Question: Suppose we have an integral study group, which needs some guidance, to be told what it will deal with, what process it will go through. What should we start with?
Answer: For the new members there should be talks about the world, about the new trend, about evolution based on the ego, etc. First we have to prepare a serious theoretical basis of the practical perspective of human history, of society, and of ourselves. A person is gradually brought to the question of “what’s next?” Suppose we have explored the modern world, our development, the development of man and all of nature, and where it’s leading us. We don’t even see the lack of free choice, the dynamics of our development, and the collapse of the ego as the engine, as the source of our life and of our advancement. We reach a crisis, what’s next?
Next, of course, there are different goals in nature. We are now at such an intersection in which we have to totally change our attitude towards the world because the ego with which we grew before has suddenly stopped working.
So where is it leading us? It’s leading us to its negation. We see that in all the problems, in depression, drugs, terrorism, and even the crisis in the family and society. The main thing that hurts us most of all is the economic crisis because we, as beasts, need to eat and to supply our basic needs. Here we find ourselves in a state where we will not be able to supply the basic needs, especially in the world that we have created around us, a world that is a huge urban jungle, in which we all have to do something in order to get what we need.
It’s very easy to destroy such a world. It’s so sensitive to the slightest inability to adapt that millions of people can find themselves cut off from food, water, and the supply of energy and other resources. We cannot even imagine how delicate and fragile the world we’ve created is, and if something goes wrong, just a little, it will collapse like a house of cards. All this will collapse and what about us?
As a result of our development, we have brought ourselves to this very unstable state. You can imagine cities around the world with a population of 20 million people, but even in cities with a population of 2 million people, what will happen when these people are cut off from food, electricity, water, or a sewage system?! This is the end!
There is a need for mutual cooperation among countries, without which we cannot manage. No country can provide its own needs by itself any more. So we can see that the world is really very fragile and unsafe. We are showing people all this, explaining the general trend and why nature and the ego have brought us to this point so that we will rise above the ego, because in the present state we are unable to adapt to the global integral nature. How can we be mutually connected to it, meaning being included in its integrality, in its sphere, in harmony, with our ego?
This is why we need guidance by which we can show people that there is another way to develop. When we psychologically change ourselves and people, we will see the world not from an egoistic perspective, but from an integral altruistic perspective. We’ll be able to form a totally different society that will be in harmony with all the natural laws. And then having no choice, a person, the family, the society, the state, civilization, and all of humanity will reach such harmony with nature that we’ll recover all the fragile balance on earth, internally and externally, with the rest of nature. This is possible only if a person changes from an individualist into a person of the universe. This is what we have to bring to people.
Now let’s see how this can be done: Can we leave the individualistic, egoistic perspective of the world? Can we change the egoistic glasses and see everything through integral lenses? What will I gain from that? In other words, I have to take care of everyone. Is it possible? I shouldn’t take myself into account, is that possible? Do I have to totally “leave” myself? What about me and my family, and my relatives? How can we aim at mutual cooperation with others so that we can form a unified society?
What does unified mean? It is when each of us doesn’t feel himself, but only the society, like ants, who only understand their cooperation. None of them has a separate role, a separate goal, size or priority, but all are operated by a collective mind, a program, and meticulously carry out all the orders of the program. Is this possible? This is where nature is leading us. On such a level we will reach total harmony with it.
What do we gain from that? Although it sounds a bit like a fantasy, we are gaining the feeling of eternity, the feeling of infinity, because all our feelings today are within the limited ego, while here we move on to a different feeling, outside ourselves. Then a person doesn’t feel his own beastly body anymore, by rising to the next level, to the next dimension called “human,” which we didn’t feel before. He isn’t in his “animal” anymore, but rises to an upper level. Until today we were actually more developed animals.
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From a “Talk on Integral Education” #17, 02/28/12
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The Birth Of Something New
Nature’s Central Force
Balancing On The Path of Love
Filed under: Crisis, Education, Evolution, Integral Upbringing, Q&A, Society, World - 1 Comment →
Opinion (Evgeny Abramyan, Russian scientist and futurologist): “In order to survive and preserve civilization there is practically no options for mankind but to stop the endless chain of destructive wars and learn to resolve contradictions by way of negotiations and compromise. To begin with, radical reforms need to be implemented in the system of education and in the media as they strongly influence people’s attitudes and behavioural patterns. …
