What did the coronavirus pandemic expose in human nature? How is the coronavirus a lesson from nature? The following is a transcript of this talk between Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman and Oren Levi. Oren Levi: We're in the midst of a new wave of the coronavirus, and the fear is back. The Delta strain is spreading rapidly. The number of people testing positive is rising daily. A recently-published study shows that vaccines have a 91% ability of protecting you from serious illness but only 39% of keeping you from becoming infected with the coronavirus. There was a feeling that the coronavirus was behind us, and suddenly it was like the rug was pulled out from under our feet again. Now, every day you hear about someone else becoming infected with the coronavirus. Will this nightmare ever end? Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman: When will we change? When will we become better? Oren Levi: And how's that related to the coronavirus? Dr. Laitman: Everything is related. Everyone is interconnected. And everyone has to be connected together in an ideal integral system. Oren Levi: When you talk about connection, the thing that pains me the most is that when I come to visit my dad, who's over 80 now, I'm afraid to kiss him. Everything kind of cooled down. The world is like in a freezer. Dr. Laitman: No. The freezer is a result of us not wanting to connect, not wanting to be good to each other. Oren Levi: Everyone I know wants to be close and connected, but it's impossible. They have to wear masks all the time. You don't even know what the rules are because they change every week. Dr. Laitman: You're saying that previously, we used to have good relations between us. Oren Levi: Most normal people did. Dr. Laitman: What you call normal for me is completely not normal and unacceptable. And therefore we have to discover what abnormal egoists we really are. We can then say that the coronavirus came to restore order between us. Oren Levi: The coronavirus came to make peace and order between us? Dr. Laitman: Of course. Oren Levi: What is it? A high school teacher or what? Dr. Laitman: It's more than that. It wants to show us what we are doing wrong in our relationships. This is what it has been trying to teach us for the past year and a half. So what does a normal teacher do? If he sees that the kids aren't getting it, he tries something else. Oren Levi: But here it's like a stuck record. Dr. Laitman: No, no, no. The record is not stuck. It's simply that you don't understand what were we supposed to learn until now, that we didn't understand that we have to have a good connection where we help each other, where our desires and hearts are connected. That I will care for my fellow man in the very same way that I care for myself because we all live in one system. And for everyone to be concerned with not passing this disease onto each other, and that this is something that we'll really care for. Oren Levi: If you remember at the beginning of the pandemic, there was this feeling that we're together in this, and afterwards the solidarity somehow dissipated. Dr. Laitman: Because our ego became fed up with it. It couldn't take it anymore. Oren Levi: So this is exactly what I'm saying, that we're fed up with it. So why not change the record? Dr. Laitman: Nature doesn't work as you wish, but nature is going to wear you out and teach you that you, the little egoist, have to abide by the laws of nature rather than by your ego. That's the law of nature that we have to keep today: there's nothing greater than caring for your fellow man. This is what I have to come to, and if I come to that, then it's the end of Corona and all of our problems altogether. Oren Levi: How do the viruses know that you've decided to become more loving? Dr. Laitman: This is where they come from—from not keeping the law of love and from unfounded hatred.

We are living in special times in which the world develops toward connection to one mechanism. This realization should impact our decision making. The main factor in making sound decisions is whether or not the decision will be in sync with the development of society toward mutual interdependence and integrality. We can make a list of pros and cons, consult experts as well as family and friends, or use intuition; however, we need to ask ourselves what our family and society needs from the decision. Incorporating contradictory opinions from others helps in the process of choosing the right direction. The final decision should be made after we weigh it carefully and make sure that it is compatible with the integral development.

Our nature is to lose motivation just as a person who begins to eat loses his appetite at a certain point. There should be experts in an organization who make sure that motivation, creativity, and innovation remain high by making employees into partners and giving awards to show importance, respect, and appreciation. If we want a worker to come to work enthusiastically, he needs to feel that he can express his uniqueness at work. The quality of the interpersonal connections and the atmosphere at work greatly impact the workers’ motivation. Competition in an integral organization means each one competes with himself as well as connects to others in order to contribute to the success of the organization.

There are no blows from nature that cannot be complemented including having a child with special needs. There is no point asking, “Why do I deserve this?” or comparing ourselves with a perfect way of life. Disabled people are usually happier because nature gives them a greater spirit. We can see mutual support, connection, and joy in groups of disabled children. Parents should accept their fate and learn to cope with it. They should not stop any activities and keep searching for how to complement the disability with the use of equipment and exercises. It is very important that they have a supportive environment of people in the same situation from whom they can learn how to live successfully with the disability and who will bring them examples of disabled people who have greatly succeeded in life. Society needs to help disabled people grow stronger, manage, and find their place in society. The connection between people always helps because we are all a part of nature, which is absolutely integral. We need to build support mechanisms in society so that each one feels that the whole society covers him with care.

Adult children of aging parents need to come together to share the care with time, energy, and money. It is impossible to determine how to equally share care for aging parents since we don’t have any way of measuring diverse contributions. Each child has their own unique situation that cannot be accurately compared with the siblings’ contexts. According to the wisdom of Kabbalah and an integral perspective, children must put their differences aside and meet once a month or twice a year to divide up the duties associated with caring for their aging parents in a purposeful, businesslike manner, without emotion. The wellbeing of the parents should be the focus. Each child gives what they can, whether it’s time to take the parents to medical appointments, money to pay for services in the home, or emotional warmth and care. Each one pays back the parents as though paying back the Creator since the Creator arranges our parents for us.

Human beings cannot survive without social interaction. Loneliness is more harmful to humans than illness. The human soul can only develop in connection with others through mutual giving and receiving. We are all emotionally interdependent parts of one system called Adam HaRishon. Animals only require food, whereas human lack and deficiency is boundless. We must recognize the evil and hatred in this unlimited egoistic abyss so we will demand to be reunited. We need to learn to rise above the hatred and treat others as ourselves because life exists in the connection between us.

The old egoistic social systems are disappearing and, in their place, we are struggling to build one, new system in which everyone is equal, emotionally close, and interconnected with a good attitude. People have lost the taste for the old, luxurious form of life when we were preoccupied with cars and fashion. Around the globe, we are witnessing social revolutions for solidarity and equality. These revolutions start within a person through changes in intellect, desire, and feeling. Society will subsequently determine laws that support connection between everyone. We need to ask ourselves, how can I do good to others? The coronavirus is helping us to learn to care for each other; we need to focus on not passing the virus to others out of concern for their wellbeing. In the new, good life, we will each understand that we do not exist in and of ourselves, but only as a result of everyone else.

According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, the force that develops humanity is egoism. The “engine” that is found within nature develops the still, vegetative, animate, and even human consciousness to become integral. The leap in consciousness that is ahead for us is to begin to adapt to nature and to see reality not through the ego. According to one’s nature, a person doesn’t want to be connected to all of reality because this obligates him; in contrast to this, he wants to be free. The conflicts in our lives come from people wanting to dominate each other. Suffering develops human consciousness. Humanity must reach a state in which everyone is connected with love; ideal communication is called love. In a relationship in which each one feels the other and fulfills his desires, we are completely connected with each other. A full development of consciousness is one in which I feel and fulfill your heart, and you mine.