Friday, August 17, 2012

Higher and Sweeter - a prayer

A Written Prayer: 27th of Menachem Av 5772, 8:04AM in a Starbucks Cafe’ in Philly.


Dearest Sweet Beloved Divine Parent, Thank You for this beautiful and happy day. Thank You that I’m here communing with You. It’s really special to allow the spirit in my heart to emote to You in prayer. My heart is hollow for the blood that carries my spirit. With her beat, her walls vibrate a prayer to You, which pen or tongue place into words or better yet, "craft into words".

I am feeling a wish for the world to operate ... I mean for humanity to operate with greater kindness. I wish for war and conflict to disappear and for humanity’s whole focus to revolve around how can we share and do kindness for another. I know that the changes we are all hoping for has much more to do with receiving Your blessing than changing jobs, people in our lives, political systems, religions, economic systems, whose in control, how medical services are dispensed, etc.

Every situation has a higher and sweeter version. With Your blessing, situations can be transcended into that higher and sweeter version - simply as natural extensions of what they already are. There’s no real falsehood, only limited perspectives. So the real remedy is to expand the perspective. Once blessing flows in, the light on its own dispels rigidity, stubbornness and blockages.

The Alter Rebbe again and again reiterates that our emotional states are not in our own hands. They are transmitted to us by You. That’s why he enjoins us to elicit Your blessings  via the distribution of alms. As counter-intuitive as it may seem to the western mindset, the Alter Rebbe teaches that by this kindness a person will be able to receive a very kind gift from You - the ability to feel true love and reverence for You while in prayer.

It occurs to me that if doing kindness can elicit serious changes in the way the heart feels - couldn’t doing kindness elicit Your kindness to shine on other areas of our lives as well and lift up every situation to enter the space of its “better and sweeter self”?

This is why I am praying to You  to open people’s hearts to kindness. Please open us up to the “master key” to all that’s blocked and locked; namely, kindness. We need Your help to attain that “flexible heart of flesh” which emotes and vibrates us to pray and help. Please …

I specifically look back to my childhood religious upbringing which wasn’t too Zionistic, but, very much focused on Moshiach. What was the underlying inherent thought behind how the people I grew up around were expecting that a Moshiach which can arrive in a “flash”, at any second, was going to rebuild our Holy Temple on the site of what is essentially regarded as a central Moslem shrine and of Christian significance?

The answer is very simple. The Kotzker once said that Moshiach will show the idolaters that they basically had the right idea, they merely focused too low on their own self admitted heavenly hierarchy. The meaning is that if all religions ascend high enough in their perspective, they all become monotheistic - they all find greater truth. However, we need to be blessed with a higher more inclusive perspective. The human mind only arrives at that mental space via Your blessing. We need You to help us with the kindness that will elicit the blessings of opening our minds and hearts.

This will lead to the unity of all perspectives into a single highly flexible and compatible perspective, where everyone can meet each other.

Thank You for this prayer. Love and Kisses …

9 comments:

  1. Dear G-d,
    Help us to teach your loving acts of kindness to all.
    May You, HaSh-m find us worthy of your love and answer our prayers for love and peace on our planet Earth!!!
    Thank You for our countless blessings and miracles you so generously bestow upon us each movement of each day! We Love You, Heart and Soul! Doris

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    1. To Doris: I am delighted to see that my shared prayer inspired further prayer. :)

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  2. God led the dedicated Muslims to build their temple mount here because God's promise to Israel was a permanent one, not passing of this old world. While the messianic age will take place in the upper worlds, the third temple won't be build by human hands until we arrive in the new heaven and earth (God takes 7000 years to build) , which will be right here. By this time, Muslims, etc. can always move up the ladder if the desire and destiny of God is there. If not, they'll be left to overcome in the next age. God is gathering the ones who will be on this new earth now, so His temple will be a living body until the new world is completed. Then the final Temple will be build and occupied by descendants of Abraham. And it will last forevermore.

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    1. To Angela: Thank you for your comment.

      I agree that there's a spiritual Temple awaiting arrival past the Jewish year 6,000 or 7,000 when the new heavens and earth described in Isaiah flow into being. However, Judaism does hold open the hope that the Temple will somehow also be rebuilt before the Jewish year 6,000 on the earthly realm (we're now in 5,772) - even one day before the year 6,000 (see Rabbi Yosef Chaim of Baghdad on the verse in Psalms "I will gladden you commensurate with the days of your affliction" where he says that the Creator will stretch out that one day to the length of the entire exile, if need be). It could be that such a Temple will also be built via spiritual means and then manifest physically. At this point, I really don't know - as I've received mixed messages in the past on this.

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  3. Comments from the FaceBook group Kosher Kabbalah:

    Él-Ad: When we distribute alms, spiritual shefa/Light is drawn down from G-d, flows through the Sefirah of Chesed into and through us and to the recipient. We become a conduit and channel for G-d's Light and Chesed. How could we not be changed?

    Choni Elchonon Kihleel We are. Again, this is a spontaneous prayer, not a logically crafted essay.

    Él-Ad: I meant my closing question rhetorically and my comment to add weight to the teaching you shared from the Alter Rebbe. It's a beautiful prayer Choni. Your prayer follows the practice Rav Nachman of Breslov advocated to spend time conversing with G-d in your own language. This is great; keep going strong and please share more.

    Yamile L: I don't want to come back from the place this prayer took me. Most beautiful!!!! I'm deeply touched! Amen Ve Amen!!!! This needs to be shared by every true lover of G-d. Wow !!! Who says that perfection can't be found here right now?! Amazing! :) Baruch Hashem!!

    Choni Elchonon Kihleel ‎:)

    To Él-Ad: You are right. The style is based on Rebbe Nachman. I've taken the book "Outpouring of the Soul" as one of my major life guidebooks years ago.

    To Yamile L: There's a possibility for a better and more blessed version of almost every situation.

    Choni Elchonon Kihleel Shabbat Shalom :)

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  4. Comments from the FaceBook group "Above and Under His Blessing":

    Yamile L: I don't want to come back from the place this prayer took me. Most beautiful!!!! I'm deeply touched! Amen Ve Amen!!!! This needs to be shared by every true lover of G-d. Wow !!! Who says that perfection can't be found here right now?! Amazing! :) Baruch Hashem!! Thanks to Hashem for you Dear Choni.

    Choni Elchonon Kihleel: To Yamile L. I was questioning myself this morning whether I should have last night shared this prayer. Your comment means to me that it was worth it! :)

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  5. Comments from the FaceBook group "Occupy the Messianic era":

    Brenda Louise H: This is a beautiful prayer my friend! "Truly those who believe and perform righteous deeds - for them the Compassionate One shall appoint love." Holy Qu'ran[19:96]


    Choni Elchonon Kihleel Thank you for sharing that quote Brenda Louise H. :)

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  6. Comments from the FaceBook group "World Love"

    Doris Shamberg Glaberson: Shabbat Shalom Dear Choni

    Doris Shamberg Glaberson: And All!!!
    Love and Blessings,
    Doris


    Choni Elchonon Kihleel: Shabbat Shalom Doris Shamberg Glaberson, Your comments on the blog are beautiful - Thank you so much :)

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  7. Sandra M: open people’s hearts to kindness. Please open us up to the “master key” to all that’s blocked and locked; namely, kindness. We need Your help to attain that “flexible heart of flesh” which emotes and vibrates us to pray and help. Please~ Choni thanks for sharing this :D

    Choni Elchonon Kihleel: With pleasure Sandra M. A change in heart is often something we can't do on our own. It requires the Creator's help. Many people don't realize this. Only more recently I moved into a fuller awareness of this. :)

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