“In the Hebrew and Chinese languages, the word crisis is the same as the word birthplace and opportunity, respectively. Such ancient cultures hold the knowledge that even the most terrible plight can turn into a blessing, if we know how to change our perspective.”
Recent tensions with Russia and North Korea, alongside a host of worrying phenomena are signaling that we have come to a dangerous crossroads. If we wish to avoid another world war, we must stop and look at our situation from a higher perspective.
Read on to discover how we got here and the answer to this predicament.
It is no wonder that the word “surreal” has been in such frequent use of late. Things are happening in the world that are difficult to fathom: Intense social division, the terrible heat wave, the economic uncertainty and disappearance of jobs, the searing numbers of people overdosing on prescription drugs and the tensions with Russia and North Korea that are signaling the stark possibility of another world war, to name a few! Something’s not going right with our world. Or is it?
In the Hebrew and Chinese languages, the word crisis is the same as the word birthplace and opportunity, respectively. Such ancient cultures hold the knowledge that even the most terrible plight can turn into a blessing, if we know how to change our perspective.
From Crisis to a New Birth
Let’s then take a look at human existence from a broader perspective.
Millions of years ago this earth was formed; rocks, plants and then animals evolved—a miraculous event to take place in a space full of lifeless stars. Then we humans came along, creatures who like no other species on the planet were able to speak and manipulate their environment to their needs and wants. What an amazing development! Yet, not much time has passed in evolutionary terms, and this most auspiciously evolved species turned out to be in big trouble. Dangerous to the environment and to itself, it now seems on the verge of self-destruction.
How could nature have produced such an illogical creation that would destroy the environment and create such an imbalance? In all the perfection and harmony of nature, how could this highest of creatures be so cumbersome and inadequate?
Of this the great sage Yehuda Ashlag wrote, that humanity is like a fruit that is still unripe, that “we have yet to realize ourselves and become like a beautiful fruit that has fully matured (Writings of Baal Hasulam).” Indeed if one tried to eat a fruit before it has ripened, it would seem bitter, hard and useless, but upon the completion of its process of maturity, it would turn sweet, nourishing and purposeful.
Could we be at the stage of bitter hardship because there is yet a process of development we need to undergo? And if so, what do the stages of our ripening look like?
The Highest Species On Earth
Modern science can give us hints as to where we need to focus our attention to understand how to proceed.
Quantum physics, network science and Social Psychology have been pointing, from various angles, to the fact that we are more connected than we realize, affecting each other’s choices and behaviors without even knowing. A host of new knowledge is adding up to show, that we have only the illusion of separateness. In truth we are connected on all levels, and are an inherent part of the superorganism that is humanity.
When we consider this notion, then it should become clear that any action driven by self-interest that does not take into consideration the well-being of the whole is a self-destructive act, rippling negative effects into our lives on all levels. Seeing as this is more or less the default for people in our modern times, with competition for money and success pitting us against one another, then it is no wonder that humanity looks like a body out of balance and even dying.
The answer to this predicament would then be to begin to heal our separation and educate ourselves about our interconnected nature so that we would behave accordingly.
This is the missing step in our evolution—we need to consciously realize our interconnectedness, while other species have done so instinctively.
All You Need is Love
This understanding is age-old. The idea of oneness has existed in humanity for millennia. However, lacking the right method, we have never been able to truly realize it. Simple as this truth may be, we are still living in broken societies.
Moreover, today our world too has become globalized and we are directly experiencing our interdependency to increasing extents on many different levels. Our economies, the environment, our national safety and even our emotions and personal well being have all been shown to be interdependent by scientific research and by our own life experience.
Yet in all of these different aspects of our lives, we are experiencing conflict. This is precisely due to the opposition between our globalized, interconnected state, and the me-centered mindset, competition and strife that have become so dominant in our culture.
The time to change our path is now, for we’ve reached the stage in which without learning how to connect positively, we can no longer sustain ourselves. When governments, organizations and educational systems begin to invest in connection, we will finally see a historical breakthrough in humanity’s evolution. Until then, the option is available to each and every person, to see that whatever befalls you, it is only an invitation to connect.
