Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Are there any positives to the coronavirus?“

The most prominent positive aspect of the coronavirus is that it forced us to contemplate how we live, and seek new and improved connections in society.

It slowed down the consumerist train we were riding, and gave us the space to revise what is essential and nonessential in our lives. It also showed us examples of nature restoring itself when we calm down in such a way.

It taught us lessons in our interdependence, from mutual dependence in our respective localities— maintaining personal hygiene, wearing masks and upholding social distancing conditions—to witnessing our tight worldwide interdependence in how the virus surfaced as an outbreak in one part of the world, and quickly spread to become a global pandemic.

By doing so, the longer the coronavirus stays with us (and it looks like it is not going anywhere anytime soon), the more it will serve to transform society at its core: from a society of individuals fueled by egoistic, individualistic and materialistic motives to a society that realizes the necessity to positively connect, and erect new leading values of mutual responsibility and consideration, in order to live well in our newly-revealed interdependent world.

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Question: Some say that we should let about 5% of those sick with coronavirus die, in order to restart the economy because it will otherwise collapse and the consequences of that will be worse. Humanists say that we must fight for every life and save every person.

Similar conflicts arise in firms, at workplaces, in governments, and in families. People are divided.

In integral education courses, we looked into a similar situation and when we were analyzing it, a conflict broke out between two participants. It turned out that the grandmother of one of them had died a few days ago, and therefore, he supported the quarantine because of his personal experience. And the second one had been unemployed for several months and nothing to feed his children, and he was in favor of lifting the quarantine.

The rest of the participants were involved in the conflict, and the group split into two camps. How would you resolve such a conflict?

Answer: This cannot be solved on the spot. We must understand the whole picture, and only after that will we derive a formula by which we will decide what to do in each specific case. Based on the explosion of emotions, we are not able to decide where the truth is.

If we rise in our relationship, then we also will be able to rise above the virus. And the fact that now I accept his point of view or he accepts mine will not lead us anywhere. The decision must be mutual, and by acting according to it, definitely no one will get sick, and whoever needs to receive a salary, will receive it.

Question: The decision lies in a completely different plane? In order to come to a general agreement in a small group, people just need to improve their relationships?

Answer: That is the decision they must come to and everything will be fine.
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From KabTV’s “Management Skills” 7/16/20

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The method of the wisdom of Kabbalah allows viruses to be quelled and brought into balance. We have to balance all the forces that activate viruses so they will fall under restriction and the screen. Then all the viruses that elicit illness today will turn into beneficial ones.

When flaws are revealed in the form of viruses, they can be corrected using a force that is above them—thought. Viruses are carriers that transmit thought, information into different parts of the body and into the brain. Thoughts and desires operate at the highest egoistic degrees and manifest as dangerous viruses.

If we allow egoistic thoughts to rule over us, then we won’t attain unity—and the #coronavirus will spread more and more. There will be no remedy against this disease because the coronavirus is a demonstration of our bad relationships with each other. We just call it a virus.

By changing my thoughts from negative to positive, we will save ourselves from the coronavirus and will redeem the world from the epidemic and other problems. We will bring ourselves into balance with nature, so that its degrees: still, vegetative, animate, and human will be in harmony, in good thoughts, complementing each other.

We live in a world of thoughts. A thought is an action. By allowing unkind thoughts to come out of me, I act maliciously. Our entire world, every person will have to check himself: what influence comes out of him toward others. Every person will have to undertake profound inner work and efforts

If I allow a bad thought about others to come outside and be said and heard, I allow it to manifest. While it is inside of me, I can still suppress it, prohibit these thoughts from coming out of me, that is, perform a restriction on my original egoistic nature.
From Twitter, 10/18/20

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Medium published my new article “From Starvation to a Revolution”

Even before the outburst of Covid-19, millions of people were already on the brink of starvation. Food stamps are no solution, and neither is subsidized housing. The coronavirus has made things far worse, and from day to day, the situation is growing more and more precarious. Society is on the edge, and no administration will be able to restore order to the streets if all hell breaks loose.

We can have peace, abundance, health, and security. But we must remember that if not all of us have it, none of us will have it. This is the law of every ecosystem, and it applies just as rigidly to each of us.

There is also no point looking for a scapegoat; if we really want to blame anyone, we should look in the mirror. We, and our parents, have ruined the world for ourselves and for our children. Look at us: Half the world is overweight, the other half is starving. It is an accurate reflection of our egoism, alienation, and reckless sense of entitlement.

This egoism, this baseless sense of entitlement, is the root of all our troubles. Worse yet, egoism hides from us the fact that it is our biggest, and in fact our only problem. It tricks us into thinking that other people are the cause of our misfortunes, and selfishly, we fall for the convenient lie. But if we recklessly try to gain more and accumulate more, and judge what we have not by how much we need, but by how much we have more than others, then we will deplete and ruin our planet completely. We are already very close to it, and the outburst of the virus is just a symptom of a collapsing world that’s slipped off balance and can no longer sustain its inhabitants: humankind.

According to Sally Davis, former chief medical officer for England, “there will be a next [pandemic]. Covid-19 is neither the first nor the last health emergency we will face. My fellow scientists estimate that we will face a pandemic or health emergency at least once every five years from here on. There is a chance that this is the optimistic scenario. The reality could be far worse.” This is why we have to change course now before it’s too late.

Since egoism is the root of our problems, we must tackle it and rein it in if we are to leave anything for the next generation. We have to understand that we are dependent on each other. If one person is sick, everyone is sick. If one person behaves irresponsibly, everyone suffers. The only “right” we really have is to behave responsibly, to be considerate toward each other so we can continue to live on a bearable level, first, and from there begin to improve it.

But since we’re egoists, and egoists are considerate only toward people they care about, we have no choice but to learn how to care for each other. At the very least, we have to start looking for ways to change how we feel about each other — from the current negative to a more neutral feeling, and eventually to a positive feeling toward each other. Again, this is not a utopian fantasy; it is an existential stipulation!

We have to revolutionize our entire perception of humanity. We cannot afford to keep thinking of ourselves as a collection of separate individuals; we have to start perceiving ourselves as a single entity that’s caring for all its organs. If we don’t, the individuals we see around us will soon start occupying themselves with killing all the other individuals around them.

We shouldn’t think that we are too weak or small to make a difference. Each of us can make a difference in our closest circles, and the accumulated impact will be strong enough to pull the wagon out of the mud and start moving in the right direction.

We are at a tipping point. If we start using firearms against each other, we will collapse into a civil war. But if we get a grip on our raging egos and understand that we are dependent on each other (as much as we dislike the thought), then perhaps, if we cherish life, we will want to learn how to care for one another. From that point on, the road will open for us to reverse the trend and start lifting humanity, and our personal lives, to the levels they can achieve.

We can have peace, abundance, health, and security. But we must remember that if not all of us have it, none of us will have it. This is the law of every ecosystem, and it applies just as rigidly to each of us.
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Medium published my new article “A Reality of Uncertainty”

All over the world, countries are feeling the toll of the second wave of Covid-19. Infections are rising and cities and countries are reinstating lockdown orders. The most pervasive feelings at this point seem to be uncertainty and despair. In the first wave, we thought we’d stay at home for a few weeks and wake up from the coronavirus nightmare. Now, in the second wave, we are beginning to realize it is not going away.

While all of nature functions as an integral system whose elements are connected and dependent on each other, we act as if we are separate beings, apart from the rest of humanity and the rest of nature, when the truth is the exact opposite. And because we feel this way, we are wrecking our home.

The only way to (hopefully) avoid it is to avoid contact with people, but how long can we do that? After all, we are social beings and other people’s company is an existential need for us. It seems as though we’re being forced to choose between suffocation from being locked up in our homes and suffocation from the virus. On top of that, the tension between those who choose to get out and enjoy other people’s company, and those who want to stay indoors and protect themselves and their loved ones is adding to the already mounting tensions in society. The prognosis for society in such a state is not good, to say the least.

There is, however, a way out of the catch. We haven’t been willing to try it, but a way out does exist. Since our conflict with nature has brought upon us this virus, ending the conflict is the way to eliminate it.

I like to watch TV shows about nature. When you look at how animals behave, you see that although their whole lives revolve around eating other animals or escaping other animals that want to eat them, there is perfect balance. There is no hatred among them; there is simply a natural mechanism that makes nature work in perfect harmony and life thrives.

Humans, however, are devoid of balance. We eat too much, accumulate stuff we don’t need, throw out perfectly good stuff, and litter the planet. While half the world is overweight, the other half is starving.

And worst of all, we are killing one another, abusing one another, tormenting one another, and taking pleasure in humiliating other people. We are hateful beings, the only hateful beings in all of nature. And in this, we are in conflict with nature, completely opposite from it.

While all of nature functions as an integral system whose elements are connected and dependent on each other, we act as if we are separate beings, apart from the rest of humanity and the rest of nature, when the truth is the exact opposite. And because we feel this way, we are wrecking our home.

The coronavirus is forcing us to behave more responsibly. It is forcing us to stay apart, restrict our consumption, limit our exploitation, and diminish the damages we’re inflicting on the planet. If we stopped doing these damages voluntarily, we wouldn’t need the virus to limit us. We would limit ourselves, which would preclude the appearance of the virus from the get go.

Think about it, the measures we are required to take in order to defeat the virus are the same measures we are required to take in order to save the planet and stop exploitation of others. It turns out that if we changed the way we treat each other and the planet, we would eliminate the virus without even trying.

In all likelihood, there will be no vaccine to Covid-19. Even if one is found, epidemiologists already warn that we are bound to see more and more of these bugs infecting humanity in the coming years, so fighting it is a lost cause. Our only way out of the maze is through changing our attitude from exploitative to cooperative, from alienation to connection. Today, it is clearer than ever.

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My new article on Linkedin “Pandemic Fatigue – A Symptom of the Virus or a Proof of Senselessness?”

The more time passes without a vaccine or a sure cure in sight, the more impatient people are growing. They are refusing lockdown and curfew orders, congregating recklessly as if there is no virus, protesting without maintaining social distance or wearing masks, and filling up restaurants, bars, and other places of recreation.

Changing the center of our attention from the “me” to the “we” changes everything: our behavior, our caution with ourselves and with others, our attitude toward others, and even our feelings toward others. There is nothing we can’t do today that we did before; the only thing preventing us from doing it is our attitude toward others. If we change it from negative to positive, we will guarantee the health of everyone around us, and they will guarantee our own health, and then there will be nothing that we won’t be able to do. So the bottom line is this: Let’s think about each other; it’s healthy!

But the virus has not changed. If people behave recklessly, contagion increases. And indeed, all over the world, where countries and cities relax closures, infections rise again. As the tension rises between understanding that there is no end to the virus in sight, and the inability to remain in permanent lockdown, people are driven toward the breakdown point of hopelessness and helplessness. At that point, social order will collapse and mayhem will take over the streets.

Without a medical cure in sight, the only cure we have is each other. This is also the one cure we haven’t tried. It’s not that we should disobey orders to keep 6 feet apart. On the contrary, we should be very strict with our observance of health regulations, but we should also remember that this will not kill the virus. If we stay apart, infections will decrease; if we resume our connections, infections will increase. This is what’s happening now and people won’t be able to sustain this in-and-out mode much longer. In fact, they already can’t.

But what this pattern does show us is that the problem lies—in our connections. Staying apart for good is no solution, so we have to find a way to connect in a way that does not resume infections. To do that, we must reverse our thinking. Instead of thinking, “How can I protect myself from catching the virus,” we should start thinking, “How can I prevent from passing the virus to someone else.”

Changing the center of our attention from the “me” to the “we” changes everything: our behavior, our caution with ourselves and with others, our attitude toward others, and even our feelings toward others. There is nothing we can’t do today that we did before; the only thing preventing us from doing it is our attitude toward others. If we change it from negative to positive, we will guarantee the health of everyone around us, and they will guarantee our own health, and then there will be nothing that we won’t be able to do. So the bottom line is this: Let’s think about each other; it’s healthy!
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We have made another day’s progress, but the question is, have we really made progress? The world is advancing according to the program of creation and reveals more and more breakage in itself.

What do we do in the same measure for correction? How far do we move forward and want to connect the world or at least try to explain the tendency of its development, where is it going, and what for? Do we match this pace of development? I do not see any other groups in the world that could do this.

Humanity must learn about the program of creation, its purpose, the upper force that governs us, and what form it leads us to. But so far, we see that another day has passed and humanity is only sinking lower and lower, and so it continues. We do not yet feel that we can keep up with this current and be the Shofar (horn) notifying everyone of what is happening.

In our time, the most important thing is an explanation so that everyone knows what happened to us, who is doing it, for what purpose, in what direction we are going, and how we should act. The upper force works on us, helps us to change and move with it, and use all the forces of our development.

I hope that each of us will feel responsible for the world. This is why Israel is called the chosen people, to set an example and explain to all mankind what needs to be done. The world has reached the last stage of correction, which is the revelation of evil, and we need to help it reveal this evil as quickly as possible. How quickly we move to the next stage and begin to come to goodness depends on this.

The revelation of evil occurs in our egoism, which divides us and makes us feel more distant day by day. We all suffer, and yet we do not want any rapprochement either between countries, people, neighbors, and even within the family. There is no such person who is connected to others and feels as a part of all of humanity as a single system.

This is the revelation of evil that we must first go through in order to understand the essence of our nature. Without this, we cannot change for the better and connect to become a single system, one person, Adam.

Depending on how quickly we understand and feel this, transmitting this feeling and understanding to humanity, the coronavirus epidemic will turn into a positive force that unites people. Instead of that, it is separating us by driving each of us in a different corner and locking us up.

If our thoughts will be correct, then we can get closer to each other and the virus will not be able to hurt us. It is now, when egoism is revealed in the form of a coronavirus that it helps us to distance ourselves from each other.

But if we will be armed with restriction, screen, and reflected light, in order not to think about ourselves but only of our connection, if we do not worry about our own welfare but the connection between us all, we can rise above the forces of separation and begin to properly connect as one man with one heart.

All this depends on how much we see a negative tendency and understand that it is for our benefit because it helps us to change in a good way. The evil inclination is called evil because of our egoistic intention. But if we turn this intention into bestowal, then all the power of evil will turn into good. It all depends on us.

We need to quickly understand this and implement it between us to serve as an example to the whole world. All paths are open to us. Every day more and more opportunities open up which we just need to implement between us and then all over the world. Our personal advancement and correction depend on it. After all, everyone can achieve their own personal goal only if they have realized the common goal. This is the uniqueness of the last generation.

The world is changing with great speed and is beginning to realize that it has reached despair, which was not the case six months ago. Do we feel that we are moving fast enough and understand more to embody the right form of humanity between us and show it to the world? Our group is a mini humanity.

The connection between us must become so correct and strong that we are not afraid of any epidemic nor virus. Nothing can harm us, not people, viruses, or natural disasters if we connect with each other correctly with the right intention and build good relations. An example of such a connection will be the best and most effective dissemination in relation to the whole of humanity.
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From from the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/25/20, Shamati #42 “What Is the Acronym Elul in the Work?”

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Michael Laitman, On Quora: “How do I get rid of the coronavirus naturally?“

The remedy for the coronavirus is very simple: positive relations among people neutralize the virus.

We all hold the remedy for this virus in our hearts: by activating positive connections among all of us, coming closer to each other’s hearts, then we will all witness the virus’ disappearance.

It might seem far-fetched, but if we understood how nature is developing us, and what nature expects from us in our current stage of development—that we make moves to positively connect, and by so doing, resemble nature’s interconnectedness—then we would reach balance with nature, and would not experience its influence as negative.

If humanity would somewhat hear and absorb this message, then that would already be a major part of the virus’ cure.

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My new article on Linkedin “Time to Move Beyond the Masks”

It is time for countries to move beyond routine measures such as wearing masks and keeping social distancing in tackling the Covid-19 outbreak. These measures were good first aid steps, but they are losing their effectiveness. It’s time to treat the virus on a deeper level, the social level.

Indeed, the social level is precisely where it’s hitting us the hardest. Although the virus has killed more than a million people worldwide since the beginning of the outbreak, this toll pales compared to the social, mental, and emotional toll it’s had on people.

The social distancing imposed on us heightens the isolation many of us already feel, and exposes how far we really are from each other in our hearts. If we felt close to one another, we wouldn’t feel the distance and we wouldn’t feel apart. In that sense, Covid-19 is the first social pandemic in the history of humankind. If we heal our ill society, we will cure the pandemic.

Until now, we have approached other people only when it suited our interests. We didn’t take other people’s benefit into account and manipulated them for our own needs. The coronavirus outbreak prevents us from doing this. From now on, if we want to approach other people, we will have to think of what is best for them first, and then we will be able to decide whether or not we should approach them. We will not be able to approach people as before—to use and exploit them for self-interest.

Bit by bit, we will create a dynamic balance where each of us is like an atom in a giant molecule which is all of humanity. We will move around, but not in disarray, according to our own whims, colliding and clashing with other atoms on our path. Instead, coordinate our movements in complete harmony and balance with all the atoms in the molecule. We will become keenly aware of the state of the molecule as a whole, and we will naturally coordinate our position with that of all other atoms in the system.

We will not need complicated calculations; it will come natural for us since our care for all of humanity and all of existence will guide us. It will be as though the molecule itself is telling us what it wants us to do, and we will do it in harmony with all of reality. We will be living in a never ending dance with all parts of creation, and that dance will give us delight and vitality.

This is the lesson that the coronavirus is teaching us. If we stop resisting it and listen to its message, we will find that behind the mask and social distancing lie great wisdom and happiness that wait for us to find them.

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The problem of coronavirus is not limited to one country because we live in the last generation when the Creator extends the same attitude to all of humanity, without exception, at all levels, at all degrees, and in all states.

Even on some small island lost in the Pacific Ocean, the coronavirus suddenly appears. It would seem, how did it manage to get there if the people live in isolation from the rest of the world? Nevertheless, the virus is transmitted there too.

Today, doctors and researchers are beginning to say that the virus is airborne. Does this mean that the virus is spreading thousands of kilometers in all directions? It appears simply from nature, from within it.

Due to the fact that there is no connection between us at a time when we were already obliged to unite, due to this lack of connection between inanimate, vegetative, and animate nature, the coronavirus appears. We will still discover its manifestations in plants, animals, and even in inanimate matter.

First of all, we will find that the virus has reached the most remote parts of the globe, without any human factor, and even affects animals and plants. Where does it come from? From the absence of connection that must exist between all parts of reality. People are responsible for this! Therefore, we should learn about it and think about it.

All that is required of us is the awareness of mutual guarantee, the feeling that we are in the last generation. Apart from this, nothing more is needed. If we understand that we are dependent on each other and are cooking in the same pot, this will be enough to begin gradually getting out of the crisis. We will already begin to see where the cure is.

With the help of mutual guarantee, we can save ourselves from the coronavirus. It all depends on the right connection between us. The coronavirus is a consequence of the lack of unity among us. For this reason alone, it manifests itself.

All problems and all kinds of viruses appear because there is no correspondence between the parts of nature, and therefore they cannot connect with each other starting from the level of atoms, molecules, and up to larger and more complex particles. Parts of nature cannot come together into one system, and this gives rise to all problems—like a cancerous tumor, a malignant formation that lacks the right connections with tissues.

Therefore, the fight against coronavirus can only be at the human level, if we think well of each other. After all, by our unity, we will attract the force of good that will unite everyone. This power is higher and stronger than all our adversity, and it will heal everything for us.

Our association is a cure for all problems, physical and mental, personal, and social. When it passes through all layers of connections between people, animals, plants, and inanimate nature, then the whole world will become one and connected with only one force, in mutual guarantee.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/24/20, “Concerning Above Reason”

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