“How do you explain war to a child?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: How do you explain war to a child?

Children can understand war because they also fight with each other. The human ego, which makes us want to primarily enjoy ourselves without considering anyone else, operates from a very young age. So we need not hide anything about war from children.

Indeed, if we fail to raise children correctly, teaching them how to rise above the human ego and positively connect with others, then just as children play—wanting to take things away from each other in order to please themselves, and sometimes resorting to bullying each other—then this is how they continue into their adult years, which is why we end up with wars. Grownups no longer have sand shovels, sticks and toy guns in their hands, but weapons capable of doing serious harm.

Therefore, we should explain to children that they need to become accustomed to communicating, making peace and learning how to compromise. By doing so, they will not end up with terrible problems like those big people who go to war.

They should not be told about the enemy and the hatred in the conflict, and who is right or wrong, as they have no concept or basis for it. Rather, they understand words like giving and taking, wanting and taking, not wanting to give what they have to others, etc. and it is possible to explain war to children in such terms. Nevertheless, give-and-take relations are at the basis of war and all kinds of international relations. War is a dangerous and terrible outcome when these grownups could not reach any peaceful compromise in time.

Therefore, we should teach children from as early as possible that disputes should not be resolved by force, otherwise we will destroy each other. Disputes can be resolved by discussing how to reach peace together, with mutual concessions, rather than with an approach of “I am right and you are wrong, and now you will understand it.”

The most important aspect in education is learning how to compromise. Otherwise, what is all this education for? To teach how to hit first, harder and to inflict as much damage as possible? No, we need to learn how to stop and compromise. It is extremely difficult to do, especially for children, because they have a very direct and straightforward egoistic approach to life, shamelessly wanting things for themselves without any concern for others. Therefore, education should consist of explaining such concepts, learning them together with the children, and seating children in circles to engage in practical engagement on such topics. That is, if a dispute arises among children, then it is time to sit down and sort it out. They should develop such templates from their youth on how to not resort to fighting, but to resolve disputes through conversation and compromise. It is a very long process, but if it is not implemented at these early stages, then it will only get worse later.

Such education is not only necessary for children, but for teachers too, the adults. It is the same human ego in both children and adults, and it requires the same kinds of explanations and training in order to rise above it and realize that conceding for the sake of peace is much more worthwhile than going to war.

Based on the video “How to Explain War to a Child” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

“Why is the world facing so many crises and problems?” (Quora)

Dr. Michael LaitmanMichael Laitman, On Quora: Why is the world facing so many crises and problems?

We are undergoing a cleansing process. It is as if we are inside the drum of a washing machine, and our attitudes to each other, to life, and our worldviews, are tumbling and turning.

It is indeed a sign of our times, and as a result of this cleansing process, we are supposed to revise the way we relate to each other, to the world and to nature—to reach a clearly defined inner frame of reference through which we view everyone and everything.

We need to go through a process of revealing just how uncertain and incomplete we are within ourselves, how far we are from any kind of objective view of reality, that everything in our worldviews has been imposed on us and is subject to change according to the various influences we encounter throughout our lives.

In order to overcome our constant drifting in our worldviews and attitudes, we have to zero in on life’s ultimate goal. When we grab hold of our life’s purpose in such a way, as if harpooning it, and then it will start pulling us closer, and we will constantly progress toward it.

Our life’s purpose is to reach a clear perception and sensation of the laws of nature, laws of love and bestowal, by equalizing our qualities (egoistic) with nature’s (altruistic). We will then experience an eternal and perfect state of existence, and likewise exist in harmony and peace, free from the accumulating crises and problems we currently experience.

We will then see that nothing else actually exists. That we currently find ourselves in a state of exponentially-increasing crises and problems is already the beginning of such a state of being.

Moreover, we approach the revelation of the final state of existence scientifically, by means of experience: research, reviewing and reproducing the results, like scientists. We go through this process quite naturally, through trial and error, with various experiments, seeing what works and what does not.

In aviation, there is a mechanism called a gyroscope that maintains the aircraft’s orientation in space. It is a motor with a clear aim, for instance, at the North Star, and therefore, regardless of how it rotates, from any direction, the motor aims precisely at a certain set of coordinates with its inner axis.

The result of the accumulating crises and problems we are experiencing are thus in order to develop within us a similar inner device, an inner attitude that relates to everyone and everything with our final purpose in mind—a state of absolute love, bestowal and connection that we are bound to reach.

When we develop such an inner device, we will then see how everything will calm down, and achieve a newfound sense of balance, harmony, peace, happiness, safety and confidence.

Based on the video “Why Is the World Facing So Many Crises and Problems?” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Semion Vinokur. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.