karen berg weekly message : Achieve Your Potential

Hello, it's good to be back will all of you again. Tonight, we'll discuss Rabbi Shimon and of course the Zohar. And where I'd like to start is after spending thirteen years in the cave Rabbi Shimon was to meet his father in law, Pinchas Ben Yair. And, as he was walking towards him, Rabbi Pinchas Ben Yair said to him, "Oh that I see you thus" Because his body had been weathered away, he probably had sores all over him, he was almost emaciated, I mean imagine, living in dirt and coming out only every now and then to the sun, for thirteen years. But Rabi Shimon looked at him and he said, "If I wasn't as I am, I would not be what I am" And that's a very interesting statement for all of us that learn spirituality. All of us seem to feel that we want to get closer to the Light. That we want to be involved, in-tuned, imbued with this energy that we in the Centre call Light. But remember, that without going up the stream, without fighting the current, the salmon doesn't lay its eggs, and people don't become spiritual. Spirituality is a grinding process. Jumping from problem to problem, from opportunity to opportunity. And then understanding even in the midst of whatever difficulty there is, the Light is there, and is pushing us to do better, to grow more, and to become more involved. When Rabbi Shimon said, "If I didn't look like I am, I wouldn't be as I am" It's a very important lesson for you and I. To understand that without those opportunities, without that ladder, without that stride in certainty, we'll never reach our goal and our spiritual level. And only after all of that was done, and after he had gone through the severity of the place that his confinement was, then was he able to create the text called the Zohar. Because it didn't come from a place of... You know writers they maybe seclude themselves and they sit down with their typewriter and they start writing. The Zohar, the essence of the teachings of the Zohar came via pain, work, effort. Our lives, must come through pain, work, but in the acknowledgement that what we do, even in the dire straits of negativity, and everybody, there isn't anyone that has a life without some rain. The idea is, can we take that rain, can we put it in a bucket, and can we say okay this is part of my effort and in this water I will become better, I will grow. And take it and with a breath of kindness say, thank you for allowing me to grow. Rabbi Shimon was only capable of creating the Zohar because he went through the severity that he did. And the higher the ladder, the higher the gain, in spirituality and in consciousness, often times the deeper the challenge. Are you up for that challenge? Are you ready to go forward? Because you know, you can always jump ship. But sometimes when you jump ship later on in life you say, 'why didn't I go there?' Now is your opportunity, enjoy the class.