What in life is a mystery?
Living is the mystery and the adventure.
We are living a story where we have the starring role and that, at the end of your life, you get the prize.
In order to get the prize you have to work for it. It’s very challenging because you have to understand that who you are, the depth of you, is evil.
I know that’s a bad word, a strong accusation and you’re telling yourself that you’re a good person. That was my thinking. I also think that for the most part, I am. But consider the times you wanted something and you didn’t care who else wanted it or may be hurt by your getting it. You did what you did in order to get it because your selfish core demanded it of you. We do it in all sorts of situations: we don’t respect boundaries, consistently act in our own self-interests instead of meeting the needs of others, refuse to share, are controlling, manipulative or we avoid responsibility. Some people go out of their way to kill animals on the road: snakes, toads. We tear down forests for golf courses, malls… You get the picture.
My journey to unravel the mystery of living a life of meaning started in the woods at a Blue Skies Festival.
My husband had found a little spot in the woods, away from the festivities, when two men came and sat closeby. He was a little annoyed considering that in the large wooded area around them, they would have chosen to sit close to him. They started talking and he heard the words Kabbalah and Tarot. As he was leaving he asked about the connection between the two. The animated man replied that it was a means to teach the wisdom and that he should remember the name Halevi [Z’ev Ben Shimon] and he had him repeat it three times. He later found the book and we both read its very elaborate and confusing contents with the ten sephirot and Jacobs ladder. He then went on-line and found videos by Tony Kosinec, who explained the wisdom of Kabbalah, which led to the free course on-line. The fact that the course was free, further convinced us that this must be legit because they weren’t in it for the money. They were there to teach an ancient truth about life that was fit for our times.
The beauty of the Wisdom of Kabbalah is that it makes sense and is compatible with the sciences. In fact it explains aspects of quantum mechanics which are incomprehensible. There are no arguments with evolution, human biology, genetics, environment and the resultant psychological profile of an individual. It is all about cause and consequence. For every action there is a resultant reaction, whether we acknowledge, are aware of, or understand it. Kabbalah explains the deterministic system in which we exist.
The uniqueness of the human animal is its self awareness in terms of thoughts and emotions and above all, it’s egoism. Self interest is at the core of all suffering imposed on others and the natural world, as a means to gain wealth and recognition. Exploitation is practised worldwide and accepted as the way to do business.
Technological innovations and AI will enhance our living experience in some ways and create new dilemmas which test our values and humanity. AI has the potential to free humanity from various limitations and challenges.
“It’s important to note that while AI holds significant promise, ethical considerations, responsible development, and careful implementation are crucial to ensuring that AI technologies contribute positively to humanity’s well-being. Additionally, there are concerns about potential job displacement, ethical dilemmas, and the need for robust regulations to prevent misuse of AI technologies. “ ChatGPT
AI will be as useful and benevolent as those who have created it. The hope is that the new technologies will enhance as opposed to hindering our lives. Unfortunately our history proves that humanity remains, at its core, self destructive in the individual’s quest for fame and fortune.
In our quest for personal fulfillment we forget about the natural system we live in and the many precise laws, seen and unseen, that affect us. Nature is an absolutely rigid system of forces that do not abide to any of our wishes. Physics has defined certain laws of nature — gravity, motion, conservation of mass and energy, thermodynamics, electromagnetism — to which we are all subject. In addition to these obvious laws, there are some that are just as powerful and binding, but hidden — interconnection, altruism, balance, harmony, interdependence and unity.
These social laws are intertwined in our religions and moral codes. Depending on the culture, transgressors are put to death or imprisoned for wrongdoing towards the government or its citizens. The focus is on punishment for the act instead of restitution for the victims.
Because there is often no immediate repercussion when one ignores or transgresses the social laws of nature, such as interconnection and balance, we ignore them until the effects grow into dysfunctional relationships. Consider the current breakdown of social institutions: family, religion, education and government.
We fail to attribute the problem to the source, the force of nature. It’s a thing, a presence. It has an effect when you ignore its precepts. We understand the effect of gravity and conservation of mass and energy because we have experienced it and learned not to jump from great heights and think we can ‘get away’ without harm.
But when it comes to human interactions, our egos are involved and we want things our way. We want to fulfill our desires and avoid complications and compromises. Dealing with people is hard work because they don’t behave the way you expect or want them to.
If you can accept that interconnection, interdependence and balance are actually forces of nature then you will be more inclined to implement them in your life because doing otherwise comes at a cost, to yourself, others and nature.
Although we understand the meaning of these words, when we speak harshly to others we hurt feelings and need to make up or risk losing them as friends. When we engage in cut throat business practices, we attract negativity and remove the potential for positive future collaboration. When we choose chemicals to solve an agricultural issue we poison the land, water and air. When we lose focus of the importance of family versus business or outside interests, we adversely affect our children’s development and marital relationship.
Our actions have effects beyond our intentions. We just want things for ourselves. For the most part we don’t try to harm others.
You might be thinking that I’m carrying this too far, that I’m exaggerating; our individual actions aren’t that impactful! Consider the suffering that has been caused by exploitation, wars, pollution and resultant dis-ease. Depression is the leading cause of disability in the world.
We understand the repercussions of bad behaviour and yet we continue to engage because we want to, because we are hard wired this way. By default we want what is best for ourselves and we will also extend that determination to our loved ones, our region and country. People are willing to die or kill for honour, pride, justice, religious beliefs or political ideology, to name a few.
I believe that the next evolution for humanity will and must be an existential one. We can no longer fight the force of nature and expect to survive. Our growing numbers and the harm we inflict on each other can no longer ‘be absorbed’. The force of nature is now being felt through climate change, and growing social unrest, disease and wars.
The problem is that we cannot change humanity coercively. We have to want to change. Changing one’s core self is impossible alone. It cannot be sustained. This is why you need to change your environment to one where like minded people strive to comply with nature’s law of, basically, doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. This is a personal yet collective journey and it is undertaken with the force of nature.
In the deterministic world we live in, where the unfolding of our life is guided by our genetics and further shaped by the social influences we were raised in, our only real choice lies in the desire to change our nature. Working to change in order to be like the force of nature; to live by the consequential laws that we constantly ignore. Laws that are now exacting a heavy price.
“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature. Unaware that this Nature he’s destroying is this God he’s worshiping.”
― Hubert Reeves
Traditional religions have failed us. Most promise redemption and salvation after death. Reality is not what it seems, for there is only one. There is no ‘after’. The true reality is concealed from us due to our unwillingness to change from the known one we experience through our senses, to the unknown one we have to work towards with the help of sages who have attained.
The Wisdom of Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom which practices a methodology for the expansion of human awareness through the connection of desires. In such expanded awareness, we start perceiving the force that created and sustains our reality, which lets us know more about the world we live in, its cause and effect relationships. The added benefit is that this new awareness makes us kinder, more approachable and more contributive members of society.
A Kabbalistic education invokes the upper force. It compels this force to influence a person thus causing them to change. You might compare it to tuning into the right frequency on the radio. This force, nature, God, Creator, call it the guiding program of reality, is the quality of love, bestowal and connection that is behind the canvas of our world; behind our desires, emotions, sensations and thoughts.
“Understanding that our senses limit us, tying us to our animal-like body, how can we ignore our bodies and feel life beyond them? How can we experience life undisturbed by our bodies? If we do so, then we can discuss the objective existence of whatever is out there. That is exactly what the wisdom of Kabbalah focuses on, ignoring what our bodies perceive.”
Throughout the millennia, humanity has questioned the significance of life. Many beliefs have flourished and much blood has been spilled in the misguided conviction that coercion is the way to enlightenment.
Today we are at the peak of egoism. We have a decision to make. Sages tell us that the end is good. How we get there depends on us.