|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
A wise man’s eyes are in his head, said the sages. Where is today’s chaos taking us? Prices are rising, threats are intensifying, there are great difficulties in relationships, and natural disasters impact large swathes of people more and more. Why are we suddenly experiencing pressure from all directions? Where are the forces acting on us leading us? What kind of tomorrow is worth starting to build already now, in order to align with the changes that are taking shape?
First, a reminder. We, human beings, are part of nature. The human system exists within nature’s general system. These two systems influence one another. We will feel the most comfortable and harmonious state when there is balance between humanity and nature.
Eventually, we will achieve balance, between person and person, and as a result also with nature. There is no question about it. What is unknown is whether the process will happen through exploration, awareness, and conscious development, or whether we will have to absorb harsh blows after which we will realize where the mistake was.
The integral approach to education teaches that in the system of nature there are laws of development, which act on the human species as well as the still, vegetative, and animate levels of nature. Moreover, they act on each and every individual, and on everyone together as a human society.
Until the 20th century, we underwent development through a linear human egoistic process of development. The human ego pushed us to advance in one direction: to receive the maximum for the minimum investment. Such is the law of egoistic development. Suddenly, the human system experienced a slowdown in the form of the Great Depression of the 1930s. Then came World War II, which shuffled the deck, and afterward everyone became engaged in damage restoration. In the 1960s, again the feeling of breakdown returned.
Essentially, what became revealed was a contradiction between us and nature. Integral forces began to act on us from all sides, enclosing us more and more into one network, but we continued to act egoistically, with each person caring solely about themselves, acting out of self-benefit at others’ expense, and each country operating at the expense of the others, and so on.
Thus, a world became created where on one hand the egoistic force grew in each individual, and on the other hand the integral force continued binding everyone together. We thus built international trade, international institutions like the UN, and global-scale connections in fields such as economy, science, and culture. We realized these two forces as much as we could and received an international egoistic mechanism. The integral force was aiming for deeper, heart-to-heart human connection, but we leaned toward the egoistic direction. Therefore, every connection that we made brought no genuine renewal.
For instance, we can view the European Union as a case study. The feeling of a need for collaboration among the European nations led to the construction of a union, but with egoistic thinking. One country thought about money, another about status, a third about freedom of movement, and so on. They did not build educational-cultural processes for enhancing human connection, for emotional closeness between the nations. Nowadays, decades have passed, and what is the outcome? Do Europeans feel connected, like a single entity?
Nevertheless, the integral force continues to act and evolution continues. Likewise, the contradiction between human egoistic nature and the interconnected and interdependent nature of the world increases. From here comes every difficulty and crisis in human relations. Therefore, life itself shows us where we are going wrong and what we need to repair.
The nature that surrounds us functions as a single integral mechanism. All of its parts complement each other in wonderful harmony, and only we are developing a form of connection that is increasingly opposite. There is no other creature in nature that draws pleasure from the suffering of another, living off pride and arrogance. Even in relation to the ecological environment, we behave similarly, taking much more than we need to exist, and not considering anything, ruining everything as we trample heavily forward prioritizing our own personal interests over anything or anyone else’s.
What, then, can help us avoid a total collapse? It is a revolution in perception, i.e., a fundamental change in the definition of connections between the person, society, and the environment. The means: an educational-cultural, all-social process, which will create a feeling of integral connection between everyone and everyone, a deep and warm connection that stems from the understanding that evolution forces us to move in such a direction.
As we increasingly form and envision an integral human connection, we will be able to cope with problems in all areas of life on a different level.
In the long term, an integral approach to human connections will let us cope with a reality in which smart technologies replace people in various professions, and most of the population will lose their jobs. We will still need to provide every person and family with their essential needs, of course, and also organize challenges and activities for people.
In the immediate future, we can act together in various areas. For example, we can improve the quality of life in our apartment buildings, on our streets, in our neighborhoods, in our cities, and in our communities. The following are a few ideas in order to give a picture.
Based on goodwill, free time, a spirit of volunteerism, and great appreciation from society, without money, payment, or heavy expenses, we can establish a social network in which everyone does something for society’s general good and gains the right to benefit from the contributions of others.
For instance, such a network could include organizing a second-hand item giveaway market, classes for children and adults, workshops, professional training, small home repairs, expert advice, leisure and sports activities, hikes and picnics, parties and cultural events, group purchases at discounted prices, and maybe even taking responsibility for cleaning and caring for certain areas ourselves in exchange for reduced property tax.
The bottom line is that in our connection we can save a lot, improve the quality of life, and most importantly, feel that we are living in one big warm family. When we start feeling surrounded by people whose hearts are open to us, and who are happy to lend a hand in love, then we open ourselves to the spirit of life that will flow between us. Then, we will experience fulfillment that is higher than any individual satisfaction anyone ever experienced. In addition, our alignment with nature’s integrality will restore balance to the environment and bring abundance upon us. In other words, we will invite a great blessing upon ourselves.
Based on “New Life” episode 48 with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
Posted on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn Newsletter, Medium, Twitter X, YouTube, Quora