Nature will not change. It guided us for thousands of years in the development of our egoism until the point where our egoism became integral. We cannot do anything about it.

It is illustrated by recent events in Europe. There was a multitude of thoughts and agendas on how to divide Europe, European market, and the commonwealth anew—to separate and part ways to make it easier to bear economic problems of each country.

However, it proved impossible, and as a result Europe took the direction toward further integration and deepening of mutual relations. This decision came about literally in a matter of the past few months since no one had wanted it before. It’s simply impossible to separate even a single country. The separation of Greece, Spain, or Portugal from Europe will cost much more; it is by all means more beneficial to maintain the unity. It is being calculated and decided on the highest levels.

It turns out that we have arrived at such a state where we are obligated to be correctly and integrally interconnected. As to how to achieve it, we do not know. But, perhaps, if we do find out how to solve it, we will overcome all the crises: the family, economic, education, societal, governmental, and global crises.

Hence, the problem lies within man: How do we change ourselves to be in homeostasis, in balance with Nature? The fact is that the main law of Nature is the law of balance. Nature constantly gravitates to equilibrium. It’s the law of physics.

The equilibrium is supported by Nature on all levels: the still, vegetative, and animate levels. And only man breaks this law with his excessive egoism: He consumes more than he contributes, pollutes more than nature can reclaim, and so on.

This violation of the law of balance is basically the problem of our crisis today.

How do we reach balance? It can be done only if we begin to correct man himself. Therefore, the problem lies in man—in his correction. Furthermore, this problem is large and global. If we do not desire to be similar to nature, if we don’t want to consume only to the extent to which we contribute, nature will force us toward this through the crises.

We see that every day hundreds of thousands of people become unemployed because we do not need the majority of the production; it was excessive. We were producing absolutely unnecessary things or making them become obsolete sooner so we could produce, sell, and profit more.

Ultimately, if we ourselves do not curtail production to the necessary, reasonable level so as to exist sensibly, nature compels us to do it through the crisis. Unwillingly, we find ourselves unprepared, thrown out onto the street. Thus we see what is happening with the entire humanity.

The world is enveloped in a severe crisis. If we do not take it under control, then within this year we will see what terrible consequences it can still prepare for us. Hundreds of millions of people will lose their jobs, and we’re not ready for it.

What are we to do with them if, say, we come to a state where we indeed do not need any excessive production? With the modern technology people don’t have to work as much. At a maximum, 10% of the population can provide the entire planet with food, clothes, shoes, and everything else that is necessary if they work approximately two hours a day. What will people do with the rest of their time?

Here, we arrive at an interesting conclusion: Man must work, but not manually and not to produce the material product, but to produce the internal and spiritual product. He has to reform himself into an integral part of society and nature. Thus he will generate positive energy and will put himself, society, and nature into balance. Then we will receive from nature the right bestowal and will be interconnected with it correctly.

Many scientific articles cover this topic. Many distinguished experts with whom we established contact are working on it.
[73540]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson

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As of today, we are still on the level of the animate development. We have passed the still, vegetative, and animate levels of development and have not reached the level of “Human” yet. The level of “Human” is the collective image in which we are all tied together integrally.

What does the integral connection give us? Why does nature push us in that direction by its law of balance, obliging us to connect?

Today we perceive the world through our five senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. If we are connected integrally, we will begin to feel both ourselves and others as if one integral whole, and a new sensation of “we” will appear in us.

This new integral sensation, this new sensor, will enable us to feel the integral nature. We will begin to feel the force of nature, which surrounds, drives, and manages us and which gives rise to all phenomena. It is the force that determines our future, our fate.

We begin to feel the flow of life—the past, the present, and the future—as one flow of information. This is what we can feel when we acquire an integral connection with others. By that a person rises to a level that is higher than his beastly body and begins to feel what exists beyond matter—the forces, the currents that exist outside us, above us.

This is called the level of “Human,” the level of additional information, that which determines our entire life. Nature pushes us towards this level so that we will know the meaning of our life and its purpose. This is what the integral connection between us gives us.

So, we face a very interesting problem that seems to have an easy solution. But although the solution is at hand’s reach, it totally contradicts our ego.

This is why we are concerned with spreading this knowledge that reduces suffering: We want to start feeling this necessity not by suffering but by recognition; we want to understand why everything happens the way it does in advance. When a person begins to see that the world is global, why and how he is interconnected, he already begins to foresee the events and to understand what and how should happen if we act one way or another.

We hope that this method will become the method of making new decisions, and that humanity will be able to come out of the crisis—not only the economic crisis but the general crisis as well.

The crisis is actually the birth of a new state. It is like labor pains, when the baby makes an effort to come out of the womb, into our world. We too are currently going through the same turning point in our awareness, in our understanding of the world and of ourselves.
[73525]
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson

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Question: The education process at a university is divided into semesters, and then there are exams. It is combined into receiving a diploma, further education, postgraduate studies, doctorate, and so on.

When it comes to the integral upbringing, does it make sense to go from one course to another or should this process be constant, smooth, without strict subdivisions into semesters?

Answer: Clear division only exists for beginners because we have to give them a feeling that they are advancing: first course, second course, certificates, diplomas, grades, rewards, and so on. But later all of this disappears.

A person becomes so much a part of the individual, common, and global generalization that it turns into his advancement, his greater inclusion into the integral system. And here special division into courses no longer exists.

People will spend their entire free time studying, and basically their entire work day will free up. In this case after about 2-3 months of intensive studies, a person will already imagine a certain common picture, its general form. And then, I think, at most after six months of studies, we will simply be able to combine them into one big class, one big auditorium, or a group because the best thing for them is to constantly communicate with each other.

And then, like in any society, an active core will appear in this group, with more passive and peripheral individuals connecting to it.
[72308]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #11, 12/16/11

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Question: When film or theater directors or musicians, whose entire life is dissolved in their profession, come to the courses of integral upbringing, do we somehow take these individual traits into consideration? Do we unite them, use their knowledge? Or is this not necessary in our courses?

Answer: Together with education and upbringing, we also offer a very serious dissemination and teaching course. Every person studying with us must educate others himself. There is an entire industry of different education methods to do this.

Correction of the world is an enormous factory of development, editing, and creation of new types of media, information, entire layers of new cultures, and so on. For this we need writers, poets, songwriters, and musicians—absolutely everyone.

They start to be in contact with each other, to search for ways to express the feelings they experience during studying. We do not even obligate them to do it. Of course, we have an ability to present them the so-called platform, the stage to perform for us, we welcome them, and so on. But they do it on their own.

Creative people search for a way to express themselves, and they are able to do it. They “smell” each other out, unite, and immediately create music, arts, theater, and other groups. They make different clips, songs, and plays right away. They do this naturally. And we encourage them and then together enjoy their achievements.

I think that this will beget a completely new culture, which will be really needed and paid. At the end, it will fill all the virtual networks, which, hopefully, will soon begin to realize how empty they are. People are no longer capable of tolerating things like soap operas on their screens, and this is why all of it is collapsing.

Question: Do you think there is a place for a soap opera that develops a person’s integrality? If so, what should it be like?

Answer: These can be certain comedy or drama scenes, when a person searches for something, either finds it or not, does a number of scenarios “for” and “against,” discusses, and makes an analysis of whether he likes it or not. Just like in a movie: There is a beginning, a culmination, and the end. If this is a soap opera, then it ends in an incomplete way, and then it continues. These are the laws of the genre.

I think they are created to fully match man’s egoism, when he needs to be teased, attracted, pushed away, inspired, made to relax, and then to feel tension again. All soap opera makers know this.

We also need to use this. Only the topic is different, but human essence basically remains the same for now. However, the materials shown, things advertised, and the main idea of the plot, all of it relates to our subject matter.

Question: Movies and soap operas have a main scene when the hero and the antihero meet and one of them naturally wins. How do you see the main scene from the point of view of integral art?

Answer: The main scene is when a person meets himself, his two opposite characters, and he must make a decision. He either makes this decision on his own, or with the help of a certain group, say his relatives, or through sudden circumstances that take place around him, and they direct him in the right direction. Or maybe he moves in the wrong direction—“to be continued.”
[72302]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #11, 12/16/11

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Question: How do you see the implementation of the course of integral upbringing? Should it be studied first in our groups?

Answer: The initial courses of integral education and upbringing already take place. We are about to open a Mutual Gurarantee learning center. I encourage absolutely everyone to participate in it. Those who sign up will be able to become teachers and educators after graduating according to their inclinations. There are people who will tend toward teaching, and there are those who are inclined to educate, create groups, monitor discussions, conversations, etc. These are two directions: They complement each other, but are in parallel.

We would like to see all our students worldwide as educators and teachers because humanity, I hope, will soon realize how much it needs them, and those people will be busy beyond their abilities.
[73566]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #14, 12/18/11

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Question: When starting to teach an integral training course, do I need to keep the image of a scientist or someone else? Or does it depend on an individual?

Answer: You have to be like a mixed genre artist, like an actor who transforms into thousands of different characters. In other words, I can simultaneously joke and touch everyone to tears as I draw examples from science, technology, art, culture, and music. And everyone experiences this together over the hours of our communication.

We “cook” so much together in our common feelings, thoughts, and emotions, ascents and descents, that at the end we turn into a “salad,” and we live it. Every person feels that he begins to sense everyone else against his will and that thoughts and feelings are simply shared: Everyone understands everything.

Comment: The atmosphere in modern schools and universities is such that people are very dry. They choose a style and are unable to go beyond it.

Answer: I also often use this, depending on what I am speaking about. If I want to for the material that I am teaching to be perceived as education instead of upbringing, something like physics of the new world, a new society, then at first I emphasize evolution, successive development of events, and history, using all the scientific data at my disposal. This is the only way for me to make my listeners respect and trust the facts I am giving them. Surely, in this case I behave as a scientist, an authority.

On the other hand, when I begin to speak with them about certain spiritual specifics, I either act as a psychologist or a sympathizer. We constantly switch roles.
[72260]
From a “Talk on Integral Education” #11, 12/16/11

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The correction that we are supposed to build above the animate level in order to reach the speaking level originates not only from our bodies but also from the human being within us.  However, we still implement the correction process through our bodies, since the body is a “tool” of correction. We relate to each other (both negatively and positively) through speech, thoughts and actions. The necessity to bestow leads us to the attainment of mutual love; it is a process that we all have to go through by all means.

Speech stands for self-persuasion. It can be referred to as inner dialog since a person constantly talks with himself; it can also mean “practical” (outgoing) speech that addresses others and conveys ideas on how and in what direction we should all change.

Thoughts go before speech and actions. First, we have to formulate a thought that stems from our inner calculations, which we obtain from within ourselves as well as from our surroundings, society, and teachers. So, thoughts should be built before anything else; then they have to be transformed into speech. Any kind of oral expression will always remain only “beautiful words” until we enable them with “force” by applying actions.

Actions mean the devoting of every single hour that is not spent satisfying our animate needs to integral education and upbringing, dissemination, and work for the sake of others. Our task is to lead people to at least a decent standard of life, have them live above the poverty line, arrange for just distribution, and make everybody feel that they are not deprived of their rights.

Thus, our thoughts and speech should be aimed towards building a new balanced society in which everyone will live on an integral level and stay within the analog system. As we build ourselves, we allow our thoughts to be influenced by our surroundings; we constantly submit ourselves to a stronger integral environment. After formulating internal thoughts, we implement them though speech, meaning we shape our concepts and informational systems. This is the point when actions come forward. It’s the time when we basically influence others through education, upbringing, and elevating worldwide living standards so that nobody suffers from hunger and affliction.

This is the essence of our work. This is how we approach balance with nature, which is the goal upon which we constantly focus. The equilibrium between us allows us to come to a state of overall balance with all of nature and with its universal laws. As a result, we create a “complete,” perfect system.

Here, our evolution stops: Our development started at the time when life emerged on the face of Earth and at this point it reaches its final equilibrium. It doesn’t mean that everything will be over and the sun will stop shining.  It’s not that we cannot wait several billion more years before it happens. We are talking about the end of correction of a human being: If we achieve balance with nature and reach perfect harmony, we won’t experience any pressure from nature any more, and our lives will become perfect.

Let’s hope that we’ll closely approach such a state within our sensations and that we will and by all means be able to prepare our children and grandchildren to attain this state. It’s within our power to do so.
From Kab TV’s “A New Life” Episode 11, 1/9/12 

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Preparation to the Lesson
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Shamati #52 “A Transgression Does Not Put Out a Mitzvah” 
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The Book of Zohar – Selected Chapter “Beresheet (Genesis),” “And the Land Was Unformed (Tohu) and Void (Bohu),” Item 318, Lesson 89
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Talmud Eser Sefirot, Part 7, Item 24, Lesson 11
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 “Introduction to the Study of the Ten Sefirot,” Lesson 54
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The fact is that by constantly developing, the ego was pushing us forward. We always wanted something new and were always chasing something. But today the ego has become flat; it has reached its maximum and, most importantly, become global. It has retired into its own shell.

As a result, we have become closed between ourselves and totally dependent on one another. We have created a closed analog system between us in which everyone is so dependent on others that through a chain of four acquaintances each of us is connected to all the people in the world. What’s more, today there is no need to fight: It’s enough to cut off a certain country from the mutual cooperation with other countries, and it will immediately collapse because it cannot exist on its own.

This was never the case before. A country could isolate itself and be independent. It could survive on its own. It had enough resources to produce energy, food, and everything the population needed, and there were no special problems.

But today we cannot do anything if we are not connected to tens of other countries. We have to buy, sell, and exchange goods, to constantly receive, send, and so on. We’ve become global, we’ve become closed. It wouldn’t be a problem if at the same time we were changing ourselves.

So, we have remained the same individualistic egoists while the world has become global and closed. Hence the discrepancy between the two systems.

On one hand, there is a discrete system, in which each of us wants to live alone: “I don’t need a family. I don’t need children. I don’t need anyone. I want to be independent and not depend on anyone.” This is how our ego speaks today. On the other hand, nature shows us the opposite: You are totally dependent on everyone. You cannot exist by yourself. You must be connected to everyone, and not only you, but your society, your state, and the whole world.”

This is the contradiction between the two systems: the general system we are in and our personal, individual, internal, system. This is the crisis since the two systems cannot work together. And this is what we feel.

So how can this problem be solved?
[73547] 
From the Vilnius Convention 3/22/12, Preliminary Lesson  

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