This Might Sting A Little

By: Yehuda Berg

Tuesday, September 30

"I try to go to the gym, but I don't. I try to look for a job, but I can't. I try to be more spiritual, but I just can't get started."

I think many of us can relate to the dilemma of lack of motivation.

Motivation is all about personal responsibility. At some level you are still waiting for someone to spoon feed you. Get over it and just start sharing, doing. Ask yourself if you want to be a victim for the rest of your life.

That's why some people need pain — it gives them REAL motivation not to go back.

Was I too tough with you? I hope so. The way of the Kabbalist is hard because the ego is hard.

Make your choice today. Wait for the pain to get you out of bed, or just jump up and say I AM DOING IT.

And as tonight is the eve of Rosh Hashanah, I can't think of any better day to kick yourself in the rear and wake up those sleepy parts of your life.

Do It With Love

By: Yehuda Berg

Monday, September 29

Here's a recent email from a reader:

"Sometimes I'm about to say a prayer before I eat a piece of food, and I think, 'why am I doing this? I don't do the other prayers, so how much can I get from this one little tiny, insignificant connection?'"

Ever feel like this?

This is a common doubt that our dark side throws at us: "if you don't do the whole thing, you did nothing..." It's nonsense. Every little part of every little thing counts.

God is in the DETAILS!

Today, forget about what you don't do. Focus on what you are doing, and do it with love and excitement.

Remember The Elephants

September 28 — October 4

We're moments away from Rosh Hashanah [Head of the Year.] This is the time when the universe hits the refresh button on our souls. And in the remaining few hours, there is still time to engineer your year.

All you have to do now is answer this question:

What kind of year do I want to create?

Visualize what you want. Is it more money? Love? Healing? Peace of mind? Peace in the world? Someone to ask you out on a date? A world where people wait for the answer after they ask you, how you doin? Closer connection to God? Closer connection to your mom? Your kids to get off drugs? You to get off drugs? More enlightenment? More motivation? More believing in yourself? More happiness?

If all the things you wished for came true, what would it feel like?

Imagine you have a million in the bank ... what would that feel like?

Imagine you are saving people's lives ... what would that feel like?

Imagine you are connected in the deepest sense ... what would that feel like?

"But how's it going to happen, Yehuda? How am I going to be in a situation where I can make a million dollars a year, or donate 1,000 Zohars a week, or meet my soul mate?"

I don't know. Leave that to the Light. Don't you worry about the process. Just focus on what you want - and do your sharing. Consciousness and action will create the vessel for the right process to take place.

And remember the elephants!



All the best,

Yehuda



72 Name of the Week

This Name stokes the fires of passion in my heart and soul. The letters give me the power to maintain sincerity, devotion, and correct consciousness in my prayers, meditations, and spiritual connections.

Take Me Into Your Heart

By: Yehuda Berg

Sunday, September 28

My father and teacher, Rav Berg, recently shared this thought with a few close students:

"Many think I am the head of The Kabbalah Centre because I started the movement. That is not the reason. It is because I take more responsibility for more people's lives than anyone else. A real leader is someone who is not afraid to take responsibility for other peoples' lives."

Caring about people, this is what it means to lead. Resisting the reflex to cut people off, to see them as separate from us, to judge them without compassion, this is what it means to lead. Doing for others with no thought of return, this is what it means to lead.

I challenge you today to take responsibility for one person, to take them into your heart and to care for them as if they were you.

Rav Shimon's Pain

By: Yehuda Berg

Saturday, September 27

There's nothing worse than having something inside us and not being able to share it with someone. Part of what helps us reach those levels of fulfillment is sharing who we are with people.

2,000 years ago, when Rav Shimon, author of Kabbalah's holiest text, The Zohar, was hiding from the Romans in a cave (and channeling the wisdom that would become the basis of all Kabbalistic study), he received a message. A dove flew into his cave carrying a piece of paper with a question sent by his students from whom he was separated.

When he saw the question, he started to cry. It was painful for him to have the knowledge and yet have no one with whom to share it.

Today, share yourself. Let your friends and loved ones know how you are feeling and what is going on inside. We are programmed NOT to share but in truth, that's how we achieve happiness.

We All Want The Same Things

By: Yehuda Berg

Friday, September 26

Getting ready for Rosh Hashanah? Making lists of all the things you want in the New Year?

What about those closest to you, what are they wishing for? Chances are, their wishes are similar to yours. A little more tenderness, a little more understanding, a little more patience…

Today, give them what you want to receive.

Kabbalah On Green

Green is a powerful color according to the ancient wisdom of Kabbalah, because it is the color of the Central Column that stands between right and left, positive and negative, giving and receiving. As such, it represents the balance that is so important to the survival of our planet. Green is also the color of healing, both of the soul and of the Earth. Kabbalah teaches that eco-consciousness and higher consciousness are inextricably linked. In this incisive and thought-provoking book, Yehuda Berg reveals the importance of this relationship; and he explains why the forces of environmental destruction can only be overcome by each and every individual's personal transformation, before green can be achieved on a global scale.

Meditation Of The Month

About the Letters of the Month

A major difference between conventional astrology and kabbalistic astrology is that the latter provides us with the ability to overcome planetary influences through the knowledge of the Hebrew alphabet.

For millennia, kabbalists have been using the 22 letters of this alphabet to connect to the inner energy of each month. The letters are the tools which help reunite the two worlds, the spiritual with the physical. They are the DNA of the universe, each letter manifesting an aspect of Creation.

Furthermore, there are two letters associated with every month: one for the planet that rules that month, the other for the corresponding sign of the Zodiac.

These two letters enable us to connect with the positive aspect of each month; they form the password which gives us access to a particular month's source of energy.

Kabbalistic Calendar 2008 - 2009

The new Kabbalistic Calendar is now on sale!

A great kabbalist once described the world as a garden maze with many confusing, entangling paths. The purpose of this maze is to challenge individuals to reach a threshold that looks out over the entire labyrinth. Some paths lead straight there, some paths lead to dead ends. Still worse, some paths lead to thorny bushes that inflict the voyager with pain and torment.

The voyager has no way of knowing if he is on the right or wrong path because the maze is shrouded in darkness - and he has never walked them before. But there is hope. Standing at the end of the maze are men and women who have successfully made it through, calling him to him with support and guidance. "Turn right, that's it, keep going, now turn left, you're almost there!"

Our life is that garden maze and our ego is the darkness that blinds us. Until that moment when we are able to take control over our ego [desire to receive for the self alone], we are like the voyager who cannot tell the difference between the right and wrong paths.

But, there are special individuals - past and present - who have mastered the art of transformation and have learned to rule over, rather than be ruled by, their ego. As we work on transforming ourselves, we attain the clarity to hear their guiding calls.

The Masters of Kabbalah 2008-2009 Calendar is a collection of guiding voices culled from some of the greatest Kabbalists that ever lived - or are alive today. Each month offers wise teachings and aphorisms from a Kabbalist born in that particular month. As each one is infused with the positive energy of that particular sign, they are best suited to help you along in your process of spiritual transformation and growth in that time period.

It is known that the essence of a Kabbalist permeates his or her every word. By focusing often on the teachings contained herein, you can make a connection with these great conduits of light for the purpose of guide for opening your heart and achieving ever-higher levels of consciousness, thereby making the right choices clearer to your eyes.

Available in Wall and Desktop Formats

Starting Something New

(Excerpted from Michael Berg's, "Secrets of the Zohar")

We experience excitement and energy when we begin something new—but as time goes on, often the energy fades. The Zohar explains that we can sustain the power of our beginnings by bringing in the Creator's Light at the outset. As a tree depends on a seed, all future manifestations depend on their beginnings. What's more, all the moments of our lives, even those that seem to represent completion, are beginnings as well.

Kabbalah teaches that the true destination of all our journeys is complete joy and fulfillment. To reach this destination, we need connection with the Light. The Zohar explains that the Light we draw is referred to as the Shechinah, the female aspect
of the Creator, which is there to assist us and protect us in any journey we take.

This Zohar section below reveals the importance of bringing the Light into all our beginnings—that is, into everything we do, we should always be accompanied by the Light.

Circus Elephants

Ever been to the circus? Perhaps you've noticed how animal handlers keep the elephants at bay.

They tie a rope around its leg, then tie the rope to a stake and then drive the stake into the ground. The elephant can't move. Two tons of muscle and force tied down by a tiny rope and stake.

Hmmm. What's their secret?

The handlers train the elephant from day one to stay put in the same way. Conditioned consciousness. Over time, the beautiful beast becomes convinced it can't pull out the stake. And because it's convinced it can't, it can't!

We do the same thing. We convince ourselves we can't earn a million dollars a year, so we don't. Not only that, the actions we take don't even put us in a position to earn a million dollars a year.

Or, we are convinced we'll never meet the right person. Therefore, the actions we take don't put us in the position to meet the right person.

Or, we want to make things right with our mate. We have a good relationship but we want to take it to the next level. But we can't see that next level is right there waiting for us, and so we don't take the right steps to get to that next level.

As you may know, Libra is the beginning of the new year. The holiday of Rosh Hashanah is the re-creation of the world – your world. We are given a blank slate. Therefore, now is the ideal time to look at your conditioning; to reprogram your thoughts that EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.

Love, healing, well-being, prosperity, simple happiness, confidence - what is it you want? It's here. These next few weeks, as you work on your 99% (consciousness), you'll notice that your 1% (physical circumstances) will follow suit.

What is it you are convinced you can't achieve?

Figure that one out and you're on your way to an incredible year.

All the best,

Yehuda

Kabbalistic solution to global climate crisis

In The Creator's Image

Question:
Growing up as a Pentecostal, my Pastor always preached we must be upright and sin-free, for we are created in the Creator's image. I can't say I truly know what that means and how to practically apply this teaching to my life. What do the Kabbalists have to say?

Answer:
As you said, the Bible does write that man was created in the image of the Creator. This is a powerful lesson, and I agree, it is unfortunately misunderstood by many, and therefore its many lessons and ramifications are lost as well.

If we truly understand, internalize and live the meaning of this verse, our lives will be completely transformed. The Creator in this verse is teaching us one of the most fundamental of spiritual understandings: we have, imbued within our being all the powers and abilities of the Creator.

Simply put, anything the Creator can do, we have the potential of doing. This means that we have within us the potential to heal, bless, and assist others in the deepest way…and so much more.

Kabbalists stress the importance of taking the time to internalize this lesson. We cannot even begin to fathom the awesome powers that we can and are meant to have.

Once we understand the powers that we are meant to reveal we can begin developing ourselves to activate this potential. This is the process of our spiritual development in general, but specifically we need to remember that the best way to activate our amazing Creator potential is by erecting a monument of warning against the ego.

Or as the Kabbalists refer to it, the desire to receive for the self alone.

There is no greater barrier to revealing our Creator potential than our ego, and there is no more powerful way to reveal it than by proactively diminishing the ego.

It is important that we also remember this is not simply a nice spiritual lesson and concept; rather this is, exactly our purpose in this world. Our purpose in this world is to reveal our awesome Creator potential and with it, to assist others and ourselves. This is also the only way to achieve true and lasting fulfillment.

Imagine if Jonas Salk (American biologist and physician best known for the development of the polio vaccine) spent his time doing something else, maybe traveling the world, relaxing more, collecting stamps whatever. How many people would have died and suffered because he chose not to develop his innate abilities?

We are all in this position!

Thank you for your question and may it be a giant wake up call for all of us. As we begin the New Year, let us appreciate our unbelievable potential and resolve ourselves to further developing it. Not only for the sake of all the people we are meant to help, but also because it is the only way we can achieve true and lasting fulfillment.

Chaos and Blessings

By: Yehuda Berg

Thursday, September 25

We want to life to be easy - no battles, no demons, no doubts.

We're in the wrong life if that's what we want. Hope I didn't burst your bubble. But as you probably figured out by now, the work never stops. Life is about constant change and growth - ups and downs, pushing and pulling.

And ultimately, transformations! Remember what the kabbalists teach us:

CHAOS CAN ALWAYS BE TURNED INTO BLESSINGS.

Besides, life is boring without the challenges. You've seen those emergency room scenes in the movies, or perhaps first hand. The doctors furiously working to save a guy's life and then, that dreaded sound: beeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Flat line. Game over. Death, the final frontier.

With that in mind, appreciate your obstacles today. Learn to see them for what they are: opportunities to elevate your mind, body and soul.

Bitter Fruit

By: Yehuda Berg

Wednesday, September 24

Spirituality aside, let’s be honest here. We all look out and judge people for their flaws. And many of us turn that critical gaze on ourselves, worst of all.

Rav Ashlag speaks to this idea and offers advice that can change the way you see people - and yourself:

"…the Creator did not complete the creation at the time of creation. We find in any corner of the reality in front of us - in general and in particular - that it is subject to the rules of gradual development, from the undeveloped all the way to the final growth.

If, for example, we taste bitterness in a fruit in the beginning of its growth, we do not find it a fault and defect of the fruit, because we know the reason – the fruit still did not finish its development process.

In the same way that the fruit goes through this process, so too, all of reality goes thru this process."

Let us remember today we are all works in gradual progress.

Like A Virgin

By: Yehuda Berg

Tuesday, September 23

The month of Virgo is a time for asking for forgiveness and cleaning the slate of wrongs we committed against others. Both in this lifetime and beyond. We do this for the purpose of uncorrupting the software of our lives.

Virgo is based on the word virgin - untouched, pure. That's what we are doing. We are going down to the purest, most undifferentiated state.

Why is stem cell research so exciting? You take a cell in an undifferentiated state and program it to be whatever you want it to be. You go to the ultimate fundamental virgin state of that cell - which is the undifferentiated state - and you tell it, 'I want you to be a heart cell, I want you to be a brain cell, I want you to be a liver cell.'

That's the real power behind the month of Virgo. In the realm of consciousness we have the ability to program our thinking at the seed level for the way we want it to be for the coming year.

Today, ask three (3) people to forgive you for anything you may have done to hurt them - in this lifetime or beyond.

Clean Up Time

September 21 — 27

Why are we here? You know, planet earth, the grind of the mundane, the exhilaration of love and birth, the dread of what will be tomorrow, the roller-coaster ride of eternity.

What's it all about?!

Rav Ashlag says it's all about picking up our garbage.

If you really understand that everything is Light and if you really understood that the only thing that creates separation between us and the Light is the garbage we have inside of us, then the willingness to look at the garbage means the willingness to expose it to the Light.

The second the Light sees it, it burns it out. It's like a laser. The problem is, we don't always have the willingness to see what we do that separates us from the Light.

Why? Because the second there's a willingness - a desire - to let the Light in, we let the Light in. And the second the Light comes into contact with darkness, as I said, it burns it out. Our Opponent knows that. It's its job to keep us from connecting with our source.

In the month of Virgo we are all (hopefully) busy looking at the less pleasant sides of our nature, pressing in and down on ourselves to locate the stinking thinking and the not-so-sharing actions.

That can be frustrating, because as we learn, we can't see our junk. For those of us without a teacher reflecting it back to us, what is to be done?

Rav Ashlag makes a great point about this, a point that can totally transform and upgrade your inner search. Here it is:

All you have to do is search. The willingness to look is more important than the actual finding.

The problem is we don't even look. On a practical level, let's say we're going through apathy, depression, mourning process, not enough money, [fill in your own pain.] It's the nature of the conscious mind to run from pain, to subjugate it, so we don't fully embrace the emotions.

That's the reason they stay.

We need to apply the proactive formula process to our emotions and all the negative 'stuff' we have inside. We can't let go of something until we are first holding it, right?

That's what Rav Ashlag is saying - don't be afraid to hold your garbage because when you do, you can let go of it! To put it in physical terms, you've got to pick something up before you can drop it.

Be willing to embrace yourself this week - specifically those difficult, hard-to-handle emotions. When you are feeling angry or sad or lost, allow it to be there. Even speak to your emotions. What do you want to tell me?

Listen to your emotions like you are listening to a child. With patience. With understanding. With compassion. With love.



All the best,

Yehuda



72 Name of the Week

I am ready to battle the nasty habits and unpleasant character traits that I have not been able to get rid of. This Name ensures my victory over the forces of ego. I am imbued with the emotional power and dis-cipline to triumph over all self-centered impulses and negative desires.

Is It Really Real?

By: Yehuda Berg

Monday, September 22

Everybody, all together now: illusion!

It’s all smoke and mirrors. The pain and chaos isn’t real. We do the damage to ourselves.

Question 2: Why do you give energy to something that’s not real?

The doubt, the reactive energy, the acceptance of defeat - why are you feeding it? It’s not even real!

Question 3: If you understand that it’s not real, why don’t you let it go?

Answer that one for yourself today.

Heavenly Rewards

By: Yehuda Berg

Sunday, September 21

Taking risks requires a shift of consciousness.

This means realizing that eventually, after the risky process, it will mean blessings and a deeper connection to the Light. It means feeling those future blessings right now, as I open my heart. That is consciousness. Feeling the future in the present.

A person who starts a business pushes beyond the obstacles: investors, bills, obstacles, challenges – why – because she feels the final destination (not sees, feels). In that area of her life, her consciousness is beyond time. She has a spark of the future in the present. That’s what her motivation is.

Today, raise your consciousness to go beyond time. Bring yourself to a place where you can feel the blessings of the long term. The difference in consciousness is, ‘am I feeling the next second, or am I feeling the future?’

It’s not about ‘eventually I’ll be in heaven’. We want heaven on earth, now. We demand it!

How to Prosper

By: Yehuda Berg

Saturday, September 20

When you give, you get back. And then some.

Remember that one?

Life is all about circuitry. When we give, we receive more so we can continue to give. When we hoard, we create black holes, and we aren't as prosperous because we don’t have circuitry and flow.

Take a risk today - give. Something that counts. Don’t be afraid to feel the burn--then you have given the universe permission to "burn" (create) an opening for you.

Call Yourself Out

By: Yehuda Berg

Friday, September 19

Pay particular attention today to what gets on your nerves - family, friends, colleagues, strangers, even people on TV. The universe is sending you signals, letting you know what you have to work on.

Remember, we cannot see negativity in someone else unless we have it inside. It's like the negativity inside creates a refracting mirror that lets us see it in other people.

Don't psychoanalyze every reaction. Just notice it. And be willing to look at it.

Hurtin'

By: Yehuda Berg

Thursday, September 18

We hurt people because we hurt.

We can apologize but that doesn't always take away the damage, does it? And it doesn't stop us from hurting again. Until we realize this truth, we will continue to hurt people. Most of us aren't bad people. We're just hurting.

Today, sit quietly for a moment, and isolate the specific pain that causes any suffering you inflict on others.

"Responsibility must be taken for events and we must decide to radically prevent their recurrence by destroying and canceling the desire that caused them. The moment we make this decision, we in fact attain an alternate level of consciousness." - Rav Berg

Make a World of Difference

By: Yehuda Berg

Wednesday, September 17



We've been talking about how the month of Virgo is great preparation for Rosh Hashanah. One of the most important technologies used to ensure the coming year is a great one is owning up to the pain we've caused others. It's about going back to those moments we were insensitive or intentionally cruel and feeling the pain we caused.

Yea - that's a big one.

We may not be able to go back to the exact moments because we may not remember them or even be aware of all the pain we put out there. That's why Rav Ashlag always taught, asking the question is more important than getting the answer. If you genuinely want to own up to your actions, then the Light will offer the clues and hints.

Today, step up your risk taking as it relates to balancing the negative energies you've put into the universe. Pick one person you know for sure you hurt last year and reach out to them.

Making amends now will make a world of difference in the new year.