The spiritual hitchhikers guide to life

 

 

The beginning

 

To begin with we think we are totally awesome

 

Well we don’t realize, we think that

 

For when we began to think that, was before we began to think

 

It’s called our subconscious belief in ourselves

 

You may say, what does that mean?

 

Either I exist or I don’t

 

The truth is, you are really a sperm and an egg combined called a zygote – you didn’t know you are really a zygote, did you?

 

Well yes, you are a zygote, thats replicated itself into the present form.

 

Now that zygote really is like a blank slate.

 

It has no perception of reality.

 

So if you perceive yourself to exist, it must be that you were born into an environment that perceived you to exist and then you internalized that perception.

 

God forbid children not raised with love are literally hollow (worse than autism.)

 

So mr. or mrs. Zygote, you are a perception that you are awesome made when you were too young to do anything but absorb the perception of those who thought you were.

 

Now that has a positive and a negative, the positive is that you know you exist – which is true – not so much because of the zygote replication thing, rather, the fact that your real parent, creator, admirer is God and he really wants you to have this wonderful “I exist” perception.

 

But it comes at a steep price because if I am awesome, shouldn’t people be doing what I want?!

 

This is why two year olds throw temper tantrums – it would stand to reason that at the age of two we should show a bit of humility, someone has born us, fed us, changed our diapers, in fact we may actually be throwing a temper tantrum as we are in a dirty diaper.

 

But unfortunately, reason is not high on the agenda, only emotions.

 

So hopefully by the time you’re three, your perceptions of grandeur have been mollified – you are still at least subconsciously sure of your greatness, but somehow your ability to act on your desires needs to be put off until you are like those truly God-like people, your parents (in your perception, as they can do whatever they want.)

 

And so life goes.

 

Shall you consider your fortune or misfortune, are you capable of reconciling yourself to the point that you realize you are really a zygote, cared for, created, loved and continually recreated, cared for and loved by God? or shall you continue throwing (maybe not so loud but internally) temper tantrums.

 

There is a mechanism to overcome our egotistical anger called gratitude.

 

Heck, half of Judaism is about being grateful.

 

If I asked you, what is Judaism (and you had the average perception) you would say, well, Keeping Shabbos, Praying regularly, then there are the festivals of Pesach, Sukois, Shavios etc. all of those can be summarized into a single word: be “grateful” for creation, for your daily gifts, that God freed you from slavery and chose you etc. etc.)

 

Many studies have proven this but (and there is a complete field of psychology dedicated to this) gratitude is the solution to half of our problems.

 

In my “Life Course” I recommend that you should make a list of all you are grateful for (think of whatever you would miss if you didn’t have it) and read this list every morning as you wake up (for the first thought of the day changes the train of thoughts through the day.)

 

Step 2 this is a very important principle of Kabbalah called “one side of your heart should be happy the other sad.”

 

As Freud commented “from people with mental disturbances, we can understand ourselves” because as one professor said mental issues are only F.I.D. frequency, intensity and duration of episodes which we all have.

 

So in manic-depressive, we see this notion clearly, the manic person thinks that there is nothing they can’t do, the depressed person thinks, there is nothing they can.

 

Both ways are detrimental.

 

For energy without wisdom is like a misguided fire.

 

And to have a car which is parked out of hopelessness, fear, paralysis, is to not go anywhere.

 

The answer is to have both these emotions simultaneously.

 

Now by nature, we all really (believe it or not) seek the manic state (it’s just, the reality gets in our way, whereas the manic induced state divorces reality from the equation) the reason we seek the manic state, is it feels good, to feel good.

 

So the way to feel good, is to have hope.

 

For thousands of years Jews managed to overcome the most vicious holocausts, pogroms etc. etc. for they knew, tomorrow the messiah will come.

We think we are particles, but we are really waves; as you probably may have heard, waves and particles are the stuff of matter, or more precisely, we think matter is particles, but they are waves; in other words, as is truly beyond human comprehension, every atom is waving back and forth, it is only when you look at it does it become stationary – similarly, we think we are something, but really we are capable of being anything.

If we want nothing, we contain the space for everything; but if we want anything, we let go of everything.