Awesome Saintly Humble Awareness -Baba Sali

Rabbi Baba Sali of Morocco was so deeply connected, he knew things of the past and future. People would come to him to find out their future.

During a big Purim party at his house, one of his students jumped up with such exuberance, arms outstretched, that he hit the chandelier. It fell down and shattered in a million pieces. Baba Sali was alert to soothe the fellow and told him he shouldn’t feel bad about it. He said each bit of broken glass was to release the sins of everybody there, and more all over the world. He also said, “Don’t worry, a new chandelier is coming.”

Just a little while later there was a knock on the door. Here came someone who had bought a chandelier many months ago as a gift for Baba Sali, but was waiting for the occasion of Purim to give it to him.

Remarkable things happen around these saintly people, these tzaddiks. Yet they are extremely humble, unassuming, and gentle in their ways. They always discount their own abilities, their own worth. They are the first to say, “I am nothing.”

When you are given a look into one of the higher worlds, it is so awesome and you are so small that you are thrown into utter humility. Awe does that to you. You don’t have to try to be humble. It’s obvious. You are nothing.

Paradoxically, when you realize you are nothing, then grace pours through you stronger than ever. You become a better vehicle for the divine. Yet you know you can’t do anything to make it happen.

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These are Isaac’s words from chapter 39 of  Volume 1 Walking the Bridge: with a Fearless Heart)

(Thanks to wikimedia commons for this drawing of Baba Sali.)

 

 

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How to Find Your True Inner Teacher

Question: Is your inner teacher the same as your Higher Self?

Yes, many call it the Higher Self. It is your teacher more than anybody else, and it is specific to you and to what you need in particular.
And remember, all exterior teachers are flawed. Listen to your Higher Self.

Question: It just hit me, my ego has been putting on a mask and claiming to be my Higher Self. It says, “This is right — it’s right to do only this.” Those words must be my tip-off that the ego is talking.

Exactly! The Higher Self won’t say this is better than that. In fact the Higher Self won’t say anything. It’s not urging you toward anything better or bigger. It’s not trying to get anywhere. It’s not trying to get more of anything, nor is it trying to gain a new level or put you higher than you were a minute ago.

The Higher Self is offering no rewards. That’s how you will know it.
The ego is always trying to gain something, even to gain more spirituality.

Question: So it seems the Higher Self only listens. It is the table, not the marbles.

Yes. Moses is a great example of the one who listens. God called on him because he listened. God didn’t call a great leader, who might be ego-driven. Instead He called on the listener, the most humble one.
Yet when the ego listens, it turns out God bestows everything upon it. Every gift pours forth, even materially, when you become fully surrendered, when you become an extension of the Divine Will.

Question: That’s funny. You get everything because you planned for nothing.

Yes. Praise and Blame are all the same. It’s a paradox. You learn to want nothing, and then everything pours upon you.

Comment: I noticed, even years ago, my intuitive voice, when it was just emerging, would make tiny soft statements or suggestions to me. But I doubted it. I said, “that can’t be true.” After awhile though, I noticed how often it was true, so I started saying, “maybe it is right.” But before then, my ego was negating my inner voice. Putting it down.

Isaac said yes, the ego is always looking for control, that’s for sure. My own intuition is always on probation, because I still have so much stuff to clear. Sometimes it’s on target, but many times it is not.

Question: It seems to me that when a person looks through the eyes of ego, they see differences between themselves and the other. But when they see through the eyes of Higher Self, they see similarities, like, “I could be that person, I have been where they are.”

Yes. It’s our mind that wants to find differences and categorize. Our mind sets up levels and separations. Many people trust the mind implicitly. They trust whatever it says. The mind is their guide. To them there is nothing higher than the mind.

Yet when we step back and witness what the mind is really telling us, we see it’s filled with complaints, and even outright lies, and perpetuation of old hurts and defenses, conflicts that are not helpful to us in any way.

Question: With everything we’re saying here, how important is our willingness to know the truth about ourselves?

Oh, that’s everything. That tills the soil for all growth. Your sincerity and willingness to see everything about yourself – that’s the first step for all of it. It’s not easy. You come home from a hard day, and the house is a mess. Too much to clean up. You’re overwhelmed. You want to just lie on the couch. Maybe you do. You take a nap. Then what? You clean one thing. Maybe the dishes. Take another nap if you need it. Then clean the next thing. You don’t have to do this all at once. You can’t. It’s a process.

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This is an excerpt from Chapter 11 of Volume 2, Walking the Bridge – With Balance   -Guidance from a Wisdom School.
(Thanks to airforcemedicine for the use of this image.)

A New Start in Great Harmony

Many Thanks to the student who wrote these notes, based on personal understanding of Isaac’s teachings. These are not transcripts but perceptions through the student’s natural filters.

1)  The world takes place in time, but, the Chernobyler Rebbe teaches that higher than and prior to the world, there is no time.  It takes no time for a thought of return to G-d to transform us — it comes from a place beyond the world, beyond time.  We know our lives in the world that take place in time, but how sweet beyond the world is!  In the blink of an eye we can reach Home. We can leave the past behind — no matter how heavy we feel it is — in the blink of an eye.  When something hurts greatly, we may feel there’s no help.  We may forget we have a Home.  The starting point of all repair is the hope we take into our misery.  It only takes a blink of an eye for that to happen. G-d loves when we come Home and visit! It’s so happy to be Home!  We bring joy back to the world from our visits Home.  May G-d illuminate our whole world with the Light of Return and Renewal so everyone wakes up and we share the joy of living together. Each year, and even every day can be renewed with this Highest Light. Then we’ll see that all the misery was to lead to the great joy of awakening.

2)  We can ask ourselves if we are givers or takers regarding those we live with.  Giving requires an awakened heart, fueled by love and awe, otherwise it’s just repetitive behavior.  True maturity is found in kindness, when we stop using people and objects to fulfill our needs and transform our taking and possessing into giving.  We live in a world of all mouths and no ears, of people just waiting their turn to talk.  Deep listening is a non-judgemental openness that’s profoundly kind.  It comes from a silence that’s so deep that the person disappears and only G-d is present — then blessing and healing can occur.  Let conversations be like gifts by being in the giving mode of non-judgmental listening. Silence in the mode of giving is radiant and brings blessing to the world.

3)  The world displeases us in various ways. Underneath it all is the harmony of everything being perfectly designed to impart the Light, Life and Beauty of that moment.  To go deeper into the mystery so more Light is revealed, we need to let go of the feeling that the surface or story level is all there is — including worries about life’s issues — and begin to see how the Divine Presence manifests in every aspect of life.  Remain open to believing that the miraculous is just as possible as the mundane.  Realize that this is a display by the Eternal One, and you’re in it as a bubble, waiting to pop and re-join.  To arrive at the deeper level, we move from distrust/disbelief to trust and belief. Allow it to be a deep stillness that knows no changes, no lack, no suffering. Feel the characters we play in the story melt away — we don’t even know our own names.  Be nobody in particular in Paradise.

4)  The greatness of the human soul is that it stretches from a most limited place to one of tremendous freedom.  There’s an unbreakable ‘wire’ connecting us to that freedom, but the noisiness of this world creates a spell of forgetfulness.  We forget that even now we’re free, for our souls hover above us in freedom.  Its job is to delight in the beauties of Creation.  But, attention is drawn here, especially by aches, pains and lacks.  The more we pay attention to them, the more we’re convinced that’s all we are.  We prioritize material accomplishments and are ever more estranged from our soul that’s already free.  The higher we go along the soul’s conduit, the happier we feel, for there’s a type of bathing in the glow of the Divine Presence.  When a Light like that is revealed, It brings with It all the beauty that belongs to us but has been obscured by worry and sadness.  When we relocate our attention Above, calling on G-d for help, part of ourselves that’s absolutely fine reveals itself, and a sense of peace and security washes away  worry and sadness.

For more notes from Isaac’s teachings, see the Walking the Bridge book series.

 

Mystical Answer (from a bird) in a Miracle Moment

In listening for the Divine Will, your own life is your laboratory. You get to be a scientist and run experiments. Look for the Divine Will. See whether your particular action has an effect for the good of all, or just for yourself. Watch what happens. Watch your ego at work.

We each have a role to play for the Divine. It may not be anything we plan or expect, yet it is happening, and in the end, it will play out as it should.

Know that when you ask God a question, the answer does come. Without fail. It may not come immediately. Sometimes by the time the answer arrives, we forgot our question. So it doesn’t feel connected. We don’t remember, so we don’t notice the moment when God answers our prayer. It is up to us to remember our question and connect it to the reply.

Here’s a story I’ve told before, something that happened years ago. One Shabbos (Sabbath) afternoon I was lifted to a place of such expansion, I could hardly believe it was real. I thought I could be fooling myself somehow. Was it a psychological thing I had brought on myself, or was it Divine? I didn’t know. So I made a request. Not a challenge, but a simple request because I needed to know. I asked for something unusual but reasonable, as I listened to the birdsong outside.

We were living in Los Angeles at the time, and the palm trees outside were filled with birds. The room where I studied had a sliding glass door, and I would leave it about ten inches open to the porch. It was unusual for any bird to land on that porch. I knew this because my little daughter had spilled birdseed on the porch and it remained there for months, with no birds taking it.

With a need to know, I asked God, “If this amazing expansion I feel is from You, please show me it is, by asking one of those birds to fly down here and come into my room.” I went on with my studying. Nothing happened that afternoon. I thought, well, I guess maybe I did fool myself.

But the next day as I was studying, I heard the rustle of wings as a bird flew into the room, right to me. Suddenly this bird was flapping its wings, holding itself in one spot right in front of my face, looking me in the eyes. Then it flew out.

My question was answered. It was answered soon enough that I hadn’t forgotten my question.

God does things in God’s own time. The day I asked, I was clinging too hard, pulling for a reply. I received a reply, strongly and sweetly, the next day.

When you ask for something in prayer – let’s say you’re praying for a friend who is sick. You say, “Please God, heal my friend.” It’s important to offer this prayer, but release it. Don’t hang onto it. Release your hooks. We tend to hang on for an answer.

If the friend gets worse, we may grow bitter. We think God doesn’t care, or there is no God.

Better to let go. Take your hooks out of it.

I offer the prayer, that’s all I need do.

 

These are Isaac’s words, excerpted from chapter 10 of Volume 3, Walking The Bridge: The Art of All-Is-Well

(Thanks to GoodFreePhotos for this owl image.)

Fresh Clarity from Your Beginner’s Mind

Just an Isaac note from volume 3: cultivate Beginner’s Mind to see things freshly.
A prepared opinion puts blinders on us.
A ready answer may silence our intuition.
Better not to know-it-all.

For more concise and inspiring lines,
check out Volume 3, Walking The Bridge: The Art of All-Is-Well

Insight on the Colossal Divine Pipeline for You

There is a ladder of many worlds, existing above us, so to speak. The other worlds learn and benefit from us just as we do from them.

When we access the timeless, which we are able to do when we go into Presence, that energy flows from our lowest world straight up to our Creator, beyond the highest worlds. Then the energy flows back down through all the worlds. This is what our Sages teach. This is what happens when we go into the mode of full Presence.

Most of the time, everything arises first in the world of Spirit and makes its way into the physical plane. So – even though all time is Now – we could say that events occur in the “worlds above” prior to the event happening here.

But in this instance, when we are fully Present and allowing divine connection, it happens here “first.” Then it goes straight up to God, and that energy flows back down through all the worlds.

In this way our actions feed all worlds. So the inhabitants of all worlds are happy to help us.

The physical world is the furthest limit of God’s creation. Think of God digging a well through more and more layers until He finally hits water, and that’s us. Even though we are the densest layer, we are the culmination of Creation. Creation was made for us.

We are the outer limits, and we have the biggest potential separation from God. But at the same time, everything that happens in the well affects us, affects all worlds.

God is always present, omnipresent. Yet sometimes we feel separated from God. The ego is the biggest way God hides from us. The ego is the biggest screen that separates us from the divine.

You may find you are Present and connected, but after awhile you take a nibble on the cheese. “What do people think of me? How can I turn this situation to my advantage? How will I make money out of this?” Then your screen is up, and God is hidden from you. The ego took over.

You’ll notice the ego is an artificial being. It feeds only on the past and the future. It cannot feed on the Present. It doesn’t even exist in the Present, in the place of no-thought.

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These are Isaac’s words from chapter 30 of  Volume 1 Walking the Bridge: with a Fearless Heart)
(Thanks to pixabay for this radiant image.)

 

Let Your Blessings Pour – Gratitude is the Key

Isaac said, Hanukkah is a time of blessings.

Hanukkah is a celebration of the vast abundance of Uncreated Light that pours Itself into all manner of blessings for us.

We all know the story behind Hanukkah, how a handful of holy men withstood an army of soldiers. The odds were overwhelming. It was practically a sure thing they would lose. You could bet on it.

This tiny group of people were so low, you could hardly even call them the underdog. You’d just call them the dog. Yet they came out victorious. God’s light brought them through. Then the single vial of holy oil for the lamps surprisingly lasted eight days, to rededicate the temple.

They were beyond grateful. They were deeply blessed.

Uncreated Light pours into whatever blessing is needed, at any time.

Your needs change over time. What you need now is not what you needed a few years ago. God knows this. His Light comes in and takes on the form of whatever is needed right now.

Gratitude is the key to reveal blessings. Before any blessing can flow, you need to be grateful for what you do have, for the good parts of your life. Even in difficulty.

We all have difficulties. But find something, anything, to be grateful for right now. Even a very small thing. Give it your attention and your gratitude. This will open the door to receiving blessings.

The flames of the Hanukkah candles reveal Uncreated Light to us. Let the light from the candles go into your eyes, into your brain, and right down into your heart. There the door will open.

 

This is an excerpt from Chapter 36 of Volume 2, Walking the Bridge – With Balance   -Guidance from a Wisdom School.   (Tonight, Dec 4, 2018 the third candle is lit.)