When a person builds the right intention over the egoism, he discovers that nothing is forbidden, that Nature is infinitely good in everything it does to him and in the way it leads us.

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: What is the right intention?

Dr. Michael Laitman: Integrality, the right interconnection. When I include another person’s desires into my own, and he does the same, then we are treating each other the right way.

We are both egoists, but above our egoism we build a reciprocal interface so that I perceive his egoism as mine and he perceives my egoism as his. It turns out that we are both working on our common egoism. That is, we spin simultaneously like two wheels, without any resistance to one another.

Suppose he has 50 pounds of egoism and I have 100. His egoism is against me and mine is against him. But if above this egoism we build our mutual action and become included in one another, then we begin to perceive the system that raises us above the level of our interlinked egoism; we feel integration, love, and connection. Our mutual attainment corresponds to the common egoism that we use to connect with one another.

Our intentions can be measured in units of our inner efforts. Of course, this is difficult to do today. We still cannot measure a person’s ethical and moral efforts. But in principle, this can be measured.

We are building a new layer of a person’s existence, a new dimension. Let’s call it “spiritual.” This is the future of humanity where everything that is on the earthly level will become the foundation for the superstructure that we have to create.

When egoism grows to its maximum level and we fully realize it, we will relocate to that superstructure with our thoughts and feelings and will stop feeling our existence on the earthly level completely. It will simply disappear from our sensations. My “I” will exist only in the spiritual superstructure, and I will associate myself only with this layer.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: How can a soccer match be built so there is a feeling of unity afterwards?

Dr. Michael Laitman: Friendship is seriously missing in today’s sports. Many people talk about friendship, but competition is an expression of egoism. I am egoistically trying to achieve the maximum result, but by the rules.

If only we would see the inner, moral, and spiritual tension of a person who wishes to compete in order to attain a connection with others! I can reach this state by competing with you at throwing a javelin, for example. It is precisely competition in this world that gives a person the kind of connection with other people, that allows him to rise above to create a place of mutual unification.

Dr. Ulianov: The result is mutual?

Dr. Laitman: It’s mutual in every way! It affects the entire system of human relations. On the inside we will remain individualists and egoists who hate each other, and this feeling will be expressed in us more and more strongly, but above it we will have to discern our common superstructure of love. When these two levels become expressed in their full might, they will give us the sensation of the entire depth of the eternal, perfect nature, making us equal to it.

Can you imagine how these great achievements will change man? On the one hand, there is hatred, repulsion, and separation from others; and in sports the aspiration is to win no matter what. On the other hand, there is love, at the same time, total dependence and friendship, as if you are competing with your beloved child.

You would happily lose to him on purpose. But here you don’t do that. Here you have to act on both of these levels without pretending; you have to do it for real. As a psychologist, can you imagine such discernments?

Dr. Ulianov: No, it’s pretty hard for me to imagine it.

Dr. Laitman: What a psychologically complex concept! One has to come out of oneself, this is what has to happen in a person. That is how he will enter the next level, ascend into a different system, a different dimension.

There are three levels in Nature: still, vegetative, and animate. We are evolved animals. But when we unite on this level and begin to rise above ourselves, we enter the “human” level, which we didn’t know before. This is the level of common harmony.

Dr. Ulianov: The enormous potential of this action is clear. I just don’t understand how this unification is supposed to happen. How can we do it?

Dr. Laitman: Through gradual upbringing. There is no other way. This is the challenge that Nature has placed before us. This is exactly why we are entering the inclusive crisis today. It has to teach us how to rise above ourselves while maintaining today’s level in everything.

Everything that is currently done on earth will remain. We don’t have to break anything. Of course, we will eliminate the harmful production. But our task is to raise ourselves above this world, above the physical actions through self-education, self-attainment, and the right upbringing.

Dr. Ulianov: One of the definitions of love is to receive pleasure from whatever gives the other person pleasure…

Dr. Laitman: In spite of my hatred for him! This hatred is not eliminated. Otherwise the tension would be removed from the love and you would have to quarrel to feel the love more intensely.

Dr. Ulianov: In this team of 22 players, during the break after 10 minutes of playing I have to think about how much pleasure my friend from the other team experienced?

Dr. Laitman: Not only that. You have to aspire to unite on the level of opposite physical actions and goals, as well as on the level of the inner actions and the goal.

Dr. Ulianov: In thought?

Dr. Laitman: Yes, in thought. This is exactly inner, creative activity by which man creates himself and raises himself above the physical world.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).

Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: There is one more type of game that has captivated hundreds of millions of people: gambling games, such as casinos and cards. Their popularity is constantly growing. Why? And what is dangerous about these games? In your school of integral, global upbringing, is there a place for venturesome games? And if not, why?

Dr. Michael Laitman: Competition is a good thing. It doesn’t matter with what or with whom you are competing—a roulette wheel, a slot machine, or other people. In any case, you enter a contest. That is, you wish to rise above a certain circumstance, phenomenon, or incident. You want to ascend and affirm yourself.

It’s very interesting to observe people who play. I spent an entire week in Las Vegas observing my wife, who went crazy over the games. At home she is a regular, normal grandmother. But when she found herself among the “one armed bandits,” she lost her head.

When a grown up woman with two university degrees, living at the other end of the world, very far away from Las Vegas, finds herself in this place, something unclear ignites in her, some strange force draws her to the risky game.

Together we decided that we could spend $50 an evening to play a game that costs 10 or 20 cents a shot. She played and I observed from the side, watching the human being in her disappear and turn into the same “one armed bandit.” A machine ends up playing with a machine, they compete, and there’s nothing more than that.

I use my wife as an example because she is a normal, level-headed woman, without any particular vices, very grounded and balanced. It’s simply astounding what takes place inside of us. A person has a need to rise above chance, above himself, above this machine, meaning to affirm himself.

And if we give a person the opportunity to compete for something that is good and useful for society, then he will be able to satisfy this necessity. It exists and it cannot be suppressed. Therefore, it’s necessary to give a person the opportunity to reflect, create, participate, win, and affirm himself. This is possible in the integral society because there, every one of us is a distinct individual.

At the same time, every one of us is just a cogwheel that is very small and has nothing special about it. But sometimes it starts to slow down or changes direction, causing itself to stand out from the others. By spinning harmoniously with everyone, it expresses itself to the utmost, and at the same time experiences fulfillment and satisfaction.

Integral upbringing will give a person the opportunity to find himself in the game called life. We will feel that we are constantly moving forward, and that like children, we are acting out and realizing a higher state, and behind it a new, higher state emerges. This enthralling adventure, a never-ending ascent, will be felt by every person.

People are looking for drugs and gambling games, ready to jump off a bridge into an abyss in search of intense sensations. A person will find all of this in the integral interaction with others because it holds astounding opportunities for self-realization. Then, today’s extremes won’t be something that really fulfills people.

Dr. Ulianov: If I understand you correctly, we will be able to realize the quality of risk-taking precisely through the constant change of states?

Dr. Laitman: Nature has built us in a way that the only way for us to fully and harmoniously realize ourselves is in integration. Then we won’t have to “let out steam” by getting drunk, getting into fights, or throwing stadium frenzies because there won’t be any unrealized necessities left. We have to see the real field of our activity in the integral connection. This is the field we were created for, the venue where we reveal and correct our innermost, darkest instincts.

The above points were taken from the book The Psychology of the Integral Society by Dr. Michael Laitman and Dr. Anatoly Ulianov. Also available as eBook (PDF, Kindle & ePub formats).