…fabulous for being lived in. 😉
I’m currently reading The Gift of Kabbalah: Discovering the Secrets of Heaven, Renewing Your Life on Earth
All of us have the gifts we need to reflect the image of God, each in our own unique way. The very fact that we have arrived here, in human incarnation, tells us that we have the courage to take on the task. Although Kabbalah teaches that we may reincarnate in different bodies to accomplish our soul’s mission, we always have the possibility of completing the mission in our present lifetime. Moreover, Kabbalah is not cultivated in an atmosphere completely separated from daily life. Judaism never had monks and nuns who withdrew from ordinary life to nourish their spirituality. Most rabbis, including many kabbalists, worked for a living at some trade or business. If they wanted to be close to God, they had to spend time at it, but most had to do it while they were living a normal life.
Today, although we are busy and often preoccupied with day-to-day matters, many of us actively desire to have our entire lives permeated with spirituality. We want to work at creating our lives around a higher ideal. The teachings of Kabbalah are appropriate because Judaism says that our “temple” is the home as well as the synagogue or religious institution; that marrying and raising children is just as holy as having a separated spiritual life; that caring for our bodies and minds is as important as spiritual experience.
Of course special times and activities such as retreats and purifications can be helpful as part of a spiritual practice. Mystics in Judaism as in other traditions were known to depart from the normal person’s routine – for example, by sleeping less or fasting more. But Judaism holds that, for most people, separations from the world should be temporary and limited, enabling us to refresh our connection to Spirit. We must then return to the world and integrate what we have received. This is the point of our effort, for the ultimate goal is that the whole world will become a vessel for Divinity.
