Question:

The Best Kept Secret lecture series has opened my eyes – my heart – to the mysteries and wonders of Kabbalah. In a few short months I have read through most of Kabbalah Publishing’s offerings, as well as Yehuda’s Living Kabbalah System.

The changes and transformations in my life are nothing short of miraculous. I am overjoyed. Yet, at the same time, I’m a little overwhelmed. There are so many tools, technologies, connections - and then there’s the whole Aramaic thing.

What I am wondering is, am I doing it right?

Answer:

When in doubt, keep it simple. Simplicity is one of the most powerful spiritual tools. It is certainly important to do our utmost to understand the spiritual work and its framework. But after gaining a strong basis of understanding it is important that we take the time to go back to simplicity, simple positive actions without too much thought, simple trust in the Creator without too much analyzing.

Many of the great Kabbalists have said that after all they studied, after all they had achieved in spiritual understanding, they chose to become as simple as a child in their spiritual work and in their trust in the Creator.

One of the reasons for the power of simplicity is that the Light of the Creator is simple. Therefore, in order to connect to it and keep it constantly in our life, we need to be simple like it. When we over-involve our mind and our ego, to a certain degree we block the simple Light of the Creator from permeating our life.

In the scriptures the Creator promises, “He will not hold back the good from those who walk in simplicity”. Being simple is easy and difficult at the same time. The more we consciously, constantly remind ourselves to be simple, to act simple and to think simple, the more we can draw the simple Light of the Creator into every area of our lives.

Gemini. I know a thing or two about this sign, seeing as how I am one.

Out of all the worthy facts I can share with you about this sign of the Zodiac, I find this one best explains its nature: 84 days. That’s how long it takes Mercury (Gemini’s controlling planet) to revolve around the Sun. That’s approximately a quarter of the time it takes Earth to do the same.

Point is, we’re moving fast and we like it. That can be a blessing, or it can be a curse. The downside is we run the risk of skimming over life’s surface, moving from relationship to relationship, idea to idea, project to project, never sticking around long enough in any one spot to probe the depths. Many a Gemini have been called jack of all trades, master of none.

But the upside is we are wide open to change. And in spirituality, versatility is the name of the game. We could all use a dose of Gemini flow right now, with its ability to stimulate our desire for growth and movement.

Keep this in mind: All that is fixed within us can be changed this month.

The first step in kicking yourself in the pants these next few weeks is to seek out the polar opposite of whatever issue you have. Going to extremes is rarely a prescribed course of action, but in order to achieve balance, and start removing some of your blockages, you have to go to the extreme.

If your problem is laziness, try to get up at 5 a.m. for a month. During the workday, go against your natural tendency to surf the net. Initiate a project instead. If you're nature is to ignore people, stop and listen to what every single person has to say, whether it's the clerk at the bank or the waiter at the restaurant.

If you tend to be a procrastinator and avoid doing errands, then go get things done. If you tend to wait until your friends make plans before you decide what you're going to do, then make a plan now and execute that plan. Make the reservation for dinner. Plan a weekend getaway. Plan the fishing trip. Reserve the log cabin. Get the rental car. Instead of waiting for others to provide for you, be the one to initiate.

Put energy into completely transforming any aspect of your life that cries out for change. Get out of your comfort zone and at the end of the month notice how you feel. I think you'll find it was well worth the effort. Hopefully, you'll be able to extend these actions beyond the month, but for now just see what it’s like to not be ruled by routine.

And by the way, pay attention to people’s reactions. If no one is commenting you're changing, it means you're probably not changing.

All the best,

Yehuda

Shavuot excerpt from Michael Berg’s Days of Connection

Our connection to the Light of Shavuot is unique, totally different from any other connection that we make throughout the year. As the kabbalists explain, this is the one time of the year we actually connect to Gamar Hatikkun, the end of the correction process and the Final Redemption.

There is a powerful section in The Zohar called “The Night of the Bride.” I believe this is the only section where Rav Ashlag, the greatest kabbalist of our century and the translator of the entire Zohar, offers two different explanations and understandings for a single section of The Zohar. It is a long and beautiful section, and as we read it, we can appreciate the tremendous gift that is available at Shavuot.

The Zohar describes Rav Shimon bar Yochai sitting and studying on the Night of the Bride, a time when the energy of the bride comes together with that of her husband, the night when the male and female principle completely unite. In The Zohar, we learn of all the people who come together at this time to connect to the tremendous revelation of Light of the “wedding,” which will take place the following morning. These people also desire to partake of the Light that is present with the Bride the night before her wedding. This is the Light that prepares her for her connection—and that prepares us to read and study the Torah (Five Books of Moses), the Prophets, the Ketuvim (Writings) of the Kings, and the Megilot (Books).

These sections form twenty-four books. As we will see, at the end of each of these books there is a two-letter Hebrew combination. Those letters are considered the jewelry, the adornment for the bride. They are the preparation for the great union. The union occurs the next day, but the spiritual work is done the evening before. The Zohar makes this very clear. The reading of the twenty-four books and the meditation on the twenty-four combinations at the end of each reading prepare the bride for the union—for the Light that will be revealed in the morning at the marriage, the coming together of Zeir Anpin and Malchut, the Upper and Lower Worlds.

Rav Ashlag’s discussion of this is very exciting and very powerful. We learn that this section of The Zohar has two different explanations that join together, like rivers that empty into the same sea.

The time in which we now live is called “night” because there is still pain and suffering in the world. This is a time when the Light of the Creator is not completely revealed. Negativity can still attach itself to us. But in this time there is also the potential power to create the union of male and female that will bring about, as Rav Ashlag describes, the Gamar Hatikkun, the Final Correction. The Bride represents the preparation of humanity for the end of the correction, a time when pain and suffering will be removed from this world. The Groom represents the Light of the Creator. As The Zohar explains, this is the moment when pain and suffering will be removed from our world forever.”

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