Thoughts on part 2 of chapter 1. This continues to discuss the different types of person. I describe the sense of nefesh and two sides of the force. Finally, I attempt to grapple with a challenging passage describing the difference of soul between Jew and non-Jew.
This topic is particularly difficult in our more universalistic world. I am left with questions even after thinking through the answer.
Today’s episode looks at part 1 of chapter 1 in Likkutei Amarim Tanya. The focus is working through the notions of righteous, wicked and living in between as a Beinoni, an intermediate type of person, one who is living in a certain balance.
Today’s episode continues to explore the notions of the written word vs. 1-1 rebbe/disciple work. We discuss how a book can be a dialogue between two people.
Today we reflect on part one of the Compiler’s forward of Tanya. This episode discusses reading vs. working with a Rebbe/spiritual coach and discusses how the Torah contains pathways for all within the limits of the system.
Trying something new. I set up this anchor podcast account months back and finally found a use for it. I hope to record my thoughts on one of the fundamental books of Chasidic thought, Likkutei Amarim Tanya. This is the primary work of Chabad Chassidut. My goal, as I also share in the link below, is to try and engage with the book so as to better my understanding of what is going on in it. I invite you to listen and dialogue with me as I grapple with this book.
“I am here.”
I have always been taken by this simple word/phrase. It is one of deepest and most powerful of all calls to action. Are we willing to truly acknowledge our presence in a crucial moment?
Below you will find an anecdote which I often turn back to about the power of being present.
It is told of one of my teachers, the late Milton H. Erickson, who was perhaps the greatest therapist of our era, that a patient, having heard of his healing prowess, traveled halfway around the world to see him. Entering Milton’s somewhat shabby office, he was shocked as he took in its well-worn furniture, overused chairs, and ramshackle bookshelves – rather humble surroundings for such a great man. Erickson noticed him looking around in disbelieve, fixed his intense gaze upon him, and said, “I know it’s not much, but I’M HERE!”
I’M HERE! We can have no better motto. Each of us is more than enough. Each of us is all we’ve got. Each of us and all of us are blessed. We need to know and be assured that our blessedness is not in the doing; it is in the being. We are blessed through no choice of our own. Our being blessed is God’s irrevocable gift. So when the going gets tough, and assuredly it will, each of us can do no better than to respond, “Hineni, I’m Here,” words that have reverberated down the ages. Each of us is more than enough. Each of us is a blessing.
Jewish Relational Care A-Z: We are Our Brother’s Keeper – P.219
I believe this message is one that resonates for all of us. Can we be comfortable in the uncomfortable situations knowing that our showing up is more than enough? Can we accept that sometimes the best thing to do is sit in silence when another is in pain, not worrying about fixing, but just being available to the person? Can we do this for ourselves as well, being compassionate and non-judgmental when we ourselves are struggling?
Part of what drives me in my work as a chaplain and now a spiritual life coach is this presence, this being. How many of us are just looking for someone who can sit and reflect with us during times of transition, times of difficulty, times of grief. I find it powerful in the moments of sitting with someone, just sitting. Yes, to coach and to chaplain requires more than sitting. Yet it requires the ability to know when sitting and being is the best approach.
I’m Here. If you or someone you know is in journeying along the waves of life, allow me to join you along the road to discovery. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
As is apparent by now, I am a big fan of Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, o.b.m. I have been reading his works since I was a bar mitzvah, having gotten as a Bar Mitzvah gift his daily reader, Growing Each Day. I often quote snippets from this and a couple of his other daily readers whenever a message speaks to me. Yesterday, I came across this one line which is a good reminder of the dangers of self-loathing and the importance of self-compassion:
“We may not truly realize that our own unbridled anger may be even more destructive to us than hostility to others.”
Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, Living Each Day, p. 72
Anger at oneself can be even more harmful than the anger we express towards other people. This is the anger of frustration regarding not being the best or ideal person we wish to be. This is the anger that comes from a place of shame. And this anger can lead us down a dark path. Anger towards someone else, even if expressed, can be less severe because its destructive nature will depend on how the person we are angry with reacts.
To respond to this, we would do best to work on self-compassion. For me, self-compassion begins with a constant work of recognizing and being accepting of the mistakes, the times I fall short. This is an active process of recognizing the emotions that arise in those moments when the self-loathing begins. Self-compassion is not an excuse to not work to improve. Self-compassion is the tool that helps us find the avenues to be comfortable with change and improvement as we open ourselves to learn from our mistakes and to remember we can try again.
My prayer for today is we find the tools to help quell the self-anger that often arises as a means of being open to the new journeys and opportunities always unfolding in front of us.
Looking to invest time and focus on the tools we have to help cultivate self-compassion and combat self-loathing. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
I previously described the Jewish practice that upon awakening, we start our day with words of gratitude for being alive another day, Modeh Ani.
With these words we offer words of recognition for the renewed opportunities we have as we start the day. Each day allows us to press refresh, and as I highlighted in my previous post, if we can overcome the fear of pressing refresh, we can truly take a first step. Today, I want to suggest that are acknowledgment of gratitude each day is part of taking this first step.
I came across a deeper, more mystical approach to this declaration of gratitude. Maharal, Rabbi Judah Loew of Prague, who lived in the 16th and early 17th centuries, suggested that the gratitude we are expressing is more than just about the return of our soul, our life, for another day. It also represents our expressing gratitude for the world being renewed again for another day. In other words, when we go to sleep, from a natural perspective the world continues to exist. Yet, if we take the perspective of ourselves asleep, the world ceases to be. When we wake up, the world comes back into focus, coming back into existence like we do.
I found this deeper level of renewal inspirational. If it is not just us, but the world starting over in our eyes when we start the day, when we wake up from sleep, it means we do not need to live our lives enslaved to what was. Of course, we don’t find ourselves waking up in a different bed, in a different place, but we do have the chance to make the world what we want to each day. By deliberately acknowledging and expressing this gratitude for the opportunity for the new, we always have the chance to take that first step to something new.
May we find each day as an opportunity to reinvest in the opportunities for renewal we have in front of us.
You have the opportunity to start again. If you are struggling to begin the process of starting your next journey in life. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Yesterday, I came across this motivational quote on LinkedIn (here). It was a beautiful reminder of the opportunity we have each day to have a “do-over.”
Today, I find myself focused on these words again as I consider the notion of mistakes. We all make them (except for certain people who shall remain unnamed š) and if you are like me, you have a multiplicity of negative feelings that can overwhelm you. How many of us relate to this vicious cycle. We mess something up, feel guilty about it and then start to avoid or justify our errors instead of confronting them. Often this avoidance, guilt, etc. comes from feeling shame (for a perspective on the challenges of shame, see here). Deep down, we wish for it to magically disappear, like being able to have a do-over in a video game. And while it can never just disappear, the mistake, the lost opportunity, doesn’t need to remain what defines us.
In order to find this do-over, we need to overcome different fears including:
This is no easy task. Yet, I believe we innately do this all the time. Each day brings a series of unknowns, even in the familiar. We could either shrink away from what the day’s schedule could bring, because plans always change, or we could embrace the myriad possibilities potentially before us. If we embrace the unknown, if we accept that we are imperfect and can practice self-forgiveness, we will then others embrace forgiveness as well, recognizing mistakes happen and we can try again. And if we are ready to start over, we will find new opportunities even in the seemingly monotonous, routine.
As it relates to spiritual practice, for example, how often do we find ourselves recognizing how distracted we become in moments of hoped for focus. As a personal example, which I’m sure I’m not alone in, is how often my mind wanders during prayer. All of a sudden, I find myself saying certain words, wondering how I got to that part of the service. I could just give up and say, oh well, I missed out so why bother refocusing. Or, as I try to do, I restart my efforts to find focus, often with some momentary success. The point is, we have opportunity to shift midstream and continue forward in an improved manner, even if we missed out up until this point.
If you are searching for that new opportunity, new beginning, I hope you find ways to overcome your fears to find the opening to a road ahead full of possibilities.
If you are looking to overcome the fear of setting out on a new journey in life. Contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com
Sometimes we are reminded of a message that is deep and meaningful at the most important of times. Over the past few days, I keep coming across these two phrases, “I am but dust and ashes” and its contrast, “For my sake was the world created.” According to Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski, in Growing Each Day, it is said that:
Rabbi Bunim of Psis’cha said that everyone should have two pockets; one to contain, “I am but dust and ashes,” and the other to contain, “The world was created for my sake.” At certain times, we must reach into one pocket; at other times, into the other. The secret of correct living comes from knowing when to reach into which.
p. 62
I realized that this advice/message was crucial to how we all should strive to live. There are times when we feel down, feel lost, feel like we are just going through the motions of life. In those moments we could use the pick me up of recognizing that we each play a role in the role, perhaps even the most fundamental of roles. We should strive in those moments to reflect on how much our actions are of value to existence.
On the other hand, we can all get caught up in taking ourselves too seriously. It is very easy to fall into the trap of seeing ourselves as better than someone else, as the one to judge others, to point a finger and make ourselves out to be the best while others are not. In those moments we are best served remembering that we too are just human, we are imperfect and have our own flaws and challenges that we wouldn’t want others to judge us over.
I believe this is an important lesson when engaging in self-reflection and when working with a coach or a therapist. As we go through self-discovery, we can find ourselves oscillating between our great self and our lowly self, swinging along a pendulum trying to find the balance, static point. It behooves us to take steps to find ways and methods for approaching the highs and lows of life.
May we each find our balance, recognizing our importance and our humility at the same time.
If you are looking to explore and discover new approaches to the difficulties in your life, trying to find the middle path: 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 