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.

Ridiculous Sharing

Kabbalistic teachings are often based on the concept of as you act, so acts the Light of the Creator, meaning the way you treat others is how the Creator treats you.

Therefore, if we want the Light to continuously share with us blessings and goodness, then we need to cultivate a consciousness of continuously looking to share with others. In fact, we need to be ridiculous in our sharing.

Some people only make a connection, share, meditate, pray – act spiritually – when they are in trouble and need help from above. That’s one level of living. A second level is, as King David says in Psalms, “May goodness and mercy run after me all the days of my life,” meaning as we run after opportunities to help and share with others, blessings will run after us!

What type of life do you want to have? Do you want to have a life where everything is all right and suddenly you need to go and run after a blessing? Or do you want those blessings to run after you?

Most of us want to live a life where goodness is being dumped upon us all the time. How do we create that? Well, it’s simple. We have to be running and dumping goodness and sharing onto others. If you act like that towards people, the Creator will act like that towards you.

This concept is expressed in the biblical story of how Isaac came to marry Rebecca. It is written that Abraham dispatches his servant Eliezar to find his son’s soul mate. Eliezer (himself an elevated soul) prays for guidance and receives an answer: The first young woman who responds to his request for a drink of water will be “the one.”

The story continues. As he pulls into a small town, he discovers Rebecca standing beside a well, busily helping and serving her flock. He approaches her and asks for a drink of water. Not only does she grant his request, but she provides enough liquid for his entire contingent. And for those of you not familiar with the story, I can tell you that Eliezer was a giant of a man, and he traveled with a large entourage of camels and helpers.

When I tell this story to audiences, I always make a joke – this really wasn’t a test for Isaac’s soul mate, this was a test for a crazy person! Imagine this big, strong man – and his entire group of people and animals – approaching this one young woman with a request for a drink. The normal response, if you’re a kind person, would be to give him a drink. But to jump to the next thought, let me give all your people and camels a drink, now that’s ridiculous.

The idea is that most of us share when it makes sense – I’m a kind person, you are in need, so I’ll give to you. But this story is teaching us we have to change how we view sharing. It’s not about the other person – it’s about me. When you understand the power and influence sharing has in your life, you can’t help but want to find every ridiculous way to share.

Now, I know this is not easy. If we understood this lesson, we would all live it, but our work is to awaken this understanding.

This week, take this concept in. Look for people you can share with – especially those you don’t want to – again, with the right understanding. Don’t share because you are a good person and you want to help someone out. Share because you know you have to run after somebody and share with them ridiculously in order for the Light to run after you with ridiculous blessings.

Something Can Always Be Done, We Can Always Create Change

All of us at one point or another have faced a situation in which we felt our hands were tied. No matter what we did or said, we knew we couldn’t change the outcome. ”The doctor diagnosed me with…the lawyer said this…the psychic predicted…”

This idea of “it’s over and there’s nothing I can do about it” is one which my teacher (and father) Rav Berg has railed against his entire life. What I have learned from him, and wish to impart to you this week, is there is always something we can do.

Always.

There is a beautiful story in ancient times about King Hizkiyah, King of Judah 715-687 BCE. One day as he lay on his sick bed, he was visited by the Prophet Isaiah. “God has sent me to give you a message. Prepare your affairs, you’re going to die. You are not going to live.”

Quite a message! It wasn’t enough that he came to tell him he was dying, but he made sure to emphasize he was not going to live, (which the kabbalists explain was a code for, there is no hope for him the afterlife, either.) Stunned, the King asks, “Why?”

“Because you did not try to have children in this world.”

The King pleaded with the Prophet, telling him the reason for not attempting to procreate was because he had a prophetic vision in which he saw his offspring causing great destruction to the world.

“Never put stock in what you see!” the Prophet answered. “Even if it is a divine vision. Don’t worry about things beyond, what is not in your control. You have to do what you need to do and what is right.”

The King saw the merit of the lesson, and with renewed hope asked if he could marry the Prophet’s daughter. “Maybe with my merit and your merit combined, the offspring will be righteous.” His solution was rebuffed, the Prophet soberly informing him that the decree was signed, and nothing could be done about it.

To this the King replied, “I don’t want to hear your prophecy! Get out of my house. This is what I have learned from my great-grandfather King David: even if the sword is on one’s neck, he should not give up hope, for he can always draw mercy to change it.

The prophet leaves and Hizkiyah elevates and changes his consciousness and then he prays and his supplication for more life is granted.

This is our lesson. There is never a moment when we should to accept a decree, a prediction, a diagnosis, or anything. In King Hizkiyah’s case, God himself said it’s over and he refuses to accept. And with that consciousness, he changes the decree! If he had accepted the finality of the news he would have not had changed the decree and he would have died.

Notice the difference. This is not just an understanding. It is a consciousness. If you understand the concept but still allow the thought in your mind that yes, maybe it is over, maybe the doctor, lawyer, accountant, psychic is right, then you won’t be able to change it.

You can apply this lesson in the biggest and smallest of ways. Even when it comes to studying Kabbalah there are times when we come up against concepts that seem bigger than us and impenetrable. In these instances we want to apply this consciousness by saying, I can push myself.

This is a consciousness we want to awaken this week. It is not easy to achieve, but it is the key to truly having the power and ability to change anything and everything. There is always something that we can do to create change.