Contraction of self to make room for God

Lurianic Kabbalism states that God created the world by contracting himself to create a space without God which allowed the world to be created.

In making room for God within ourselves, do we need to go through a similar process of self contraction to allow God to enter? What would that look like?

Missing the Angels

While packing to leave Israel, I made the decision to ship my stuff via the post office rather than doing a lift. It was much cheaper than hiring a shipping company, but my problem was getting the boxes to the post office. I had no car and even though the post office was only a ten minute walk, I had too many boxes. For the first four boxes I packed, I managed to walk it, but for the second shipment of 11 boxes, of which four were books, I realized that there was no way I could carry them to the post office. A friend offered to drive me to the post office, but the scheduling was really problematic. We finally found a time.

He came over, we packed up his car, and drove up to the post office. He waited at the gate at the end of the driveway while I went to ask the guard to open it so we could unload. The guard looked at me and said that I didn't have time. In typical Israeli fashion, the post office is open until 4 pm everyday except the day we came (a Wednesday I think) when it closed at 2 pm. It was 1:56 pm and the guard told me I didn't have enough time to unload the boxes before he locked the door at exactly 2 pm.

After getting over my stunned disbelief, I argued with him and got him to open the gate. We managed to unload the boxes though he he did lock my friend out without opening the gate for him to leave. I was astonished that he couldn't wait the extra minute for me to unload in a country where nothing ever runs on time.

Two months later, in America, the boxes started to arrive. The first shipment of four arrived intact, but the second shipment of 11 didn't. The boxes were beat up. The boxes containing the books were the worst. One arrived empty, the side split open and then pushed back in place. Of the four boxes of books, one came complete (though repacked by the US post office), and of the other three I received only 10 books. The worst part of it was that these were many of my sifrei Kodesh, my religious texts.

When I went to talk to someone at our local post office, he told me he'd gotten complaints that day from two other people who'd received boxes from Israel. Apparently, the container containing my boxes had gotten thrown around and there was a lot of damage to everything in it. I had mailed another 10 boxes a few weeks later and they all arrived without a problem. It was only those 11 that were damaged.

The guard at the door was my angel and I'd missed it. If I'd listened to him and not shipped the boxes that day, they probably would have arrived without a problem.

It's so difficult to realize when the roadblock in your path needs to be climbed over and pushed through or if it's there to turn you to another path. Even more so during stressful and difficult times in life.

Photo courtesy of Sal de Mar

Demons among the ruins

In Masechet Berachot 3a-3b, there is a story of R. Yossi entering a ruin in Jerusalem to pray. Eliyahu comes and guards the door while he prays, and then chastises him for praying there when he is done. R Jose states that, among other things, he learned that one should never pray in a ruin. Eliyahu then asks him what he heard while praying. R Jose replies that he heard a divine voice (בת קול) that was lamenting over the destruction of the temple. The Gemera continues with a discussion of why one should not pray in a ruin. The main reason given is to avoid demons (מזיקין). But if there are two righteous people then the demons will not manifest unless it is a place that is known to be haunted.

The word for Demon is מזיק which derives from the root נזק and means something that causes damage. This offers a relatively simple definition of a demon or bad spirit. It is one who causes us damage. The passage also supplies a relatively simple method for avoiding demons - keep good company when doing spiritual practices. But it is not enough to be with others when opening to the shamanic realm, the others must be כשרים or Kosher! Literally it means that they are proper or fit. To prevent spirits from damaging one needs to be surrounded by people who are upstanding and nourishing.

Places absorb energy from the people who lived there. Depending on the energy, different types of souls will be attracted to that place. In the ruins of Jerusalem not long after the destruction of the Temple, there would be a lot of dark energy surrounding those ruins. The last people who lived there likely died by either starvation or murder or worse. The first thing that he would have felt there would have been that pain. R. Yossi entered those ruins, opened himself to the spiritual world and heard a divine voice mourning the destruction. R. Yossi felt but was not overwhelmed by the sadness and pain. For another person, that pain might evoke fear or pain which makes a person in the spiritual realm more open to negative influences.

R. Yossi's initial prayers had called an exceptionally strong spiritual presence to him in Eliyahu hanavi. The text reads: בא אליהו זכור לטוב ושמר לי על הפתח Eliyahu, of blessed memory, came and guarded me on the opening. The traditional way of reading it is that Eliyahu guarded the door, but one could also read it that Eliyahu guarded the spiritual opening so that R. Yossi could hear the divine voice without being overwhelmed by the pain and sadness of the place or becoming susceptible to the spirits that are attracted to a place like that.

One can contrast this to the demons who do damage. The angels guard and nourish us. When we are with people who we trust and love, then the energy we create draws good spirits to us. When we are with people who's actions and intentions are questionable, the distrust and fear draws bad spirits to us. This is especially true if we are in a place that is full of dark energy. The gemera refers to places that are known to be haunted by demons. These are the dark places of power. Even when we are with trusted companions, we have to be careful in these places before we enter into the spiritual world there.

By and large, who we are determines the spirits that we encounter when we enter the shamanic realm. That's why it's very important to continually work on oneself as one walks this path. R. Yossi teaches us to be careful with our company and where we pray so that each opening into the shamanic realm is not filled with pain but instead we encounter those who guard and guide us even through difficult situations.

Photo courtesy of Callmetim

Truth within the system

I recently had a fascinating reading from a medium named Kurt Leland. He channels a spirit named "Charles" who mainly focuses on people's greater purpose in life. During the reading, I could feel a tremendous amount of power, which is one of my litmus tests. The focus of this post is not on what he said, but how he said it.

The reading was presented in the format of a very advanced version of the Michael Teachings. The basic idea is that the soul develops over lifetimes and goes through seven soul "ages" each with seven levels. Each soul has a primary archetype which remains constant throughout lifetimes. Each incarnation has various overlays which define the personality of that incarnation, and a "chief feature" which is either the greatest blockage or the source of the greatest power in that particular lifetime.

During the course of the reading, he also lead me through a powerful visualization/journey based on the fours worlds as interpreted in the lens of theosophy (of which I will write about in another post).

What he told me was accurate and true, which, according to the Ba'al Shem Tov, is the test of any medium or seer. The format he used was the method in which he conveyed the truth. It's important not to mix up the two.

There are two steps to receiving information from the spirit world. One is receiving it and the other is being able to convey it to the person receiving the healing. Kurt/Charles was exceptional at using the format to convey the reading in terms the I could easily understand and make sense of. My wife also received a reading a few months ago, and I was struck by the differences in wording between the two readings.

Is his system true? Are there seven soul ages and seven levels in each? I can't really say.

Chaim Vital writes about ten soul levels with ten stages in each. They are based on the ten sephirot. Each lifetime we can move up or down levels, but the general progression is upward. He writes about soul roots. That each of our souls grows out of similar roots. So that some people can have a soul root of Cain or Hevel, and others could be King David. The soul roots don't change over lifetimes even as we climb up the sephirot.

What is clear across systems is that souls contain certain elements which remain the same throughout lifetimes, and there is growth across lifetimes. In both Vital's system and the Michael Teachings, the end goal is union with the divine.

It's important to understand the lens of the system to clearly understand the message that's being presented. It's also important that the system is just that: a way of conveying a message so it can be clearly understood. One of the reasons I spend so much time studying Judaism is that it's the system that makes the most sense to me, and most fully explains my experiences. So the better I understand Judaism, the better I understand my relationship with God.

It's also important to realize that the power is in the message, not in the system. The system is worth studying and thinking about so you understand the message, but the power lies in the truth hidden within.

As a fellow healer, I also wanted to give a recommendation to Kurt/Charles. He does readings via Skype, so is available to anyone.  If it sounds like something that might be helpful to you, drop him a line.

Moving back to Boston

I just wanted to apologize for the upcoming month or two when posts will probably be few and far between. Due to personal reasons and several clear messages from the spirit world, I am moving back to Boston in early August. Over the next few months, most of my time and effort need to be focused on the transition between Jerusalem and Boston. I will try to continue to post regularly, but I suspect that I won't have much time until after the Holidays.

Typologies

I recently stumbled across the Michael Teachings. As I read through the different archetypes and personality typings, I became very impressed with the system and it's approach to understanding a person's basic personality. Habitually, I began to compare and contrast it with different systems I know and finding the flaws in this system. It was then that I remembered the advice given to me by my mentor John: If it works, use it, if it doesn't, throw it out.

Typologies are ways of making sense of an infinitely complex world. They give us boxes and labels to help us comprehend the world around us. In a western mode of thought, we are always looking for the one true typology. We argue about the merits and values of each system and which is the best.

The truth is that the world is so varied that some typologies are true now while others are true later. Some are true for some people, and some for others. Judaism itself has many ways of dividing up and understanding people, so much so that it would be impossible to say for sure that there is one true set of Jewish typologies.

In the end, John's advice is best. If it's useful, then learn from it. Take what it's offering and use it as a tool for growth. But if it's not useful, don't get hung up on it and try to force it to work, just look for the next thing that can help you grow.

Photo courtesy of Andreas E J

Processing Fear

There are three facets to using fear for power.

You need to learn to feel/see the fear itself, and not react to it with another emotion - usually sadness or anger. Then you can get used to it so you can identify it in your life. The more time you spend with it, the more you will get desensitized to it so you feel but don't act on it's advice. Finally you feel compassion for yourself for having been so scared and send the fear Love. In that moment, you will reclaim the power of the fear.

Photo courtesy of Dean Ayers