Question: When we speak about an integral state, do we mean society, or according to Kabbalah is it a single spiritual organism?

Answer: It is one and the same. We are speaking about a society that begins to sense itself as one common whole. Within it, a collective mind, a collective feeling, collective needs, and a collective outlook on everything emerge. That is, the entire society becomes one unified whole and begins to feel all levels of nature as fully interconnected. And when a person includes this vast nature within himself, sees it and feels it inside himself, he begins to internalize its program.

As part of this program, he starts to perceive it in its entirety. It is as if he sees himself as having originated billions of years ago and as continuing his development billions of years into the future because he begins to be included in this immense organism of integral nature. He starts to feel all the forces he exists within, and understands how this works, how it influences him, and how he can influence himself, his destiny, and his future, as the only active element in nature, not instinctively, but consciously.

However, he will attain this only when he is integrally included in all levels of nature. Then he rises to the highest level of nature, to the level of the Creator, so to speak. There is no Creator as such; nature itself is the Creator. But a person reaches such a level.

Question: How can we define the very concept of society, since society and an organism are perceived as different things? Society is sometimes compared to an organism, but this is a metaphor, an image.

Answer: These concepts are perceived as different in a society where all the elements are not interconnected. If it is an organism broken into parts, into fragments, like a sick person in a dreadful state, when all the systems are out of balance, then you are right. That is the state of today’s society that we are trying somehow to save from destruction, from the complete disintegration of all its systems. But when all systems are in mutual support and balance, each one and all together, like the human body, then this is simply an integral society.

Comment: So we must draw a clear line between the notions of society that prevail in sociology. There everything is very simple: there is a simple society, a primitive community, a tribe, and there is a complex society, which must be highly differentiated.

My Response: Primitive communities, by the way, were practically integral communities. For them this was based on an instinctive level, as in the animal world.

But we differ from the animal world in that egoism has grown in us. And now we begin to unite on a different level.

Animals are instinctively united in an integral community. Nature holds them together through its general law. Then, above our animal body, egoism grows, and we must begin to integrate above it, together with it. That is, egoism itself gives us a new level of integration.
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From KabTV’s “Integral World,” 11/26/12

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The main problem in educating people lies in the fact that we do not teach them to find what is most important for themselves—a goal. Moreover, in this regard one must be truly independent, and place oneself in a state where neither the media, nor society, nor anything else influences you, where none of that matters to you, and you can withstand everyone.

This is scarier than a battle because you must endure a powerful attack of information, various ideas of a frenzied crowd, the so-called values of humanity. Where would you get the inner strength for this, the ability to compare things, to rise above it all, to disregard everything else where necessary? This is not simple at all. One must be taught this.

If we do not teach this to the growing generation, they will be tossed around like tumbleweeds, and will remain unhappy all their lives. We can see how people cannot find themselves. We think that out of seven billion people, 99% are simply not suited for anything. No, they were never taught. Each person has their own individuality.

When you give a person the opportunity to find themselves and their goal, their point among this vast number of people, they suddenly begin to understand themselves, and see that everything around is precisely adjusted to them.

Therefore, the most important thing is the education of a person: to be where one needs to be, to independently choose one’s own path in life, and to connect correctly with everyone else in order to realize this path.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Everyone Should Be the Same” 10/1/10

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Question: If an ordinary person that belongs to the 99% of the population encounters some negative influence on himself, what should his first thought be? What should he remember at that moment?

Answer: Only that I received this from nature, the single source that created everything, governs everything, and advances me toward the goal. Therefore any influence on me is only so that I will direct myself toward this goal. How can I direct myself toward it even more, based on the influence I am now receiving?

First of all, one must connect oneself with the goal, and then look at what exactly I am receiving this influence upon, against what? As a rule, these influences are directed at my egoism since there is nothing else within me. But precisely which of its qualities, sides, and manifestations?

Usually, the most negative influence on egoism is an infringement of pride, an infringement of “self,” meaning I fear that I might be shamed before others; I am afraid of shame. It is the defeat of pride, the defeat of “self” that is the most important thing for a person. He is ready to die just to avoid experiencing or going through such a feeling. It nullifies the human within me, it literally destroys my “self,” and I am left with nothing but an animal body. And I cannot agree to be merely an animal. I cannot descend to that level, and therefore a person is ready for anything.

This feeling of defeat of my “self,” the threat of shame, is the strongest stimulus that we can receive from nature in order to move toward the goal. We learn from Kabbalah that practically all of creation, the entire system of worlds, emerged from this primordial feeling of shame, and therefore, for us it is the most effective.

If a person correctly feels himself, constantly awakens an analysis of “self,” the feeling of shame and the feeling of rising above it, then it becomes easy for him to perform any kind of work on his egoism.
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From a Conversation about Integral Education, 5/30/12

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Question: Israeli children are very noisy and energetic, one could say hyperactive. Is this related to a particular Jewish mentality?

Answer: Jews originate from Ancient Babylon, from a single civilization of earth’s inhabitants who once rose to a spiritual level and then fell from it. Therefore, that ascent and descent have been preserved in their genes. There’s nothing to be done; they are the most active part of humanity in everything: science, culture, everywhere.

They make up literally about 0.01% of humanity, and suddenly 50% of Nobel laureates, 20 to 30% of musicians, 30% of artists, and so on. And all because they were once on a spiritual level, fell from it, and are now engaged in earthly affairs. They should have given this up altogether and devoted themselves exclusively to spiritual work. I hope that eventually this is how it will be. We don’t need “Einsteins” or revolutionaries. We need to engage in spiritual revolutions, not earthly ones.

I think everything is moving in that direction now. The general crisis and everything happening in the world will lead humanity to spiritual elevation, and then this hyperactivity will be realized in spiritual actions.

It manifests in Jews because they fell from a spiritual level to an earthly one, lost the spiritual component, and it turned into something earthly. What remained in them from the spiritual charge at the fall is precisely this hyperactive part.

Therefore, if you see a revolutionary or a transformer in our world, in science, art, or anything at all, then by digging into their lineage you will find that their roots come from a tribe that once stood on a spiritual level. This is the quality of Bina, the quality of bestowal, which alone can enliven humanity.

I am not a nationalist, and I advocate for the correction of the entire world. Therefore, the method of Kabbalah, which emerged from Ancient Babylon, must be realized everywhere. The fact is that the whole world is Malchut. And part of it, which once was on the level of Bina, fell back into Malchut. But only from that part, which is the former people of Israel, once on a spiritual level, does progress in our world originate.

Thus, if you see truly serious activists, it cannot be that they lack a spark originating from the attainment of the upper world that fell to our level. The people who come to Kabbalah today, no matter from where, somehow, somewhere, have received this spiritual virus.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Children of Israel, Part 2” 10/1/10

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Today we observe a very interesting phenomenon in the development of nature. For the first time in history, we are developing not blindly as before when our egoism was pushing us forward and forcing us to break through in all kinds of possible directions. We used to suddenly make some discovery in one area, in another one, in third one and thousands of people would engage into this, develop, and promote the produced goods one to another. This was the way of progress.

Suddenly there is a total standstill, as if for the first time we have to face the truth and figure out: What has happened, where have we come? Our children already do not take our example and seemingly they ask: Why did you give birth to us, what do we live for? But we ourselves cannot answer this question. We kept running and running constantly without a stop. Suddenly we have stopped and we are thinking: “But where should we run, what for, what is happening, where did we end up?”

We look around and become horrified. This is some dry, lifeless desert where there is nothing. And the most interesting is that what is required of us first and foremost is to understand and realize the state we have come to as a result of our entire history of development. Everyone has to recognize it and understand it; without it one will not be able to reach mutual participation with the others.

Some time ago this was the prerogative of the chosen few; a few scientists, politicians, sages, a king or some other ruler gave commands how to advance forward and established laws.

However, today we are beginning to reveal the law that has to be realized by every one of us. You cannot act differently; therefore, you need education. It is impossible to enforce this law by force, by issuing fines or imprisoning everyone who does not obey it.

It will not happen this way! A person is obliged to put his heart in the execution of it, in his connection with others. This is not a calculation of buy-sell: how much I give you and you give me. This is the uniqueness of the new state that many people write about, which reveals that there is some process beginning from scratch in our time that belongs to the different level of development.

This is called human development in which we are building a mutual system of connections between us,  the image of one unified human being. It is impossible for anyone to refuse to join it whether he lives on the other end of the world or in Manhattan or in Europe. We are obligated to deliver this to everyone. After all, if everyone depends on everyone, we have no choice.

First of all, it has to be a real transformation in the upbringing of children, the new generation. At least the next generation will start a new life, beautiful, balanced, filled with mutual participation, secure, and self-assured. No one will be selling drugs to a kid, no one will force him to sell his body or will not beat him up.

Look at what we have done to our children; they are a precise copy of ourselves. We are unable to do anything with ourselves and therefore we cannot save our children so they would grow to be different people. How can I demand my child to be different if I am myself the same?

Therefore, we look at our children and we see that we are losing them. They turn out even worse than we are. But in essence, they continue the same pattern. I cannot call them bad. If I am rolling down a slope then they are just rolling a bit ahead of me, since this is the next generation.

However, we have an opportunity to seriously understand this, to go through all stages of the inner revolution with the help of this course and switch to the new path because life is forcing us and not because some smart head invented it.

We have to check everything where we can get help from science, psychology, experience from our everyday life and see together how we can build a new world. After all, our unique course is intended exactly for this purpose.
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From KabTV’s “New Life 6,” 1/3/12

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Comment: In practice, I see what children in Israel are like; there is a complete lack of respect for adults, of upbringing…

My Response: That is the most wonderful thing that could be. And not because I am saying this as an Israeli, but because when a small person does not want to listen to a big one, that is already a good beginning.

But what does “does not want” mean? It comes from his nature. He feels absolutely independent, disregards all your values, and does not want to have anything to do with them. He wants to discover something new for himself.

I am not talking about what is happening here. Honestly, I have not yet seen such an ideal picture, but I would be very happy if the younger generation did not listen to the older one at all. At the same time, they should have the ability to analyze and find their view point for themselves, a world view that is intent, piercing, penetrating, and clear, so that they would look at the goal through everyone—where is it? Only then can they correctly use everything around them.

This does not yet exist in education. But the egoism we see in the new generation gives hope that we are approaching this. And when they come to power in the mass media and in society, I think that by then, we will already be able to help them understand that Kabbalah is precisely a means for searching for the purpose of life and for realizing it.
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From KabTV’s “I Got A Call. Children of Israel, part 1” 10/1/10

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Question: When a mother wolf goes hunting, caretakers watch over her pups and play with them. The attitude toward the pups in the pack is the most tender. Any adult is always ready to share food with them, play with them, and teach them the rules of hunting or hierarchy. This is exactly why the wolf pack is so united and effective.

Is this a process of upbringing? It is where the entire society comes to care not only for their own children? How can I detach myself from my own child? Here it is said that I care for someone else’s child, that the whole pack cares for him. In what case is this possible?

Answer: It is when you understand that all of you are one common whole. These are Kabbalistic principles.

Question: Absolutely! That without this I will perish, right?

Answer: Yes.

Question: A neighbor’s child is just as important to me as my own child?

Answer: Yes.

Question: This looks very unrealistic for a person. But it must be this way, right?

Answer: It must be this way, of course!
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From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman,” 1/1/26

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Question: How can you give children the right direction if they do not want to listen to you at all?

Answer: It only seems that way to you because there is really nothing you can tell them. How can you convince them? With your tattoos, your gadgets? They have all that too. Only something that is above this world will attract them, and nothing else. Look how many young people are coming to lectures and Kabbalah lessons; look how they are drawn to it.

Comment: But I am talking about small children who grow up in our community. It seems to me that Kabbalah does not interest them at all, and they are just obliged to stay in this environment.

My Response: Go to their classes and see how they think and reason. They just do not fit into your rigid mentality. For them you are a dinosaur, you cannot understand them. And I cannot either.

But we need to understand them. There is no other detector here except if a child of fifteen to seventeen years of age stays here and does not go to any other community. This environment is the most suitable for him.

Have you ever seen sixteen-year-old boys sitting next to their fathers, organizing groups similar to those their fathers are in? This existed a few hundred years ago when we were on a primitive level of development. But now, after the turning point that we went through in the twentieth century, look what is happening.

But the goal is different now. Back then it was just an animal imitation of parents: father is a blacksmith, I will be a blacksmith too; father is a farmer, I will be a farmer, and so on. But now it is different. My father is engaged in spirituality, and I am too because in principle, I cannot find anything else. Would you be able to keep these sixteen-year-old boys next to you if they were not interested? No one could. It is obvious that they come by themselves and sit next to their fathers.

For me, this is clear proof that the example we set for them and the material we give them truly stand above the entire nature of man.
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From KabTV’s “I Got a Call. Children of Israel, Part 1” 10/1/10

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Question: Is there no artificial coercion in the system of integral upbringing and education, unlike what exists in the modern educational system?

Answer: In the system of integral upbringing, there can be no coercion, only the awareness of necessity. The goal that stands before us is completely undesirable to us; our egoism is absolutely against it, but we have no escape. Gradually permeated with this necessity, we suddenly begin to find merits within it: “Let us think, what do we attain through this? Let us assume that it is possible. Perhaps it is utopian, but let us play a fairy tale.”

We begin to explore what actually happens in this case. Is a person fulfilled through it? After all, we want only to attain fulfillment. In what, with what, and how? To what extent does a person become satiated by all of his needs, all of his desires? How many desires in our present state can we satisfy?

Comment: Not many, about twenty.

My Response: Correct. And even then, we immediately and instantly begin to feel a new emptiness, and once more we must run after their fulfillment, rush toward some new sources. But what is integral fulfillment, or what does it imply?

Here we begin to reveal an entirely new form of existence when I, by including myself in others, in connection with others, begin to gain the ability to be filled, to be satiated, to constantly experience literally a sensory and creative “orgasm.” It exists within me and grows continuously.

This is a tremendous shock. And it is constant; it does not tire or repel you. You are no longer drawn to try something else: “Now I would like something a bit spicy…,” because both qualities are present together: the egoism and the attainment of connection above it.

Thus, we begin to reveal a completely new level of sensation of life: sensory and cognitive. We penetrate a new layer of nature and start to become acquainted with the single force that governs all of nature. If God exists (as people usually say), then we practically become equivalent to God. The sensation of time disappears—past, present, and future.

I rise above the flow of all existence. By integrating with others, it forms an eternal, perfect picture within me that constantly changes, shimmering with all its metamorphoses. And at the same time, I continuously enter into ever-greater attainment, satiation, pleasure, cognition, and revelation.

I suddenly reach a state in which my body seems to distance itself from me. It becomes secondary, and the sensation of it disappears to such an extent that even if it dies, I do not feel it. By mastering the entire system, by including myself in it, I do not feel how my animal part dies.

Just as on our current animal level when cutting nails or hair of the vegetative level, we feel no loss or pain, so here, having risen to the next level, Human (Adam), I feel no loss from the death of the animal body. I do not even feel that it happens, to such an extent do I detach from it and adapt to the new level.

If all this is gradually revealed to the listeners, they see that nature is not simply pushing us through all these crises to be born on a new level, but is leading us toward something special. And then they develop serious motivations.

Moreover, this justifies their present state in the world, without work, because by attaining the next, higher level, you thereby provide this world with everything necessary, with harmony as a result of which every grain of sand suddenly gives you an enormous amount of energy, literally according to Einstein’s formula.
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From KabTV’s “The 13th Conversation on Integral Education,” 12/18/11

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Question: There is a concept of karma that promotes that there is some kind of burden that prevents me from being happy, but that if I do positive actions or have suffered innocently, then I reduce my karma.

Answer: This is how religious consciousness is structured, as if suffering somehow improves us. Absolutely not!

I welcome any influences on myself, both negative and positive. My problem lies in only preparing myself to perceive both of them as a motivation from above to advance toward unification. And it turns out that, in principle, it does not matter to me what kind of influences these are, negative or positive.

I look at myself objectively. If my egoism is more affected by negative influences, then it is beneficial. This effect is negative relative to my egoism, not relative to me, because I want to elevate my “I,” I therefore have no problems with this.

I do not call for sufferings; I do not pray for them so that I can get some kind of reward for it later, no! They simply serve as the positive reason for me to move forward. But, in principle, I do not welcome them in themselves, and I do not strive for them; that is impossible. Only a masochist could believe that suffering supposedly purifies, that he will be rewarded with paradise or some kind of reward for suffering: suffer here and receive there. This is all wrong!

After all, in principle, nature itself provides for our good progress. And therefore, everything depends on how much we place ourselves above sensations, i.e., view them solely as the cause by means of which we advance.
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From a Conversation about Integral Education 5/30/12

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