Seeking The Divine Presence

CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xiii AUTHOR’S NOTE xv INTRODUCTION xvii THE THREE PILLARS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE 1 SELF-TRANSFORMATION 5 The Progress Test 7 Divine Attributes 13 Humility 17 Generosity 22 The Joy Of Battle 27 The Dynamics Of Anger 33 A Spiritual Approach To Food 41 The Consciousness Of Compassion 47 Courage 52 Chayn - Grace 55 Everything Is From God 60 Fear Of Failure 67 The Strength Of Our Weakness 70 Clarity 74 Inner Contentment 78 Plodding On 83 Look To Yourself 87 The Spiritual Seeker 91 Be A Lion 96 REMEMBRANCE OF GOD 101 Immersed In The Divine Presence 103 Rest In God 107 Kavanah: Spiritual Concentration 111 Devekut: Attachment To God 117 Shaving The Mind 122 Light In A Windless Place 126 The Desire For God 129 Remember The Day Of Your Death 133 Alone 138 What Do You Want? 144 What Does God Want? The Path Of Renunciation 147 The Reverse Key 152 Guidance Through Divine Inspiration I 157 Guidance Through Divine Inspiration II: Between Heaven And Earth 164 EXPANSION OF CONSCIOUSNESS 173 The Expansion Of Consciousness 175 The Expansion Of Consciousness II: The Evolution Of Religion 180 Expansion Of Consciousness III: Freedom Of The Spiritual Realm 184 The Narrow Places 189 Unitive Consciousness 195 The Life Of Divine Service 201 The Law Of Spiritual Reciprocity 204 Emptiness And Compassion 208 God Is A Consuming Fire 212 We Are More Than The Body: Transcending The Consciousness Of Suffering 216 The Allure Of The Physical 221 The Taste Of God 225 Mind Journey 230 Infinite Oneness I 234 Infinite Oneness II: Love For God 240 Infinite Oneness III: Love For The Divinity In Every Human Being 246 Infinite Oneness IV: Love For All Paths That Lead To God 252 Infinite Oneness V: Nothing But God, Nothing But Love 256 HOLYDAYS 263 The High Holydays: A Living Presence 265 The Sukkah Of Leviathan 274 Sukkot: The Spiritual Journey 280 Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah: A Day Of Longing For God; A Day Of Living In God 284 Blinding Light 287 Purim: The Theater Of Life 291 Pesach: A Night Of Watching 296 Chag HaHerut – The Holyday Of Freedom 301 Higher Mind: The Vision Of The Red Sea 306 The Higher Israel: Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) 312 Shavuot: And God Spoke 319 Tisha B’av 325 FOOTNOTES 329 (from pages xi-xiii) The consciousness of compassion is more than just a prism through which we view the world; it is a source of great spiritual strength and power. The consciousness of compassion is a pillar that we can hold onto when the world around us is spinning out of control. Compassion acts like a balm to soothe our heart when we are filled with anger and rage, and like a stimulant to expand our minds when we are trapped in short sightedness and fear. The attribute of compassion is a tonic that will lift us up whenever we fall into depression and despair. The purpose of true compassion is to liberate us from our prejudices and ingrained behaviors. It works to release us from the desires of the body and bondage to physical existence. True compassion breaks down the concretized forms that have built up in our hearts and minds. It lifts us out of the confines of material awareness into the freedom of the soul. Compassion is the indwelling force vitalizing all of existence. The world was only created to manifest compassion. Sri Ramana Maharshi teaches that when the avatars or messianic souls in the Kingdom of Heaven hear the cry of humanity, they have no choice but to incarnate, because compassion is their very essence – the stuff out of which they were formed. It is wired into them like breathing, eating and sleeping are wired into our animal bodies.58 If we want to “become compassion” then it is vital that we strive to dwell in this consciousness every day, until it becomes an integral part of our being, like the pulse that beats in our heart and the blood that runs through our veins. This consciousness needs to become the filter through which we look at life and the medium through which we react to life’s events. It is the “ground of being” for the pain that we experience when we see others suffering - the anguish that we feel if we cannot bring it to an end. p. 50 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is the true raising of the sparks that is spoken of in the Kabbalah – the liberation of the Divine force that is locked in our personality traits. There is no greater spiritual work than this. If we can succeed at this work of self-transformation in ourselves, then we will become a force that can help others to accomplish this work. We will become part of the larger effort to transform the manner in which people relate to each other all over the world. We will become part of a process of transforming eons-long patterns of human interaction - of changing the way in which human beings live together on this planet. We will help turn the hearts and minds of humanity away from their selfish personal desires towards the fulfillment of the Eternal Divine Plan. As Swami Vivekananda once said: “Men, men – these are wanted…strong, vigorous, believing young men [and women], sincere to the backbone, are wanted. A hundred such and the world will be revolutionized.”96 Let us be like a lion in facing our individual struggles. Let us be like a lion in loving and caring for other human beings. Let us be like a lion in our fearlessness in the face of life’s difficulties. Let us be like a lion in our mighty embrace of the spiritual path. One of Sri Ramana Maharshi’s favorite stories was a parable about an elephant that sees a lion in a dream and is so startled by this dream encounter that he awakens. Let us all strive to meet the Divine lion that lies inside each of us and awaken from the long dream of the little self.97 p.99 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Kabbalah, the left hand path is called the path of din (judgment) and the right hand path is called the path of chesed (mercy). The middle path is the path of harmony and balance, where the left and right hand paths are attuned and aligned to each center or chakra, joining together to form one united whole. The middle path is called the path of the Shechinah, because the Divine Presence only dwells where there is harmony and balance, where there is unity, wholeness and peace. When we rest in God and remain centered in the core of our being, God can work through us. If we are steady and at peace, then God is able to reach us and guide us, in order to help us through the many crises in our life. The middle path is also the path along which the Shechinah energy flows, the primal creative energy (kundalini). Only as we purify our personality and align our centers is this powerful energy able to rise up through our spiritual body and fill us with God’s power and light. p. 107 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Torah is not static; there is a continuum to its revelation and understanding. We can only relate to the Torah from the place where we are, with the eyes and the consciousness that we possess at any given moment. We understand the Torah in accordance with the point that we have reached in our spiritual evolution. It is like the theory of relativity, where as we approach the speed of light, our whole experience changes and the nature of reality becomes entirely different than the reality that we perceive when we move at normal speed. This is because the normal laws of the physical world no longer function; a new set of laws governs this reality.