06.30.09
Up on the roof
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06.22.09
Inner awareness- the temple within
Inner awareness- the temple within
Posted using ShareThis
06.11.09
Garden passages mitzvos (part four)
Garden passages mitzvos (part four)
Posted using ShareThis
06.10.09
Garden Passages – Full Text
For a moment Levi stood transfixed by the scene. All thought left him. Gentle golden light streamed everywhere. He looked at his hands and the rays of effulgence were passing through him as well. The green surface upon which he now suddenly began walking upon could have been grass but all things here were seen in a transparency of perception.
He wondered briefly how it was possible to even stand or walk in such a place even as he moved forward in spite of the paradox this presented. In the distance a tree of such immense proportions loomed steadily closer. It’s branches reached into the heavens and as he pondered this he chanced to look below and saw that the roots formed a network of vines passing through the clouds entering the earth and then wrapping itself around the earth like a vast neural network of unfathomable density and complexity.
As he walked the sense of solidity became enhanced almost as if once he grew acclimated to the porous nature of the substance he trod upon it became more real for him. The Tree now took up the entire horizon.
The spaces that were made by its arching branches seemed to contain portals to others worlds, times and places. He heard singing now as the pathway became a series of corridors leading endlessly beyond interconnected intricately by stretches of heavens filled with stars whose light was filtered by many veils. Two men were having a discussion in an area cleared of green in a circle that only revolved when you looked at it. If you were the reach for the edge of that circle four doors would appear.
Each door had a Hebrew letter engraved upon it and an angel with their chariot waited guiding the way through. He wanted to hear what they were speaking about but also did not want to disturb them. In an instant there he was sitting next to the two men a bit disconcerted by this sudden change in perspective.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. Just remember to look before you leap,” The one said smiling disappearing suddenly and then returning just as fast.
“What was that?” Levi asked the other.
“That was Eliyahu. Every time there is a mitzvah he is there to witness it. We take turns every few hundred years or so,” The man smiled as he was working on some sandals.
“You are…,”He asked.
“Moshe. Yes of course I look familiar. Every Jew knows me from Sinai. It is good to see you, B”H for the miracle of this meeting,” Moshe said as Eliyahu returned.
“How was it?” Moshe asked.
“You have to ask,” Eliyahu said jokingly. “It was of course wonderful. Another Jew has decided to put on the tefillin. Ha Kodesh Baruchu is pleased of course.”
“Yes,” Moshe said. “I thought it was something like that,” Moshe turned to him as he shook Eliyahu’s hand. “We were just discussing the living letters and their connections with creation.
Ezek: 36: 9 ‘For, behold, I am for you, and I will turn unto you, and ye shall be tilled and sown;’
“The secret of creation is that all proceeds according to the permutations of these living letters. Hashem Elokim is continually with you residing within moving as you move speaking as you speak and growing as you grow,” Eliyahu remarked motioning for him to sit and join them.
“Yes the land that is sown and tilled is the garden of your consciousness which is stirred as you study Torah. This is why you join us today,” Moshe said his form becoming transparent.
“Don’t be alarmed Levi. Look at your own form or lack thereof,” Moshe assured him. You have to expect that here. The nullification of form simply means we are residing more and more with Ha Kodesh Baruchu.”
Job: 14:2 “He cometh forth like a flower, and withereth; he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not.”
“It should not surprise you that those of us who seek on high should be successful and when we are then we are not, understand?” Eliyahu asked.
“Yes I think I am beginning to. Perhaps the principle is the same as Hashem in his creation i.e. something out of nothing,” Levi pondered.
“Excellent, let me explain further,” Eliyahu said.
Levi marveled at this conversation he was having with Eliyahu and Moshe here in Gan Eden. He waited for Eliyahu’s exposition of “something out of nothing,” a divine principle of creation. The air was full of golden speckles brilliant twisting turning sparks that assumed shapes as he peered closer.
“What are these wondrous beings?” He asked seeing the forms of men and women clothed in golden robes soaring through a portal above.
“They are the members of the holy assembly, torah scholars, sages, righteous ones, those whose lives were filled with mitzvos while they walked the earth. Three times a day they convene to absorb the three daily prayers. They are the proof that what happens below also has its counterpart above,” Moshe answered before finishing repairing his sandals and then disappearing altogether.
“Don’t be concerned he’ll be back. He goes to meet with Moshiach to plan the redemption and the unification of the name. Now where was I,” Elijah said as Levi relaxed and grew more accustomed to the fantastic events around him.
“You were taking about “something out of nothing,” Levi reminded him.
“Oh yes. Consider the following verse by Yishayahu,” Elijah then spoke the verse out loud.
Isaiah 41: 4 “Who hath wrought and done it? He that called the generations from the beginning. I, the LORD, who am the first, and with the last am the same.”
“Ha Kodesh Barachu is within everything. The is no where that he may not be found and yet all we have is a feeling for the most part that he is there. Moshe who has spoken with him directly will attest to his awesome and fearful nature. I have known him as well and yet neither Moshe nor I may encompass his being. That’s why we say we know and do not know. Oops excuse me another mitzvah,” Elijah said fading and then disappearing completely.
As Levi pondered these things he felt himself moving away. He did not want to leave this place. There was so much to learn. He recited the prayers before the SHMA and then the SHMA itself. It steadied him and he stopped moving. Elijah once again came into view only this time a distance away. He waved to Levi who then concentrated on saying the Amidah prayers. As he davened he found he could walk back and join Elijah. When he reached the Alenu prayer he once again sat with Elijah.
“Very good Levi! What a mitzah I just witnessed. I’ll have to tell you about it sometime. I see you are getting to know your way around. I thought we lost you for a moment there. It would have been okay too because here in Gan Eden it is all good. I was thinking about our discussion and I remember saying in the introduction to the Tikkunei Zohar,
“And You are He Who binds them together and unites them…; and apart from You there is no unity among those [attributes] above….,”
“I was speaking there about the sephiroth and their attributes. There is a unity of purpose and design that can never be denied. It is inherent by definition within and through everything,” Elijah paused to give thanks as the holy assembly once again passed by.
“We can apply this to Torah as well. Anywhere we happen to be in Torah is the center of our universe indeed of our complete continuum since Hashem is always with us a doorway is always open through the infinite,” Levi said not quite understanding at first and then as his words reverberated above the meanings became clearer. At that moment of realization he heard a ringing. Elijah picked up what looked like a cell phone.
“It’s Moshe. He says to come on over and meet the Moshiach. I have to go. It’s Chabad wedding below. Lot’s of simcha’s to kvel over. We’ll talk soon no?” Elijah faded and was gone.
The area immediately around Levi began to swirl obscuring his vision. There in Gan Eden transformations were taking place as the souls of the righteous were rising level by level endlessly within Ha Kodesh Barachu. It was a compelling sight filled with soaring brilliance and revelation very much equal to Ezekiel’s vision. He almost became enveloped in the flow but then remembered the summons by Moshe and thought to himself, now what.
The floor beneath was becoming transparent. He had the sensation of falling briefly and then rising quickly and flowing through one of the portals formed by the latticework of branches of the Tree. Then Levi found himself walking on desert sand directly on to a vast oasis of palm trees and clear sparkling pools. The landscape was arranged in a dizzying array of terraces rising past the field of his vision. A young man in a white robe carrying a shepherd’s staff approached him smiling.
“I see you made it. Good for you,” The boy said.
“Moshe?” Levi asked.
“Yes and no but we’ll get to that later. Don’t mind the form. As you will find out these things are relative around here. Please come and rest with me after your journey. Let me offer you the hospitality of this abode,” Moshe motioned for him to ascend to a level overlooking the entire oasis.
“What is this place?” Levi asked.
“Gan Eden still but on the level of Malkuth of Yetzirah. The pools give it away. We were just speaking from Malkuth of Briah. I know it can get confusing but only for a moment,” Moshe told him.
“Where is Moshiach? I thought…,” Levi began.
“Oh right here slightly to my left. Let me move,” Moshe said his form fading blending somehow into an older version of himself yet somehow different.
“I don’t understand. Are you Moshiach?” Levi asked as the form in front of him wavered and then coalesced before him.
“It is a bit more complicated than that. Listen,” Moshiach said.
‘I am sleeping but my heart is awake.’- Song of Songs 5:2
‘I shall pour forth my spirit upon all flesh.’ – Joel 3:1
‘I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will place within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
I will place My spirit within you.’- Ezekiel 36:24-27
“I don’t understand,” Levi said as the form of Moshiach changed back to Moshe as a boy. Elijah appeared beside him as sparks of light rose from the various pools and ascended on high.
“That my dear Levi is what happens to mitzvos below gathering up the sparks of holiness to return to Hashem and the unity above. Well it was a busy day but now its Monday, a slow day for mitzvos. I was thinking of having a Mitzvah Monday and announcing it to the world maybe even on Youtube? I see you’ve met the Moshiach,” Elijah said standing and stretching. “You have questions?”
“Of course. First what is he waiting for? How come he hasn’t come when we so desperately need him? Levi asked now walking with Elijah and Moshe.
“I understand your longing but that isn’t enough. Do you see those sparks rising above each one separate but all rising together?” Elijah asked.
“Yes the mitzvos redeem these sparks so they may ascend,” Levi answered.
“You see them as sparks and yet when you view the sun’s rays the light is continuous right?” Elijah asked again as Levi nodded yes. “When there is one continuously flow of mitzvos then you will all be able to have the nachas of seeing the Moshiach with you always. There is no deed too small, no kindness insignificant and certainly every favor you do for another is returned in abundance on high.”
“But how can such a thing take place it is an enormous thing to ask?” Levi pondered out loud.
“One mitzvah at a time. Imagine if you will an entire country that assumes this as their national anthem. Herein lies the destiny of Israel spoken of long ago,” Elijah spoke as these shining words appeared.
‘They shall build for Me a sanctuary and I shall dwell amongst them.’
Exodus 25:8
‘It shall come to pass in the last days, that the mount of the house of G-d shall be established atop the mountains, and be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall stream to it.’ Isaiah 2:2
“I understand I think but what can I do?” Levi asked and heard these shining words within.
For Moshiach is not merely the reward for our fulfillment of the mitzvos, but their result: when a person does a mitzvah, he draws down a flow of divine light into the world, to be suffused and integrated into the material reality…
–Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (Tanya, Chapters 36 & 37)
“Do mitzvos,” Both Elijah and Moshe said before fading away. The entire scene began to disappear and for a moment there was nothing and then he awoke under a tree next to a country road.
How strange he thought. He had been traveling along with his donkey thinking about the following verse:
Ezekiel 31: 8 ‘The cedars in the garden of God could not hide it; the cypress-trees were not like its boughs, and the plane-trees were not as its branches; nor was any tree in the garden of God like unto it in its beauty.’
What had happened? How did he get here? He did not remember stopping or falling asleep. Strange indeed because he felt like something wonderful had just happened. He couldn’t remember anything.
A traveler riding on a cart was passing in front of him when all of a sudden a cart wheel broke. It was a man frail bent over with age who slowly climbed down off the cart. He looked at the cart raised his hands to heaven and then sat down despondently in the middle of the road. Levi rushed to his side.
“Please let me help you. Rest under the trees here and share a cool drink with me. Don’t worry about your cart I can fix your wheel while you are eating,” Levi said feeling a sense of familiarity about their meeting. “Do I know you?” He asked.
The old man replied, “Oh I’ve traveled many years so yes we may have crossed paths before. Thank you for your kindness and hospitality,” The old man said.
“Of course I…, ”Levi began to say and then he remembered everything about being in the Garden of Eden. This old man before him was none other than Elijah. He looked at Levi now with a twinkle in his eyes as Levi reset the wheel and helped him back on to the cart.
“Thank you Elijah for helping me to remember,” He told Elijah.
“No thank you Levi for allowing me to witness another mitzah,” Elijah said laughing and riding away.
Levi packed up his belonging and began walking along the road thinking, ‘where to next?” The answer came quickly, ‘on to another mitzvah.’