Is There a Jewish Concept of Karma?

welcome everyone and to our cyberspace audience as well Simon Jacobsen here we're gonna be speaking about um is there is karma something that Judaism believes in now karma is a word that is used especially in far eastern thought and it actually has many interpretations and definitions from the general concept of causality the theory of or the rule or the law of causality which means that our actions have consequences and every action we do has a cause and effect that effects our life going into the future and even future lives based on the principle of reincarnation so essentially when you do something it creates a karma which is any reaction to your action and that defines your destiny for good or for bad you know some connected also with a cosmic and more spiritual each other may be two of the more cosmic and spiritual dimension to it that essentially are our actions trigger and generate different cosmic reactions both in our lives and the universe then there's of course the most basic element karma has become something that's become popular even in Western culture which is much more loosely not so mystical but rather practical or they call vibes like sonal say come into a room and I feel an environment a good karma bad karma like a good mood or a bad mood so despite how we interpret it the question is really this of course address big issues like fate and destiny and predetermination and pre-pre Dupree the predestination in other words is are our lives predetermined and no matter what we do it's already determined by actions that happen in previous lives or by actions that happened even in our lifetime and that's that in a sense our destiny is already etched in stone which of course will challenge the entire concept of free will and the ability to repair something if something was mistaken we made a mistake where there was a setback so bottom line is this topic obviously touches upon so many and so many elements and has so many implicit far-reaching implications and so it's really a worthwhile topic to address because it talks about the deeper forces that shape our lives and the things that transcend our lives and on a most basic level it seems to make a lot of sense the concept of cause and effect because wherever you look in nature there is cause and effect to use a simple example god forbid a person puts their hand in fire since the natural laws of the universe dictate that that hand will be burnt if you put your hand in water it gets wet just to use that example so it seems logical that every action will have a reaction every cause has an effect and that's that it doesn't mean you can't heal from it but it means it does have an effect so one would seem to suggest then that our actions in our lives will essentially determine what the destiny we have you know if a person for instance will hurt someone else obviously there's going to be a reaction they it generates negative energy and that person may reciprocate it definitely does not create goods will if you behave what nicely to someone you're kind and loving to them you can expect perhaps a reciprocity of love coming back to you so it seems to make sense the concept of Carmen that way but as I said the problem is what happens if you really did something that was really or destructive is that mean that it's forever you know for our example there are accidents god forbid that where he sever something or someone suffers a limb or there's damage that's permanent permanent damage and certain theories of karma would suggest the same idea that you really don't have any choice these are all based on choices that were made before us either by our parents or previous lifetimes and really takes away then the accountability because then you could simply make the argument then it makes no difference how I behave whether I behave good or bad my debt my destiny has already been determined by past behavior so that would seem to fly in the face of Jewish thought where there's the concept of chuhwa Trueba means the capacity to repair we have a yom kippur every year every day of our lives we can ask for forgiveness both of god and of other people and they can grant forgiveness and we can heal from our wounds and frankly if you think about it especially in the day and age that we live in today we call the therapeutic age where so many of us are going to therapy for wounds injuries psychological emotional real or imagined and and then we're told you know what nothing's gonna work we could sue you and make you feel a little better but what has happens you're in your life if you grew up in an abusive home that's it that's your destiny if you grew up in a good home that's your destiny it would seem to undermine any real type of reconciliation and growth and hope hope is important word here hope that you can actually correct and repair and anyway listening to my classes you know the things I've written the book 60 days which covers the period of time that we just came from last month the high holiday season that's so much based on the concept of hope a beautiful line that I read somewhere I don't even know who wrote it but that especially for relationships that trust Trust is not built on perfection Trust is built on accountability we all are flawed human beings and we'll all make mistakes so then how could you build trust if someone says listen I'll only trust you if you perfect is that even expected release realistic there are people who say that especially people who have been hurt so you know what I don't wanna think anymore risk unless you're perfect they can't trust you I can't love your unconditionally we all know that's completely not practical so then how do you build trust if we're all flawed then we could make mistakes because we have something else it's called accountability so Trust is not built on another person's perfect behaviour built an accountable being accountable means that when I make a mistake I will not cover it up and now they're not denied and I will speak openly I'll be transparent that you can that builds trust that's what's really have you seen real trust in people's lives you'll see it's based on that that there's accountability and as a matter of fact if everyone will forgive a mistake but when there's a cover-up you lie about it and then the mistake is compounded because of all the cover-ups as they say in the in the healing world it's a very extreme expression but they say the silence is worse than the rape the silence to cover up that denial the make me believe nothing happens is far worse than the original crime crime happened terrible no one's denying that but at least there's acknowledgement for children especially who grew up in homes that are very abusive or even not very and then they're told you weren't abused it's your imagination something wrong with you that's far more devastating than the abuse because then you're running a cave and trust your tools you know you want to cry and they tell you there's nothing to cry about everything's beautiful I can't tell you how many times I've heard the heart-wrenching cries of adults and then they say the worst thing for them was holidays Thanksgiving or Hanukkah or whatever the holiday season why why the holidays because the holiday season we had to all make-believe everything is beautiful we were all dressed up and we're posing for beautiful pictures and the abusers are in the pictures with us and no you can't rock the boat you can't disrupt and that was far worse than the crime because it means they can't even cry I can't even protest that something happened that means it's invalidating even our tools and our natural instincts that we have pain it would be like you have pain no can't you can't do not canal G I have pain you have to make believe there's no pain it's like complete create and it creates a so much insecurity because then you start second-guessing yourself and you'll see one of the big big deep well the big deep implications that that causes as a person goes to the adult they start not trusting their own instincts because they were told they were or ever wrong so no so an insults you see maybe something matter thought maybe I'm at fault and you find this and people wonder how is that possible you know you're not at fault they don't realize children are impressionable and children are vulnerable and when they're told enough times that they're the problem or there's no problem they begin to doubt themselves and their natural instincts for a person to cry I remember is it basically stolen from them I remember a fellow came to see me years ago he was a very lonely soul came to the class here once and I saw he was very reclusive I didn't want to talk to anyone not even how he got it I think someone suggested and he came to see me I said let's you know come to my office we'll sit and talk and I saw you know his body language was such a talk about Karma so the negative energy and I could see he was like you could almost feel like he was recoiling like in a fetal position like his body was literally feeling like it like he doesn't want to let anybody in you know sometimes you see that and we started talking he told me his life it's a very very horrible life always been beat up by his parents and by friends his life has been now at this point he's being beat up because he really feels he deserves to be beat up so he's almost like sets it up that's what his became his threshold that he is the person that deserves to be the beat up so he basically avoids people that's what he does I'm gonna go the whole story but it's a long story but bottom line is I remember was right before Passover because I remember I shared with him something about past home so asked him to stand up he was sitting on the couch I was sitting on a chair he stood up he was like right I saw immediately I stood up he got all frightened because his natural reaction that he's gonna be beat up again now I didn't indicate there's nothing I did that was indicative that I'm gonna hurt obviously so I went over to him and he says are you coming over me I said I want to give you a hug and he was like shocked so I gave hug I wasn't the human being I was hugging I felt I was hugging a concrete pillar like a pillar of stone he's his body so tightened up and literally it was like that human was so chilling to me as I said to him I'm not gonna hurt you I just want to give you a hug he said nobody's ever hugged me he tells me and we were talking I said did you ever cry he said when I was six years old it's last time I cried my father told me only babies cry you don't cry in front of this house and again he cried because someone had insulted him I guess it was a fragile child I don't know the whole story but bottom line is instead of being nurtured and give encouraged and reinforced he was basically berated again and again again until he began to believe it she said I haven't cried since as I said you know I was like I was like shocked by that I said maybe it's time to cry over your life you know he was very sad life he said to me I can't stop crying because if I start on the I don't think I'll ever stop because he knew it it was like I said you know when you don't cry it's like a kettle of how order boiling there's no spout so what do you think happens it implodes she starts wine winding yourself up inside inside inside there's no release tears are release you know I mean he was intelligent person he understood but he was so emotionally wounded I mean I remained friend recent activity I don't believe anyone's beyond hope but he was very difficult because he was his own worst enemy that was the problem it was not responsive I mean he stays in touch because he does somewhat trust me but he's really a lot of love and a lot of working these parents that's the truth they never really had my point I want to make is is that this is you know I'm using an extreme example obviously that does not that common but it's also not that uncommon and in addition every one of us can learn from it because on a milder form that's what happens when you don't allow someone doesn't allow you to so the countability goes is flies in the face of a real karma that carves your destiny only one way and that's it because then basically there's no hope there's no way to repair so that's why from that perspective I would say that Judaism when I say Judaism I am talking obviously not just not trying to pitch Judaism against Hinduism or Buddhism or far-eastern you know from my point of view illusion may look at a universal system that's been around for thousands of years and we can look to it to learn lessons in our lives so the idea of cause and effect as we shall talk is a legitimate one but to the point that it's etched in stone that would defy the make the very concept of existence itself of God creating us with a purpose and knowing we're flawed there's no human being that's perfect so immediately as soon as you say that you know you burned your hand and that's it it can't heal you're basically destroying the possibility for any type of reconciliation or any hope and the famous story on which I built that the the book toward 60 days that is that in the Bible the classic story that after the Jewish people received the Torah at Sinai they thirty-nine days later they build a golden calf utter betrayal utter betrayal idolatry they building a golden idol and of course they did it quite deliberately it wasn't a mistake and God says okay the ultimate betrayal like adult amid the infidelity yeah Moses goes back long story short marches back up in the mountain and refuses to accept what God says go build a new nation I've had it with them I said absolutely not you need to forgive them they'll be accountable that you have to forgive them and it's a dramatic story forty days Moses prays forty days and forty nights and he does not succeed and he goes again for another forty days so eighty days forty days to receive the law eighty days to receive forgiveness and finally the 80th day what to be precise the two hundred and twentieth day from when Sinai happened is what day in the year yom kippur yom kippur ii comes down from the mountain and god says as we say right after Kol Nidrei in the service we say three times that God says Salak t-kid varaha i forgiving them as you have requested as you spoke I would say it's probably the greatest single event in history because a man stood up to God it's not just simply stood up to God and and did not take no for an answer I said to God basically you cannot leave me without the hope to tell human beings that they can get forgiveness they need to earn it they need to be accountable absolutely but do not tell me I cannot get forgiveness because if that's the case the human race is doomed everyone's gonna make mistakes so you need to give me the power of the door of Trouville now why was God so resistant you could say this is the argument of karma versus the ability to transcend karma why was God so resistant because God was saying to Moses I'm paraphrasing but this is like a conversation God saying I didn't do anything they did it to themselves they cut themselves off for me they betrayed me I didn't betray them what do you want me to do I connect we contain a relationship with a people that went to basically adultery they went to another God they went to build the golden calf what am I supposed to do to cause an effect you know you put your hand in fire you get burned I didn't tell you to put your hand in the fire and Moses said no but you're God you're the one that created that cause-and-effect so you can also undo it and I'm asking you to give go back to the engine-room and say yes generally speaking cause and effect does have impact and consequences however if you if you do enough chuva if you show re true remorse you're sincere and you're working it and you regain the trust of the person you hurt or betrayed God will give you the power that's what Moses was asking to rewire even caused an effect so though in the rat and the normal and natural parameters of existence think cause and effect is a reality cause action reaction here Moses was able to gain forgiveness from God and obviously the sincerity of Moses requests and the truth God's love for the people at them that they prevailed they finally gave in granted forgiveness and that's why um Kippur is the holiest day of the year it's a tremendous lesson to everybody to Jews and non-jews of human being on earth the birth of hope hope you know if so were to ask you if you had one request to make what would it be of God so most people would say give me a life with no no with no pain life without anguish life without any challenges that's a childish answer that's not life it's impossible any any life worth living is going to have challenges everything's gonna have a setback what you want to ask for is not give me a life of total bliss give me a life that no matter what comes my way I know I have hope that I can navigate through it that's a real answer because that's like saying don't just give me a life where you know you don't have any challenges give me a life that it's like they say don't teach me don't give me fish teach me how to fish don't give me something teach me how to navigate teach me how to swim through the ups and downs of life that whatever comes my way I'll have the strength and the fortitude and the clarity and the direction to move forward to forge ahead that's because everybody was inevitable we live in a world at least in this world where there's going to be death that's the nature of the universe for now and you know hopefully we death will happen in old age and having two parents and not two children and all that we ask for but there is going to be lost in an adult life no one's gonna is immune from experiencing a loss so you could either say okay I don't want loss or you and then when it happens complete devastation or it say give me the strength and that's exactly what we're told that God does not give us a challenge that we don't have the strength to deal with and Moses that's why it was Moses I was able to insist in the man so is their karma in that context yes or no its cause and effect hundred percent but there's also the capacity to transcend cause and effect and to reach a deeper place so you think of it that way the idea of cause and effect actually is really the true definition of reward and Punishment because you know that there's a very fundamental question that's asked God is a creator we that we're the creatures we're flawed we're mortal were finite limited creatures God is infinite and Beyond infinite created us flawed and then what we do something wrong we get punished so what is God's like getting even with us you can understand you go to school so the principal the teacher you know behave there's a consequences cause and effect but how does that apply to God why would God want to get even with mortals that he created and created with flaws so this is a question that's asked by some of the great sages and the shallow Rob you Chuck Horowitz a grade 67 sixteenth seventeenth century mystic and sage is the chief rabbi have cracka one of the largest Jewish communities in Poland then ended up in Israel's last years of his life so he cites us and gathers together the different opinions on this matter what is he Bruce Karin Danish reward and Punishment because that sensibly doesn't make sense why would you know again reward on punishment yes you have a child you safe you good at school give you a candy your bad will discipline you but how does that worked with God and the people and one of the main answers is that reward and Punishment is actually not reward and Punishment it's more cause and effect would you say when you put your hand in fire the fire punishes you by burning you know you don't call it a punishment that's the nature of events cause and effect so the same thing the tour is telling us that when you behave a certain way a good way the effect will be bringing goodness into your life it'll make you a healthier person no different than if you eat the right foods your exercise properly your hygiene and diet is healthy what is there's a there's an effect from that you will have a healthier body simple as that if you consume or ingest pollutants or toxins it's not a punishment the effect of that is it will contaminate and pollute your life and cause illness infection and so on so we all understand that that is classic cause and effect and therefore that's so therefore reward and Punishment it's not a matter of punishment it's a matter of telling us the cosmic immune system if you wish like just like an infection enters the body what happens the white blood cells all gather to fight the infection as for example right now you hear congestion inside of me some bronchial infection or whatever bacterial viral not bacterial it's more viral probably so no antibiotics for it so you know I did a little research in it what happens is what's the mucus and the stuff wife stuffed-up because the white blood cells are all coming to attack that infection and white blood cells having a certain green view even though their white blood cells but there's a certain some of the enzymes are greenish that's why mucus becomes grey I don't mean to be gross or anything I'm just pointing it out and I'm demonstrating with a cough here we I'm using myself as a as a living guinea pig kosher guinea pig example so so sometimes when we have reactions the reactions are reactions to an action something happens and our body is trying to eliminate it so it sure makes you miserable you all stuffed up and so on but that's the way that's the way to deal with the problem when a person coughs it's actually because it's trying to clear the passage when you have pain even and we all hate pain pain is a warning signal god almighty god forbid if we didn't have pain we wouldn't have a warning so you could end up hurting yourself very deeply because you can end up biting your tongue and not even feeling you're biting it so the nerves active nerves cause pain tell you there's a problem it's a warning a red flag go do something about it so it's true for short-term we take pain killers but if you take pain killers for too long and you don't address the problem you not solve the problem which all you simply did was you got rid of the symptom you didn't get rid of the problem it's like becoming numb to the problem so this is the cause and effect dimension of things but then there's another element to the human spirit that it has a divine dimension and the divine is a Creator the Creator is not bound by the rules of cause and effect that existence is bound by even though it's true we read and we learn that God does not just perform miracles and he won't just suspend nature and even when the sea was parted the Talmud says it was difficult for God to part the sea as a matter of fact it compares it to a to a marriage it's a way you match that should have match between man and woman is as difficult as parting to see that would explain a lot of the crisis we have in single the mecca and the epidemic of single life because the Talmud says yes it says difficult their parting to see why because a woman is like water a man is like land and to get them together is the opposites here we go it looks like you have experience yeah and that's the miracle you need the miracle all the time because two opposites to keep them together it has to be a third power that that that achieves that so it says so how do you explain difficult for God difficult for us so it says because God bound himself he created these rules of nature the rules of existence so to speak car vehicles they say so to speak it's difficult for God as he manifests in the rules of nature to suspend his own rules so that's the world of course an effect and it's a very real world than it does have truth to it that sense the Karma as I described it is correct karma action reaction could have effect on your future on your destiny can affect on future lives we could be an effect that our lives by things that happen by it but that is one track and here's the beautiful concept that I've not seen in the schools of thought that talk about karma address there's another track the track of transcending cause-and-effect like Moses did so we have a capacity that take a back door route and we can actually transcend cause-and-effect she really had like two tracks in your life which means one yes the regular system is gonna go by the rules of black action-reaction cause and effect but then there's another dimension that if you really insist and if you fight for it you can find a way that's not airtight you could find a way to even transcend cause and effect that even things that should affect one way you can actually change your destiny which is bases the whole basis of truven that I described repentance remorse true remorse we're not talking about what about sincere in a way that as that Maimonides writes that should you be faced with the same challenge you will not repeat the mistake you know many people say I regret it but as soon as the challenge comes again they do it again you know it's common no real lesson you learned you will not do it again and it's also the basis of prayer because prayer interestingly is also challenging cause and effect let's say God forbid somebody was an accident somebody fell ill and you could say hey you know what that's what God wants I can't change destiny the person is ill and whatever I'll pray that God should have mercy but you can't change destiny and we don't say that we say that prayer has the capacity to bring healing they say what I'm saying but the person who wouldn't be ill of God didn't destined that if maybe that's their destiny as a matter of fact there are opinions in the Talmud that's that not opinions a consideration that maybe we shouldn't pray because you in a ways that hood sports like a nerve to challenge God's plan how do you know better than God and yet God insists that we pray and when Moses did not pray for the scouts as he did for the people after the golden calf God said why you're not praying and Moses said because you said you won't forgive that I said but no that's not your business you need to always break down the door you never take no for an answer so we see another track where we have the capacity that even though destiny may appear to be one way we can go ahead and say no we want to change reality and if you think about it it's a it's one of the most powerful and I would say YUM what I want you inner resilient forces in the spirits where you see that is when you hear stories like stories that all that always touch us a mother has an autistic child god forbid and the doctors say you can't read this child it's just impossible medically psychologically emotionally the child is not social autistic child there's no connection we suggest you put the child in a good home visit the child provide for him but there will never be the bond of a healthy mother father to this child now when a mother insists and this is not just theory you have no it's my child and I will have that child in my home and I will speak to that child every day and you see miracles I've read stories that always doesn't always happen where doctors say we do not understand it but yes a mother was abstinent and there's some mysteries in people people love has ways to reach now that doesn't heal the child it's other become non artistic but they saw with the over the years a bond was created because what do we know what's going on in the inner spirit of a human being I don't know if you remember Oliver Sacks the psychologist who wrote the number of books some were made into films he dealt with a lot of this strange psychological phenomena he had a book called the man who mistook his wife for a hat and that that's not a joke just a psychological quirk he thought his wife was a hat and he had a book called awakenings awakenings awakens true stories by the way he just dealt with a very bizarre and strange psychological case remember the mind has all kinds of weird things anyway the story awakenings is a fascinating story of of people in their 20s 1920s young people were somewhere some virus that struck something like 50 60 people in different areas and no one knows exactly what it was maybe something in the water and it turned them into catatonic states they became like frozen and sometimes just like this middle of nowhere they're sending a chair they froze up and they remain that way for decades so and then they started documenting and they saw there was a number of them I think something like 50 I remember the exact number and there was a home that they built that that they have that they said to people anyone had a child god forbid they think they're young teens maybe I'm not sure exactly what age or maybe late teens or early 20s and you had this home hospital where these people were provided for they lived I mean they were breathing and they needed to eat and need to be taken care of but they were paralyzed not in a coma their eyes are open but no one knew do they hear what we're saying there was no way to reach to them one day my mistake I think dr. Sachs came out involved because he wanted he was studying them to see what was exactly the mental condition that they're in and I mean they do tests of obviously and they did research they didn't have the scans we have today I don't know if it would have made a difference maybe he probably would anyway by mistake someone threw a ball in the ward where these patients were there many of them were sitting in wheelchairs others used to put them on bed they were able to move them no cooperation on their part so they put them to sleep by day they would because they know the atrophy so they would move them around they'd walk with them they couldn't walk so they would walk the hit with the wheelchairs but they made them move as much as they were able to massage their muscles someone throw a ball on the ward and suddenly one of them lifted his hand like that for first time in 30 years this person moved and grabbed the ball like that so first they thought it was just reflexive you know there's a reflection they threw it again and again and then threw it to another person all the people in the wards suddenly reacted this ball so the doctor sacks realized there's something going on here I don't know why exactly anyway they realized that they're more awake than we think they are there's just no connection so they started administering different type of drugs to try to work on their neurons and finally were the first one who had grabbed the ball began to come out of it and they normalized them all at some point but they still kept them under watch because they didn't know if the medication would last and unfortunately didn't last I only didn't last they needed higher doses and higher doses and it became it became very irritable they even took them out on trips but they they only remember the 1920s now it was the 1960s they took them to a club with a jazz music from the 1920s and it's a fascinating story it's the reason I'm telling it for one specific reason so there's a scene there so I think Robert De Niro acts the right you know the moon so the scene there then then they started convulsions and you know uncontrollable convulsions it's very sad because they want to be treated normally but they but there was this the virus was still there there was a medication was just a cosmetic but in the cafeteria the main actor the main one of the main characters meets a beautiful young woman and they begin to talk like a romantic connections developed but they don't let him out of the hospital so they talk in the cafeteria she comes to visit her father who was not in that state he was he was also in the hospital but he was like in a coma and the last scene is so heart-wrenching when they meet for the last time because he knows that they you're gonna have to take over the medication it was becoming to their uncontrollable the convulsions and and all kinds of stuff so he meets with her and they take dance in the cafeteria he can be he can barely like it was keep himself stable it's like they're basically saying goodbye to her and she says you know I don't know I think stop coming to see my father because he's in a coma I read him I don't know if he hears anything and and this is a character says to him I says to her he hears every words because he knew that he hears every word and it's just a touching scene because it gives you this sense we don't know the mysteries of what's going on not an autistic child not a mentally handicapped child not in any of the unfortunate mental or emotional diseases that sometimes take control of a person that we don't and we think person is gone it's not true the spirit and the soul is not gone unfortunately it's trapped in a place but never think that it's gone and that I think is a tremendous important lesson to realize that karma causing effect yes a certain dimension but there's mysteries of the soul that love can pierce and even if every doctor and every scientist and every statistician and every technician comes with all kinds of theories this can't work we don't know what the spirit is made of just like the mothers were able to read their artistic children there's there are many stories like that it takes persistence and it takes a very deep connection but their connection is there it's vital to understand that and that story captures it so well start with awakenings and there are many others there are many others you know you know whether it's the story of Helen Helen Keller born blind deaf mute handicapped in every way and then this where's that spirit come from we don't understand it so be arrogant for anyone to say no doesn't look like that person understands they tell the story the guy unfortunately wife contracted Alzheimer's disease and unfortunately you know how Alzheimer's works it slowly deteriorates and the person stops recognizing things recognizing people stops recognizing their own family and it's it's it's horrendous it's even worse than death because you see the person they don't see you they don't know you are so one nurse tells the manage to come to visit his wife every day every day at some point she says I feel bad for you you know your wife doesn't recognize you no point for you to come he says yes but I recognize her you see and that means there's a connection and you don't know what's going on just because the person doesn't react that's on a conscious level how do you know what's going on with that unconsciously and I believe that that is a tremendous lesson not just in times of illness or tragedy it's just to recognize even we're sitting right here what do we know about each other yes we know we have bodies I know what you look like you know what I look like you can figure out some body language some ostensibly some basic superficial things you have a conversation you learn more about a person but how deep down the rabbit hole so to speak is your soul how far can we go anyone that'll say here's a tool here how do you know someone says to you how much potential do you have how could you answer that question how do you know you have you how do you know your potential you only know what you've done you can't know what you haven't done and then when you're pushed suddenly new things open up and we challenged and sometimes God forbid crisis I think Eleanor Roosevelt said about women then a woman's like a teabag you don't know how strong she is until you put her into hot water you know so so you look at a tea bag doesn't look strong at all no what is it a little bag with leaves in it and that's all you put it into hot water it releases aroma the taste it affects the healing effects or whatever the effects of of tea it's not just tea it's many things when you heat them you warm them so what can't you say the same thing with human beings apply heat pleat warmth love to another person that some of these things come out of them that you've never seen before people think that we live in a day and age where everything is commodity based I want results now I press a button I want to deliver it 24/7 out of season you know we used to forget that there's a process and things emerge real things in life emerge they don't you can't grab them you can't force a flower out of the ground in water the ground under this soil you nurture it you weed it and then the flower will emerge and I always tell people in relationships that's exactly you think you can force love out of your partner out of your spouse it's like a flower water it and so says I don't want to water her until it shows me it's a flower okay good look get a flower out of the ground and say I'm not gonna water you until you show your face it doesn't work that way watering brings charge.you its face the petals open when you nurture it the basic rule but we got used to commodity I press a button I want love I press a button I want nurturing doesn't work that way things emerge and there's a process and a process takes time the flower will not come out of the ground in five seconds your water enough slowly it sprouts is a lesson that we have lost because we live in this highly technological fast food age everything is immediate instant this is an instant that instant coffee an instant and it's the grab another instant everything is instant so of course there are things we can achieve quickly but the real things in life finding truth finding soul finding God finding love these are all emerging forces that take that's a process and as such when we realize that realize that what that's what's inside the soul is far more than we can even imagine sensitivity to that the humility and recognizing that is the secret to really transcending even karma so in that context yes there are dimensions of cause and effect and then there's dimensions that are deeper than that that would be the equivalent let's say somebody really hurt you you got really angry and you just and and and deservedly so you don't want to talk to them let's say it's a sibling someone you love or have loved and that's it inside I'm cutting you off I don't want any more relationship with that person they hurt me too much I'm not talking about imaginary until let's say a legitimate grievance but then that person surprises you surprise you either in there ah there abstinence to reconnect or they make gestures or they do things so of course you could keep yourself very locked and say I will not let that person in or sometimes a person like Moses this can actually reach into your deeper place what happens they reach a deeper place deeper when you're aware the hurt took place and then something you feel a set connection that's deeper it's not like the cause and effect is not legitimate legitimate on that dimension but then there's a whole other story let's say with a child it's your own child even if the child hurts you there's a point where there is something deeper than the hurt and when you reach that you're reaching a dimension that is like a divine dimension that transcends the rules of regular conventional cause-and-effect and this happens it doesn't happen as much as it should happen because we give up we say what could I do the person says no I don't want to talk to you again but you don't give up that's the less you don't give up because you know the spirit has more dimensions than we can ever imagine so there's an expression in the book of Kalat the book of Ecclesiastes and yeah say hi to everybody thank you so the book of ecclesiastes in qohelet King Solomon writes it's a very sad it's a very depressing book and the surface loved because he talks about how life is vain everything is vanity vanity of vanities and then this is verse this is devastating verse if you wish he says talks about the cycles of nature and then says a generation comes in a generation goes the ankle car there's time for such anguish there's nothing new Under the Sun you know it's basically the line of the sarcastic the cynical line that more things change the more they stay the same don't get so excited people come people go and that nothing new Under the Sun we've been around for thousands of years it's the same story just a different name different address and this is a very you know very depressing thought because it's like we're basically doomed to monotony and then he says all the rivers run to the sea and the sea does not get full like there's no no hope reminds me of the famous story from Helen Helen you know for the city of Helen town of Helen was this like the town of intelligent people but their neighbors created this folklore of the fools of color so this guy tellem decides enough is enough doesn't want to be with his nagging wife anymore children are frustrating him the whole town is making him nervous he's out of here picks himself up he's going for a trip it's a new place let me have to think use a little imagination because Colin they're all like imaginary tales but they give you a twist on human psychology she goes packs his bags start traveling the evening the night falls he needs to find a place to sleep there's nowhere around so he decides it'll sleep at the edge of the road he pitches a tent okay now Helen person a fool he says when I wake up in the morning I may forget what direction I'm going I don't want to go back home so he put his shoes in the direction away from his hometown but as luck would have it Mazal some animals come at night they play around there and one of the things they do is they move his shoes in the other direction he wakes up again this is just a story just to capture sir and you get dressed he's it washed his face whatever says his prayers ready to embark on the continuing the journey he looks at the shoes okay that direction something's weird remember that but you know you can't in the shoes don't lie so he's thought traveling basically back and the more he travels he says I think everything is the same just like I remember these trees and I remember this crossroad and I remember this house and this barn my shoes were directly this one keeps going it gets closer to this houses so weird this exactly like it was my original town it comes in since I got to see this goes to the street where he used to live he said the same street then he goes to the house it's the same way it says what's my point wherever I go I'm gonna get to the same thing anyway so what's the point I mean so less than life when people try to run away you can't run away from your own self it's the point so the more things stay the more things change the more they stay the same that generation comes nothing new Under the Sun so how do we respond to that the answer is under the Sun nothing is new but there's a place above the Sun beyond the Sun Under the Sun yes the Sun will rise the Sun will set sunrise sunset and the moon will rise and the seasons will change and winter will come and then spring and then summer and then autumn and the cycle repeats itself that's all under the Sun but there are places we can reach that is above the Sun that's the place where karma does not have that much impact or for all the ability to go beyond Mazal says a muzzle is rel that Israel is not bound by the Mosel which is predestination yes there are predispositions obviously we're all born with dispositions and personalities and inclinations some people are more emotional some of people more cerebral we have inclinations but we don't have destiny dictated for us so it's everything in life you know you may wake up one day you're not such a good mood that's part of life but does not move that what the mood doesn't control your destiny our look as a people the Jewish people have suffered greatly but we did not become sufferers just because something happens to you doesn't mean that that identify that you that should identify you that's a key thing you'll see in all healthy people bad things happen to many people's everybody but they don't let themselves be defined by their act by their experiences did you experience I experienced it but that's not me I went through it I experienced it and you'll see one of the first hallmarks of unhealthy behavior or people who don't have that control is they had over identified with their experiences someone hurt me that defines me I'm angry something wrong with that person something wrong with me it becomes is like like locked in identity it's not your identity something happened that's it it would be like saying but like you know you slip in this slip and fall that means you're a person that slips and falls no that happened next time be more careful now it sounds simple but it's not simple when it comes to emotional blocks and psychological blind spots we don't see it and we start convincing ourselves no I deserve it or that's me once you make that statement you have written your own destiny you have written that I am going to be a victim of circumstances and then you have brought karma upon yourself that doesn't let you out of your karma whereas if you say to yourself you know what that happened there is cause and effect but there's another part of me that's beyond that all and that's what I'm going to embrace and there there's hope and there's change and it's above the Sun so no it's not a generation comes a generation comes there's nothing new there is absolutely new things and there's new opportunities and there's new hope and even if yesterday didn't work today's a new day new possibilities you'll always see a sign of again the hallmark of successful people is not that everything goes their way is they don't allow the things that don't go their way to find them so they go ahead and say you know what okay tomorrow I picked myself up and I'll start again I'll try a different way won't be this way I'll go this way and they keep at it they keep at it obviously there's times you have to say to yourself this maybe not be the thing but fine but then generally the attitude is a winner's attitude Sun Sun Tzu the famous Chinese writer the art of war he wrote the definitive book over almost 2,000 years ago he writes what wars are won before you begin the battle it's all here and then he says you win first and then you go to battle to implement it winners are always begin the attitude it's the attitude I am a winner I will prevail sometimes it works this way sometimes that way people that have that type of focus are unstoppable now it doesn't always work out exactly the way we want I'm not saying you can it's not that simple sighs you know I want something that's exact it may work out a different way but you always remain a winner winner doesn't mean you always get what you want winner means that you always have a winning attitude and you're never defined by your failures frankly you're not even defined by your successes you're defined by your spirit but who you are so not success is the find your not failure to find you so your personality is never shook and shaken up by experiences that doesn't mean we don't want positive experience of obviously we do that's why I'm saying we're not just going to that place that's beyond karma and beyond cause and effect we want to bring that into the world of cause and effect that we also want to live in a world where there are predictable and there are reactions and actions and reactions but we want to always reserve and the ability to have that dimension you can bring something from a greater place that hope and that's the thing we have to work on most because cause and effect we're all in that world everybody knows that you know I have a cold I'm under the weather okay I'm gonna lie in bed a little extra what about if you need to go and push a little more that's where we need the effort to push beyond human efforts it's a very interesting statement it may be familiar with it the most famous liturgy in Jewish and Judaism is the Shema right maestro Samuel okay no shame aha but then we continue we save work shame then we save a half this ash emilycarol you should love your God and these three expressions that that love of how one loves Hall of Ofcom it's all your heart Kong laughs caught with all your spirit before my death with all your might but the word married actually means with all your with all your with all your all my it means a lot that's all your everything and the different explanation is what these three dimensions mean because really it's a lesson not just in loving God's lesson also loving people loving people that you love no but all of of course seems relatively with your heart you love with all your heart not just part of your heart all of your heart the Talmud even says there's a right side of the heart is the left side of the heart which means your good inclination your evil inclination that every all of you all of your life hole in your heart hole Navajos deeper because not just your hearts also your spirit it's not just an emotional connection it's all of your spirits intercooling your mind including your whole being but what is the third thing add the third thing adds an interesting aids car means beyond your natural capacities the heart the soul or the heart in the spirit that's your heart in your spirits and you give all of it but not more than all and the third one says you can go more than all which doesn't seem logical what do you mean that's all I have how could I give more but you'll see the concept you give till it hurts you push a little more because we because it shows the depth of the spirit there's more to you than you think there is so everyone can relate to the first two in a sense I can't give my love I give my heart and give my spirit what else but there's that extra mile that you go the extra step like I've talked a number of times that there like three types of love you love someone they ask you to do something even if it's inconvenient you do it you love that that's the second level even deeper love is they don't ask you they hint to you they allude so you can make believe you didn't hear it you know but if you love someone you even even if they allude to it you also do it you don't say I'm not sure what you said you know but that sounded still not the deepest love the deepest love is you anticipate what would my beloved enjoy and they don't ask for they didn't ask for you didn't even allude they're not even expecting it it completely surprised them that's the deepest love you know why because it's not based on expectation it's based on completely going beyond expected so their people love they say okay I love that person I'm following the contract so to speak my obligations and that's it I don't need to give him more what any healthy person ever say that about let's say love to children I've given my quota of love to my child today that's it don't ask me for more love that's ridiculous that's just because there's always more because it's a member of my grandmother nine children my mother's the oldest of nine so journalist came to interview her years ago I was in the house by her interview was a real secular woman a feminist who was like shocked that she has children my grandma is also very accomplished she was educated a wet well read so she says that missus lips were that was her name said that Nigel and then they stopped you from really developing your own potential she said in the country my children brought out my greatest potential the hardest thing to do is bringing up children much easier to do a career you know children bring out the best in you there's a challenge so then she asked her she said but you have nine children how do you spread the love nine children do you have to like to compromise the love for each one because another child comes in you can only give a ninth of the love now so my grandmother's smile and sets her did you ever have children obviously she really said no she said that's why you're asking this question get married have children and they'll realize that my grandmother explained to I said my brother said love is not a pie it's not a cake that you cut up and let's say ten pieces and that's it you want to give it a little these no more okay cut smaller pieces twenty pieces thirty feet but some point you run out of it's a physical love is not defined by measurement she gave her an analogy she said the same Sun that's reflected in this Great Pacific Ocean is reflected in it in a water drop of water same Sun put a drop of water and then tired clad they are the same Sun reflect you have a thousand drops of water same Sun when you're dealing with qualitative experiences like love it's not a gift to cut it in parts I say okay I've got ran I ran out of love I ran out of gas I don't have any more love it's not the case so bahama it's what tells us size all your heart and besides all your spirit you have even more than you think you have the more I talk with all your might with all your even the beyond but eight huh and Kosilek thought says Mara means going beyond your natural and when you do that you get what is beyond natural from God as well you transcend your karma you transcend your define state now obviously if you're five feet tall you're six feet tall your blue eyes green eyes brown eyes you're not changing that but there's a whole other dimension that we have that we can't change and we couldn't experience things that are beyond our destiny that's the beautiful concept yes we have destiny and we have fate but you can control and change your destiny but it's up to you because if you bind yourself and say you know what I can't do more you've passed your own verdict that you're limited but if you say I could do more I can dig deeper I can access more then that more will come out of you it all comes down to attitude and so how do you develop such an attitude you study about your soul you hang around people who believe in a soul and you try to avoid others who are just naysayers until you can't do anything you're a loser or don't get your hopes up you know you have to be around people that have that spirit that have that spunk that have that that twinkle in the eye that says you could do everything you know you hear so often so many people parents grandparents who dashed all the dreams and idealism and aspirations of young people then you hear them stories or a grandmother tells a child you can do it I believe in you absolutely that was just yesterday on earth in the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame I was inducted and there meet with another two nine people there we mirror was near me was standing a was sitting a man was late mid-eighties his Mel something or other he was called mr. Seltzer in New York for 60 years he delivered seltzer anyway each of us was interviewed a little we said a few words he got the ladies the last one right I was I was next last he was after me and he says he tells the whole story how he didn't have a penny to his name he didn't even couldn't even buy and credit or whatever but he needed a van we're talking now 60 years ago would be well how many years ago that's in the 40s huh he says that he needed $40 which was a lot of money thin that buy something to deliver Seltzer or whatever for his first bottles of beer or seltzer and he couldn't find his grandmother comes your mother his grandmother Isaac she brings him 40 silver dollars which she had for her family for generations he says I can't take this from you I can't think those sugars check you know that I'll find my I'll find the 40 she says no I believe in you I'm giving it to you this is my vote of confidence in you and it was so meaningful to him because she was giving silver dollar it was like a family it wasn't just money and she and that you know you hear something like that he says it gave him that type of confidence we should all be blessed to have such people in our lives and we always need it doesn't matter how old you are men how experienced you are and we need it and when you surround by that and you focus on soulful understanding your soul which is studying the science of your soul basically which is the thing I saw I'm so involved in which is Hasidic thought cabbalistic thought it taught thing she teaches you about the dynamics of your soul and the potential of yourself and you read that every morning we say in the prayer God returned the soul to you and the soul is pure you created it you shaped it you formed it you know imputed in me he realizes dimensions and dimensions and it's just awesome it's like digging and digging you think you're ready got there no there's a whole little digging for oil and there's much more treasure you'll ever imagine that's how we have to see ourselves and see others that's how love grows you believe and you hope and you know confident with confidence that there's more treasure in every human being so even on the surface something may not work out and sometimes it really is a problem these deeper dimensions dig deeper most of us give up because we don't like what we see it doesn't peel toss you dig deep you suddenly find resources you find depths you find power I always thought about it like why God made it that way that people dig for oil deep oil wells and where do we find diamonds and where do we find precious stones all the depths because it teaches us you want treasure you want value you got to go to the depths it's not going to be on the surface that's where the most precious things and if that's the case even with physical commodities like oil or natural gas or precious stones how much more salt with the soul of a human being so my friends yes there is an element of karma and our actions have reactions and our causes have effects they should they should have effects but there's also another track you can reach back home it's a place that is beyond beyond and each of us can do that now it's not always easy to hold on to because we live in a world that's constantly telling us how weak we are and if you don't buy this you're not complete that's what advertising is based on and we have to recognize that we are we are priceless because God put us here like always quote from my book toward a meaningful life birth is God saying you matter you're indispensable and you have within you unbelievable resources and treasures beyond that we can ever imagine and people around you also have them that's how we have to look at each other it's a great blessing to be around people that see you that way a great blessing for them you have to see them that way so that's what I want to leave you with look for look for that and other people look for it in yourself and it's reciprocal if you see that way you see yourself that way you're gonna see it in others if you look at others that way you'll see it in yourself if you limit and don't want to look for deeper then whatever you look guy is gonna remain somewhat shallow and when you access that tremendous things can happen real changes because you're going above the Sun but don't underestimate the power of gravity the gravitational pull that keeps you in the place where the more things change the more they stay the same under the Sun nothing new Under the Sun because it is a struggle but it's doable and that's what we need to help each other be able to reach a place like that you know um our history dictates that's absolutely doable because how many obituaries have been written for the Jewish people how many times did we almost go extinct even our latest Holocaust a few decades ago 770 years ago and yet like the moon as it disappears its reborn waxes and wanes I like the Sun the Sun is all-powerful it's always shining I mean little fluctuations here and there the moon is constantly every month reminds us there grows grows waxes then it wanes disappears you can't even see it and it's reborn again it's the lesson that means that don't be deceived by looks you know the cliche the most famous cliche that's completely false is if they tell you don't judge a book by its cover you know it's a billion-dollar industry to create book covers because everyone judges a book by its cover it's called packaging how much money you spent on packaging and how much is on the product the sizzle not the steak but they say don't judge a book by its cover because we just think by covering we're seduced by our senses our sight sound taste touch and smell holds us hostage and everyone's trying to manipulate our senses but there's another dimension that is not bound by the senses and that again is beyond the cause and effect and that's the place we need to hold on to and reach it so I bless you all to be able to access that and hold on to it find the people and the books and the resources that nourish and sir that's all pardon you they'll discover everyday new things about yourself imagine every day something new and discover something new and the people you love and even in strangers because there is always more than what meets the eye that's really I believe like in a sense we see so one believes in God you believe in possibilities that more than that are more than just human and they say to err is human to forgive is divine you believe in forces that go beyond the natural structure of things and I tried to the meaningful life Center all of us our team tries to hold on to that message and transmit it and hopefully we all can give and take and help each other in that type of attitudes and hope so please stay in touch wherever you are like us share connect all the different ways we use technology Facebook YouTube I said we're still gonna be broadcasting on Instagram it's all to me it's all overwhelming all this stuff but all I have to do is one talk and it goes on all the different channels I don't really have to worry about that other great people think and everyone should have a very blessed week I apologize for my congestion but you saw I use it as an example and until next Wednesday everybody be well please visit our website meaningful dot-com a lot of very rich resources so in removing wrote to me once that sometimes when I have insomnia and I can't sleep I go to your site it's just soothing to look at it the colors it's warm it's soft it's sensitive so in case you need something like that you can always do that that's what the Internet provides that's twenty-four six I guess everyone have a very blessed week and until next week god bless you all

Channel: Rabbi Simon Jacobson at Meaningful Life Center

Views: 2,880

Rating: 4.9024391 out of 5

Keywords: rabbi simon jacobson, kabbalah, chassidus, karma, cause and effect, free will, destiny

Id: ms6EVCiavsQ

Length: 70min 30sec (4230 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 15 2017