Much of life is the struggle of our sense of control (The introduction to the Breslov Haggadah – free download here – presents a read of the sin of Adam and Eve as a sin presuming humanity has “real” control). We tend to believe we are in control of everything. Each of us struggles with this sense of self. Part of our expression of this control comes from our speech. While it is often important to speak up to protect ourselves, it is not without consequence. We find ourselves regularly in conflict with each other. This is true, even when we are right. Because being right can have unintended consequences.
In this piece from Rebbe Nachman, I find an approach to how we can overcome the sense of control we often struggle with. It comes from the importance of cultivating our ability to be silent.
Controversy and divisiveness can cause even God-fearing people to start having doubts about their beliefs. The answer is to be silent. And to leave the battle to the Lord (251).
Silence is not merely a passive state of allowing someone to take advantage or to trample over you. Here, Rebbe Nachman is suggesting that silence is a deliberate practice of realizing that very often, even if we think our approach might be the better approach, it is important to practice restraint and it is important to recognize that while we might think we are right, maybe the way we want to approach the situation requires a different, thought out strategy. Faith is recognizing that we don’t really know. Faith is often taking a step back and allowing things to play out instead of trying to force a situation into a certain box.
Spiritual growth is a constant approach of striving forward. To strive forward we need to work on our ability to cultivate connection and peacefulness. We cannot grow if things around us are broken, are divided. Sometimes these breaks are real and sometimes they are perceived to be broken. And sometimes the brokenness comes because we react instead of taking a moment, being in silence, and seeing the situation for its broader implications.
May each of us learn the art of silence as an act of expressing our faith.
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Rest of chapter 35. We go deeper into the discussion of doing mitzvot, of taking action as a means of drawing down the light of the divine presence. This section brings us to a fuller picture of the tripartite growth that occurs as a result of thought, speech and action. To truly experience the light of the divine, we cannot merely live a life of contemplation. Actions are a vital part of elevating the animal soul that animates the body.
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This week’s Torah portion, Ki Tissa, brings us to the story of Israel’s almost cataclysmic choice, the fashioning and worshipping of the Golden Calf, the Egel HaZahav. While there is a debate about whether the idol was to replace Gd or Moses or perhaps even both, there is an interesting, underlying spiritual question regarding the story. There is a famous statement, Seeing is Believing, yet how often is this statement proven false. In the story of the worshipping of the Golden Calf, this idea is proven false, for the Israelites had experienced Gd’s miracles and heard Gd’s “voice” and yet a short time later they fall into this ultimate of violations of faith.
If seeing is believing is not an absolute reality, how come this is a go to statement for so many. Sure, we often use it sarcastically, but within the sarcasm must be a modicum of believing it to be true. Perhaps, we can suggest an approach from Rebbe Nachman. I present two quotes from Likkutei Etzot about making our faith so strong that it is as if we are really seeing it (and See here (Rebbe Nachman’s advice # 10) for a parallel text and my thoughts):
If you are very strong in your faith you will eventually reach understanding of what you believe in. The stronger your faith the greater your understanding will be. At the outset you have no option but to have faith because you cannot understand the matter rationally. Through faith you will come to understand it. Except that then there will be new, more exalted levels which are still hidden from you and beyond your ability to understand rationally. Here again you will have to make the effort to believe. You must always have faith in the levels that are hidden from you. In the end you will understand them also. And so the process goes on. The main thing is that your faith must be so strong that it spreads to all your limbs. This faith will bring you to true wisdom (91).
Likkutei Etzot Truth and Faith # 32
Rebbe Nachman is suggesting that our life goal should be the constant work around strengthening our faith. We cannot just go through life and presume we will have the belief and fortitude to overcome moments that challenge us. We have to prepare, we have to work on it. We have to study and reflect on what it means when we say we believe or we have faith in… Is it just words or is it part of our essence? And, from his words, it seems like even when it is something that is seemingly well established, we must continue to work on it.
I can imagine that for the Israelites, it is this latter point which was a problem. They were witness to things that are improbable/impossible. They experienced miracles that the world has never seen. And yet, that wasn’t enough because the experiences needed constant reinforcement. Sure, one could argue that the Torah’s story presumes that they saw regular “miracles” like the manna and the protective clouds around the encampment. Nevertheless, regular “miracles” lose potency over time; they become routine. Once they become routine, the inspiration dissipates.
When life becomes routine, we lose the inspiration to grow. When we purposefully work on seeing and experiencing the simple inspirations in life, we can maintain and grow in our sense of awe at the wonders of the world. Faith is a constant goal. And if we constantly strive, perhaps we really will have seeing is believing moments. May we merit to have times when we are open to truly seeing the beauty of our path, our journey.
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Part 2 of Chapter 35. This sections continues to explore what it means to keep the flame of the candle alive. We discuss why the divine soul can’t be considered the oil keeping the flame going. We look into Gd’s will in relation to the creation of the world. And I offer two small reflections on the Torah readings for this week.
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Part one of Chapter 35. This chapter asks us a fundamental question. Why should Gd have created the Beinoni? The answer begins with a look at the importance of doing the mitzvot as they relate to keeping the flame of the divine soul lit.
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Chapter 34. This chapter continues on the theme of experience spiritual joy. The focus of this chapter is the Alter Rebbe’s approach to the phrase Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh, Building a Sanctuary in our Hearts. We explore how we can be vessels for the divine through our study of Torah. Gd dwells in the 4 cubits of halachah, in study and action. We explore holding the multiplicity of emotions of joy and sadness. And I conclude with a short piece on the connection between Purim and Passover. This chapter completes the first volume of the five volume set of Lessons in Tanya.
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Continuing with the theme from my most recent post based on Rebbe Nachman’s thought, Purim 2, the relationship of Purim to Pesach, I want to offer a connection between the two days that will build a bridge between our celebrations today and the upcoming preparation and celebration of Passover in a month. I have been reflecting all day on the contrast between Purim and Pesach in how we see Gd’s role in our lives.
One of the interesting things about Megillat Esther is that Gd is missing from the text. This is the only biblical work in which Gd doesn’t make an appearance. The historian in me particular finds this fascinating as there are other versions and parts to Esther in which Gd is again to be found (see the article The Other Side of Esther for one perspective on this historical approach). The rabbi and spiritual coach in me finds Gd’s absence to be in line with the traditional suggestion of how we are to read Esther as a story in which Gd is hidden but always behind the scenes, a lesson about how not “seeing” Gd’s hand doesn’t mean it isn’t there.
Contrast this to Passover, in which Gd becomes the main character of the Seder night. The Haggadah is a rabbinic compilation of Gd’s story of rescuing the children of Israel from slavery. Moses is not mentioned except in one offhandedly quoted verse towards the latter half of the main, story section of the Haggadah. Gd is as revealed to us as we could possibly imagine, with the theme of the night being that Passover night is the Leil Shimurim, the night of protection. This is the night when nothing can harm us. Spiritually, this is the night we come to recognize that all that does occur has Gd’s involvement.
As such, if we think about how the two days of Purim and Pesach relate, it is in the dual way we experience spirituality and the Divine in our lives. Many times we have periods in our lives when things will happen that seem to be chance, out of sync, leading us along a journey we cannot figure out. We have no roadmap, no clear sense of what is going on. It is in those times when we struggle to maintain faith that things are moving along a path for a purpose. We can’t see the bigger picture. That is, we can’t see it until we can step back and reveal to ourselves how a variety of choices and events lead us to this moment. It is in that discovery when we can see Gd behind the scenes, we can experience that faith we have been struggling to feel. Purim is the hidden, the chaos, the sense of the random. Pesach is that moment when things become crystal clear, when we see what led us to where we are.
As we wrap up our celebration of Purim and begin the month long arduous journey to the celebration of the Israelites emergence from slavery to freedom, Passover, may we make this is a time of working towards revealing the seemingly hidden in our lives.
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As I continue to expand my reach, I am starting a third series. In addition to my posts on Tanya and Likkutei Etzos (Rebbe Nachman’s Advice), this post marks the first of a series on notes from books I am reading. My goal is to use this space to engage with my reading on a deeper level and to share with my readership some interesting ideas to ponder. I am not sure as to the exact format of this new series, so stay tuned for my experimentation to see what works best for me.
The “it” – the transformation we seek – is what most people refer to as Enlightenment, with a big “E.” Eastern philosophy makes a big deal out big “E” Enlightenment, but in the West, philosophers talk about another form of enlightenment, a small “e” mini-experience that provides u with new insights about ourselves and the world.
p. 4
This is seemingly the thesis of the book, to look at the two types of Enlightenment as it relates to how we learn how to resee the world. Most of us wish we could see the world in a different way. The goal of this book is going to be to show how we know this is possibility from a neuroscience perspective. I think the neurological studies as related to spirituality, meaning and religion are wonderful enhancers to our understanding of how we people operate. For those who wonder if this removes the mystery, I think it goes back to a line I find myself saying time and again, just because we understand the science of something doesn’t remove the sense of the miracle of what we are witnessing.
However, before delving into the intricacies of our brain and the concept of experiencing enlightenment/Enlightenment, the author offers a few points about his journey into studying the science of the brain. For example, in describing a summer internship he participated in, he speaks the first time he had his brain imaged by an fMRI. While going through this exam, he describes having a series of small “e” enlightenment moments, of which one thought was:
no one can know for certain what is going in another person’s mind and brain… I realized we can never even fully know what is going on inside our own mind because there are just too many variables involved.
p. 9
Knowledge of others and of ourselves is naturally limited. In relation to the people around us, we can only know what they reveal to us. In terms of our own mind, it is almost impossible to hone in on every single thing we see, hear, and absorb every second. As such, the process to eureka moments requires discipline, dedication and an openness to experience the moment as a moment, not just as something contrived.
As he continued to describe his search for understanding these aha moments, the author describes what I would suggest was one of his most meaningful moments:
All I had ever wanted to do was eradicate doubt and I ended up finding out that the only certainty is Doubt.
p. 13
This point really drove home the message of this book as well as our general explorations in life. We work hard to try and make meaning out of the chaos we see in life, yet absolute confirmation of everything being for a reason and orderly is impossible. We will always remain with some level of doubt, at least as it pertains to “absolute” knowledge. The cover for this doubt is faith (something I have been exploring in many of my more recent posts, especially those pertaining to Rebbe Nachman’s distilled thoughts from Likkutei Etzot.
Our Brains are wired for Enlightenment
Another fundamental point the book explores is how our brain is wired to experience enlightenment.
Neurologically speaking, small enlightenment experiences appear to be associated with the most recently evolved structures in our brain, structures that help us find meaning and purpose in our lives. These same neurological circuits help us to regulate our emotions and to generate empathy and compassion toward others. In others word, neurological enlightenment – and in particular, our ability to observe ourselves as being separate from our daily thoughts and feelings – improves our inner state of well-being and our ability to cooperate with others without conflict.
p. 19
As we will discover, the physical structure that is our brain is designed to experience these moments. Does this take away from belief? For some, it plays into the hands of those who would suggest that claims of a higher being, divinity, etc are just the psychological trappings of our minds. Yet, I think we must be humble enough to go back to the words above about how their is only doubt. And in fact, chapter one ends on this note, for our authors are clear:
People may or may not actually be connected to God or the supernatural, but ultimately there is something very powerful going on inside the brain.
p. 25
This line for me is perhaps the most powerful in that it clearly states the flexibility of our different perspectives about science and religion/spirituality. As we continue to look at this book, chapter by chapter, I hope to go deeper into some of the arguments and points these authors make and see how we can get a better understanding of the partnership between mind and spirit.
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Tonight we celebrate Purim. We celebrate this day with four rituals:
Reading Megillat Esther at night and during the day
Mishloah Manot – sending gifts of food to friends
Matanot L’Evyonim – giving food/money to those less fortunate to be able to celebrate Purim
Seudat Purim – A special celebratory meal on the day
These four mitzvot speak to the joy of survival, remembering through reading, celebrating with food, connecting to others and caring for others. Interestingly, there is a fifth mitzvah of Purim, though not directly related to Purim. The Shulchan Aruch states:
שואלים בהלכות פסח קודם לפסח שלשים יום
We learn the halakhot of Pesach for 30 days before Pesach.
429:1
Since Purim is 30 days before Pesach, we would therefore need to start the study of laws of Pesach on Purim. There are various connections between the two holidays, from the idea that the crucial moments of Megillat Esther took place around Passover, to the common theme of the two days of going from persecution to freedom. Perhaps we can argue that by studying about Pesach on Purim, we bring those two days together.
Another way to look at this is the following from Rebbe Nachman:
Purim is a preparation for Pesach. Through the mitzvah of Purim we are protected from chametz on Pesach (Likutey Moharan II, 74)
The mitzvot of Purim that Rebbe Nachman is referring to are the four primary commands of the day. Through the remembering, celebrating with food, connecting to others and caring for others. we are showing that we are not selfish, filled with “leaven” a symbol of arrogance. There is a trope in mystical thought that part of our mission before Passover is to remove our spiritual chametz, our arrogance. Through celebrating with others and making sure others can celebrate, we begin the process of removing the husk of seeing the world just through our eyes. We put ourselves in relationship with others, which requires a certain basic humility. And we show this by beginning our reflections about Pesach on Purim, literally bridging the two days together.
On this Purim, may we experience the joy of the day and may this celebration be the opening steps to a deep and meaningful Passover preparation season.
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Chapter 33 – This chapter discusses how we can find a sense of joy in reflecting on Gd’s unity. This is a difficult concept to see as it presumes a sense of self-nullification that most of us haven’t reached in life. We reflect on what it means that Gd is the only “real” existence, being both within and around existence. The goal of the intellectual contemplation is a deepen our faith in finding the light in the midst of darkness, find joy in the midst of sadness.
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 