Healing, Wholeness and Transformation: Meditations on Redemption

Transitional times can be quite unsettling.

When we feel stuck in our own lives at any moment—either from within or from external circumstances—we can take faith in knowing that this evolutionary process towards revealed good is on its way.

What is the key to the transformation, from darkness and constraint to light and freedom?

No soul in any body that ever was before, or ever will be again, has the particular mission of your soul, in your body, in what you must do towards the healing of the world.

Chassidic thought explains that the spiritual source of miracles couched in nature is higher than that of the more clearly miraculous ones.

If anything, rather than feeling discouraged, we should push on even harder, with certainty, knowing that we are on the right track.

We can achieve great things, even if they go completely unnoticed by others.

We are getting to the point now, so close to the redemption, that what we may have believed to have been the whole truth about ourselves and our lives is really the outer shell of a much deeper reality.

One of the most powerful things we can do for another person, adult or child, is to hold a belief that they can reach their full potential, even if circumstances seem to portray that the opposite is true.

Every day, aided by the Torah—G‑d’s blueprint for how we should live—we, together with the rest of the world, are meant to break out of our limitations until we will reach the final geulah, the full embodied experience of freedom, joy, expansiveness and wholeness of ourselves and our world.

From G‑d’s perspective, conflict only exists to lead to a greater unity afterwards.

Anything we think we know about another person is limited, filtered by our intellectual and emotional attributes and perception. It is nothing compared to the G‑dly potential inherent in every individual.

While walking in a beautiful rainforest, I noticed that my eyes were naturally drawn towards light, even the tiniest flash.

In a rainforest, there is nothing that is not rainforest. Everything is united in perfect unity.

Rather than focusing solely on the area of lack or uncertainty or darkness, let’s focus on the natural wonders in every aspect of our lives and of the myriad opportunities for meaningful connection with others.

Built into the nature of the world are two distinct, but interrelated ways of being.

Our Creator has given us every moment of time for a reason—to be experienced meaningfully.

Perhaps we don't always have to push ourselves quite so much.

No effort in the realm of good is ever lost or wasted, though we don’t always see the results immediately.

What would be different right now if this was truly that time of redemption? The day, the trip, the company, I imagined, would all be exactly the same. I would choose all these things in a perfect world.

When people are in pain, they feel that moving will be hurtful, so they try to protect themselves. They stay still, but this compounds the pain and the limitation.

Resilience is definitely increasing. We are being held and supported more and more by something way beyond us, allowing us in turn to pay it forward, and support and bless others.

We are not just receiving the Torah—with all its amazing and infinite levels of wisdom and depth—but every time we study or follow its teachings, we experience an ever-deepening relationship with G‑d.

We can be confident that whatever experiences we are going through right now—no matter how difficult—there will be transformative potential and great treasures.

Peace, compassion, respect, reciprocity, authenticity.How can we integrate these qualities into ourlives?

I often remind myself that if things could go wrong in one moment, how much more so could they go right, as light is more powerful than darkness.

From the beginning of time, a movement towards healing, harmony, unity and integration was built into the program of the world, and day by day, we are moving closer and closer to this final integration.

In complex situations, we tend to focus first on the problems and difficulties, and feel that they all have to be dealt with before we can experience the good.

We must plan for the new reality of the Redemption, a time when the world will be completely transformed from darkness to light.

It is not surprising that with more G‑dly light in our world, we can see more clearly.

Sometimes to reach a new place, we have to totally turn aside—not be content with our usual assumptions, conjectures and understanding, but put them completely to one side in order to look at and make sense of something new and different.

Modern psychology is increasingly focusing on the transformative potential of the narratives we construct to make sense of our experiences.

Feeling stuck? Perhaps this narrative might help.

What if anything old and painful that comes up now, intruding and allowing old fears and vulnerabilities to surface, is only there to promote healing, connection, empathy and greater light?

What if we could allow ourselves to be fully present, wherever we are, at any given time, with full trust that this is where we are meant to be, where we are meant to give our full attention?

The deepest intent of any separation is for the greater unity to follow.

My physical symptoms immediately changed to a feeling of openness and relaxation.

Some of the most beautiful and sensitive acts in this world are done in a quiet, simple and unassuming way.

We need not fear painful dislocations as we approach redemption.

There are so many people who might never before have exercised such a degree of holding back for the sake of another.

All other true narratives are branches or fragments of this one true powerful story.

Any narratives that look backwards, without incorporating a deeper perspective of movement, shift and transformation towards greater wholeness and connection, are not true narratives.

Be inspired by what you see.

A friend messaged me: “If only I could go beyond myself! If only it was possible! Is it possible?” The answer is a resounding “yes.”