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| Mystical Musical Meditations in Jerusalem |
SURVIVING AND THRIVING - Part 1 - Coping with Personal Exile
1. Yaakov our forefather was very afraid to bring his clan
of seventy souls down to Egypt. He knew that Egypt was the antithesis to the
vision and the way of life that he, his father and grandfather spent their
lives nurturing. Yaakov knew better than anyone what a life of suffering can do
to a person, no less an entire nation. G-d spoke to Yaakov at this crucial
point and comforted him with 2 promises [Vayigash 46\3-4]:
a. “...don't fear...I will make of you a great nation.”
b. “I'll descend with you to Egypt and I'll bring you up
[out of there]...”
We can understand how the second promise would comfort Yaakov.
No matter what darkness and despair the people would face, their Father in
Heaven would always be with them. The first promise, however, needs more
understanding.
2. On the surface, it seems that G-d's first promise to
Yaakov could be compared to the following analogy: A spy is assigned
by his country's secret intelligence service to venture into the most
hostile country on earth at the constant risk of his life for an
unforeseen length of time. He's promised that when he finally succeeds in his
mission he'll be rewarded handsomely and will be showered with honor and fame.
Surely that future reward just wouldn't be enough to allay
his constant mortal fears. The comparison to Yaakov's situation is
obvious. However when we look deeper and begin to fathom who Yaakov really is
and his spiritual legacy that our nation inherited, then we can understand
how G-d's promises provide precisely the necessary ingredients to comfort
Yaakov and relieve his fears.
3. Yaakov instilled into our nation’s collective
subconscious the awareness that every minute of our lives is meaningful. All
that we experience whether painful or otherwise is G-d-sent. Everything coming
at us in life is there to build us up rather than to knock us down.
The Kabbalistic term for this outlook is Tikun or rectification.
The Baal Shem Tov teaches that the more real we are with the
fact that every seemingly haphazard event is specifically directed at
each person as a guiding light towards one's Tikun, the more real we
are with our being constantly Divinely Guided, the more we actually draw
down this reality into our lives.
It's our choice, it's all either coincidental
or every precious minute becomes a customized and personalized
opportunity to turn us into the best person we can be.
Recently, the Dahlai Lama, who is considered by many to be a
very sophisticated man of the spirit, requested of a select delegation of
Jewish scholars to answer for him a very important question. He asked
them what is the Jewish people's amazing secret of survival
through all these 1000's of years of persecution and exile. I don't know what
they answered him. However I believe that to the extent that we understand
and internalize the message of Tikun, we can provide the ultimate answer.
4. How can we begin to open up this type of consciousness in
our own personal lives, in the midst of our own sufferings and personal exiles?
How can we see the Tikun of all of our life's experiences? How can our
lives be different than that of the miserable spy, whose payoff is
only at the end? How can we receive that payoff all the time and thereby become
great individuals and a great nation?
Here's the tool:
a. Jump into a real or imaginary Mikveh (any body
of natural running water used for spiritual purification) before
your first dunk, call up to your mind any negative experience that you
recently had and try to feel for the most painful part of the experience.
b. Now think to yourself that this painful negative
experience is the very best thing that could happen to you and any other
substitute experience just wouldn't be as good. This outlook is based
on the teachings of our sages that all that Hashem does and sends our way
is for the best.
c. Now, dunk.
d. Next, in your mind, complete the following phrase, “the
reason why this is the best thing for me is because______ “ then
dunk, and whatever answer first comes into your mind will probably be a
very good indicator of your specific Tikun.
e. Carry on with your other experiences one at a
time as described above.
SURVIVING AND THRIVING - Part 2 - Infinite Empowerment Meditations
1. Discover your Core motivation.
A. Ask yourself what is your
motivation for doing what you are presently doing (eating ,
walking, working, etc)
B. When you discover what it
is, see it as if it is already done, and that you already own that desired
motivation, and express gratitude for it.
C. Once you
have projected owning the motivation, ask yourself what more do you want,
and project owning that as well, and keep going in this fashion until you
arrive at your core state. Your core state is where there is nowhere deeper to
go, and where you are all lit up. Some example core states would be “a revealer
of Hashem” or “an Infinite empowerer” or “the benevolent one” or “the fixer”etc.
2. Project to the end of the year
A. Project yourself into the future, to the end of the year
B. Feel the elation and satisfaction of having been
able to live an entire year in your core state, and how all that you became and
accomplished was from this core state, and as a result of it.
C. Now see specifically what you accomplished this year. See
how many of these accomplishments were beyond your original capacity at
the beginning of the year.
D. Now see specifically HOW you accomplished what
you accomplished. Take note of as many hows as you can gather.
E. Now see how all that you accomplished was not
your own doing, but rather what Hashem did for you and through you. See how the
more that you got yourself out of the way and brought Hashem into the way, the
more you miraculously got what you sought.
3. Come back to the present
A. Now that you have projected and
created a future roadmap, start walking down that road.
B. Walk down that road in your Core State.
C. Walk down that road Infinitely Empowered.
D. Walk down that road getting yourself out of the way and
allowing Hashem to make it all happen for you.
E. Walk down that road in amazement, amazed at
how all that you projected is manifesting in G-d’s own way and in
G-d’s own time, with your Divinely-guided assistance.
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