| Kabbalah Meditations & Resources From the Kabbalah Centre's book 72 Names of God by Yehuda Berg |
| Weekly Meditations (from Kabbalah Centre's Conciousness Tune-Ups) October 17 – October 23, 2004 Cooking Your Thoughts |
| “Did I make an impact today?” The Zohar teaches that you have to be in a place of doing and sharing all the time. It is important to ask yourself, ‘am I making an impact on the world with all that I do? Am I making a difference?’ The only things preventing you from thinking these things are entitlement and attachments. Entitlement tells you you’re too tired to share, and attachments tell you that someone else can do it – you’re not the only one who has to take on the world. What is entitlement? It is a consciousness of “I deserve.” It is feeling you have the right to rewards, special privileges, or recognition based on personal merit, achievement, or simply who you are. It’s having a sense of superiority, as in, “I have so much experience, you should listen to me.” Entitlement is every situation where you’re blocking the possibilities of something happening because you think you know or see things the right way. Some might confuse this with self esteem. Having confidence in yourself is a good thing, knowing you are good at something is important. However, the step from healthy confidence to entitlement is a small one, yet it is all the difference between growing spiritually versus staying stuck where you are for years and years. What are attachments? Your days are full of them! They’re the things you don’t choose to do, but do as habit, from the toothpaste and toothbrush you use, to waking up at a certain time in the morning, to eating the same foods. An attachment is sitting in the same place in class all the time, going out with the same people, going to the same restaurant…you get the picture. They’re certain things you do that create ‘safe’ paths in your life. The energy of this week gives you the ability to let go and give up all the places where you have entitlement and attachments. How do you get rid of your entitlement? Let go where you think you know or deserve. How do you get rid of attachments? Give up something you do all the time. This week is about the thrill of the first time. Find an attachment and change it. Do something you would never do, stop behaving the same way - get out of yourself. Why? So you can receive more than you have in your life right now. Get rid of this idea that there are things you never do – like “I never go to the theatre, I never speak in public…” Realize you can do more. If you do these things, will they make you a better person? YES. Because it’s a restriction (i.e. it doesn’t come naturally to you.) Even a spiritual path can become an attachment if it becomes habit. You have to choose it over and over again so that it doesn’t become this; otherwise it’s religion, not spirituality. If you lose your consciousness, it’s not spiritual. If you are not living the life you want, it is because entitlement and attachments are blocking you from changing - from leaving your comfort zone. My father and teacher Kabbalist Rav Berg likes to say, ‘ships are safer in port, but that’s not why they’re built.’ We find reasons (denial, fears) not to share and to go outside of ourselves. However, you need to know that The Zohar says: if you lose your entitlements and attachments, you can gain control and get things you think you can’t have. This week I received an email from a student in New York, an older woman who for the last couple of years has been immobilized due to a severe illness. Everyone told her husband and daughter that she would never survive. But they didn’t accept it. Although all the evidence said it couldn’t be done, they refused to fall into the trap. Here is what her daughter wrote to me: It's been over a year since my father and I have been studying at The Kabbalah Centre. I think my father spoke with you last week and told you that my mom is trying to walk again. After taking her to Shabbat Pinchas in July, she was talking so much. My sister said that it was like having our mother again. She also kept on trying to get out of her wheelchair....She just did not have the postural strength but she was really trying. We got new therapists in August who are helping her move again. Last week, she walked from 5-10 feet with help (one person helping her on each side). Very amazing. You saw her....she has been bedridden for a long time (1 year or 1 1/2years). She can't sit up independently. I don't remember the last time I saw her walk. Although her ability to talk comes and goes, her consciousness is better now. I see her really wanting to get better. She's been watching my dad use the tools - 2 Tikkune Hanefeshes (morning and night), Ana b-koach, Pinchas water, scanning Zohar for her after midnight.... A few months ago, she was coughing for a long time. She looked at my father and said, "Do something." He had cough medicine in one hand and Tikkune HaNefesh in the other. He did the Tikkune HaNefesh and she stopped coughing. We take everything day by day....The challenge is to continue to have certainty that she can keep getting better. It’s time to come out of the process of ‘cooking your thoughts,’ of constantly thinking things over. Get out of your head! You’ll find all the reasons not to do something if you think things over too much. Be simple. Do. Act. Move. Have an amazing week. All the Best, Yehuda Berg 72 Name Meditation: CLICK HERE for the Name to meditate on. Use the meditation found below: With this Name I will receive nothing less than the full impact of the forces of Creation. I restore meaning to my life that often feels meaningless, and purpose to a world that often appears aimless. Order returns. Structure emerges. Everything is tidied up. Zohar Portion: Lech Lecha (Pg. 22 Verse 32) Purpose of this passage: Scanning these letters will infuse you with the courage to let go of your entitlement and attachments so that the Light can reveal its full beauty to you. To purchase the Zohar, click here. |
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