Kabbalah's Resources: External Challenges; Internal Change

By: Bnei Baruch
Submitted: 2008-10-10 17:20:09
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Our world and civilization exists within a sea of destructive forces. Hurricane winds, floods and earthquakes hit us from the outside while bacteria and viruses hit us from within. The destruction seems pointless and yet a harmony might be seen emerging out of former distressed states if one begins to look. 

One such example is the forest fire. On the surface, the destruction rips across the land leaving it burnt and deadened; however, a few years later, it's typical to see aspen stands or young pine trees growing so thick that you could wade through them. You'd be looking down at the pine tree crowns rather than up towards the sky, but this stage of forest growth will supply food for some animals that an old growth forest wouldn't. For instance, young aspens and pine can be easily grazed on by deer while a whole new kind of ecological system begins its development, replacing the old growth forest and its previous inhabitants with many new life forms that appreciate this newly styled habitat. 

Why are aspen and pine some of the first to repopulate after a fire? Because Aspen is wind pollinated (the seeds are carried by the wind) and some species of pine, like the Jack pine can only seed after a fire: the seeds are stored inside a heavy resin that melts when heated and only then are the seeds released into the environment. Nature has provided a means for renewal after its violent housekeeping. 

By way of this example, we can see a reason for a destructive force to exist, but it's hard to recognize it when you are in the midst of the fire. Instead, more profoundly, you must be able to step back and see it as part of a larger picture. 

At this current time in history, the "whole picture" is still hidden from us.  We don’t see a reason for all of the events and suffering in the world. We use our senses and scientific instruments to come to conclusions and say, "This is the way it works," but it doesn't negate the conflicts that rise in our emotions and intellect, resisting anything negative such as the aforementioned natural disasters. 

Man's difficulties with nature force him to discover new methods for controlling his environment. The new methods however, are never without a hitch. They always seem to come with additional baggage and new negativity. With each problem we solve, we create two or three new ones. 

The problem is that that with all of our developed control over our environment, we are out of nature's loop. Or are we? The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that there is a “whole picture” for everything that is happening around us, but that it is concealed from us. That's why Kabbalah is called the hidden wisdom. It is as if we are standing on the 5th floor of a skyscraper trying to see the entire building. We can’t succeed until we step outside of the building and look at it. Then the building is obvious! Kabbalah gives us a method to step outside the building and understand why things are happening in the world. 

The Kabbalists tell us that we are in the process of attaining a great harmony, that Man is the one and only creature that was made to reach the perfection of Nature through conscious choice. The forces of nature, which can be harsh and unpleasant, are pushing us toward that destiny. Our suffering will motivate us to keep trying to find solutions until we finally find one that works.  

Kabbalah teaches that the only way to solve this dilemma is not externally as we've done in the past, but instead to understand that the solution is only to be had by correcting our OWN nature, not the external environment. Kabbalah gives us a way to shorten the period of suffering by choosing to engage in this inner work and by studying the technology of the soul, which is Kabbalah. One way or the other, we will advance. 

We can see from history that Man's evolution has included many risings and fallings of civilizations. People have dispersed from their homelands and taken up residence elsewhere. Wars have penetrated Man's lives just as fire in the forest. 

Our challenge is to discover the bigger picture. We need to ask: How are we like the pine tree cones? What seeds are we? And: What might help us to grow into the spiritual mechanism we are all destined to become?

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