Dr. Anatoly Ulianov: A few decades ago Johan Huizinga, a cultural historian and philosopher, published a book titled, Homo Ludens (Man the Player), which became a kind of a cult-book. After its publication, people started talking a lot about the role of games in the development of man and life in general. So what is a “game”?

Dr. Michael Laitman: The extensive influence of games on human development has been known since ancient times. We like to play. And practically speaking, we spend most of our lives playing. Even my pre-dissertation examination in philosophy included a question on games.

Games are everywhere, including in math and in Nature. Games have a very important role in the development of animals and even plants. The element of playing is present in any transformation, in any forward movement from one state to another.

We observe the elements of a game even on the level of cellular development, the development of organism, and within living organisms.

No growth or development is possible without the presence of several possibilities. there always has to be a specific choice that is played out and made, and this choice is always made through playing. This can be explained using probability theory, mathematical theory, and others. Meaning, we see that Nature is playing.

Dr. Ulianov: Nevertheless, there is a notion that games are related only to childhood, and when a person grows up it’s inappropriate for him to play because he has to be more serious.

Dr. Laitman: Unfortunately, there is indeed such a notion. But of course, this is a dull perception of the world. When a person stops playing, he stops developing.

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).

“If we create an environment that has the qualities of bestowal and love, it will be just like a mother.” – Dr. Michael Laitman

Dr. Laitman: In principle, this is what the great commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” talks about. You were instinctively made to feel what a mother is – the safest, kindest place in the world. You might already be a grownup, but you still instinctively aspire to this feeling just like a child.

So make the world be like that!

Dr. Ulianov: People really do long for it. What you are describing sounds wonderful, but it seems unrealistic.

Dr. Laitman: That means we have to think about how to make it happen. Besides, our nature obligates us to achieve this anyhow. The world is now starting to be revealed as an integral, global system. What does that mean? It means that the world is forcing us to treat each other the same as our mothers treated us. Then, together we will acquire precisely this state of being “in the mother’s womb.”

Dr. Ulianov: Are you saying that the globalization that scares people is actually a “large, loving mom” coming our way?

Dr. Laitman: This is a revolution, and how we go through it depends entirely on us. We can either go through it by th good path and joint efforts, understanding where we are going, or we will go through it completely disorientated, like a child who has lost its mother. Nature will force us to create a society that corresponds exactly to the image of our mother, Nature, “Mother Nature.”

Dr. Ulianov: Usually, mothers take it very hard when a child acquires independence, when his need to be next to her diminishes.

Dr. Laitman: In the ideal upbringing, when a child starts wishing to separate from the mother, to the extent that he desires it, he should build a surrounding environment, which replaces his mother, and gradually transfer her function to the society around him.

Nature has arranged things so a child will separate from the mother. This is inevitable. We just have to make the surrounding world replace the mother for every child, but precisely to the degree that the child has the right attitude toward the surrounding world.

A mother accepts her child however he is. He is hers. And to the world, he is “the world’s” or “not the world’s” depending on how correctly he treats the world. We have to create an environment that teaches the child the right attitude toward the world. Then the world will replace his mother for him.

The mother is the mother for the child’s body, while the world is the mother of the human being in a person, when he forms the right image out of himself. To the degree that he is “not yet a person,” meaning to the extent that he does not live in bestowal and love for others, the world will relate toward him differently, not as a mother.

Dr. Ulianov: One of the definitions of a psychological disorder is hypersensitivity to oneself and a lack of sensitivity to the outside world. If we create this structure, will we raise healthy children in that sense?

Dr. Laitman: Most importantly, they will be healthy in the spiritual sense. And naturally, it will be expressed in their physical well-being.

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).

Instructor In Regular Education:

• One who instructs. Meaning, there are clear instructions and the instructor is in charge of making sure that they are observed to the letter.
• An instructor is a rigid, military notion.

Educator In Integral Education:

• The opposite of an instructor in regular education.
• Gives a person a chance to find everything out on his/her own, to attain, touch, smell, and taste everything, and then to reach his/her own conclusion independently.
• Helps the person take on a different image.
• An educator is a more flexible notion than an instructor.

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).

Instructors cannot tend to like some children more than others. If they do, then they are not instructors. Also, we must instill an absolutely integral perception of the group and the world in the children. Someone can’t be better than someone else! We were all created the same by nature, we just have to learn to use our inclinations and qualities correctly. this is a necessary condition for integral intercaction. This is what nature demands of us.

Precisely because we are so different, the connection between us produces such a multifaceted, beautiful world. So we should never cut out anything from a person just because we think it is improper. Under any circumstances, we mustn’t tie anyone to a “procrustean bed” of some standard.

The only standard that exists is to give every person the right upbringing. Then he will find his right place in society, an we will have the proper mosaic: a harmonious society.

Q: So my like or dislike toward someone is just an expression of my own problems?

A: No, it shouldn’t be there at all. If it is present, that person cannot be an instructor. He has to constantly control himself and work on this.

Q: How should he work on it?

A: He must work on himself individually, as well as with other instructors, to learn to treat the world integrally. Integrally means that in my attitude toward the world, I don’t divide people by any external attributes. I initially see them – and myself – as created correctly, and we just have to connect the right way. Then everything will turn out right.

You will see that there is nothing harmful in any person, whatever inclinations he may have, provided they are used correctly. These are the fundamental principles of an integral society, and I think humanity will understand them.

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).

Goal of Excursions for Children According to the Integral Method:

The children should associate themselves with the person or the phenomenon we show them, both positively and negatively. They should feel involved. Then we will have achieved a positive effect, even by visiting a prison, for example. A person wanted to steal something or to break some law, and this is what happened to him as a result.

Excursion Format:

1. Before the excursion – briefing: Before the trip we hold a briefing, where we show and tell the children what they will be experiencing.
2. At the excursion – videotaped explanation & experience: Let’s say that children went to a hospital and saw some negative phenomenon. How is this information processed and how are the conclusions drawn? At the hospital, a doctor or a special tour guide explains to us where we are, and what happened to whom. He takes us to see the hospitalized children and tells us how they are being treated and what is happening to them. The children themselves also talk about what happened to them. We record all of this on video and every child takes his own small notes. We even prepare white robes for them, and generally, all of this is done in an attractive, intriguing way.
3. After the excursion – discussion: When we come back, we start discussing this entire process, but from a broader perspective: Why does the hospital exist, how does it work, what do the different doctors specialize in, how do the children get there, and so on.

But most importantly, they also see the benefit of the entire hospital staff, the doctors, nurses, and attendants, as well as the medical drugs, and so on. We show them how humanity depends on various professions and forms of activity, and how all of this comes down to helping people. But on the other hand, they see that a person has to take care of himself so he won’t end up in a hospital and become a burden for other people who now have to take care of him.

We have to think about what we can do so we don’t become a burden on other people. This is already a correct conclusion: When you want to climb somewhere dangerous, first think about the fact that not only will you break a leg, but other people will have to take care of you. And this is a serious “weight” to carry. This is a good conclusion to make.

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).