Alyona writes:
Dear Michael Laitman,
Parenting is one of my greatest concerns today.
I found this quote from Korney Chukovsky: “Hearing a fairy tale, a child usually sides with the kind, courageous, or unfairly treated. Our whole task is to awaken, foster, and strengthen, in the pliable mind of a child, this precious ability to empathize, sympathize, and share other’s joy, without which a human is not really a human.
In your opinion, which books should be available to a child? A battle of good and evil so the child can choose a good force or books that describe this world as completely good without any evil?
Answer: At first, completely kind books for elementary school children if I may say so. And then in a more natural way books where evil is present on a par with good: Good wins, evil retreats, and so on until a child matures and begins to read books and novels where evil prevails.
Comment: Such is a person’s preparation.
My Response: To bring him out of fairy tales and introduce him to real life.
Question: And in real life where evil wins?
Answer: Of course. So a child must learn not to oppose evil because he will only bring problems on himself. He must learn that evil wins, but he should remain on the sidelines; at no point does he engage in a fight against evil.
Comment: I understand this progression. At first, he is just a small, gentle child; we don’t want to scare him. The first stage is clear. Second, gradually evil appears, yet good still wins. This too is clear, so he would be on the side of good. Then you made a drastic turnaround, you said our world is all evil.
My Response: Meaning, we explain to a child that although there is good and evil in our world, we need to dodge evil.
Question: Is this what we explain to the child?
Answer: Yes, to a child, but only at the third stage.
Question: So you don’t accept evil after all? One should avoid it, as you said. This is the third stage.
When does he understand that our world is built on evil?
Answer: He will understand this when he is in the third stage. He will turn away, step back, and distance himself from it. Then comes quite an interesting stage when he gets involved with evil and uses it for his own selfish needs, career advancement and so on.
Question: So our little protagonist, who started out so pure, suddenly climbs the career ladder, stepping on others and so on?
Answer: Yes
Question: And then the fifth stage, should he understand he is like that?
Answer: We have not yet reached this in our world, so we have no clear examples. That is why I don’t want to talk about it.
Question: But should he at least come to the conclusion that this is bad?
Answer: He must come to the conclusion that he cannot live in such a world, that indeed in our world of egoism everything is distorted. So he has no choice but to simply distance himself from this world as much as possible, because he still has to exist, provide for his children, and so on. But in general it is a problem.
Comment: It’s a problem to isolate yourself from this world. Especially now when social media is everywhere.
My Response: Yes, but if he knows this basic principle, he distances himself from the world.
Question: The principle that it’s all a lie, that everything he’s being fed is paid for and that he needs to distance himself?
Answer: Right.
Question: Then just tell us the right way to distance oneself. What should one surround oneself with? No wonder, Alyona asks: “What to make available to a child?” And now I’m asking you about adults: what should one surround oneself with, how can one distance oneself from the world?
Answer: Surround yourself with self-care. Find something you love besides work or home. I remember I had a neighbor who was into woodwork. That’s all. That was his activity. He searched for all sorts of wood, logs, and everything else and then worked on them. Made birdhouses, all that kind of stuff. He liked it.
Question: So you are gradually, gently bringing us to such a way of distancing yourself from the world by taking up a hobby? Collecting soldiers, I don’t know how to process woodworking?
Answer: It doesn’t matter, yes.
Question: And then? Still, how do we take care of the soul?
Answer: Well, I’m talking about ordinary people.
Comment: But let’s take it a step further.
My Response: This will bring him closer to his soul.
Question: So we have now gone from a small child to an adult. Where should a person come to as a result, having gone all this way, in the end?
Answer: To the fact the simplest handiwork softens the soul. In general, he will be satisfied with his existence.
Question: But will this question vex him, after all, such a small question about his soul?
Answer: Maybe, yes, and maybe that will be enough for the level of development of his soul.
[325128]
From KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” 12/21/23
Related Material:
Will The Fairy Tale Of Our Life Have A Good Ending?
Harmful Children’s Fairy Tales
How Can We Teach Children Kindness?
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Comment: It is interesting that in Japan, instead of “I love you,” they sometimes say, “You are my silence.”
