Michael Laitman, On Quora: “Will the Coronavirus change how humans interact for ever?“

The coronavirus is indeed making us undergo serious changes.

Our behaviors, thoughts, ambitions, hopes and expectations have already changed, showing us that the coronavirus is not merely a tiny physical particle that infects us.

The coronavirus is rather a new program that has entered our reality, transforming us behaviorally and psychologically.

The longer the pandemic lasts, the more it will make us reevaluate our values, tastes and attitudes.

It is as if we have walked onto a bridge between the heavily materialistic pre-coronavirus world—where we viewed individualistic accumulation of wealth, fame and power as signs of success—and the understanding that such values hold much less worth as we move deeper into the pandemic.

If we could take a step back for a moment from the vision of the coronavirus as only being an infectious disease, to the coronavirus as a nature-sent evolutionary phenomenon that has emerged specifically to transform human interactions, then we would see how nature is subtly guiding us to improve our relationships and connections.

Such a view stems from understanding how nature develops us: through increasing diversity and individualization, then through stages of crisis, which then become resolved by cooperation and connection on more advanced levels.

Evolution biologists such as Elisabet Sahtouris have illustrated this process of nature guiding its parts to greater connection and more evolved life forms, and it is consistent with Kabbalists’ depictions of nature’s purpose and plan, which is for humanity to positively connect as a single whole, and by doing so, reach balance with nature.

The more we develop, the more interconnected and interdependent we become. The problem is that we fail to actively upgrade our attitudes to each other in order to realize our increasing connection positively.

Therefore, nature has sent the coronavirus primarily for the purpose of teaching us a lesson in caring about each other.

For instance, we now need to wear masks in order to not infect others, in case we unknowingly carry the virus. In other words, we wear masks not for our own health, but for the health of others, and our own health depends on others “caring” about us in the same way.

Also, in the economic realm, as the coronavirus has struck a blow to many businesses and jobs, it is forcing us to consider everyone who encounters a tight situation, and think of new solutions so that everyone can at least have their essentials met. Authorities thus also become compelled to think and act with more consideration toward their respective publics.

In times of nature-induced crisis, people come together out of necessity, and the coronavirus pandemic is like a drawn-out crisis that ultimately serves to improve our attitudes to each other.

The sooner we understand that mutually responsible and considerate relations are the next phase of our development, and make active steps to help each other act more responsibly and considerately toward one another, then the sooner we will match the more advanced state of connection that nature is guiding us to—and we will then have no need for pandemics and other crises to unwillingly coerce our transformation.

Therefore, since the coronavirus has already begun a process of changing the way we interact, we would be wise to adhere to the conditions it places before us, and seek how to think and act more considerately toward others.

It will be our ticket to exit the pandemic and enter into a happier, safer and healthier world, more balanced with nature, where we will be more aware of what nature ultimately wants from us.

It is my hope that we undergo this shift more actively, and thus, faster and more enjoyably, than if we were to continue leaving it up to nature to goad us there.

Above photo by Kate Trifo on Unsplash.

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Globalization, Health, Q&A, Quora - No Comments →

Question: What values does nature want to instill in man by sending a global crisis?

Answer: First of all, to get out of the swamp we were in, to brush ourselves off from the old world; this is already of great value.

Secondly, to shake off the old habits, re-evaluate previous values and occupations, even if it we do so reluctantly, if we don’t want to. Then we will see that nature shakes off all garbage from us, that in the end we will not be able to restore our small businesses built only on serving each other because there will be no one to serve.

The world that recovers from the coronavirus will be different. Most small businesses will stop operating. Many people will be out of work. Therefore, governments will need to create a completely new system of work, pay, and of keeping people occupied.

Payments, according to Kabbalah, should be made in the form of scholarships because through the Internet and TV people will be engaged in an integral understanding of the world, and the correct relationships between themselves, which the science of Kabbalah teaches them. In this way, they will begin to build the right society.

Seventy to eighty percent of the population will be engaged in this, including schoolchildren and retirees. And only twenty percent or less will be employed in manufacturing so that we can maintain our level of existence in a normal way.

This may take more than one coronavirus, many more. But in the end, we will arrive at this.

Question: Why should small businesses that provide service to each other stop working? There is a law “go and earn from each other.” Or do you propose a model of totalitarian communism where the government pays according to the needs of each resident of its state?

Answer: I am not offering any model. All I am saying is that people will not be able to start millions of small businesses again. They will no longer have the desire to do so. They won’t! The desire to acquire gifts, costume jewelry, gemstones, fashionable clothes, or to fly around the world—that is all transitory. People will gradually stop craving this. You will see for yourself.

No one is going to put any pressure on anyone. Our development will result in the fact that we will stop wanting it. We will not need the tinsel that we play around with in life. We will face more interesting, serious, global issues that need to be addressed radically.
[266932]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/17/20

Related Material:
Rise Above The Old Values
Coronavirus: Time For Change
Did Our Employment Bring Benefits?

Filed under: Crisis, Economy, Globalization - No Comments →

Question: It looks like the majority of people are not yet ready for the perception of highly spiritual, abstract values. Maybe it’s worth considering publicizing some kind of everyday code of conduct that could be understood by most people?

Answer: I understand you and to some extent I agree with you. But when big problems fall upon us and the whole world suffers from them, then naturally an understanding arises that we are in a global, integral, reciprocal connection, and we will have to do something about it.

But people cannot say whether they are ready or not. They will never be ready for spiritual change. Never ever! They will not succeed. But life will make them do it. I think it will still happen in this generation.
[267359]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/17/20

Related Material:
The World Isn’t Ready Yet
To Survive In This World
At The Red Line

Filed under: Crisis, Dissemination, Globalization - No Comments →

Medium published my new article “Awakening the New American Dream”

Work hard and your dreams of success and prosperity will pay off. This has been the ethos of the American Dream, a belief that the sky was the limit regardless of origin or background. But political, social and economic greed has narrowed that path to success for the regular citizen and the current pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated its dwindling. The recovery of personal opportunity for every American will depend on rethinking and restructuring the path to success based on the principles of love and cohesion above all differences. This will ensure that a lasting dream is within reach for every American.

It’s time for a new mindset. Instead of seeing the collapse of an old way of life, we can recognize this as a new era of opportunity.

The industrial renewal and large scale employment caused by World War II — both in the military itself and in the industries that supported it — brought the US once and for all out of the Great Depression, and it emerged after the war as a superpower that dominated the international political arena, becoming a symbol of success and power.

The American values of free speech, capitalism, and democracy set the standard in the West, and the US became the undisputed leader of the free world. For decades the United States has opened its doors to ambitious, hard working immigrants who made America grow.

Unlike Germany, France, or Spain, America has been a nation of enterprising immigrants, a collection of individuals eager for the opportunity to pursue their dreams in the adventurous spirit of capitalism. And now, as with any natural process, the unbridled capitalistic pursuit of personal success has passed its peak and begun to decline. The COVID-19 epidemic is only hastening the process.

The decline of capitalism is a global trend, but because the United States has been the frontrunner of this movement, its weakening and falling will be felt there first, and the rest of the world will soon follow.

Time to Dream Big in Human Connection

Throughout history, we have gone from one state of human society to another. Now we have to switch to a new era, a new social structure. We do not really understand or want it but nature is forcing us to change.

It’s time for a new mindset. Instead of seeing the collapse of an old way of life, we can recognize this as a new era of opportunity. Just like a child growing up and moving from childhood to adolescence and adulthood, mankind has grown throughout history from one era of human society to another. Now humanity is on the verge of a crisis that will lead to an entirely new social structure, with America leading the way.

The world has changed direction, and in order to ensure survival, humanity will now have to establish a new system of social order where each person receives what he or she needs for existence, and dedicates the rest of one’s energy to the benefit of all. There’s no other direction to go, no other frontier to develop. The world must cut its ties to the past and reinvent itself.

The new ideal, the new and improved American Dream, will not be a dream for Americans alone or of any other individual nation. It will be a global dream for the entire world. A new spirit will flow through humanity, making it clear that we cannot continue to live as before and we must put an end to our unrestrained egoism. A new time has come, and we need to begin with a new kind of relationships in every field of human engagement.

The US could demonstrate this change first, although it seems unlikely at the moment that it will happen smoothly. If Americans place the values of unity and consideration of others above the pursuit of money and control that the old-world capitalism prized, the change will happen quickly and smoothly.
If Americans place the values of unity and consideration of others above the pursuit of money and control that the old-world capitalism prized, the change will happen quickly and smoothly.

These noble values ​​may seem like a distant dream, completely invisible on the horizon at the moment, but they are destined to come to pass, either painlessly or through great suffering. If an educational campaign is put into place to raise public awareness and teach people how to organize and build a society based on mutual responsibility, the transition will be successful and smooth. This new dream is about a different collective consciousness that reconfigures socio-economic relationships from exploitative to considerate.

The New American Dream is a model for a future society where people live for the purpose of strengthening the connection between them, understanding that from within good human relations, the essence of life — full of warmth, joy, and confidence — is discovered. If the American society works in this direction, every resident will feel like a loving and encouraging mother on the one hand, and a cherished family member on the other. The new American Dream will not be based on our wealth but on the quality of our human relations. This is truly a dream world from which neither Americans nor the rest of the world will wish to wake up.
[267763]

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, New Publications - No Comments →

Question: In Saudi Arabia, the situation with the coronavirus is very bad. The country is rich, people do not lack anything, and they do not violate quarantine. But the virus seems to occur on its own. How can this be explained to ordinary people?

Answer: There is no way. Viruses do not arise from the fact that we transmit them to each other. They jump from one person to another because we treat each other so badly. And nothing can be done about it. This is happening in Saudi Arabia, in Israel, and in Russia—everywhere.

Until we change our attitude to each other, the virus will not leave us. This applies to all regions of the world.
[267521]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/17/20

Related Material:
Coronavirus: Time For Change
The Coronavirus Is Rebuilding Our Lives
What Does The Virus Point To?

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, Globalization, Health - No Comments →

Question: How can desires and needs disappear because of the crisis? The crisis, as a force from above, artificially compresses the spring of desires, and it only grows because of this. What causes my desire to change?

Answer: You contradict yourself at the beginning and at the end of the phrase. The crisis does not come from above, it appears inside of us since we have played enough with these “toys” and now we are tired of them. So we begin to get rid of them. This is what is happening.

We exist within the sphere of nature. And we play something until it starts to degenerate. Then the crisis comes: I can’t play anymore, I can’t act this way, I don’t want to interact with others like that. All this comes from within us involuntarily; we do not even realize it.

As a result, it turns out that we come to a crisis in our relationships.

Question: And what affects the change of desire then?

Answer: Our incompatibility with the absolute, altruistic, good sphere we exist in that is a mismatch to the upper world.
[267432]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/17/20

Related Material:
The Virus Will Continue Working On Us
The Source Of Ultimate Pleasure
On The Border Between Desired And Fulfilled

Filed under: Crisis, Egoism, Globalization, Health - No Comments →

Question: Each of us experiences difficult moments in life. And then we ask ourselves a question: “Why do I deserve this?” Do karmic laws really exist and each person deserves what happens to him?

Answer: This is partially true and partially not. In every person, there is a source of his soul. He is born with a certain set of properties and has the experience of previous cycles. And now he must continue them and achieve the goal of his existence: to reach complete similarity to the Creator.

Thus, his starting point disappears somewhere in his past cycles and his end point in his future cycles. And at the moment, he is carrying out a certain program. Therefore, everything that happens to him cannot be accidental. All this is absolutely predestined. In this way, he is directed to the goal.

Question: Should each person learn a lesson from this?

Answer: Yes, if he wants to. If he strives for this, then he is helped from above, he is given a certain environment, and then he can learn these lessons and move quite consciously.

Question: Based on the current situation, has humanity learned this lesson? What should we understand from the situation with the coronavirus?

Answer: Our world is an integral system, which a wave of pandemic is passing through now. For the first time, it is passing all over the planet. Throughout all of history, there has been nothing in the world that would touch everyone without exception.

We are shown that our world is truly an absolutely integral, closed system, and we must accordingly bring ourselves to complete internal balance.
[267420]
From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/24/20

Related Material:
Karma Or Spiritual Development
The Opportunity To Choose Your Destiny, Part 1
The Right To Change One’s Destiny

Filed under: Body and Soul, Crisis, Globalization, Health, Meaning Of Life - No Comments →

Remark: As soon as the pandemic began, psychologists and doctors assumed that it would bring a baby boom—the birth of children. In other words, people would be together more, which would lead to a higher birth rate.

Now, when the same parents who initially had thoughts of having children were questioned, it turned out that more than half of the people have scrapped the idea. People don’t want to produce offspring at all; they don’t want to give birth.

My Comment: They don’t see a continuation. In the form we are shown our live’s today, we are shown a dead end. So why continue anything at all?

Question: In the most tragic situations of the First and Second World Wars, and so on, people thought about procreation, and now suddenly they don’t. Isn’t this a paradox?

Answer: This is psychology. At that time, it was not psychology, but more simply a physical condition. But here it is a state of mind. We are going nowhere, for nothing. What for? All this is suppressed.

Question: Does a person need to cope with this?

Answer: Now the question is not about giving birth, but about uniting. If this number of people could come closer to each other internally even a small distance, the world would be different.

Now everything is moving to a spiritual relationship. If I am drawn to a person, that is it. If not, then no. Previously, it was physiology; there was some kind of impulse, pressure from within; nature demanded it.

And now nature does not require this. It wants to rebuild us so that if you have a desire to be closer to a person spiritually, then you will have a desire to be closer to him physically.

Then the birth of children will be the result of a spiritual rapprochement, not a physical one. And the child will be called the product of love.

Question: And then he will be loved and he will love his parents?

Answer: Of course.

Remark: So, maybe this is an indicator that we are approaching a really different era—the era of love?

My Comment: Yes. This will be wonderful.
[267485]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 5/11/20

Related Material:
What’s The Point …?
A Successful Woman’s Career Jeopardizes Marriage
Will We Go Extinct Like The Dinosaurs?

Filed under: Children, Coronavirus, Crisis, Education, Globalization, Man and Woman, News - No Comments →

New Life 1247 – How To Be Protected In The Second Wave Of The Coronavirus
Dr. Michael Laitman in conversation with Oren Levi

Nature, through the coronavirus, is elevating us to the second level in human evolution in which there will be consideration for others instead of oneself. If we develop love for others, we will not have bad thoughts about them and this is the best protection against the coronavirus. I must examine how I relate to others, not just physically, but internally. Is my attitude good or bad? At first, we kept the general precautionary rules so as not to become infected with the coronavirus. Now, it is necessary to keep the general rules in order to not cause infection or harm to others. Good thoughts can bring us health if my neighbor and I become connected like a single integral system. If we convey good thoughts of concern for others and we bless each other in our hearts, all will be well.
[265781]
From KabTV’s “New Life 1247 – How To Be Protected In The Second Wave Of The Coronavirus,” 6/1/20

Video: Play Now | Download

Audio: Play Now | Download

Filed under: Coronavirus, Crisis, New Life - No Comments →

We have already passed through so many different tests in our history, and now we have only one special state left: final correction. We need to reveal this state of final correction to see that it is realized here and now in everything that happens to us.

The final correction is already underway, it has come into effect, and we are in this process. Let’s just open our eyes to this, and not judge with such a narrow, blinkered, selfish view of what is good for us and what is bad.

Let’s expand our perception and see what the Creator is doing to all of humanity. He does not take into account our material life, but looks at how to fill all levels of desire, all HaVaYaH, all reality in an infinite measure.

This is how you need to see His attitude, let’s try to open our mind, our heart, to see that everything is done correctly, for our benefit, more and more is revealed openly. Look what the Creator does! He reveals himself to us in an integral form, around the entire globe. This has never happened since the creation of the world!

Humanity was scattered all over the earth from ancient Babylon, and now the Creator is once again bringing us together, into one family, albeit due to a blow. In fact, this blow is not so terrible; it is more psychological. Let’s approach it with understanding and awareness, try to justify the actions of the Creator and understand their necessity in order to attain Him. And then we will not see any problem in what is happening.

Try to see this process this way. The Creator gradually, with great care, inclines us to correction and slowly reveals our faults to us. He does this on a global scale.

We don’t understand what’s happening to us. In fact, now during the coronavirus pandemic, internal changes are taking place in each of us. Sometimes you can even notice how something changes in us: physically, mentally, psychologically, you just need to be more sensitive and subtle. We are all changing, all of humanity, from the most advanced people to the simplest, all over the world.

The upper light affects us, it moves closer and closer to reveal itself in us, and we must pass through these states with its help. You will have to suffer a little to feel that we have one common trouble because otherwise we can’t be linked together. With a good life, people move away from each other, and a common misfortune brings them closer. Therefore, the Creator brings us together with great care and love. He unites us with a common misfortune, someone’s illness and death.

But in this situation, we have time to think, to change internally. A wise man is one who sees a future perspective, that is, a new state that is born out of it. It is necessary to understand that all this leads us to an eternal and perfect, beautiful state—to the right connection between us in which the upper force, the field of the upper light, will be revealed, and will fill our minds and feelings with infinite attainment.

We will rise to the level of faith above reason. And we cry and blame the Creator for what He does to us, because we look out of our narrow egoism. It seems to us that all this is not good because we are separated from the final goal and evaluate only the momentary state. We need to think carefully about what is happening to us.
[267492]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/9/20

Related Material:
Coronavirus: Through All The Galaxies
The Problem Of Universal Correction
Is It Easier For The World To Change Or Perish?

Filed under: Crisis, Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Globalization, Health, Spiritual Work - No Comments →