Holy Audacity

For those of us on a spiritual path, despite the fact that we’ve been studying and making our connections, we believe there are just some things we cannot change. We all have a wall, a barrier we cannot push beyond. And yet the truth is, as Rav Ashlag often said, our spiritual work is not to push ourselves to the limit of our abilities. It is to push beyond our abilities.

Beyond our abilities. How do we achieve that? How do we do what we can’t do and draw what we don’t deserve? There is a way. It’s through what the Kabbalists call “holy audacity,” meaning when we have a desire to become stronger and a drive to create real change in our lives and in the world, we can awaken that strength even if we do not think it exists within us. When it’s for the sake of sharing with others, not only do we have to, but we must push against the barriers of our capabilities.

There’s a beautiful story in the kabbalistic literature that speaks to this idea. During the time the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, three times a year people would travel there from all over the world in order to make their spiritual connections. One such time there was a great water shortage, and the influx of visitors put a terrible strain on the water supply.

To avert a health crisis, a man by the name of Nakdimon responded by approaching one of the wealthiest landowners in the city and asked him to loan him water from 12 of his wells, with the promise of repayment at a later date in either the exact amount of water borrowed or 12 loaves of silver. The landowner agreed and the crisis was averted.

The months passed, and when the day for repayment arrived, Nakdimon could not give back the water because not a drop of rain had fallen in months. That morning, a messenger arrived at his door, demanding either the water or the silver. He responded, “I have all day to repay you. If it doesn’t rain by the end of the day, I will repay you in silver.”

In the afternoon a messenger arrived again at his door with the same message, and he sent back the same response. As the sun was about to set, the messenger returned yet again and was told the same thing, the day is not yet over.

Upon hearing this final response, the landowner laughed because he knew it was impossible for that much rain to fall in such a short period of time. He felt so elated that he went into the local bathhouse to freshen up before he met with Nakdimon to retrieve his money.

Meanwhile, Nakdimon was sad, and he went into the temple where he began to pray. His prayer was short. “I did not borrow water from those 12 wells for myself,” he told the Creator, “I did it only for the sake of sharing.” That’s was his entire prayer.

Immediately afterwards, the sky became full of clouds and rain came pouring down. It rained so hard in those few minutes that not only did the 12 wells become full of water, but there was an overflow of water.

As he left the temple, he saw the landowner and said to him, “Now you owe me money! Because of the overflow of water, I’ve paid you back too much.”

The landowner responded, “I know the only reason it rained is because the Creator wanted to make this miracle for you. But in truth, if I wanted to argue with you, I could, because if you look up in the sky, it’s dark. Maybe it’s already nightfall, and this rain really came on the next day, after nightfall, and therefore it’s not your water. It’s my water.”

Upon hearing this, Nakdimon turned around and went back into the temple where he prayed another short prayer to the Creator: “Master of the World, let it be known that you have people in this world that are close to You.” That was his entire prayer.

Immediately the clouds dispersed, and the sun resumed shining.

What’s powerful about this story is that in both prayers Nakdimon didn’t beg or plead with the Creator. He simply asserted what needed to happen. He did not earn these miracles, nor was he a great scholar or a spiritual giant. And yet, because his singular purpose was for the sake of others, he went in with this audacity, and he requested in short terms what he wanted to happen. And it happened.

Of course, not everyone is at the level where they can ask for the skies to open. Yet, the purpose of this story is to teach us the importance of living this consciousness of assertiveness, provided that our singular aim is the welfare of others. We are each meant to aspire to reach this place where, because our lives are so dedicated to elevating others, we can utilize this tool of holy audacity.

This week, live with audacity! Remember that you can ask for more than you have earned or deserve. But it’s more than just asking – it’s living in this consciousness. If you are going to do something that involves assisting others, don’t hope for it to turn out well. Insist that it does. Push beyond your personal boundaries of what you think you can do and what you think you deserve. Because as long as you are focusing on drawing these abilities for the sake of sharing, you can ask for everything.

The Happier We Are, the More We Draw the Light

One of the most important aspects of a spiritual life is the need to be happy at all times. This is one of the easiest lessons that there is, but still we find ways to make it complicated.

The kabbalists have taught that joy is one of the most important prerequisites for a connection to the Creator and His Light. It is a wonderful spiritual cycle; the happier we are, the more we draw the Light of the Creator to ourselves, which in turn makes us more joyful and fulfilled.

It is important that we understand the logic of this spiritual law.

In the physical world beings become close or separate through time and space. But spiritual entities become close or separate depending on their similarity of form. If two beings are similar in nature then they are close and united spiritually. And if they are dissimilar in nature then they are separate spiritually. This is a fundamental spiritual rule that has many ramifications.

We know that the innate quality of the Light of the Creator is of fulfillment and joy. There is no energy of sadness in the Creator’s Light. Therefore, to connect and draw Light we need to be similarly joyful and happy. It is only when we are similar in this way that Light can come to us and reveal even greater joy.

Moreover the amount of Light that we can draw through any spiritual action is in exact correlation to the amount of joy that we have in doing the action, the greater our joy the greater the Light that we will receive.

This is a powerful and important lesson. Many great Kabbalists have said that they achieved their greatness mainly through a constant state and focus of joy.

There is one more aspect to joy that can make a big difference. Sometimes we find ourselves in a bad or sad mood. All we need to do is simply tell ourselves to be happy, and we can change our mood in one second. Especially now that we know that sadness actually blocks the Light of the Creator, and that as we change our mood to joy we can draw to ourselves more of the Light and bring ourselves even greater joy and happiness.

Rhyme & Reason

One of the most powerful attributes of true spirituality is that it is logical. Everything has a reason and logic. Miracles are often understood even by people who believe in them, as something that has no real rhyme or reason, and that occur always in a realm beyond our control.

But the Kabbalists explain miracles are a science, with a reason, logic and rules they follow.

One of the most important rules of miracles is: Miracles do not happen. If we need a miracle and understand it as something out of the ordinary - unnatural - then it will be difficult to create one.

The correct understanding is there are no miracles, just as there is no nature. No nature?

Consider this: why does the sun rise in the morning and set in the evening? Our simple mind tells us - because we do not see the spiritual force behind this - it is nature. If the sun would not set at night, this would then be a miracle, because it contradicts that which we have accepted as natural.

But this is not the case. The Creator causes the sun to rise in the morning and set at night. If there is a good reason for the sun not to set, then the Creator will stop its setting.

When we understand this, then we realize there is no real difference between the sun setting and not setting, there is no difference between what is thought of as nature and what is thought of as miracles.

This is a fundamental understanding to have in order to be able to create a miracle. If we simply ask for a miracle, thinking something out of the ordinary needs to take place, then it is difficult to make it happen. But when we understand that what we are asking for is simply for the Creator to rearrange that which he arranges anyway, then it is much easier for us to create endless miracles in our life.