What is the difference between military service and civilian life? In the army, you are surrounded by friends, and afterward, you are left on your own to face a challenging reality.
What should we study? What kind of work is worth pursuing? Will we ever be able to afford a home? Looking ahead, the horizon does not exactly look bright.
Nothing seems inspiring in the distance. There is no wind in the sails, no desire to throw ourselves into the endless race. Why should we do that? To end up like our parents’ generation, exhausted and struggling to keep up? That is definitely not much of a prize.
However, perhaps there is another way to live. Maybe we can continue the spirit that existed among us in the army throughout our lives. To live with mutual responsibility, mutual support, positive connections, and compromise when necessary. To make sure everyone has what they need to live with dignity, and beyond that, to find our joy in being together and in the positive force that flows between us.
Who decided that civilian life must be built on destructive competition? On chasing status symbols and endless consumption? Who determined that becoming modern-day slaves is life’s purpose?
Why not wage a battle against this outdated way of thinking? Why not develop a new outlook that reflects what truly matters to us in life?
After all, the world today is far from ideal, to put it mildly. There are already young people who say they refuse to bring children into what they see as such a bleak reality.
A significant change can come only if we build a new spirit, one of connection that disallows ego-driven games to dominate every corner of life. This is a common battle for all of us against the narrow egoism embedded in human nature, the voice that constantly whispers: “You’re number one, and to hell with everyone else.”
To succeed, we need new forms of communication, media, culture, art, and every kind of creative expression. Through the tools at our disposal, we need to cultivate an atmosphere of “We’re all together. We’re all one family.”
Connection will give us a new way of thinking, a new perspective. From it, we will discover new ways to address problems that today seem impossible to solve.
Stress, depression, despair, and many other social ailments will gradually disappear as we draw closer to one another with open hearts and genuine warmth.
From a broader perspective, it is no coincidence that the world has become so interconnected and that our dependence on one another has grown so great. This is nature’s way of signaling that it sees us as one.
As we deepen our connections—and there is an entire wisdom of connection that we will need to learn and apply—we will discover that a new level of existence is opening before us. We will be breaking into the next stage of human evolution.
At that next level, our experience of life and vitality will become far more powerful. Pleasure and fulfillment, satisfaction and the discovery of life’s meaning and purpose, will all be attained through integral connection between people. No one will be able to reach this alone.
Entire worlds will be revealed within the network of positive human connections we build between us, and it will feel like an endless journey of discovery. Every moment will be an adventure, every moment an experience, every moment a new revelation and a pleasant surprise.
So let’s start a revolution. Let’s bring the spirit of army camaraderie into every aspect of our lives.
Based on “New Life 146 – From the Connection in the Army to a New Israeli Spirit” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.