People are now beginning to realize that if we want to see more peace in the world, we have to first create peace within our own self. Judaism has given us the tools to do just this through the teachings of the Inner Torah. Right now, during this time of Counting the Omer, the teachings in the Sephirot encourage us to go deeper into the journey of our inner self, so that we can nurture our own soul and develop the kind of peace so many of us desperately want to eventually see in the whole world.

We’ve already looked at the first three steps of this inner path during these last three weeks in The Listening Room. Now we’re coming up to the fourth step—this is when we have to become sufficiently aware of the inner harmony we’ve found, so that we can begin to share it with others. As usual, we’ll look at what the sages have given us to support our journey forward. These lessons can’t be absorbed instantaneously; they have to be practiced over time until we can realize their full power. We have to develop patience, as well as the courage to become more than we thought we could be. We have to develop all the inner gifts we’ve been given, and gradually become more of our full self.

Please join us in The Listening Room this week, on Shabbat, as we discuss this Inner Torah process of finding peace within.

Date: Saturday, May 3rd
Time: 6.05 pm. (Before Mincha)
Location: email info@myraestelle.com

Most of us are familiar with a car’s GPS system, which can guide us from A to B without a map. My English family calls this the “Sat-Nav”, which is short for “Satellite Navigation System,” a name that actually reminds one that the directions we’re receiving are coming from a satellite, as it watches our every move from way up there in space.

But I want to turn you on to another App, which basically does the same thing, even to the point of “recalculating” your moves if you take a wrong turn. Luckily for us, this doesn’t cost any money, but it could be expensive in other ways if you don’t listen carefully to its guidance.

I want to introduce you to the Divinity App, which is something every one of us already has in our possession. Unfortunately, not enough people know that it’s there, and even when they do, they resist paying attention to it.

One excuse for ignoring it could be that it’s invisible—if you can’t see it, you might forget that it’s there. Another reason could be that it’s too much trouble to figure out, so by avoiding its persistent “recalculating” signals, you can simply accept life at its surface value. And then there’s denial: you know it’s there, you’ve seen how it’s helped you before, but maybe this time, just this once, you’ll pretend that it doesn’t exist.

Most of the time, this App is non-intrusive. It knows when to leave things up to you. But occasionally, it could save you from the heartache you seem determined to take on, even when you know that you’re not making a wise move. Then it will give you that nagging feeling of “don’t do that!” which, if ignored, will only be remembered when you say later on, “I knew I shouldn’t have done that!”

My late Rebbe, of very blessed memory, Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, obviously knew where it was. He used to keep reminding us that we needed to reach into the “inside of the inside” into the deepest part of our heart to find it. I’ve been using this App for years with very positive results. This amazing ancient technology can work well for you, too. You should try it!

© Myra Estelle, author of Awakening Love: A Spiritual Quest Into Judaism, www.myraestelle.com.

As we come to the parting of the sea on Pesach, we’re all being taken on a journey to develop more awareness about the spirituality that’s hidden within Life itself. The Counting of the Omer, which begins on Tuesday evening, was designed to give us more insight about ourselves.

How do we reach the inner core of who we really are, and discover where we are in our understanding of life?

Simply being a good person is an important beginning, but there’s a need to peel away the layers of hurt and maybe fear, to uncover the true vulnerability of every mortal human being. As each layer is released it leaves a sting on the heart. Every sense of letting go creates a vacuum of uncertainty: If I give up my cherished possessions—either material objects or my adamant beliefs—will I still be me in the way I’ve always been, or will I become less than my true self? Can I trust this inner process of searching for meaning, or am I simply losing my mind?

This is when we need to know the teachings of the sages: those who’ve gone before us and carved out the way to follow. Their words are in our prayers, our psalms, our proverbs, and in so many ancient stories where people are on their quest to reach the highest understanding—to search for hidden treasure, concealed within the soul, or to reach the King, who can unravel the mysteries of life.

But it’s not enough for us to simply say their words. If we don’t know where we are, or why we’re doing what we’re doing in our Judaic culture, or why so many people have gradually left the fold, we won’t be able to develop a deeper understanding of why we remain committed to it.

As soon as we’re ready to gradually allow the restrictive layers in the shadows of our mind to be explored and integrated, we’ll start to notice the gentle easing of our concerns and fears as they fall away, and we’ll be able to experience the promised inner peace of trust that can nourish our soul and take us home.

Please join us as we study teachings from the Jewish sages on the counting of the omer. Then we’ll follow with a short meditation on the Shema.

Date: Saturday, April 12th
Time: 5.25 pm. (Before Mincha)
Location: Hebrew Institute of Riverdale, Beit Midrash (downstairs)

We are all forms of consciousness. Even though we are clearly separate physical beings, there’s more to who we are than just our physicality. Our consciousness is, in fact, part of the consciousness of the universe. So, when we are ready to accept this fact, we can begin to experience the harmony of the universe, and learn to live within its flow. Once we start living in this way, we’ll find that everyone and everything we are in relationship with will start to blend into our own inner harmony, and we can find it possible for all of us to relate to each other in ways that will resolve any complicated situations that arise.

This means that we all have the capacity to create more peace and more joy in our hearts and in the world. All it takes is our commitment to come to terms with this amazing fact, so that we can experience our beautiful planet and magnificent human race in a more delightful way.

So the challenge for all of us is to believe in the possibility that this is true. No story can make it so, no teaching can confirm it for us–the only way we can even begin to suspect it might be true is to explore this possibility for ourselves. Every one of us has the potential to develop this awareness and come into the realization that it is true.

One fact we can all agree on is that we are all physical forms of life who contain consciousness. Now, without any scientific proof that there is consciousness within the entire universe, we need to explore our own consciousness for ourselves, and over time, come to our own conclusions.

This information will become more believable once we start to practice silent meditation. The proof of this possibility exists within every one of us.

For more information see www.myraestelle.com.

Two people were peacefully sitting in a boat on the river, when one of them began to drill under his seat, making a small hole in the boat. “Why are you drilling a hole?” the other person asked.

“What do you care?” the first person replied. “Am I drilling under you? I’m drilling under my part of the boat!”

“Fool!” said the first. “Wherever you drill, both of us will be lost along with the boat.”

This story comes from a teaching in the Midrash (Vayikra Rabba, chapter 4), and it’s quoted by Rav Ashlag in his teaching on Mutual Responsibility to illustrate the matter of mutual obligation in each society.

I couldn’t help thinking about this story when I began to learn of the dangers inherent in our use of fossil fuels, most notably the recent desire to add poisonous chemicals to water, and then force this water underground to obtain the natural gas deposits that exist there in the shale.

This process, called hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” drills a hole for a pipe deep into the ground, below the water table, and then extends this pipe a great distance sideways, so that it can allow poisonous water to be forced through it, fracturing the shale rock, which causes the gas to be released.

Drinking water in the surrounding areas of this process have been found to be contaminated, so people living in the houses there can no longer even shower in the water that’s coming out of their own faucets. The air and the soil in those areas contain contaminates so strong that it is sickening and sometimes killing the livestock in the farms — livestock that usually provides milk and meat for the whole country.

Research data concludes that fracking leads to damage to the local environment through contamination and negatively impacts the earth’s biosphere.

The Tyndall Center, http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/shalegasreport, a Collaborative working with the research and scientific community to advise business leaders, policy advisors and influence the mainstream media and public in general, has revealed through analysis that fracking chemical mixtures used are known and suspected carcinogens that are not only toxic but mutagenic. When the chemicals return to the surface after injection, they carry with them heavy metals, radioactive materials and methane gas.

Ground water and aquifers are damaged by fracking and those effects are impossible to reverse.

In another study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences , the current method of carbon capture by storing the gas underground is directly causational to earthquakes.The damaging results of this activity can clearly be seen in Pennsylvania and other parts of the country where this method of extracting gas has been happening for some time.

We can often see commercials on TV and in the newspapers about the potential profits that can be reaped from this supposed windfall of abundant fossil fuels beneath the surface of the earth, when some lives have already been irreparably damaged by this activity, experiencing painful sickness and loss of livestock in various parts of the US.

There appears to be a complete denial of the damage being done to our naturally clean water supply. The only solution is for as many of us as possible to insist to our lawmakers that following through with these efforts is a very short-sighted venture. Our lives, and the lives of our children, are far more important than any amount of fossil fuel the earth can provide.

In response to all those who ask where our energy can come from, there is an unlimited supply of energy that causes no damage to the earth: it comes from the sun and the wind. Some forward thinking countries, including Israel, are already creating new ways to harness the sun’s power. It’s here for the taking, without harming our land, our air, or our water supply. When we care about the quality of life in this way, we create a healthier existence for the world’s population. Our children, and our children’s children, deserve nothing less.

Myra Estelle

I’m delighted to announce …

THE LISTENING ROOM

a new program at HIR, beginning this coming Shabbat afternoon, Nov 3. I will be leading a space for spiritual reflection and Jewish meditation, where we can listen to the deeper essence of our own self. This will take place every Shabbat between Mincha and Maariv. For more information please contact info@myraestelle.com or see more about my teachings at www.myraestelle.com.

Someone just told me that a class podcast of mine has been really helpful for her, so I’m posting this free 3 minute excerpt from one of my classes here. When you click on this link you’ll hear the way we’re all connected to the consciousness of the universe. You’ll find more complete class downloads for free on the Classes page. The beautiful music is composed and played by my very talented friend, Shoshannah.

we’re all forms of consciousness

Let’s admit it: sometimes we have a hard time accepting the truth about ourselves—even when that truth can help us. Think of Copernicus, who struggled to get the idea accepted that the earth went around the sun. Think of Galileo, who managed to prove that fact, but was still challenged by the prevailing authorities to recant his calculations. And yet, it’s now clearly understood that our planet is really constantly in motion around the sun.

This resistance is quite understandable. We can’t feel the earth spinning on its own axis, so when we see the sunrise, it looks like we’re standing still on solid, stationary ground, and the sun is gradually rising in the East.  Even now, our own experience might make it hard to accept this as a fact, but we have enough proof from humanity’s forays into space to believe that it’s true.

In another natural aspect of our lives, we know that we have energy in our body that allows us to function in the world, but every night we run out of energy and need to lie down to go to sleep. We don’t question this fact; we simply feel tired and know that we have to sleep. Everyone takes this for granted as a natural process. Just like the cell phones we plug into an electric socket at night, so that their batteries will recharge for the next day, we turn out the lights and close our eyes for several hours so that our inner battery, our energy, can be recharged for another day of activity.

Now we’ve come to a time when we need to reach beyond our current awareness to realize something even more profound about our lives. We need to come to the realization that we have energy because we are part of the energetic system of the planet we inhabit. Even though we’re separate individuals walking on top of the earth, we’re still dependent on the ecosystem of the planet for our existence. Its air, water, soil, and weather systems, are all an essential source for our energy’s survival. Our very breath is dependent on this ecosystem.

And yet some who live here, on our planet, would question the necessity for the air to be quite so clean, for the water to be completely free from any contamination or poisonous chemicals. It’s as if they don’t realize that we’re dependent on these gifts to keep us alive. Maybe they just don’t see the full picture.

To paraphrase the psalmist: “And they say, ‘[The Universe] will not see, nor will the [Universe] of Jacob understand.’ Understand, you boors among the people; and you fools when will you gain wisdom? [The Universe] that implants the ear, shall It not hear? The [Universe] that fashions the eye, shall It not see? … [The universe] knows the thoughts of man. (Psalm 94:7-9)

Even though we can’t see the source of all that exists, we are clearly part of something much greater than ourselves. Even though we can’t see the energy that supports our lives, the necessity for it becomes clearly evident whenever it’s taken away from us. Let’s not be blind to the need to protect our supportive ecosystem, if not for ourselves, then for our children and grandchildren.

Let’s think very carefully before we fracture our soil with poisons that could contaminate and destroy our pristine water supply. Let’s consider what we’re creating for the generations to come when we pollute the air with our fossil fuels. Even this beautiful planet, with all that it keeps giving us, cannot expand in size to provide an endless supply of whatever we want. It’s now up to us to create a more balanced approach to everything we want to accomplish, so that we can ensure a more sustainable path for all of our activities.

When we do our part to nurture the planet that gives us life, we will not only be nurturing our own lives, but also the billions of lives that come after us, who are relying on us to leave the world with the same healthy abundance it’s provided for us.

When we learn to trust the supportive, coordinating power of the universal energy, we allow the unexpected to happen. Sometimes the unexpected is called a miracle. Usually a miracle is within the normal realm of life, but occasionally might go beyond it. Sometimes it is simply the perfect timing of a series of events that seem to have happened by chance, because no one planned them. No human being, that is.

It takes a great deal of determination to resist any negative doubt that’s created by a crisis. Even though we might act responsibly and do all we can to solve a problem, there are times when a solution still seems too far away. It takes an enormous amount of trust to focus on the present moment, to release our control of the future and let it unfold in its own way. This takes a great deal of belief, not in the “best of all possible worlds,” but in the fact that everything happens for a reason—everything that happens is a lesson to increase our awareness of the way the world works.

(Excerpt from The Way The World Works: A Journey Toward Inner Peace)