Part two of Chapter 31 – We continue to explore how to raise up the soul when the heart is feeling numb. We explore the metaphor of exile and redemption, using the Exodus story as the paradigm for rising above our physical desires. This part also speaks to the need to not just raise the divine soul but also the animal soul to newer heights through Torah and Mitzvot, through the work of spiritual growth.
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Most of us have a competitive nature. This competitiveness can be positive in that pushes us to success. Yet, this same push can also have negative side effects. Often this competitiveness will lead people to push others aside, cut corners or do other things just for the sense of victory. In this piece by Rebbe Nachman, he suggests that this dark side of looking for the victory can blind us to what is sitting right in front of us:
One who always wants to be victorious is very intolerant of truth. The truth may be staring him in the face. But because he is determined to win at all costs he ignores it completely. If you want to find the real truth you must rid yourself of the urge to win. Then you will be able to see the truth if you wish (122).
This is a powerful spiritual growth principle. When we are looking to foster our drive to fulfill our goals, are we blinded by the end game? Do we constantly just look at the ends but not spend time where true growth really occurs, which is the process of striving towards a goal? Do we struggle to find that inner sense of the spiritual because we are always comparing ourselves to the images we think are the truths in front of us?
It is too easy to compare ourselves to others, to judge others based on how they appear and think that their lives are better. Too often the stumbling block to seeing the truth we know, the one in which we are making progress and succeeding in our own journey, is the urge to compete and compare lives. There are few who have fully shed this blindness to the reality right in front of us.
Yes, there are times we need to “fake it till we make it.” There are moments when the appearance is primary, dressing for the success we hope to have (attested to in the theme of this week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, which describes the clothing the priests and high priest must wear when in service to Gd in the Temple). We give off the positive impressions on the outside as part of the societal norms. Yet, our true path, true growth, comes from the internal, not from how I am in relation to another but how I am in relation to myself.
Today, may each of us work towards striving to see the truth that is already in front of us, inside of us. May we find the gratitude towards the self for all of our successes, seeing that Truth cannot be fostered when we are judging ourselves based on someone else.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Shimon the Righteous was one of the last of the men of the great assembly. He used to say: the world stands upon three things: the Torah, the Temple service, and the practice of acts of piety.
Pirkei Avot 1:2
The question we should ask is how are these foundations of the world? That might sound somewhat heretical, yet I think it behooves us to ask this most fundamental of questions. How do prayer, study and kindness uphold the world? Perhaps the answer can be teased out from the following passage from Rebbe Nachman:
Everything we do — praying, learning Torah, carrying out the mitzvoth — has one fundamental aim: to reveal the kingship of God (77).
The world stands on the concept of the Divine. If we break this down into the three categories of the mishnah and of Rebbe Nachman, we can see how this is foundational,
Prayer: When we pray, we are acknowledging how we cannot do it alone. We are humbling ourselves to show we are interdependent. In Rebbe Nachman’s point of view, this is our turning to Gd as we turn to a parent, asking and asking for what we need. This might be the easiest to understand for the world cannot function if we are all selfish and arrogant to think we are completely independent beings. In a way, we can define prayer as spiritual humility.
Torah study: Learning, expanding our knowledge base is also a mode of expressing our humility. I am reminded of the famous statement, the more I learn, the more I realize what I don’t know. When we can develop this intellectual humility, we also are able to make space for all who we come across in life, being open to learning from others. We become open to possibilities and hopefully can learn that there aren’t many absolutes. This expands our ability to explore the beauty of life around us.
Doing mitzvot/acts of kindness: Our activities as they relate to how we live our the final pillar. This pillar is also a cultivator of humility for when we do for others, we recognize two things. Others might need us and we need others. We also learn the importance of not presuming someone else will do it but that we must make the effort to do the actions needed.
All three of these modalities of cultivating humility make way for Gd to be experienced in the world. So often we lose sight of the divine element of the world because our lives get clouded by ego and selfhood. While it is important to work on our growth and the impact we want to have in the world, this cannot come at the expense of recognizing we are cogs in the great cycle of life.
May we always be working on our spiritual, intellectual and interpersonal growth so as to strengthen the foundation of the world so that we can continue to reveal the divine in the world.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
This is my 50th Episode!!! I continue to enjoy this modality of reflecting on Tanya and sharing some of my musings as they relate to this fundamental work of Chassidic thought. Looking forward to continuing to share more.
Part on of Chapter 31. In this chapter, we continue to discuss strategies for rising above the dullness of the heart. This chapter continues along the lines of chapter 30 in describing using the Sitra Achra’s approach against it. We reflect on the difference between depression and bitterness and the transition between one and the other. Depression is the gateway to the bitterness and anger we need to wake up our hearts in prayer and study when we are just “going through the motions.”
All episodes can also now be heard on Apple Podcasts – here
Do you want to work on taking the actions of your life and find meaning in all you do and who you are? Are you struggling with your spiritual growth. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Chapter 30. This chapter continues to discuss how we can overcome the dullness of the heart. The methodology of this chapter is to see ourselves as so low that we must fight to survive. I offer a read of this chapter as using the evil impulses own tool to fight the battle against it. I found this chapter a bit challenging both as presented as well as from a psychological point of view, in that unless it is contrived, it can be dangerous to see ourselves as so lowly. I contend that his goal is to create the scenario but not to truly see ourselves in this manner of lowliness.
All episodes can also now be heard on Apple Podcasts – here
Do you want to work on taking the actions of your life and find meaning in all you do and who you are? Are you struggling with your spiritual growth. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
In the modern world, the practice of a religion and the journey for increased spirituality are often at odds. Many times it is because we create false dichotomies between the two as a means of explaining away the ways of people. It is an example of how I often will say don’t a religion by the people who practice it. Religion can and should be a pathway for spiritual growth and hopefully spiritual growth will come along to help show people the beauty of time-honored ritual. Yes, our modern world doesn’t always jive with ancient ritual and yet so often we see the reintroduction of these ancient rituals as finding a “new” method for better self-care and help. My favorite of these which I often quote is when we read about the importance of a Sabbath, as if its a new notion of setting aside a day a week for “rest.”
All of the above relates to this idea of Rebbe Nachman on faith. For Rebbe Nachman, and in reality for anyone actively pursuing the spiritual, our growth and journey is built on faith, the trust of the unknown. As Rebbe Nachman posits:
We only speak of faith when the one who believes does not know why he believes. But even so, for the believer himself the thing he believes in is perfectly clear and obvious to him — as if he saw it with his own eyes. This is because his faith is so strong (62:5).
Notice the two points in the above lines. First, is the admission of faith being something we cannot “know.” It is something non-intellectual. This doesn’t mean our faith is purely an emotional state. Rather, it is a reflection on how we cannot presume faith as intellectual, as sitting in the mind. At the same time, we also learn from this passage that our faith must be as it is “known.” Our mission is to build our internal faith into something unknown but known. It needs to remain faith, but be so clear as to be as if we know.
As it relates to the struggle of bridging religion and spirituality, too often the challenge is that religion is that which is more of a communal nature while spirituality has a stronger individualistic bent. The bridge is faith. Faith can be cultivated by the rituals and practices we take on as individuals and as a community. At the same time, faith is something that is purely individualistic, for only we can see our beliefs. The spirituality aspect is supporting the individuality that we can imbue the communal ritual with.
Today, may we continue to work to cultivate and enhance our personal faith/spirituality while also finding the ways to bring that spirituality into our communal, religiously inspired rituals.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
As we search for ways to enhance our spirituality, our sense of personal holiness, we go on a journey to find a path. What if the path is not outside of ourselves but rather is already here for us to travel on? I think this short passage from Rebbe Nachman might be hinting at this methodology.
The gates of holiness are opened through faith (57:8).
Faith is an internal barometer of our spirituality. If we sit with our thoughts and our emotions as it pertains to our spirituality, we will begin to see this faith come to the forefront. I would go out on a limb to suggest, though not from Rebbe Nachman himself, that this faith can go beyond the particularistic sense of Gd’s providence in the world. It can be a sense of seeing the world as something not chaotic, not left to random chance. With that said, when we find and cultivate this sense of faith, we open ourselves to the deeper experiences that place before us a sense of kedusha, or feeling the sacredness of life. Faith is the key to the sacred.
On the journey of life, so often, we are looking to travel on a path outside of ourselves. Perhaps we need to recognize the journey is not a road out there. Rather the road is paved by our feet as we walk forward step by step.
Today, may we find our key that is right in front of us to open the door to our internal feeling of being holy, of being sacred.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Part two of Chapter 29 – We discuss two methods of overcoming the sitra achara, the “dark” side of our soul. We learn about spiritual accounting and how to rage against this dark side. This chapter also works through being a vessel for the divine, leading to a quick thought on this week’s Torah portion, Terumah.
All episodes can also now be heard on Apple Podcasts – here
Do you want to work on taking the actions of your life and find meaning in all you do and who you are? Are you struggling with your spiritual growth. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Our mission in life is to train ourselves to see the truth of every situation. We are tasked with making things better by working on recognizing what is truly in front us. Of course, this can be quite the challenge. In this short one liner, Rebbe Nachman tells us quite simply about the danger of falsehood:
Falsehood damages the eyes — physically and spiritually.
By being exposed to falsehood, we experience two concurrent problems. One is that we become susceptible to not seeing the world for what it is objectively is. As we know from a lot of modern psychological literature, we constantly deal with a variety of confirmation biases, including that we are often predisposed to what we see in front of us based on the experiences of the moment. For example, if we are thinking about buying a red car, all of a sudden we see red cars everywhere, causing us to presume that all of a sudden there are an extraordinary amount of red cars. Objectively this is not true but our perception is biased.
Spiritually, falsehood can also damage the mind’s eye. It can lead us to stray off a path. There is a well known explanation for the verse we recite in Shema:
so that you do not follow your heart and eyes in your lustful urge.
Numbers 15:39
Why does it say follow the heart and then the eyes? We would presume that first we need to see and then it will come into our hearts. The reason it says heart first is because if the heart desires something, then the eye will see it. If we are struggling with spiritual falsehood, we will be more likely to struggle with the results of how the struggle changes our perceptions spiritually.
As we work on our spiritual growth, may we find ways to avoid seeing the falsehoods around us and only strive to work toward truth seeing.
Are you struggling with your spiritual growth? Faith? Feeling lost in the midst of the journey of life? Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Part one of Chapter 29. We discuss the challenge when our heart becomes like stone, when our heart becomes unfeeling. How do we overcome this? I offer a brief foray into the distinction between knowing something and feeling/experiencing it. We discuss the struggle of the beinoni as a source of growth, working through various levels of returning to Gd.
All episodes can also now be heard on Apple Podcasts – here
Do you want to work on taking the actions of your life and find meaning in all you do and who you are? Are you struggling with your spiritual growth. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
New beginnings: A blog about spirituality, chaplaincy and renewal 