
able to share with you
excerpts of the
documentary “Ups and
Downs In San Francisco”
which was produced
by the Bnei Baruch
Kabbalah Education
and Research Institute.
Thank you for joining us
for this edition of
Science and Spirituality.
Coming up next is
Words of Wisdom,
after Noteworthy News.
May Heaven’s grace
be upon you.