So today I realized something truly life changing

 

It states in perhaps the most important Kabbalistic work ever written – the foundation for all future works – written by Abraham called Sefer Yetzirah the Book of Creation

 

There is nothing better than pleasure and nothing worse than pain.

 

However what is so interesting is that in Hebrew the letters for pleasure and pain are the exact same letters only the order is changed.

 

In other words, in my humble opinion the lesson is as follows:

 

Humanity reacts to these two forces but more importantly these two forces react to each other.

 

Most often the mistake we make is assuming reality is how we feel instead of realizing feelings can change almost instantaneously.

 

For example perhaps the greatest philosopher of the holocaust from a human experiential point of view is Victor Franker who writes that joy permeates all facets for upon being transferred – when the prisoners had no inkling of their future and death was the greatest probability – to a location which was a work detail instead of a death shower etc. they were filled with joy.

 

This joy would outweigh their hell and in that moment their joy was felt throughout the entire person.

 

In other words our reality is primarily determined by our joy or lack thereof.

 

Every time we see good, we feel good; and conversely every time we see bad, we feel bad.