"three most negative weeks of the year" ORLY? grreeeeaaaaaat.

[evile]

Getting into the Details

August 7th— August 13th ,
2011

  72 Name of the Week

kaf     yud      mem

42. Revealing the Concealed

Light shines.
I recognize the negative forces still active within me.
My reactive impulses are no longer a mystery.

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I mentioned last week that we are experiencing the three most negative weeks of the year. Last Sunday, we entered the most challenging nine days of these three weeks, which culminates on the most negative day—beginning Monday night (August 8th) and continuing all day Tuesday, August 9th. Things are getting more intense, but after Tuesday, everything will lighten up.

The question is what can you do about it? Sitting around isn’t the answer—there’s always a benefit to difficult times—so what can you do? What’s your opportunity?

This week’s energy is very powerful, and there are a few things to note.

My teacher and father, Kabbalist Rav Berg, explains that during these days we need to remember what we learned when we first began studying Kabbalah; that there is a negative force in the universe called Satan, a force that exists and surrounds us no matter how spiritual we might be. It’s there, it’s in us, and we have to be aware of it. Its greatest ploy is to make us forget it exists.

No matter how good our intentions, or how spiritual we are, Satan is there. And Satan plays an important role. Remember, it’s why we’re here. Satan gives us the opportunity to use our free will and make choices in our life.

This force is at its peak power these days, so it’s necessary to have clarity about what we need to transform to protect ourselves.
Here is an exercise that you can do: Write down on a piece of paper:

1. This is what I appreciate about you.
2. This is what you might want to change.

Leave spaces for answers. Then give it to a friend and ask them to fill it out. Pick a good friend, one who has no agenda other than love for you.

The amazing thing you will realize is that both the good and the bad traits relate to the same issue. For example, if someone writes that you are a good leader, a great teacher who knows how to show others direction, what could be the negative aspect of that? It most likely will be ego and a need for control.

The core essence of our being is one thing. Good and bad are two sides of the same coin.

The energy of the month of Av (Leo) is about converting negativity into positivity. It’s about converting bad to good. For example, a person born under the sign of Cancer is beautifully sensitive; it’s an aspect of Light in them. But the Satan turns it into something bad, such as hypersensitivity.

There has to be this Satan force, though. And you should never underestimate its power. The moment you understand that your essence is good and it is the Satan force that weakens it, you can take back the good from the bad.

It’s painful to see your garbage. But this physical process is necessary for your spiritual one. People get more confused as they get more spiritual. It’s because the more we do, the more that comes up. After 20 years of working on ourselves, we can get tired—it’s hard. It’s hard because when we first start working on ourselves, we deal only with the big stuff. The further down the spiritual path we go the deeper we get into the details.

For example, in the Kabbalah One class, you learn that if you want to correct yourself, the answer is to restrict. Very broad, very easy. Then in Kabbalah Two, you discover that it is your ego that you need to restrict. In Kabbalah Three, as you learn more, you are given examples of how to restrict your ego in specific ways. The more you learn the more specific the work gets. You are continually refocusing.

The whole idea is to realize that the more we study and do, the more direction our restriction has. And the more we have details, the more we know we are progressing!

Do this week’s exercises with excitement. Know that each uncomfortable truth you face creates a bigger opening for the things you are searching for to enter your life.

All the best,

Yehuda

Comments

[made-of-paradox.livejournal.com]

Imagine my relief when I read that it starts getting better after the 9th -- I do not need 2 more weeks like this past one, personally....