One Choice

Though we are all born into this world with a unique individual purpose, kabbalists teach there is also a general purpose we all share – that of spiritual correction, or tikkun. We are all here to transform ourselves and clear out our “baggage” from past lives so that we can achieve our correction and ultimately our perfection.

We are all destined to make this correction. Like it or not, we are all going to change. That’s not up to us. What is up to us is how we will change.

When you break it down, we are really given just one choice in life. We can choose to change proactively, or we can be forced to change reactively.

The proactive path to change begins when we look at ourselves and say, “This is not the person I want to be.” Just making the decision to change is one big step forward, because it is in our nature to be dominated by the Desire to Receive for the Self Alone – the part of our nature that is selfish, angry, limited, that wants to stay comfortable; the part of us that is controlling; the part of ourselves that is victim. To depart from this mindset and commit to spirituality is actually quite amazing – and not everybody chooses it.

The reactive path to change is forced on us through external events and their effects. It can manifest as losing our job, our friends, or worse – losing our health or our spouse. If we do not willingly come to see a need to change, the chaos activated from our own negative behavior will eventually awaken us to transform.

In a spiritual sense, these two paths are not of equal value. A person who has consciously chosen to do the spiritual work of transformation reveals more Light than does the person who is merely reacting to outside forces. And because we are all connected, what we reveal, we reveal for the world as well.

One way or another, we will individually and collectively arrive at the fulfillment and perfection that is meant for us. If not in this life, then in a future life.

Our free will lies in which path we choose: The path of personal responsibility and transformation, or the path of suffering.

Either way we need to know that our actions can serve the world as well as ourselves, or hurt the world as well ourselves.

It’s up to us.

72 Name of the Week

Ayin Shin Lamed
GLOBAL TRANSFORMATION

A revolution is possible. On a personal and global scale, I can change the world – and I will.

I concentrate on increasing the happiness of my own life so that I may share it with others. I see the negative traits I want to let go of as I transform into a more giving, compassionate person.

As Light spreads within me, I grasp the power of the Creator, and I imagine love spreading to everyone in the universe. I look into the world and see changes that need to be made, and know they are a reflection of what I must do internally.

I concentrate on letting peace into my heart, and allowing it to radiate throughout the world.