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I was just thinking I should mention that the way I came to this method of the Hindu rituals is that I had horrible anxiety and hyper vigilance. I noticed over time that the trigger seemed to be feeling like I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to be doing. (Probably a side effect of overly strict parenting by extended family.)
So I started all this simply so I could feel, in every moment, like I’m doing what I’m supposed to. And I could stop worrying about it.
Someone from a religious background probably feels the opposite anxiety, and might have to think of it differently.
I was raised in a Science of Mind church, which reads from the texts of every religion. They have Jesus, Buddha, Native American deities and Krishna on the same mural in the sanctuary. We celebrate Kwanza, Eid al-Adha, Naw Ruz… everything.
So, it might be easier for me to approach the concept that rituals are only tools for cleaving to your spirituality. My family is from that church also, and one who attends is an atheist who considers it to be similar to TED talks. And this is accommodated by the church, in that they try to word things to be non-specific and only to talk about the concepts. Even the traditional prayers have all reference to specific names and genders removed. And they try not to refer to God as a being unless we are celebrating a holiday taken specifically from one religion.
It actually works really well. Last I checked 6,000 people go to that church.
That being said. In my adult life I have found it much easier to have rituals. Because of my background I had no issues picking and choosing the ones that serve me. My goal is to imbue my mundane life and routine with reminders of the Creator. In my case this is most effective with principles of Ayurveda and Vastu (from Hinduism.) I only chose these because they pertain to everyday things, and they address everything. You can get so granular that there are specific ways to breathe, ways to eat, ways to sleep, ways to bathe, ways to pee… everything! And they also have a mantra for every occasion.
This means that everything in my life has a meaning attached to it that reminds me of the Creator, and by doing it in that specific way I can acknowledge the Creator. I can arrange my house by these rules. I can even sleep that way, by having a mantra in my head that I know so well that my brain continues it when I’m sleeping and I’m already thinking about the Creator before I’m aware that I’m awake in the morning.
Regardless of what the “mitzva” is… I think this is the point of rituals. Not everyone knows this is the point. And I think this is why the Kabbalists don’t outright dismiss them. They are only about the interior, and only about the intention… BUT, doing the action can help you be intentional. So, the answer to “do you have to do the rituals” is yes AND no.
Everything has made perfect sense so far. And I could spend every moment learning more about this. It’s so fascinating.
But you are the only people I can do the work with, so I am excited to move towards the part where we dig into that.
The last two courses reminded me that Kabbalah is much more than knowing how reality works. It’s a relationship with the Creator, and that is something that I realized I am more interested in than anything I have ever engaged in. I look at reality and it looks back at me, attentively, responsively. It makes everything meaningful. I thought I would be very old before I got this far in my work on my personal growth. I thought I would have to be retired to make this kind of progress. Thank you for accelerating it so much.
From Kabbalah in Action I want the opportunity and instruction to be able to become a working part of this machine of the collective soul. How do I hook up to it? What do I need to know to work right? Where do I fit? When can I start?
This week has really impacted my dreams. Now when I dream I am every person in that dream. Like I had one where I was being chased by a team of people with guns, but I wasn’t afraid because I knew exactly when and how to duck and turn and hide.
And then I was the man who was leading that team and they were in a debriefing and he was eating a durian fruit, and I knew what it felt like to like the taste and texture of durian.
These multi-person dreams are much more vivid and detailed than a regular dream. It is so interesting, and seems so normal in that context.
Understanding that it is ALL you and yours.
I was getting worried about finishing this course because the weekend before last I was able to attend two live meetings and it was great. But after that I got hammered with so much illustration work that I couldn’t even do my reading or any of the interactive stuff. All I could do was listen to the Basic Concepts in Kabbalah and Kabbalah Explained Simply playlists on YouTube. And I was in a bit of a panic because I was afraid the world was kicking me out like it did a long time ago when I first did these courses and then was pulled away from Kabbalah for more than a decade.
But then I was able to come back today and watch the Revelation and Concealment video. And I realized that everything I was shown in the past two weeks was actually walking me through some realizations I absolutely had to have to understand this video. It wasn’t that I was being kicked out at all. It wasn’t rejection, it was special attention.
And that makes me very excited to get to group work at some point.
And it makes me very grateful for all the work they do at B’nei Baruch, because as soon as I came back here I could feel all this understanding and effort that was like held in escrow for me. I returned to discover this wonderfully playful and attentive version of reality. I feel like somehow they prepared that for me.
