By 12/25/09, I will raise $101K for a charity project called, “Raising Malawi”. This blog is my journey to make that happen. I know my goal is possible, only I have no idea how to meet it. The funds I raise will help build and sustain several Orphan Care Centers and provide the basic infrastructure the people of Malawi need to break out of poverty. As of 6/16/09, with your help, we have donated $51,134.68!
I've had a busy year. Is it possible to progress and regress at the same time? I think that's what happened to me.
Progression:
- I made an even bigger financial commitment to help the orphans of Malawi - I went to Malawi to confirm the funds we are sending are truly making a difference - I came up with sooooo many great fundraising ideas for 2007
Regression:
- I implemented soooo few great fundraising ideas in 2007 - I stopped believing I could meet my goal - I started focussing more on my new LA life -- my new job, my new car, my new apartment, my my my -- than on helping orphans who don't have access to clean water or school or health care or food or clothes or books or or or.
I'm not going to beat myself up about it. But I am quietly amazed at how I could so easily put the faces of the desperate children I met so far in the back of my mind.
I have less than a month to go. I'll post a Raising Malawi update tomorrow.
After I get my laundry done and house cleaned and presents bought and bills paid and nails done and workout in and and and ... stay tuned.
Do you realize when you are in a fit of anger, it’s synonymous with saying there is no God?
Think about it. The Light is constantly feeding you growth opportunities — the more uncomfortable, the more potential for growth. When you’re “losing it”, overpowered by feelings of rage, you’re basically admitting that God has left the building.
This instantaneous knowing that the Light sent this situation to you is a matter of consciousness. However, when you’re sitting in bumper to bumper summer traffic with a broken A/C, late for a job interview, and some guy just blocked you from making your exit, it’s not so easy to be Mr. or Mrs. Spiritual, is it?
When you find yourself unleashing your middle finger and searching for the choicest curse words, try repeating to yourself over and over — “What is the Light teaching ME?”
I don’t expect you to achieve this state of consciousness today. It takes repetition. But the more awareness you inject, the easier it gets to pull yourself out of the fire.
This is a visit to Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem. Rachel's greatest desire and purpose in life was to protect and defend her children from evil. That's why she evokes the element of protection of the universe.
She gave us the "Red String". Kabbalists wear it for protection against the 'evil eye' -- that negative look or thought we consciously or even unconsciously give each other that actually keeps us away from our potential. Each piece of Red String is taken to Rachel's tomb and imbued with the essence of protection.
The energy here was intense. Visitors were not especially happy (or remotely happy!). Much heavier energy than I expected. A lot of pushing and 'desire for self alone'. I actually felt like pushing this 1,000 year old woman back. The religious conservative were making some of us put on shalls to cover up more. We weren't exactly exposed or flaunting it. Then, we started singing and one guy started screaming -- almost hysterically -- about Elijah the prophet's disapproval. As if!
It was really dramatic. In all honesty, I found it entertaining and I wanted to sensationalize it more. Like, "get a load of the crazies in there!"
Which is actually kind of ironic, right?
Is it possible that I'm no more enlightened? I cringe at the thought. But it is quite possible. It almost feels justified to give the evil eye at times. And therein lies today's human consciousness.
Below is a clip (6:35 mins) of my kabbalah teacher Yehuda explaining the spiritual purpose of our trip to the Dead Sea. They call it the Dead Sea because it's so salty, nothing can live there. I floated in it -- bobbed like a cork. I've never seen any such thing. I got one tiny drop of water in my eye and had to get out and run for the shower to flush it. It burned like holy hell.
Spiritually speaking, the sea is dead because other waters flow into it, but nothing flows out. A metaphor for life, really. Kabbalah explains the universe works on a 3-column system of energy. Left column (desire to receive), Right column (desire to share) and Central column (restriction between the two). Very much like a lightbulb -- the negative charge (left), positive charge (right) and central filament that brings the two together and restricts the flow of energy so it generates light.
Laws of energy dictate that whatever you receive, you must, at minimum, share 10% to create that circuitry. Not because you are a good person. Not because it's the right thing to do. Only because, if you don't, that energy gets blocked and eventually dies like the Dead Sea.
This was the first lecture I heard at the Kabbalah Center in NY when I was a new student. It's what had me search for a charitable project to put my energy into. It's what lead me to Raising Malawi. I still donate to other charities, but I wanted to find a big, grassroots cause I could throw my life at to a) unlock my energy and b) grow my vessel/capacity to receive.
That's what my fundraising amounts to for me personally. Does anyone have a clue how much I dread fundraising? I can't stand it. But I want to build this left column muscle of mine. And I want to grow my consciousness and chip off some of the more negative aspects of my personality. And mostly, I want to die knowing that I made a difference. That my existence mattered.
I remember when I took my friend Ananya for a past-life regression at this place (a guy's home) he found in Chicago. He wanted some company in case the guy 'regressing' him pulled any tricks. So, I waited in the livingroom. Ananya went back into a separate room for about an hour.
He was all groggy when he came out. I asked him, "so what is it? were you a king or something?" Ananya comes from privilege in this life, growing up in Dubai with servants and whatnot. His grandma was good friends with Endira Gandhi. He's a lovely person and one of my best friends, so I expected great things.
Anyway, he comes out of the session and shakes his head. He told me he lived a few interesting lives but there was one that really bothered him. He was a very simple man in this particular life. He never married. He died peacefully in his bed with his dog sleeping quietly nearby. Wholly unmemorable. It really got to him.
I think about that story every now and then when my life gets so busy that I spend more time chasing it than designing it. No matter what my reasons for spending my time as I do (chores, work, yada yada) in the end, the legacy will be mine. I certainly want peace, but I don't want to die with any potential in tact. I still don't know how to levitate. I'd like to learn that. Seriously, what if all of the change that needs to happen in the world is sitting idle just waiting for me to change it? I wasn't wired to think like that. I still don't think like that, but i'm trying my damndest to elevate my consciousness.
Here's a shorter clip (1:38) about how hard and important it is to share 10 percent. It's really a matter of consciousness.
Here we are in the Old City of Jerusalem, going through the gates toward the Western Wall. Boys to the left. Girls to the right.
That's not the wall...we're still walking to it. It's not much farther.
Here we go. About 50 feet tall -- and another 50 feet buried underground -- it's made of massive carved stone blocks from King Herod's time, topped by masonry of later times, depending on who ruled the city when.
The wall is not actually part of the Temple, but rather a retaining wall. Since it was the only thing left standing after an attack by the Romans (damn Romans, I swear!) it has inspired the reverence (or woe more like it) of Jewish people for more than 2,000 years. Hence the name, "Wailing Wall".
My friend and kabbalah teacher Yehuda gave us an overview of the place and the energy to connect with...which has nothing to do with the Western Wall itself. We saw the Western Wall on the way to what's behind it. The holiest place on earth.
We walked through a tunnel to the very source of creation.
My friend Ale (short for Alejandra) reminded me that whenever you see balls of light in your picture, it's really a spirit or soul you've captured. I remember hearing that as a kid. And it really spooked me out after I saw the Omen with that beam of light going through the priest's neck, which turned out later to be an augury of his death by impaling from a lamppost or a fencepost, I forget. Anyway...it's spooky. But hold that thought and check out this picutre.
Are those soulballs? They are not in any of my other pictures and here we are, legend has it, at the origin of creation. The place of the binding of Isaac by Abraham. And right here exactly, is the original rock of the temple...the rock of foundation. I touched the wall and scrinched my eyes tight and made a very hard wish. I haven't told anyone what it was. But if you knew me, if you really knew me, then you already know.
Mia Farrow sent a letter last year about Fidelity's investment in PetroChina. PetroChina, a Chinese oil company, is one of the worst offenders in helping fund the genocide in Darfur. With PetroChina's help, the government of Sudan uses its oil revenue to provide arms and funding for the genocide. I e-signed many petitions to put pressure on Fidelity to divest this bad choice. I thought they did, but maybe not enough. I'm concerned to learn that Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase and Vanguard have also bloodied their hands -- and my money -- in funding these horrors.
We can't say we didn't know.
As many as 400,000 people have been killed in Darfur. Another 2.5 million have been driven from their homes and into danger. The threat of rape, torture, murder and starvation pursue the women, men and children of Darfur wherever they flee.
Of US-based investment firms, Franklin Templeton, JP Morgan Chase, Capital Group/American Funds, Fidelity, Vanguard, have the largest holdings in PetroChina.
Safe Darfur is launching a new campaign to call on these companies to divest from PetroChina, Sinopec, Petronas, ONGC, and other companies that help fund genocide in Darfur.
This is actually a bit of a shocker, but following a campaign by the Save Darfur Coalition and its partners, Berkshire Hathaway sold as much as 70% of its holdings in PetroChina.
If you also want to help bring peace to Darfur, please join me in ramping up the pressure on US firms to divest their holdings in companies that help fund the genocide by doing business with the government of Sudan.
Here's more site seeing in Israel. This video is mostly on the way to Masada, which is where about 1,000 Jews committed suicide vs. spend their lives as slaves to the Romans (damn Romans!)
We went on from there to the Dead Sea. They call it that because there is so much salt, nothing can live. You paint yourself with mud and spa down in the Sea. I have a great kabbalastic explanation of the energy there -- Dead Sea and Masada. Trick is not to connect with the energy of death but rather to get a vaccine against it; energy of immortality and no endings. I will upload that video separately. This is just more for fun.
We, as human beings, know best when it comes to fulfilling our goals and desires. The Light force of the Creator knows best when it comes to fulfilling our needs and what is truly best for us.
Today, look at your goals and detach yourself from the outcome. Know that while this is what you want, it may not be what you need. And with that consciousness, you can achieve what you want in a way that goes far beyond any possible expectations.
According to the wisdom of Kabbalah, spiritual purification allows us to connect to the highest levels of Divine Energy and Light. (I'm lifting this text straight from, Dialing God, Daily Connection Book, pg. 36).
Every time we behave in a reactive and negative manner, we build another layer of darkness around ourselves. These layers are called klippot ("shells") and they separate us from the Light. Removal of these negative shells covering our soul brings about the spiritual purification of our body. Our personal healing, enlightenment, and good fortune increase in equal measure to that amount of purification we achieve. For that reason, the ancient sages advocated the use of a powerful and profound purification tool -- mikveh, or immersion.
A mikveh is a pool of living waters. The waters in the Kabbalah Center mikveh are living waters sourced from underground wells. It is said that all the wells on earth are interconnected.
Water is the physical expression of the Light of the Creator. It possesses truly magical qualities. Kabbalah teaches that water holds the keys to healing, longevity, regeneration and even immortality.
Thus, when we dip ourselves in the mikveh, we are immersing our body and soul into the same pristine waters that flowed into the mikveh of Rav Isaac Luria (The Ari). We are also connecting to the same holy waters of the Shiloach in Jerusalem, which were used by the high priests of the Temple over a thousand years ago.
The positive charge of the mikveh eliminates up to 400 levels of negativity. According to the technology of Kabbalah, the size of a mikveh must be 40 se'ah (se'ah is an ancient measurement equal to the size of 144 eggs). Each se'ah helps us to purify ten levels of negativity (40 x 10 = 400 levels of negativity).
The mikveh can counteract the forces of death by imbuing us with the primordial power of life. Spiritual blockages are cleansed as healing flows throughout our being.
The kabbalists recommend that we should enter into a mikveh as often as possible.
We should immerse ourselves 11 times under the water as follows:
The first immersion activates the process of removing all the negativity. We then recite the following:
(transliteration: kumah, Adonai, v'yafutzu, oyivecha, v'yanusu, mesan'eicha, mephaecha). We meditate on the combinations from the 72 Names of God to connect to the energy of the mikveh: Yud-Caf-Shin, Chet-Bet-Vav, Yud-Lamed-Yud.
Then we immerse 10 more times, one for each of the Sfirot:
