I suppose all children go through a period of asking the “big” questions. Mine were, “Where do we come from?” “Where do we go when we are no longer here?” and especially, “What is the purpose of life?” Perhaps it is because both my parents were doctors that I felt naturally inclined to seek the answers in science. And perhaps because I was searching in science, the answers I found were of a more inclusive and general nature.
My science of choice was cybernetics—medical bio-cybernetics, to be exact. This was to be my research tool. At the time, cybernetics was a new and innovative field of research, enabling scientists to explore complex systems and to find the mechanisms controlling them. I was particularly interested in the human body and its control systems. Through cybernetics, I had endeavored to unlock the secret of human existence itself: the body and the soul that (so I believed) inhabited it.
But my hopes were thwarted. Yes, science had taught me a great deal about life, or rather, about how a new life begins and how it is sustained. Yet, it taught me nothing about the more fundamental questions of meaning that drove my research: what is life and what is it for?
The craving to decipher life’s meaning kept me on my toes, probing every shred of data I could find. I continued my search in science, philosophy, and even religion until I gained a plethora of new knowledge and understanding of life. But just as with my initial experience with cybernetics, none of these seemed to address my deepest questions of meaning and purpose.
And then one day, I suddenly reached the conclusion of my lengthy quest when I unexpectedly came across what I later discovered was a science called, “Kabbalah.” In retrospect, no part of my search had been redundant or regrettable. Science, philosophy, and religion were all necessary “stops” on my way to Kabbalah, though I never really stopped at any of them. Each of them contributed to my understanding of life’s meaning and the purpose of human existence, and each now takes its rightful place in the whole, and (might I add) wholesome worldview that Kabbalah helped me establish.
Moreover, I discovered a connection between the purpose of human existence and the multiple global crises that the world now faces. Through Kabbalah, I acknowledged the inevitability of these crises, their inevitable resolution in peace and prosperity, and the free choice that we have in how we resolve them—by collaborating and cooperating, but mostly by becoming aware of our unity and interdependence. More than anything, I discovered that the ancient Kabbalistic concepts on human relations provide a platform on which to build viable societies that promote such amicable relations.
The concept that the current global threats are preordained is not my own. Neither is the idea that the crises are a springboard to a reality that exceeds our wildest dreams. Both notions have existed for millennia, but have only now begun to surface because it is the first time that a necessary, twofold condition has been met: people are desperate enough to seek a solution, and a clear enough explanation of that solution is available. As for my role in the unfolding of these concepts, it is to serve as presenter and facilitator. Yet, as much as I believe in the validity of these ideas, by no means do I claim proprietary rights to them. They are solutions and ideas that I have learned from my teachers throughout the years.
As I hope to show in the chapters ahead, contemporary science and modern thinking now make it possible to meet these conditions and to unveil the age-old paradigm explained in the science of Kabbalah. Thanks to quantum physics, which dared to challenge the Newtonian paradigm of reality, we can deem such concepts as “the oneness of reality” worthy of consideration. And thanks to philosophy, which devoutly cultivated the idea of free thought, we can now share ideas and learn from one another.
Hence, while the concepts I am about to introduce are entirely Kabbalistic, I will show that many of them parallel with modern science. It is my hope that in the spirit of pluralism, they will be met with an open mind and an open heart. And if the views presented here invoke contemplation in even one reader, I will be fully rewarded.
Michael Laitman