| Kabbalah Meditations & Resources From the Kabbalah Centre's book 72 Names of God by Yehuda Berg |
| Weekly Meditations (from Kabbalah Centre's Conciousness Tune-Ups) August 29th � September 4th, 2004 The End is in the Beginning |
| We are quickly approaching Rosh Hashanah. As you hopefully know by now, if we do the work of self-examination this month, we can look forward to a new beginning next month. Kabbalah teaches us to pay special attention to beginnings of all kinds. For example, it says in The Zohar, that our first thoughts upon awakening in the morning determine the nature of our entire day. If we begin with appreciation for the opportunities that every day presents, the positive energy of that thought will permeate the hours that follow. This same principle operates in all our actions and endeavors - both in our spiritual work and our lives in the material world. Since beginnings are so important, it�s no surprise that Kabbalah provides specific tools for making the most of them. Every undertaking should start with a meditation to draw the Light into the action. In this way, the effort gains the power to move toward a positive conclusion � for, as The Zohar puts it, �the end of action is within its first thought.� Again, it�s important to realize that this teaching applies not only to spiritual undertakings but also to literally everything we do. Most of us are not free to devote every day to spiritual matters. We have jobs and careers, families and friends. And this, after all, is what the Light intends for us. We were not created to live on a mountaintop, alone with our contemplations. We were brought into the world in order to meet the challenge of being spiritual while living a tough, physical life that at times seems the exact opposite of spiritual. The fact that we have so many mundane responsibilities does not mean that the quality of our spiritual work needs to be degraded, even if the time we devote to explicitly spiritual matters is less than it might be. Many of you reading this have enormous responsibilities that take up virtually every hour of the day, leaving you with only bits and pieces of time for study and reflection. But you have to grab onto those moments and use them to do the spiritual work. In this month, as I have been discussing in previous Tune-Ups, the work is reviewing the pain you have caused others this past year and beyond, and to transform the original outcome by committing to yourself not to allow that reactive behavior to no longer dominate you. If you use your few moments each day (or more if you can find the time) with sincere desire for change, it can be truly said that you are living a spiritual life. The lesson this week is that, if you genuinely lead a spiritual life, you are injecting all of your beginnings with blessings. And in the end, is that not what we are all looking for? This is the true test for each and every one of us. When we wake up in the morning, where do our thoughts immediately turn? When we have free time, what is our first inclination and desire? If we really care about connection to the Light, we should make the desire to transform the axle on which the wheels of our lives revolve at every moment - and especially at the beginning moments of everything we do. All the Best, Yehuda 72 Name Meditation: CLICK HERE for the Name to meditate on. Use the meditation found below: Through meditation upon this sequence and with genuine penitence in my heart, I can lessen or even revoke judgments set forth against me. I meditate to offer forbearance and compassion to others. Zohar Portion: Vayetze Verse 53, Page 40 Prologue Vol. 1 Verse 53 Purpose of this passage: Scanning this portion will assist you in cleansing yourself in preparation for Rosh Hashanah. To purchase the Zohar, click here. |
 53. "...and behold the angels of Elohim
53. A voice came forth, saying: Lower your eyes, |
