We say, “to err is human, and to forgive is Divine.” In this respect, we all know how to be human. How do we learn to express our Divine nature in our lives?

We begin with the most basic level of controlling our lower animal instincts. The Ten Commandments gives us a clear direction in this regard:

“You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house;  you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is your neighbor’s.” - Exodus 20:12-12

These commandments teach us to overcome our primitive animal passions. We all have these instincts, and the first step in our spiritual evolution is to learn how to restrain them. This is the beginning of the path to awakening the Divine spark within us.

Once we have begun to get our lower instincts under control, we move on to the next stage of this spiritual process. Leviticus 19:18 declares: “love your neighbor as yourself.” With this commandment, we are being asked to go beyond our self-centered awareness and think about the needs and feelings of others. We are being told to give of ourselves to other people, to care for their wellbeing as much as our own. This step is crucial for the development of our heart center, and the inculcation of the virtue of compassion in us.

The Book of Proverbs 24:17-18 states:

When your enemy falls do not rejoice, lest God turn His wrath from them to you.”

We have begun to use our heart, now we have to master our mind. The mind is a very potent instrument. Our state of consciousness affects everything around us. Our thoughts draw energy toward us, and emanate that energy back into the world. This proverb warns us to be careful about what we think, for what we think will determine what we attract to us. If our mind is full of thoughts of love, then love is what we will attract. And if our head is filled with thoughts of revenge and vengeance, then that is what we will receive in turn. Therefore, we need to learn how to let go of our negative feelings and forgive others, otherwise those same feelings will come back to us.

The Ethics of the Fathers 4:19 tells us that there was a rabbi who made this teaching the centerpoint of his spiritual life. His name was Rabbi Shmuel haKatan. All of his life, Rabbi Shmuel strove to feel no animosity toward anyone, and to see good in everyone.

The Tractate Brachot 28B recounts that Shmuel haKatan was the rabbi who composed the extra blessing in the daily standing prayer, the shemonei esrai, which calls for the destruction of evil doers. Only a pure soul like Shumel haKatan could have written such a prayer and still be free of hate and animosity.  The author of this prayer is dealing with serious karmic responsibilities. To maintain both a keen awareness of the karmic effects of our words, and a constant positive regard for others, is not a simple task.

Even though modern scholars now believe that Rabbi Shmuel was not the author of this blessing, nonetheless, this Talmudic passage shows us that the rabbis had a deep understanding of the power of words. They recognized the need for purity and caution before we ask God to destroy anyone, and a profound capacity for forgiveness.

The final stage in the development of forgiveness is the cultivation of love for our enemies. For many of us, this might appear to be an impossible objective.  It is, after all, quite natural to hate our enemies and want vengeance. Vengeance is only a desire for justice to be done. Each act has its consequences. If an individual has inflicted suffering upon others, it only seems right for him or her to suffer in turn.

To bring this final stage to fulfilment, however, we need to expand of our consciousness beyond its natural limitations. We need to examine our feelings and motives in greater depth, and with a more acute sensitivity.

Are our enemy’s feelings any different than our own? Are they any less human? We have all experienced a moment of great sorrow or rage when we were ready to kill someone. If a loved one has been harmed, or even threatened, our immediate instinct is to strike back. Who has not felt the power of intense passion when it fills the body? We all know how quickly it can take control. Therefore, we need to have compassion for the effect of those feelings on others.

To love our enemies does not naively assume that people are always good. On the contrary, it recognizes that every human being is capable of doing serious wrong, of creating evil and suffering.  Rather, what this spiritual injunction is asking us to do is to transform our reaction to our enemies.  Instead of trying to destroy their lives, it urges us to strive to eradicate the hatred and evil within us all.

As the Buddhist teacher, Anagarika Sri Munindra, has explained:

“If you do anything good for others, it is good for you. Hatred never ceases through hatred in this world. Through love alone it ceases. This is an eternal law. There is no American love, Indian love – no difference. The mind is a wonderful force. Pervade you whole being with loving thoughts, from your pure heart. If you love your enemies, you will have no enemies. This is the only way, so you can be helpful to the universe.” ^[2]

Mercy for the frailties of all human beings can imbue us with the wisdom to forgive. It can help us to let go of our need to balance hurt for hurt. All we need to do is accept that everyone is imperfect; everyone one of us is capable of inflicting injury and harm. Once we have internalized the truth of this spiritual perspective, the doorway to forgiveness will open wide for both ourselves and our enemies.

The Hasidic Master, Michael of Zlotochov, suggests a simple way of developing this extraordinary capacity for forgiveness. Rebbe Michael believed that the highest form of service is to pray for our enemies. And we cultivate love for our enemies, Rebbe Michael explains, by touching on their essential Divinity. Praying for our enemies keeps our heart flowing, even as we confront the negative force of their hatred. It enables us to forge a link with our Higher Self and draw on its infinite capacity for forgiveness. It opens the door for God to enter our enemies’ hearts, and awaken their inherent Divine nature.

“To err is human, and to forgive is Divine.” We may not be able to achieve the pure love and forgiveness of Anagarika Munindra or Rebbe Michael, but we all can take a further stride toward revealing our Divine essence. We can transcend the limits of our petty human behavior and link our heart and mind to God. We can stretch the boundaries of our humanity so that the light of Divine Spirit comes flooding into us. In that light, our instinctual need for “justice” will be washed away, and be replaced with the grace of forgiveness.

Copyright © 2012, by Yoel Glick

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Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai is the traditional author of the Zohar, the central text of Jewish mysticism. Though most people no longer regard him as the actual author of the Zohar, it is the spiritual life that he led which is important. Bar Yochai lived for twelve years in a cave meditating on the Divine mysteries.

The passages that lie at the heart of the Zohar are awe-inspiring. They describe a sublime vision of the supernal reality – a vision that could only have come from a profound spiritual revelation. It is the product of a life dedicated to prayer and meditation such as the one led by Shimon Bar Yochai.

According to the tradition, we count the seven weeks from Passover to Shavuot – the time that the omer – the new barley offering was brought to the Temple. Lag Ba-Omer is the thirty-third day of this seven-week period. It is also the day on which Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai passed away.

The Midrash tells us that the Children of Israel reached the base of Mount Sinai on Lag Ba-Omer. Therefore, one can view Lag Ba-Omer as the first glimmering of the revelation experience that was to follow on Shavuot. It is these first glimmerings that are revealed each year on Lag Ba-Omer.

Lag Ba-Omer is a day for contemplating the inner reality. It is a time of a very special kind of inner awakening, when the hidden wisdom and vision stand revealed. This is the reason this day is associated with Shimon Bar Yochai.

 

There are other levels to this revelation as well. The Torah describes the arrival of the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai with the following words:

“Vayichan sham Yisrael neged hahar” – “And there Israel camped before the mountain.” – Exodus 19, 2

Unusually, the Torah uses the singular vayichan for the verb “to camp”, instead of the plural vayachanu. The medieval commentator, Rashi, immediately notes this change and comments that the singular form is used because the Torah is telling us that when Israel reached Sinai they were acting as “one man and one heart”.

When Israel drew close to the mountain, the awareness arose within each of them of the special spiritual bond that they all shared. Suddenly, they realized that we not just a group of separate individuals, rather they were all one spiritual body – one Soul.

The Alexander Rebbe points out the Hebrew word vayichan – to camp can also be read as vayichain – to be filled with grace. As soon as they reached the base of Mount Sinai, the light of God’s grace began to shine upon Israel.

This Divine illumination transported the Children of Israel so that they no longer saw themselves as simply a people or nation, but as a spiritual community with a unique purpose and mission within the Plan of God.

We cannot attain such a vision by intellectual reasoning or emotional feeling. It comes as a result of the direct experience of the higher reality.  Therefore, it must be pursued by following an inner path like the Kabbalah, for only such a teaching can lead us to the supernal worlds of unity and oneness. This is another reason why Lag Ba-Omer is linked to Shimon Bar Yochai.

 

According to the tradition, the Omer is a time of mourning and reduced celebration. In the Talmud, (Yebamot 62B) we are told that we observe this time of mourning because twenty thousand students of Rabbi Akiva died in a plague during this period.  On Lag Ba-Omer, however, the plague miraculously stopped. Since then, Lag Ba-Omer has become a day of special rejoicing.

Why did the plague stop on Lag Ba-Omer?

The Alexander Rebbe explains that the answer lies hidden in the special spiritual quality of this day.

According to the Kabbalistic tradition, each day of the Omer is connected to a combination of two of the seven sephirot from hesed to Malkut. Each week is linked to one particular sephirah, and each day of the week is linked to one sephirah. We begin with the seventh level of the seventh sephirah and descend until the last level of the first sephirah. This progression reflects the descent of the Divine Presence from the higher realm down into the physical. The first day, therefore, is hesed shebehesed – the mercy of mercy, and the last day is malkut shebemalkut – the kingship of kingship.

The particular combination of sephirot for Lag Ba-Omer is hod shebehod – the splendour of splendour. When the energy of hodshebehod flows into our consciousness, we experience the majestic splendour of the inner realm. This Divine splendour is then reflected, in turn, in everyone and everything that we see.

The passage in the Talmud that tells us about the plague also states that the plague occurred because the students of Rabbi Akiva did not show each other love and respect. The reason that they behaved in this manner, the Alexander Rebbe suggests, was because they related to each other as personalities. When a large group of individual personalities live and compete together, friction and resentment are bound to arise.

On Lag Ba-Omer, however, the energy of hodshebehod poured into the hearts of the students, so that they saw each other not as personalities but as souls. This immediately transformed their interaction and opened the door to reconciliation and healing.

Lag Ba-Omer is a day of Divine grace. It is a time of touching the higher wisdom. It is a day to see the beauty and splendour of Israel. Lag Ba-Omer is a moment of blessing when we can see beyond the appearances of external reality and discover the higher truth that lies within.

copyright © 2008 by Yoel Glick

first published 22/5/2008

Strengthening our will is the key to spiritual growth. Once our will is strong, then we can apply that focused will to any endeavor or situation. A focused will exponentially expands the limits of what we can accomplish in our life.

“Will is from the Self [Atman]. Desires are from the mind.” – Swami Bhajanananda ^[2]

We often confuse will and desire. We tend to think that our desires express who we are and what we need. But, in truth, our desires are just the play of the mind which hankers after whatever the senses feed it. And in Western society the mind is fed to overflowing.

Society tells us what we should be and how we should act, feel and think. We swim in a sea of others’ desires in which our real identity is totally submerged.

The spiritual life is about getting in touch with our true nature. It is about knowing who we are and what we really want. It is about casting aside all the layers of desire that have built up inside us, so that our true Self can shine forth.

Meditation is the harnessing of the will to focus the mind inwardly. – Swami Bhajanananda ^[3]

We find our true Self by gathering our will and looking inward. Meditation is our primary tool for engaging in this spiritual task. Meditation takes us beyond the games of the mind to touch the pristine core of our Divinity. It awakens our higher nature and vitalizes the whole of our being. It fills us with the peace, strength and light.

When we harness our will, we activate the power of the Self. This is the central dynamic of the spiritual life. Meditation, spiritual disciplines, study and prayer are all just different methods to try and fulfill this goal.

Swami Sivananada of Rishikesh taught that the power of one-pointed concentration is not just a spiritual principle, it is a scientific fact:

“If you focus the rays of the sun through a lens, they can burn cotton or a piece of paper; but the scattered rays cannot do this. If you want to talk to a man at a distance, you make a funnel of your hand and speak; the sound waves are collected at one point and then directed towards the man. He can hear your speech very clearly. When water is converted into steam and the steam is concentrated at a point, the railway engine moves. The steam in the cooking vessels moves the lid and produces a put-put sound. All these are instances of concentrated waves.” ^[4]

The Baal Shem Tov spoke continually about the importance of employing our willpower in the practice of contemplative prayer. He told his Hasidim that the mere recital of the prayers is not enough. “One needs to put all of one’s strength and will into the words.” We need to put our heart and mind into our practice. We need to transform our prayers into a vibrant spiritual force.^[5]

In another section, the Baal Shem describes each prayer as a “komah shlaimah” – a complete person or form. If we do not put the whole of ourselves into our prayers, he warns, we will create a being with missing limbs. ^[6]

Through our prayers, we build a thoughtform in mental matter. Our kavanah, our will or intention, is what imbues that thoughtform with life. If our intention is incomplete, if we are distracted or insincere when we pray, then our words will have no real spiritual power. They will not be charged with the necessary energy to create a komah shlaimah – a fully vitalized spiritual form.

The Baal Shem had great faith in the power of kavanat halev – the intention of the heart and will. In fact, he believed that a focused will is more useful during prayer than knowing all of the kavanot, all of the Kabbalistic formulations for the prayers. Kavanot, he explains, are energetic manipulations. Each kavanah adds additional potency to a prayer. However, since most of us do not know the majority of the kavannot, our capacity to generate spiritual force in this manner is very limited. If instead we direct all of our heart and will into our prayers, we bypass the kavanot and draw our spiritual power straight from God. Then the energy from all of the kavanot will naturally flow down into our prayers to animate and enliven them. ^[7]

 

How do we develop our will or kavanah?

We begin by going back to the words of Swami Brahmananda at the beginning of this teaching:

“The more one’s mind becomes pure, the more one’s willpower increases.”

Purity is crucial to developing a focused mind. Purity means removing all of our extraneous desires. It means clearing the mind of the fog which the emotions create. We need to substitute base yearnings with high aspirations. We need to become the one who is in control – the master of our lower self.

A second ingredient that will bolster this work is the practice of daily meditation and contemplative prayer. These spiritual disciplines build concentration and increase our willpower. In meditation, we focus the mind on one object to the exclusion of all others. We learn to push aside all distracting thoughts and images. We learn to hold the mind in a higher state of consciousness for an extended period of time.

Imagine that you are walking down the street on your way to an important meeting. There will be all manner of activity going on in the street along your path: people passing by, cars with their horns blaring, radios blasting out music. There might be street vendors or sidewalk musicians, perhaps a work crew digging in a manhole.

If you are in a hurry to get to your meeting, then you will let nothing distract you. You will turn your mind away from all the activity and continue on your way.

Even if you pass the scene of an accident with bystanders, police and ambulances all milling about, you won’t stop to ask what is happening. You will stick to your purpose and head toward your encounter, carefully sidestepping all obstacles, as you continue on your way.

This is how we should approach our spiritual practice. We attend to our inner life with rigor and one-pointed determination. We apply the strength of our will toward reaching our destination.

A third method of fortifying our will is learning how to renounce. We need to make renunciation an integral part of the way in which we live our life. I am not speaking about sweeping gestures where we give up everything we have and cut ourselves off from everyone that we know. Rather, I am talking about cultivating a certain state of mind, about learning to master our body, mind and emotions; learning to be in control of our own fate.

Begin with small gestures. When you eat, leave a little something on your plate. From time to time, don’t allow yourself to purchase something that you want. Wait to speak during an encounter. Hold yourself back from pushing your way to the front of the line.

This is the first step. Once this level of practice is established, then you can take your renunciation to the next level. Push yourself past your natural limits. Meditate and study longer than you feel you can. Eat less often. Jog a little further. Make do with less sleep.

Next, move on to renounce the pampering of your ego. Let go of an offense committed against you. Renounce a desire for one-upmanship or revenge. Let someone else take credit for your accomplishments. Let someone else shine in your place.

Finally, give away more than you want to. Give away a favorite article of yours. Give out love, though you really want to receive it. Do more for others than for yourself.

All these practices will strength your willpower. They will enhance the power of your heart, mind and soul.

 

During one of his instructions for prayer, the Baal Shem made the following statement: “kavanah is the neshama [the soul].” ^[8] When we act with kavanah, we are reaching into our innermost essence and touching our neshama. This is another way of saying that will is from the Self.

A focused will links us to the crown center – keter. Keter is the highest of all the sephirot or chakras. Keter embodies the energy of the Will of God. It connects our will with God’s Eternal Will. Then our actions become infused with the might of the heavens. And we become conduits for the boundless influx of the Absolute.

Copyright © 2012, by Yoel Glick