So the suffering continues. We can see that there is a distinct gap between our ideal world and the world we live within. I doubt there’s a person on earth who doesn’t want some happiness. Which begs the question: Why is there so much pain?
This is the question that began my own quest, many years ago, into the deeper reason for life on this planet. I began with a meditation practice, which opened up a portal in my mind where I could access a clearer view of my own relationship with life on earth. It didn’t take long to realize that most of us are living with “blinders” on, most of the time. Once I became aware that there is more to this life than we can usually see, I began to explore this new realization within the context of religion. I knew then that I had to share this understanding with others who were as inquisitive as I had been. My books and the Listening Room have been created as part of this desire to share what I’ve come to understand.
Obviously, this has not been enough. We are still seeing suffering as we saw yesterday in Florida, and we know that division and hatred are becoming more prevalent in many parts of the world. What’s missing is something that Judaism, and every other sane religion, has been teaching for thousands of years. We can’t just call it “love,” because that doesn’t seem to give us enough inspiration to heal the challenges of the moment. We need to call it “integrity,” which is the “quality of being honest, with respectful, compassionate principles.”
We need to expand our consciousness to move beyond simply understanding how to be the 3-dimensional creatures we are, experiencing life through time (which is the 4th dimension). We need to grow into the 5th dimension of consciousness, called “integrity,” which is the realization that we need each other more than we have ever admitted before. This can only happen when we come to understand that we are all, in fact, part of a planetary ecosystem that doesn’t just affect the land and the vegetation, but also connects every one of us with each other. What needs to be understood now is that every level of time, space, and consciousness, is interconnected in more ways than the human mind can usually fathom.
Judaism has been teaching about integrity through the Torah and the Psalms for thousands of years, but somehow this has not impressed enough people to awaken us into this clearer understanding about life on earth. But this is the time when we can come to the realization that we each have, deep within us, an awesome soul, which is an actual part of the interconnected wisdom of the universe. And this is the time for us to open our hearts and relate to each other with compassion and respect. Only then will we be able to gradually heal the challenges we are facing at the moment.
These teachings are definitely not just for Jews to understand. However, when we’re all able to open up our hearts and let go of the judgment between us, we will more easily be able to move forward into the kind of wholeness that creates integrity, harmony, and yes, love.

If we want to see an end to suffering, if we want the world to calm down and become a safe space for every individual, we are told that we can do something that will make this happen. If we see the struggles in the world around us as something we would like to heal, we are told that there is a way that we can be instrumental in its healing. But how?

Even if we feel helpless in the face of such suffering, once we can recognize this pain, it will start to reach us on a deep, inner level of our being. This realization of such pain and helplessness in the world is the beginning of the solution. These feelings are a way of reaching into our hearts that opens a pathway into our own unique essence, into the center of who we really are.

What we can find there, within the center of our being, is a precious tenderness that longs to create peace, that longs to be loved and cared for, longs to discover our intrinsic connection with the oneness of all that exists. We want to know that deep down we all belong to somewhere safe, somewhere whole, somewhere without want or pain. But this would make us realize how vulnerable we really are, so most of us usually stop our search before we’ve begun, and step aside of that thought, holding on to what we already know, just to be on the safe side of life.

But some of us, when we find this tenderness within, will want to know more, will want to know how we can reach into the unknown space within our hearts. When we’re ready for such a search, a doorway tends to open within us, and a new way forward comes into view. Our deep longing can lead us into a clearer perspective of how we can be true to our own self, of how we can awaken more of the love that’s deep within us, and this can give us more of the joy we long to find.

As we gently grow into the abundance of love that arises from within us, we can find that we have become part of the healing process in the world. Every individual who steps into this clearer awareness becomes an instrument for healing in the world. As more of us take on this inner quest into the essence of our own hearts, we can begin to open up the minds of those around us, and gradually build more of this compassion throughout the world, one soul at a time.