Weekly Consciousness
Weekly Consciousness Tune-Up
January 15th - January 21st, 2006
I'm on Fire
As I write to you, the world awaits a prognosis for the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. While everyone is worrying about the peace process and who could potentially walk in the shoes of such a revolutionary leader, I can’t help but think of the pain and uncertainty his children and friends must be experiencing.
For those of you who don’t know, in September of last year my own father and teacher, Rav Berg, suffered a brain-stem stroke. The doctors predicted it would leave him not only paralyzed but unable to communicate. As you can imagine, it shook the very foundation of everything my family stands for. The doubts, fears, and pain we experienced were overwhelming - but not more than we could handle.
When the doctors told my mother that my father had a stroke, she responded with her characteristic certainty, “No, he didn’t.” Can you imagine? The doctors must have thought they were talking to a lunatic. On the surface, it might have seemed my mother’s comment came from a place of denial, but for those of you who know her internal strength and clarity, you know she was simply unwilling to succumb to the chaos.
And from that moment on, my family and the entire Kabbalah Centre experienced a rebirth. We were inspired by my mother’s statement that “years ago, kabbalistic wisdom was held only in the hands of the teachers. Now it’s in the hands of the people. Use it.”
Personally, this required me to step up to the plate and take greater responsibility in this revolution that began with Moses on top of Mt. Sinai over 3,500 years ago. But I have to be honest with you, sometimes the growing pains were - and are - excruciating.
However, I have learned that pain can be the very fuel that propels us to use Kabbalah as a tool for removing the pain and suffering that is so characteristic of our world - and to remove it forever. I know that the reason I was blessed to experience pain in such a real and tangible way was to remind me that it’s our generation’s challenge to get the job done. Before that, I was honored to be a link in this chain of kabbalists, but I wasn’t on fire about it the way that I am now.
As a result of what I have been through the last year and a half, I now sense the urgency and feel an internal pressure to get the job done, to save even one solitary person from experiencing pain and suffering - whether the pain is hunger, poverty, loss ... or even just a case of the blues. It is my wish that you feel this urgency as well.
So I thank you for being part of the movement that will not rest until pain and suffering is eliminated from the lexicon of humanity. I invite you to watch this video in which my parents, Kabbalists Rav and Karen Berg, share a bit of their experience with this challenge. This video was originally recorded as part of a workshop offered at last year's Pesach experience, in which we tapped into our deepest and most painful memories for the sake of removing them to make room for more Light in our lives.
Please make time in your daily prayers/meditations to awaken the channels of healing for the full recovery of Ariel (ben Vera) Sharon. The kabbalists explain that by taking a moment to truly and deeply feel another person’s pain, we literally lessen the severity of the pain that individual experiences.
All the Best,
Yehuda
72 Name of the Week
The power of this Name brings the energy of healing at the deepest and most profound level of my being, because I can now accept full responsibility for my present condition, and because I used my energy to concentrate on others who also need healing.
www.72.com www.kabbalah.com © 2005 Kabbalah Centre International
January 15th - January 21st, 2006
I'm on Fire
As I write to you, the world awaits a prognosis for the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. While everyone is worrying about the peace process and who could potentially walk in the shoes of such a revolutionary leader, I can’t help but think of the pain and uncertainty his children and friends must be experiencing.
For those of you who don’t know, in September of last year my own father and teacher, Rav Berg, suffered a brain-stem stroke. The doctors predicted it would leave him not only paralyzed but unable to communicate. As you can imagine, it shook the very foundation of everything my family stands for. The doubts, fears, and pain we experienced were overwhelming - but not more than we could handle.
When the doctors told my mother that my father had a stroke, she responded with her characteristic certainty, “No, he didn’t.” Can you imagine? The doctors must have thought they were talking to a lunatic. On the surface, it might have seemed my mother’s comment came from a place of denial, but for those of you who know her internal strength and clarity, you know she was simply unwilling to succumb to the chaos.
And from that moment on, my family and the entire Kabbalah Centre experienced a rebirth. We were inspired by my mother’s statement that “years ago, kabbalistic wisdom was held only in the hands of the teachers. Now it’s in the hands of the people. Use it.”
Personally, this required me to step up to the plate and take greater responsibility in this revolution that began with Moses on top of Mt. Sinai over 3,500 years ago. But I have to be honest with you, sometimes the growing pains were - and are - excruciating.
However, I have learned that pain can be the very fuel that propels us to use Kabbalah as a tool for removing the pain and suffering that is so characteristic of our world - and to remove it forever. I know that the reason I was blessed to experience pain in such a real and tangible way was to remind me that it’s our generation’s challenge to get the job done. Before that, I was honored to be a link in this chain of kabbalists, but I wasn’t on fire about it the way that I am now.
As a result of what I have been through the last year and a half, I now sense the urgency and feel an internal pressure to get the job done, to save even one solitary person from experiencing pain and suffering - whether the pain is hunger, poverty, loss ... or even just a case of the blues. It is my wish that you feel this urgency as well.
So I thank you for being part of the movement that will not rest until pain and suffering is eliminated from the lexicon of humanity. I invite you to watch this video in which my parents, Kabbalists Rav and Karen Berg, share a bit of their experience with this challenge. This video was originally recorded as part of a workshop offered at last year's Pesach experience, in which we tapped into our deepest and most painful memories for the sake of removing them to make room for more Light in our lives.
Please make time in your daily prayers/meditations to awaken the channels of healing for the full recovery of Ariel (ben Vera) Sharon. The kabbalists explain that by taking a moment to truly and deeply feel another person’s pain, we literally lessen the severity of the pain that individual experiences.
All the Best,
Yehuda
72 Name of the Week
The power of this Name brings the energy of healing at the deepest and most profound level of my being, because I can now accept full responsibility for my present condition, and because I used my energy to concentrate on others who also need healing.
www.72.com www.kabbalah.com © 2005 Kabbalah Centre International