Question: In ancient Greece, the birthplace of the foundations of psychology, four types of people were distinguished according to their individual characteristics: sanguine, phlegmatic, melancholic, and choleric.

In modern psychology, the branch dealing with diagnostics of individual qualities is very broad. A person wants to know about himself and his properties in order to maximize his potential.

Why don’t we use, let’s say, 16 types of individual properties in the integral methodology, instead of only four?

Answer: Because these are egoistic qualities corresponding to four types of egoism. But there is one more, the fifth one, which all of the other ones come from and which doesn’t have its own shape. Indeed, this corresponds to a four-level structure of human perception and his soul. But all of that is related to egoism.

While egoism was still at work, we really could divide people into these types, and make calculations with respect to their zodiac signs. Up to this day, many magazines publish all kinds of divination.

But we see that this is nothing we can really work with. Why do we relate to a fact that has outlived itself? We have become different people, and we no longer have that. Outwardly, each corresponding temperament manifests itself, of course, but there is nothing we can do with it today.

If before you could pick a pair according to the sign of the zodiac, try to select a couple according to astrology today. Would you get happy marriages from that? No. If you give some advice to a sanguine and other advice to a choleric, would they be happy? No. So why do we need this old classification?

It used to be correct about the older active egoism that was linear, individual, and directed towards self-needs.

But now I no longer have my personal needs. I don’t want anything. They went up to the next level where I feel some need, but can’t tell what it is. I don’t see where to find the source of fulfilling my needs. I get into some kind of sexual perversion or spend time somehow, in order to forget myself. In addition to that, I get into drugs, terror, or something else because I don’t see the source of pleasure.

And it can come to me only through the integral society when I place myself into it. Thus, I must enter the integral society and then in there, in its heart, I’ll find the source of my fulfillment. But today, a person is still not at the level where he realizes that.
[81700]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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Question: A member of our organization, a very emotional adult, developed sleep problems. He went to see a specialist and was prescribed a medication called Ritalin. I was simply shocked by this. His problem is that he does not express himself enough, according to his nature, and the doctor limits his self-expression even more.

Should this impulsive, naturally vocal person still be given a place in the organization for him to realize himself?

Answer: If you help him properly set his mind towards group work, he will feel such strength from it, such a warm organization, that he will have no problem restraining himself, so other people will have no problem actively participating in the discussion. This happens automatically; every person becomes its balanced particle under the influence of the common field. Thus no pressure or limitation is needed here.

We understand that specialists have no other tools at their disposal; they automatically prescribe Ritalin, and this basically is the essence of their profession, if it may be called so today.

People need to be put together in a circle, given a proper intention, attitude, and instructions; you need to watch them to make sure that they behave in an undulating manner in relation to the group, going up and down. Everyone moves similar to the way you churn cream to make butter: above the group – beneath the group, above the group – beneath the group.

And suddenly a new body appears between them, which has an absolutely new life of its own. And as they feel themselves in it, they begin to feel that this new thing is the next stage of my development, I am in it. Instead of associating myself with my body, I associate myself with this something common we have all begotten together, and there I am no longer sanguine, choleric, phlegmatic, or melancholic, I simply include everything in me. I am all the qualities put together.
[81689]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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Question: Now most people, from factory workers to scientists, cannot perform the simplest actions, and in essence, everyday it gets harder and harder. It turns out that in a few years, the only working system will be the system of integral interaction. But why then are we talking about it so quietly? Why aren’t we developing it more actively?

Answer: Unfortunately, we can’t shout. However, we observe this phenomena even on those people who are taking the integral upbringing courses with us.

When they are interacting among themselves, they feel an ascent.

When they temporarily move away from the interaction with each other, they feel a descent in which they feel emptiness and an absence of any energy of movement, internal energy, thought.

However, in the integration with others, an ascent immediately happens in them, an influx of new strength, opportunities appear for the analysis of what is happening. We see this clearly.

Unfortunately, we come across an apathetic attitude of people everywhere to what is going on. They send a person who is in a state of depression to psychologists and give him some kind of medicines, antidepressants and so on. Meaning, that they believe that one needs to fight against this, not understanding that you can’t fight against nature. And this tendency continues to develop. It is already clearly being observed by the young generation, not to mention the adult one.

How do we come out into the wide circles of society, through the upper echelons or the lower ones? How do we approach the middle class without conveying information through the mass media or the attractive elements of conviction, and express our methods? It is not simple. We are trying to move in different directions, but we cannot say that we have succeeded on a large scale yet.

Everything rests on the fact that people do not want these changes. It is very difficult for them to transition from their linear egoism to the public, closed one.

He will lie on the sofa and will not be able to stand up even if he would be told that tomorrow there is a war. Let the war happen, I will just lay here.

We need to convince him that if he will make a small movement forward, will sit into a circle with others, will enter a new method of socializing, then he will receive totally different desires, totally different thoughts of a new order; he will start to fly compared to his previous state.

But this transition for him is purely psychological. We cannot do it for him, and he is not able to. It has to happen as some kind of internal change. Strictly speaking, he must be “attacked” by the group, which will shake him up, will take him into the collective by force, and will convey its new inspiration to him. Something must happen because the man cannot pull himself out of this gutter by himself.
[81589]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing”, 5/24/12

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Question: Well-known corporations such as Sony and IBM have long been implementing group motivation in different ways. The corporate culture is built on the concept of “We are one whole,” but they are doing all this in order to profit.

How is our social integral organization different from such corporations?

Answer: I wouldn’t emphasize the differences, but rather would come to them with our integral method and invite them to use it: “Let’s try. We’ll show you how our training and workshops lift people’s spirits.”

They may ask: “And what’s the difference between your workshops and what we’ve been doing?” After all, perhaps they have a lot of different methods.

The difference is in the fact that in our actions, we are trying to create a feeling of a totally new world. We lift them above themselves into a new state, but not according to the principle of “we are one group” like football players whose actions are generally the direct sum of their efforts. Of course, the spirit and the feeling help them and make them feel they are part of a great mechanism, and having the support of a strong organization brings the company certain profits. Here, however, we are trying to lift them spiritually.

What does “spiritually” mean? First, it isn’t for material success, not for pride, control, or respect. We are trying to lift people above our nature not in order to use it, but in order to be above it. In this case, the group gets together in order to rise above its egoistic group “self” and feel that it is on the next level of existence.

This is achieved by a very simple method. The work in the group is managed according to a certain method: When I rise above the others, descend below them, and become equal to them, I reach mutual guarantee; I try to build a relationship with others above my ego, which means that I don’t act egoistically like they do. In today’s corporations, egoists, who are trying to develop their own ego on the account of others, get together based on competition, respect, envy, knowledge, and other qualities that only humans have. They try to spur themselves, make a profit, and get rich within the same ego.

We, on the other hand, don’t. We first try to rise above our ego. We want to reach the opposite attribute, the attribute of bestowal, above the ego. Here it is not all the egoistic attempts that get together, like in the case of the members of the IBM and Sony corporations, but attempts to reach the attribute of bestowal. This is a totally different method.

Eventually we get a totally different result, a different creation. We give birth to the collective force of bestowal, the force of love, not the egoistic force, but above the egoistic force. This is exactly what we call “the attribute of bestowal.”

Within the same attribute of bestowal, we begin to feel what an integral society really is, what mutual guarantee is, and what life outside ourselves is.

“Outside ourselves” means outside the ego, above it, on a new level, in a new dimension, where I measure everything according to the attribute of bestowal, according to the new relations among us, where I don’t take myself into account at all, but only the new existence, which is my life. It isn’t I that am included in it, but it is my “self.” My body exists next to it as a corporal appendix.

It is hard to explain this to ordinary people, but they will be able to understand this even after one practical lesson.

Comment: But people don’t only want to feel good, they also want to get more efficient production.

Answer: This will surely be the outcome. Production will not only be effective, but above the efficient production, each of them will see new opportunities in his work that he didn’t see before by using his egoistic perspective. He will see totally different goals, relations, and possible solutions; there is no doubt about that.

A person’s actions will become much more productive. A person will be much wiser, brighter, and sharper. Each one will radiate a totally different upper energy, especially those dealing in high-tech and various creative professions. And today they are the majority. Besides, all these special ways are necessary even for those who deal with marketing; the outcome will be felt immediately.
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From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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In the News (from LiveScience): “Saying ‘thank you’ may be a simple way to boost marital happiness, new research suggests. This cycle of appreciation may also make for longer-lasting relationships.

“‘Feeling appreciated by your partner influences how you act in your relationship, and how much you want to stay in that relationship,’ study researcher Amie Gordon, of the University of California, Berkeley, told LiveScience. ‘Instead of just waiting for the other person to make you feel good, you can jumpstart that cycle and take it into your own hands by focusing on what’s good in your relationship.’

“‘What goes wrong in a lot of relationships is if you start to take your partner for granted,’ Gordon told LiveScience. ‘You get used to having them in your life and forget why you chose to be with them.’

“They [the researchers] found that, the more often a participant acted understanding, validating and caring toward their partner, the more appreciated their partner felt, and the happier both were in the relationship. These behavioral displays — leaning in to your partner when they are speaking, making eye contact, giving comforting touches — are important ways that people show gratitude.”

My Comment: There is nothing new in these suggestions. The question is how to overcome pride, enter into the feelings of the other, and to think not about one’s own fulfillment, but about good fulfillment of the other? How can we transform egoistic love into altruistic? This should be taught in a short Kabbalah course because it is the method of correction of our nature from reception to bestowal!
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Question: If we create an international institute of integral education with centers in various countries, won’t it enter into conflict with already existing institutions, for example, with science academies?

Answer: No. I think that it must simply be a parallel system of upbringing, because nobody has of yet worked with the upbringing of society and humanity.

In this case, nobody can disturb us in this work: We are not crossing into anyone’s territory; we are not taking anything away from anyone. Basically, this is an absolutely empty space since nobody has ever wished to work on the upbringing of humanity.

What can we say about the adults if we are not even bringing up children? We only give them an education, but not upbringing. So there can be no competition. The first thing that needs to be done is coming out into the wide world with the explanations about the need for upbringing.

The second is the creation of a major international center that could become an example for everyone.

It is not a scientific, research, upbringing, or an educational center, but a whole town, area, or region that would live by the new socio-economic laws, using the economics of sensible consumption, correct interactions between people, and so on.

This would be a very serious step forward. By the way, Baal HaSulam, a great researcher of the integral methodology, wrote about the need to create such a place where people would live in the framework of a new society that would become an example for everyone, where this methodology could be worked on and brought out to the world.

On one hand, this place would be attractive for everyone. While on the other hand, it would provide the possibility of completely developing the integral approach for humanity and for individuals.
[81592]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing”, 5/24/12

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In the News (from the Association for Psychological Science): “New research suggests that overall happiness in life is more related to how much you are respected and admired by those around you, not to the status that comes from how much money you have stashed in your bank account.

“Psychological scientist Cameron Anderson of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley, and his co-authors explore the relationship between different types of status and well-being in a new article published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.

“‘We got interested in this idea because there is abundant evidence that higher socioeconomic status – higher income or wealth, higher education – does not boost subjective well-being (or happiness) much at all. Yet at the same time, many theories suggest that higher status should boost happiness,’ said Anderson.

“So if higher socioeconomic status doesn’t equate with a greater sense of well-being, then what does? Anderson and his colleagues hypothesized that higher sociometric status – respect and admiration in your face-to-face groups, such as your friendship network, your neighborhood, or your athletic team – might make a difference in your overall happiness. ‘Having high standing in your local ladder leads to receiving more respect, having more influence, and being more integrated into the group’s social fabric,’ Anderson said.”

My Comment: Kabbalah says that the desire to receive constitutes the matter of the world. In general, it can be divided into four groups: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. In the human being, it is divided into bodily (food, sex, and family) and social (wealth, respect, and knowledge) desires. Thus, psychologists concluded that the most important thing, besides satisfying the desires of the body, is how a person feels himself in society. That is why Kabbalah believes that after satisfying the basic needs of the body, if integral education gives people the correct skills in social relations, everyone will be happy in the end, and humanity will come into balance with each other and with nature.
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Question: The integral method is unnatural to human egoism, and for that reason, people try to dodge it. People need proof.

Answer: Proof can be twofold. Either we show a person a good future that truly shines to him from afar if he becomes an integral element of society and reaches harmony and balance with it, or he experiences the suffering that is not far ahead.

At the same time, we need to show people that suffering is necessary only so that one will realize the need to develop socially. In essence, these are the only two forces of development: suffering that pushes us from behind and benevolent aspiration ahead. That’s it!
[81440]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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Question: On one hand, the phenomenon of world wars includes horrible suffering and millions of dead or bereaved people, but on the other hand, they lead to a new degree, a leap in the development of sciences and psychology in particular.

Answer: This is natural. Suffering reveals previously hidden resources in society and in individuals. Thus, completely new systems of interaction and revelations of individuality have begun to come about that are then immediately examined by scientists.

In addition, we need to view wars not only as a system of destruction and conquest, but also as a revelation of an enormous explosive charge of suffering that condenses time. After all, if in one’s everyday life a person exists on a tiny flame of development so to speak, let’s say that over the course of five years of war, a huge leap occurs not only technologically, but also in the relationships between people.

Everything changes: a person’s view of the world, social relationships, and the government. We can say that the war itself is a result of a need for a rapid advancement of society, although certainly it is a dramatic event. However, this is precisely why a need arises for it.

If society develops normally at the speed where people will be connected harmoniously to each other and the outside world, nature, then, of course there no longer will be a need for such periods when the development of society occurs through a leap experienced as tremendous suffering. However, if this will not be achieved, the state that we are in right now may lead to war.
[81434]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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Question: I have heard many times that you treat such directions as, for example, New Age, as a deviation from the correct path.

Answer: It is a search! In no way do I disregard it! Humanity is in constant search, and these deviations from the straight path are necessary like for a missile that is flying to its target: It needs to deflect to pinpoint its exact path.

That is why I believe that there is a place for all methods and practices that have emerged in the middle of the last century. They have led to the point that today, a person is at a complete dead end. Otherwise, he would have hoped for something. So all these techniques, philosophies, New Age, and various sects have done their work.
[81504]
From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12

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