Entries in the 'Integral Upbringing' Category

Structure And Principles Of A New Society

Dr. Michael LaitmanWhat will the future society be?

There is not much written about this. We will discover it gradually, on our own, in the process of building and shaping it. The principles described by Baal HaSulam make it clear that it will be a society of equal people, according to the same principle, which operates in the group, all are equal, all are friends.

Friend (chaver – חבר) derives from the word “connection” (chibur – חיבור). It literally means “entering” into each other, complementing one another by contributing our desires and thoughts. In this condition, we are united. That’s why the only concern of ours should be the way of “replenishing” others.

When we gather together in “tens” for workshops, we try to implement this principle. We should only supplement each other, never argue, and by no means “act smart.” The only thing that we need to do is fulfill our friends and provide mutual support. There is no room for anything else.

This clarifies the principles of a community life that Rabash talks about. This is a principle that has to be put into the core of the group we are building. It is not acceptable when a friend hurts or harms others. In order to build the future society, we should first build it among us so that it becomes an illustration for others. It should be based solely on mutual assistance; there cannot be any “dirty tricks” played on each other whatsoever. The group charter should reflect this.

However, Baal HaSulam writes that the future society—not a group, but society as a whole—can be built only after people rise to this developmental level, become ready to give up their egoism, and create a new type of social relationships. We need to bring them to this condition. So first of all, it is very important for us to act extensively and broadly open courses on integral education wherever possible.

By doing so, we’ll create a society of equals, a society in which everyone will get as much as one needs and will work for the good of all. Each will receive as much as he or she needs for normal existence and the rest will be redirected to create the same conditions for everyone in the world.

Nothing beyond basic necessities will be produced. However, it is not about contracting or reducing manufacturing of consumer goods to a minimum! No, we are talking about normal, human living conditions that we should not exceed. It’s no secret: If we get out of balance with nature, we begin to destroy it and eventually, in practice, we destroy the house we all live in.

The principles of building the future society are very simple. We physically feel and sense them when we are with our groups. Gradually, to the extent of the advancement of the groups and their “satellites” (non-Kabbalistic groups of people engaged in integral education), new extended communities will emerge. Gradually, they will expand their “territories,” establish rules of their own, start schools and other establishments. Gradually, they will become more connected.

On the other hand, this process can also be directed from above. We make attempts from the top, since any crisis begins from the top and goes to the bottom; everything is rotting from the head. We see that many countries are in totally desperate situations and we believe that sooner or later their governments will understand that there is a system of knowledge that can correct people, thus, allowing us to correct our civilization.

Let’s hope that it will be clear before too much blood is shed.

To sum up: If we want to advance personally, it’s possible only if we expand. If a group stops expanding, if it doesn’t “widen,” it stops advancing. And this is not because there won’t be new people joining it; we just have to work with the rest of the population to the best of our capacity. For that, before anything else, we have to organize and prepare ourselves. That’s why it is so important to engage in the methodology of integral education.

Some of you regard it as a burden, useful or useless, or even harmful. But this is not a burden; it is the same Kabbalah, the same kind of organization of society, or rather fragments of the soul, into a single soul according to the principle “love thy neighbor.” There is nothing new here; it’s just an explanation of all the laws of connection that exist betewen us. These laws are clarified in a plain, normal, human language and are obvious to everybody, not just to Kabbalists. That’s it, nothing more.

Even our groups are seriously engaged in studying and concentrating on the parts of the wisdom of Kabbalah that are the easiest to implement. Similarly, we teach others the rules that are the easiest for them to apply to reality.
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From the Convention in Krasnoyarsk 6/14/13, Lesson 4

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Both With A Line And Also With Circles

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Today virtually everything is deteriorating back towards rigid totalitarian management. Such companies actually demonstrate maximum efficiency and minimal conflicts within the collective. Can the integral method change the management structure of companies?

Answer: It is impossible to take only one kind of structure, because the integral system is circular, analog. It is possible only in a collective in which all of the people are found on the same level and work cooperatively.

In a company or in a factory there must be a hierarchy that has the right to command all the links, but at each level the people need to be organized in integral circles.

Therefore one doesn’t contradict the other. Rather large collectives like these must be built with both a line and with circles.

Together with this, in every circumstance control systems will give instructions because people who have passed through this unique learning and are working there know, understand, and think about everything, and they are in charge because they have wisdom, willpower, desire, and an ability to take responsibility on themselves.

For the rest of the people, no; they are experts in some particular area of their own. In order to feel themselves as belonging to the level of higher knowledge of nature, they pass through integral training, and this makes them able to join together for cooperative work and not to put spokes in each other’s wheels.

In collectives like these, productivity rises, they begin to be able to understand each other from half a word, and the probability of error on a particular project diminishes to a minimum because they all live for the sake of one goal.
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From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/20/13

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Familial Variations

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Today there are very many couples who live together without being formally married. Is it possible to work with them as with married couples?

Answer: If they have a joint household, a common concern, a common “account,” perhaps even children together, what difference does it make if they did a Huppah or went to the Rabbanut or swore to each other under the moon? They are considered to be a couple, for everyone recognizes them as husband and wife, they are a family.

They can even file a lawsuit in court for the distribution of property; it makes no difference if they are officially married or not. The witnesses complete the missing signature.

Question: There are people who have been married for 15 – 20 years, have children, but live separately. In fact, psychologically they are considered to be a couple, but they have a separate household. Can people like these be invited to workshops?

Answer: I think it is possible because they also feel themselves to be a family. Simply our ego today is so great, that it can’t endure anyone near it. Even if they have a single home, many men often sleep in another room and the women understand this, and she doesn’t want to see him near her that much herself. And the children certainly have separate rooms. That is, we have transformed into notorious individualists.

Therefore if they have a common concern and this concern is permanent, and further are connected to children in common, then they are considered to be a family.

Psychologically, the person is a complex creature. And so if he is officially married, this obliges him internally; this puts pressure on him, compared to life in a common law marriage (not officially married).

It is enough for a man to think that he is not officially married; he will be concerned about this woman much more than he would be to a woman to whom he is officially married. For then it would seem to him that the woman puts pressure on him, obligates, “locks” him to herself, and with another woman he feels himself to be free. And she will also feel the same way.

The dual structure of reciprocity says only that an official connection sometimes leads to rigidity, to hatred, that conspires against one; the state obligates one.

Whereas freedom that a woman allows, on the contrary, attracts and obligates a man to flirt all the time, to be concerned about his position, because nothing is obliging them to be together.

All of these familial variations are found today in a process of very rapid change. I don’t think that in the future these forms will be sustained. At the very least, the registration for marriage will be very conventional. All of this will not be necessary; rather mutual agreement will be enough.

In particular when people begin to distribute all that is required for a person in order to live properly and equitably, then the factor of “ensuring” and “anxiety” will disappear; only the factor of inner connection will remain. Then the role of the Rabbanut, the role of the marriage ceremony, will take on integral connections. Specifically they will begin to connect people with each other and a person will want to continue living in this harmony. Therefore married couples will emerge from the integral workshops that are ready.
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From a Talk on Integral Upbringing 4/4/13

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St. Petersburg Convention “Day Two” – 07.13.13

Convention in St. Petersburg, “Method of Creating the Right Relationships in the Group,” Day 2, Lesson 3

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Method of Creating the Right Relationships in the Group,” Day 2, Workshop 3

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Harmony at Work,” Day 2, Practical Workshop 

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Good Environment as the Means of Achieving the Goal of Every Person,” Day 2, Lesson 4

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St. Petersburg Convention “Day One” – 07.12.13

Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Lesson 1

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “A Single Governing Force of Nature,” Day 1, Workshop1

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “Round Tables,” Day 1, Practical  Workshop 

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “The Collective Influence of the Single Force of Nature Manifests Inside the Circle,” Day 1, Lesson 2

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Convention in St. Petersburg, “The Collective Influence of the Single Force of Nature Manifests Inside the Circle,” Day 1, Workshop 2

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Homogeneity Of The Integral Group

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Does it make sense to add new groups interested in integral education to a group that already includes five couples and has gone through a few integral trainings?

Answer: This is a delicate question. When people are in contact with one another, they internally tune to the common harmony. It is just like in a musical instrument where there is a big difference between the sound of each individual string and the common accord.

Therefore, I don’t know whether we can join such groups together. Their development and taste must be the same type. You certainly can try to introduce one couple into a group, and then another couple after some time. However, you should not break a group and mix it among others. Otherwise, people will leave. It will be like a breakage for them.

It is better to form a multitude of small groups and later on, organize a picnic for everyone in completely different conditions. It should not be in the same center, but rather in a park so that people could break all conventions and habits. Then, you will be able to create something new and different. They will feel, within this, very useful, new phenomena and additions, instead of digging into their relationships. A lot of feelings and solutions that were new and unknown until this time will appear in this area.
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From the Talk about Integral Upbringing 4/4/13

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EU Summit To Solve Unemployment

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from Reuters): “Angela Merkel’s summit on youth unemployment in Europe is an attempt to paper over the economic consequences of the austerity policies she championed in the region, a leading member of Germany’s opposition Social Democrats (SPD) said on Tuesday.

“With unemployment in the euro zone at a record high above 12 percent, Merkel will gather the leaders and labor ministers of more than 20 EU nations in Berlin from about 2 p.m. local time (8:00 a.m. EDT) on Wednesday.

“The stated aim is to agree efficient ways to spend the 6 billion euros ($7.82 billion) EU leaders have allocated to fight youth unemployment in 2014 and 2015, as part of a new ‘Youth Guarantee’ to provide jobs, training and apprenticeships.

“In recent months, as unemployment in southern Europe has soared, Merkel has adjusted her rhetoric, emphasizing the need for growth and jobs.”

My Comment: If these funds were directed at establishing a network of integral education courses, we would see changes in people and their lives within the first month of studies. Otherwise, it will be the usual European budget “cutting.”
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“The Middle-Class Revolution”

Dr. Michael LaitmanOpinion (Francis Fukuyama, American political scientist, political economist): “The theme that connects recent events in Turkey and Brazil to each other, as well as to the 2011 Arab Spring and continuing protests in China, is the rise of a new global middle class. …

“In Turkey and Brazil, as in Tunisia and Egypt before them, political protest has been led not by the poor but by young people with higher-than-average levels of education and income. They are technology-savvy and use social media like Facebook FB +0.45% and Twitter to broadcast information and organize demonstrations. Even when they live in countries that hold regular democratic elections, they feel alienated from the ruling political elite. …

“A 2012 report by the European Union Institute for Security Studies, using a broader definition of middle class, predicted that the number of people in that category would grow from 1.8 billion in 2009 to 3.2 billion in 2020 and 4.9 billion in 2030 (out of a projected global population of 8.3 billion). …

“None of this is a new phenomenon. The French, Bolshevik and Chinese Revolutions were all led by discontented middle-class individuals, even if their ultimate course was later affected by peasants, workers and the poor.

“While protests, uprisings and occasionally revolutions are typically led by newly arrived members of the middle class, the latter rarely succeed on their own in bringing about long-term political change. This is because the middle class seldom represents more than a minority of the society in developing countries and is itself internally divided. Unless they can form a coalition with other parts of society, their movements seldom produce enduring political change. …

“No politician in the U.S. or Europe should look down complacently on the events unfolding in the streets of Istanbul and São Paulo. It would be a grave mistake to think, ‘It can’t happen here.’”

My Comment: The question is with what they will go to people. The problem is not to cheer up the masses, but to lead them to real changes. Real changes can happen only if they occur in accord with the development of nature and society, that is, towards the integration of humanity.

Therefore, the only real solution to all urgent problems of society is in the implementation of the method of integral education and upbringing among the general population. Reconstruction and resetting of the social structure is possible after that on the basis of the acquired knowledge and new skills of integral interaction.
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For This It Is Possible To Give Everything

Dr. Michael LaitmanQuestion: Ten years ago each person had his own ideal of some kind, and it was possible for all kinds of collectives (communities) to work in a beneficial way. Whereas today all the ideals that gave them energy have suddenly disappeared. Can it be said that some kind of new single ideal will appear in their place?

Answer: Yes, it is kind of an ideal that through an agreement between us with the right communication between each other, we will begin to fill ourselves with a feeling of a higher existence, much higher than anyone would feel alone. And people will be ready to give everything for this! Otherwise what kind of a life would this be? It would be frightening to look down. A desire will exist all the time to float in the air.

Within our unity we need to find a common collective power that gives us vitality, unites, supports, and nourishes us mutually, a power that exists not in each of us, but is created between us only through integrating correctly through the right mutual cooperation.

Question: If a stranger were to arrive in a collective like this and were successfully integrated into it and reached a common goal, what would he feel?

Answer: The person would reach the level of a completely different life. Suddenly he would understand that in this life it is possible to have such sensations, such stimuli, that don’t exist anywhere: not at home, not in the family, not on the street, and not in big stores anywhere. It is impossible to see this on television, it cannot be found on the Internet, so we become depressed, we are found in a “burned out” state.

Whereas here a person suddenly begins to understand that he has “entered and penetrated” into some kind of other world! Not just that he is full of happiness but also “inner light,” completely disconnected from any physical phenomena.

He is ready to work for nothing, as they say, for the sake of an idea, only to feel the embodiment of light giving him life.
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From KabTV’s “Through Time” 3/20/13

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Euroscepticism

Dr. Michael LaitmanIn the News (from The Wall Street Journal): “As European Union leaders head to a summit meeting Thursday, they face a crisis that could be even harder to fix than the region’s debt problems: Europeans are losing trust in the EU itself and the benefits of unifying the region. …

“EU officials and many analysts say the medicine must include centralizing more policy-making in Brussels. But European voters appear less and less open to that, creating political tensions that are breaking into the open. …

”Even the traditionally pro-EU Netherlands is souring on European integration, with the country’s governing coalition declaring last week that the EU goal of “ever-closer union” should be buried.

“No country that has the euro wants to leave it, according to opinion polls, and only in Britain is there strong political or public support for leaving the EU. But across the continent, the EU’s low public standing is depleting support for strengthening its institutions.”

My Comment: Europe has become obsolete, and if there is no integral education, the EU will disintegrate and Europe will dissolve in immigrants. Euroscepticism is justified!
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