Suffering as Retention of the Past: Part 1

In Kabbalist thinking, one of the most pervasive means of creating suffering, particularly for oneself, is to become or remain focused in the past. Extensive preoccupation with what was or what has been creates an enormous distortion in our perception of life. We end up seeing the events around us in a way that is generally inappropriate and deceptive; therefore in a manner which can be very destructive.

Just as physically, we cannot be in two places at the same time, on a psychological level the same holds true. The cognitive mind can only be either in one place or another, not in both simultaneously. So, if our primary attention is frequently preoccupied with the past, it is simply not in the present. To be too consciously centered on what was is to be displaced from the reality of present time and experience. This displacement causes great suffering and psycho-emotional anguish from the Kabbalist perspective.

When we think too frequently and too intensely about what has happened to us in our lives, what takes shape subconsciously is the emergence of a specific life picture predicated on the past. This focus on what was, creates within us a fixed way of looking at ourselves and the world, which can become our whole frame of reference in life. By overly focusing on the past, we give more and more energy to creating a specific view of our life based on was rather than what actually is.

The Kabbalah sees the Tree of Life not only as the structure of creation, but also as the process of creation. The two dimensions, process and structure, are two sides of the same reality. What that means simply is that space-time and movement are all the same thing manifesting simultaneously. Without space-time there is no movement. Without motion, there is no time-space. Reality does not occur otherwise. Reality is the Present, no more no less.

The Kabbalist view is that Creation itself is the Now, the Present as we experience it.

The Tree of Life is the Eternal Moment playing itself out. The past and the future are not reality per se, only aspects of the Now. They are not realities in and of themselves, because our experience of life takes place in the present. Past and Future are just dimensions of that experience.

What we experience in life is not only happening to us, but it is also being recorded and internalized within. That process of storing and preserving our experiences is critical in ordering, evaluating and understanding ourselves and our relationship to life.

The problem arises when we move beyond those boundaries and get fixated mentally and emotionally on what has happened, instead of on what is actually transpiring. In Kabbalah, this shift creates great distortion, because what was does not necessarily constitute what currently is.

The present is reality. The past is merely a segment of a much broader picture. To focus on the past is to be centered on a fragment of reality, rather than on the now, reality itself. To do so produces a displacement of consciousness and with it tremendous distortion, damage and suffering that we are creating for ourselves.

Rabbi Fisdel maintains a Spiritual Counseling practice in Albany, CA  working with individuals of all spiritual backgrounds and traditions, both locally and long distance. Steven has been counseling, teaching and writing for over 30 years.

www.classicalkabbalist.org

The Internal Process of Redemption

In the Tree of Life, the Kabbalist model of existence, the very center of human experience is the Sefirah of Tiferet, the level of the heart. The heart is seen as the core of our conscious connection with the world and with our lives in it. The heart is the psycho-emotional nexus that serves as the soul’s platform for being present in physical reality and acting out life purpose.

In other words, as sentient beings in the world, the Kabbalah sees the heart as our full conscious presence. We are totally present and conscious in life, only if we are operating effectively from the heart. Our experience in the world, our ability to receive from it and our work within it are all based on the combination of mind and emotion operating together from the heart perspective.

Full human consciousness in the world is understood to be the melding and balance of mind and emotion, which occur at the level of the heart. Being fully human means to be heart based and centeredness in the heart involves an internal balancing of thought and emotion.

The Kabbalist view is that one’s soul engages life through the heart. To be fully oneself and be present in life requires clarity, which in turn involves experiencing day-to-day existence specifically from an unencumbered psycho-emotional position. That is, being balanced mentally and emotionally in the heart centers us  and makes life a clear,  unobstructed reality. It is a way of being in the world and within ourselves at the same time to the highest degree possible. Being centered in Tiferet is the path of open heartedness, acceptance and compassion.

It is not hard for us to be thrown off course in life, if our heart energy is adversely effected, because we have lost our natural, internal center of gravity. Whatever encumbers or burdens the heart immediately impairs our ability to function as ourselves in the world. What shackles the heart is imbalance and the disruption of focus.

In order to understand this, we need to remember that the heart level, Tiferet is flanked on the left and right by four other Sefirot. Surrounding Tiferet are the Sefirot of Hesed, Gevurah, Netzakh and Hod. These are the forces of mind and emotion, in human terms. When functioning properly they support and give added expression to the heart’s energy. When out of balance, however, healthy psycho-emotional function is either thrown off track or worse, distorted.

Overemphasis or excessive focus on any or all of these levels can create a bondage of the heart, a restriction of the heart’s function and a distinct loss of psychological and emotional equilibrium. A heavy concentration of energy in one Sefirah leads to a depletion of energy in another, which invariably creates serious impairment and resulting malfunction, first in the heart and subsequently in the whole of one’s conscious existence. One’s life is no longer optimal. One is not free to be oneself, because the condition of balance has been undermined.

For example, taking on the concerns of others constantly is a distortion within Hesed. Excessive concern with one’s own issues is a malfunction in Gevurah. Not being able to sufficiently distinguish one’s own emotions from those of other people is a problem in Netzakh and harsh, incessant, internal self-judgment is a curse created in Hod. These are all distortions within the realms surrounding Tiferet. They have very detrimental effects that are all constrictive, impairing our ability to be truly heart centered and thereby fully oneself in life.

If we cannot fully live our lives, unable to be ourselves because the heart center is damaged, then we as individuals are under very serious constraint. Our ability to completely express who we are is being compromised due to the malfunction at our center. So, to a large extent our ability to fulfill our life purpose is under siege and we are in battle within ourselves. We are imprisoned by our own malfunctioning system.

How does one emancipate Self from the bondage of psychological and emotional imbalance and the chains it places on our being? The answer is through the process of Internal Redemption.

The basic meaning of the term “redeem” is to rescue something or someone through the act of purchase. In Kabbalist thought, one of the chief connotations of “redeem” is to restore someone to his or her original state. Energy therefore is exerted to rectify a state of denigration and re-establish the person’s integrity.

Redemption is not the healing process, though healing is often a decided effect. Redemption is not emancipation. Becoming free is the platform on which redemption can take place, but the redemption itself is the process of restoring an individual’s freedom of complete self-expression. Redemption is the return of a positive sense of self and the re-instatement of full function as a soul operating in the world.

When our heart has been burdened, weighed down, constrained or shut down, redemption is the process of readjusting the balance between thought and feeling. It is the realignment of the mind and the emotions, so that they become a united, inner harmony, a balanced ebb and flow of psycho-emotional interplay. That is the sign of a healthy, heart-based individual, who is fully and consciously present in the world and in the moment.

So, how is this accomplished?

The key is in the center pillar of the Tree. To regain the centrality of the heart, to bring back a reality of heart-based existence, requires reversing the displacement of energy that has taken place.

To engage the areas of overload directly either will exacerbate or possibly complicate the problem. At best, if a solution can be created by working through the problem areas, it will be a complex one. One is dealing with a bewildering array of variables and interactions that occur at this level, between Hesed, Gevurah, Netzakh and Hod.

To effectively bring Tiferet back into balance primarily involves drawing on the spiritual plane and allowing ones own inner light and wisdom to emanate down from the depths of one’s being, from the hidden realm of Keter, Khochmah and Binah.

The spiritual force of the soul, when one deliberately connects with it, will reach the heart directly and re-align it with life purpose as a matter of course. The resulting restoration of the heart will then redistribute the energy and bring all of the surrounding Sefirot back to normal function and harmony. The soul has to be called to redeem the heart. The heart redeemed, then rectifies the energy balance and flow within the surrounding realms. It simply does not work the other way around.

As the Kabbalists would say, this is a great mystery and one should ponder it very carefully.

Rabbi Fisdel

April 2011

 

Gratitude as a Response to Love

In the Kabbalah, one of the ways that a person develops his or her character is through  taking on “middot” (spiritual qualities). The process involves that of taking a positive moral attribute, focusing on it consistently and incorporating it consciously into daily life.  By actively working with a particular attribute over a period of time, one not only begins to resonate with it on deeper and deeper levels, but is gradually able to assimilate it into their being and translate it into their way of life.

One of the most important attributes that a person can possess in life that is essential to spiritual development and the service of the divine is that of gratitude.  To gain an appropriate understanding of gratitude, one needs to realize that gratitude is actually an interplay between the forces of Hesed and Gevurah  (love and courage).

In the Tree of Life, the level of Hesed is understood to be love in the full, universal sense.  This is the level of complete expansiveness and embrace. The counterpart of Hesed, the level of Gevurah, courage,  is the realm of judgment, discernment and inner thought.

The interaction between the two levels, that of Hesed and that of Gevurah is the reality that produces relationship and generates energy.

In Kabbalah, there is a very intimate connection between energy and relationship. When you have two forces that stand face to face to each other in a relationship, energy is produced. When energy is generated, it fuels the relationship. When Hesed, love, expands outward it must be accepted, contained and held in order for it to find expression and fulfillment. This is the function of Gevurah, inner focus.  One loves in order to be loved. One is supported by being supportive. Thus, there is a genuine reciprocity.

The quality of gratitude has dimensions in both realms.   Gratitude originates in Gevurah and is expressed in Hesed. It is a process from inner to outer.   Gratitude is a response to goodness that has been received. For example, a person that you know realizes that you are having a hard time and brings you a gift to cheer you up. The act is unsolicited and very welcome. It is well thought out and coming from a place of the heart.

The appropriate response to such a heartfelt act is gratitude. From the level of Gevurah, we recognize the nature of what is being offered to us. We accept the kindness and we internalize it. If we have cultivated the quality of  gratitude, it gets expressed through Hesed, which encompasses the  dimensions of appreciation, gratefulness and joy. Because this individual has reached out to us, gratitude is the means by which we extend  our light and love back in response.

The energy being formed by an act of loving kindness, extended, accepted and appreciated nurtures a relationship between the two parties involved. It bonds them together. There is, in essence, a great interdependency between the giver and the receiver. For an act of love and caring to take place, it must be generated on one side by genuine concern and received with heartfelt sincerity, on the other.

An act of love is the extension of self, coming from the heart level. Gratitude is the opening of the heart by the recipient. The common denominator here is what is happening in the heart. The transmission of love and concern on the part of the giver is an  intentionally directed expansiveness, originating at the level of Hesed. The recognition and acceptance of that love on the part of the recipient is the acknowledgment that takes place within Gevurah.

True acknowledgment of the good we receive comes in the form of gratefulness.  Through gratitude, we recognize the goodness and the light that is being directed toward us. We are giving the love sent to us a validity first by holding it, then by internalizing it and finally, by being truly grateful for it.

Expressing gratitude is a very primal and necessary quality in life. When we express how grateful we truly are, we are moving the energy of the love and light we’ve received back to Hesed, its origin. We are bringing the energy full circle. To contain and accept the love being offered us is not enough, because relationships are reciprocal and the reciprocity is what creates energy.

Love received, but not reciprocated because of a lack of gratitude, loses a fair proportion of its strength.  Energy without support diminishes. That is the law of resistance. However, love that is sent to back toward its source because it is being reinforced by the light of heartfelt gratitude is magnified exponentially.

This is so, because without gratitude the light is received but not enhanced. No energy is being added to the original  impulse. Hence the energy is constrained and diminished. When one is truly grateful and the gratitude comes from the heart, the energy of the recipient is added to the original energy.  The two are bound together.

What happens is, the act of responding with gratitude  draws on one’s own energy, melds it to the love received, thereby magnifying the light and it’s force as  the energy is being returned to source.

So, in the cycle of love, gratitude and response, the movement is from the level of Hesed to Gevurah and back to Hesed. This cyclical movement of energy creates a bond of a relationship between giver and receiver. The bond, in response, energizes the relationship.  The whole gestalt is enhanced. Both parties in the relationship benefit.

A relationship has to exist between the two in order for the original concern and love to be directed toward the recipient, as well as for the recipient to be in a position to receive the energy. The energy created by the response of gratitude deepens the connection between both parties. It is good to care. It is good to receive the love. It is good to strengthen the love with the warmth and humility of gratitude.

This cycle of light, moving from Hesed to Gevurah and back, deepens the relationship between giver and receiver through a process that intensifies the energy that was set into motion. Love, strengthened through recognition and gratitude, upon its return, fortifies the bonds of relationship; the result for both individuals involved being personal growth and spiritual evolution. For as a result of this cycle and the accompanying process, the levels of Hesed (loving kindness) and Gevurah (strength) have been  significantly enlarged in both parties.

In relationship, what happens with one party has a direct effect upon the other and their response, in turn, creates a certain unity of experience  between them. The overall effect of their interaction, specifically when it is cyclical, impacts both parties and frequently in a similar manner.

This is particularly true in relationships in which the intention is outreach and bonding. The interaction between acts of love and concern and the response of gratitude, both magnifies the energy involved, as well as produces pronounced growth in the areas of Hesed, extension of self toward others and Gevurah, self understanding.

Understand that through the force of gratitude, both Hesed and Gevurah are fortified and stimulated to  develop, simultaneously, within each of the individuals separately and within the relationship itself, in general. That is the great power and benefit of  cultivating and incorporating within yourself the ability to be consistently grateful.

Rabbi Fisdel

March 3, 2011

Uprooting Idolatry

The actual practice of worshiping foreign gods passed out of existence in Israel at the end of the biblical period. The sin of idolatry on that level has ceased to be an issue in Jewish spiritual life millennia ago. Yet, idolatry still exists in different forms and continues to plague human life. This is true even among our own people. There are modern forms of idolatry, just as insidious as the original.

The worship of other gods entails an abandonment of God. One’s alligence cannot be in two mutually exclusive places at the same time. To put one’s faith and trust anywhere other than in God is the supreme act of idolatry. Such a course of action is to make a deliberate break with God. Idolatry is a repudiation of God’s will, a desertion of the Mitzvot and a direct breach with the Covenant made between us and God at Mount Sinai.

We as Jews undertook to fulfill a covenant with God when we stood at Mount Sinai. We accepted the responsibility of living our lives in accordance with God’s Law, the Torah. The very first two commandments tie us to a complete acceptance and allegiance to God and His Mitzvot. To place faith and trust anywhere else is to abrogate the covenant with God and to repudiate His will and our relationship to Him.

The Dead Sea Scrolls refer to idolatry as “the idolatry of the heart”. It defines this type of idolatry in various ways. It defines it primarily, as “the worship of gold and silver’. The scrolls see materialism as a core evil in human experience. If one focuses their life efforts and their daily concerns heavily on material possession, if one places their trust and hope in financial security, the acquisition of wealth becomes the emotional center of their lives. It dominates their lives and their thinking as a result.

The spiritual center of such individuals is linked to materialism, not to God. They worship gold and silver. In modern terms, this means that such people are emotionally tied to material possession, and driven to continually acquire wealth and strive continually for financial security. Their faith is put in the illusion of power and security that wealth produces.

Our focus as individuals should be on developing our potential as unique creations. We need to be focusing our lives on who we can become and how we can fully express who we are, rather than on increasing what we have, so we can feel more safe. We need to be more secure within ourselves and less concerned with the illusion of external security. This is the issue of faith.

Where does one put their faith?

There are two basic possibilities. One can put their faith in the outside world. One can place their fate in the hands of external forces and seek to gain wealth, power, influence, position, external structure and physical security or one can put their faith in God.

One can seek within and strive to connect with the Creator and to do God’s will.
One can choose to place his/her faith in themselves and rely on the inner security of knowing who you are and that God will assist you, if you call upon God in truth and sincerety. That is the biblical message.

The scrolls also define the ramifications of idolatry. They point out, that idolatry is a separation from the will of God. It leads an individual to setting himself up as God. He or she begins to think that they are able to determine what is right or wrong, solely according to their own viewpoint or their own intellectual perspective. They become judge and jury for everyone around them, as if they were omniscient. They set themselves up as the final arbiters of what should be. This leads, according to the scrolls, away from God to self-worship.

Self-worship, the worship of an abstract concept, and the worship of material self-interest, all have ample illustration in our century. All have proven their power and their enormous destructiveness. One needs only mention the course of direction taken by communism, fascism and the various ardent, parochial forms of nationalism, that have dominated this century, to realize the tremendous damage and monumental pain that is inflicted on humanity, when faith is put somewhere other than in God.

The manifestations that emerge from such an “ idolatry of the heart” are a pattern of arrogance, hatred, vengeance and violence. Idolatry, in this sense is a primary source of evil. When one puts their faith in armed force, or seek security in the possession of land, or place the fate of an entire people in the hands of a political ideology or movement, they are forsaking God. They are yielding to fear. They are assuming that force, be it military, political or economic has the ultimate power to save. How much hatred, violence, bloodshed and death have been perpetrated in the relentless, emotion-laden quest for land? Has it produced security? Has it brought peace? No. Rather, it has brought suffering, misery and genocide.

The truth is that land is not security. Land is not identity. Land is not survival. Land is not home. Land by itself is just space and shelter. Without God’s blessing, it is nothing. The Bible states that if we seek to do the will of God, uphold the covenant and fulfill the Mitzvot, God will bless the land. If we trust in God, he will guide us and protect us.

But, if we go after our own hearts and our own eyes, God will make the land desolate. That is, if we abandon God and seek to do what we want to strictly according to our own drives, lusts and reasons, the land will dry up and become a barren curse. God will abandon us as we have abandoned Him.

Israel is a people. The Land of Israel is a dwelling place. The two should not be confused. We should have our priorities straight. The people of Israel are to be a light unto the nations. We have done that for four thousand years. We have done that with a homeland and we have done that without one. Our primary relationship is to be with God and to fulfill His word. The Torah commands us to respect other people and to uphold the sanctity of life. We must work toward mutual understanding and respect with those around us.

All people are our brethren. Since all people are children of God, made in the divine image, then reaching a level of mutual respect and understanding is central to fulfilling the Mitzvot. The entire law of the Torah makes it crystal clear, that we fulfill our obligation to God, primarily through morality, justice, and service to other people. In the Torah, justice is the cardinal principle of divine law and it makes no distinction between human beings or nations.

God has returned us to Zion. We are secure in the Land of Israel and we are blessed. It is our obligation to place our faith in God, in His Law and in His promise. We must obey the commandments and strive to serve all people through justice, compassion and understanding. To do otherwise is to violate the very core of the Torah and repudiate the Covenant of Sinai. We cannot allow ourselves to yield to fear and place our faith in territorial acquisition. We cannot yield to a messianic furor driven by desperation. We cannot seek to isolate ourselves from the world physically and emotionally by creating a fortress Israel.

This will not bring redemption. It will not bring security. It will not bring peace. It will bring self-destruction and devastation. Should we as a people take such a route, surrendering faith in God for faith in something else other than Him, even if that is the Land and the Messiah, God will not stand by us and He will not stand idly. The Jewish state was destroyed twice before. Once, through the sin of idolatry, once through the sins of ardent messianists who tried to force God’s hand and bring redemption on their terms. Both paths lead to disaster.

It is imperative we heed the lesson now and not bring Israel to ruin once again. We need to learn to serve God through justice and righteousness and to abandon the idolatry of self-interest, fear and doubt. We need to open ourselves up and understand that true faith is connection to God and service to all of humanity. Anything less is a breach of our obligations as Jews. Anything less is not Judaism. It is Idolatry.

Rabbi Fisdel

www.classicalkabbalist.org