There’s a saying by T. Szasz that goes:

If you talk to God, you are praying. If God talks to you, you have schizophrenia.

On that note, I want to talk about spirituality from the point of view of a drop-out Kabbalah student, that’s me.
Kabbalah is an ancient school of thought, originated in Judaism and kept secret for many years. It’s wrapped in mysticism up to this very day. The word itself means “Receiving”. In brief, a Kabbalist is a person that studies this wisdom and moves up the spiritual ladder to attain oneness with the Creator. I’ve studied the very basics, and there are many reasons why I don’t practice it anymore. I can’t say I’m an expert on the subject, and I may have misinterpreted the whole thing to my own benefit – but there is one lesson that I took with me, and I’d like to share it with you in this post.

One plus One is… One

There are two states a person might experience, according to the Kabbalah.

The first one is when you are in line with the source of energy for this world. This is the “positive” state. You know where you’re headed, there’s a clear goal in front of you, you’re keeping the energy to advance towards your goal and you know and you firmly believe that your Creator is eternally good. No problem here – just keep doing what you’re doing (which is hard sometimes, but that’s not what I want to touch here).

The other is when you don’t feel the light is with you. That’s when you’re down, and losing your direction. Most people treat it as “negative” and the range of responses to this state varies from being disappointed in the Creator, questioning your path, to giving up completely.

Now the thing to remember is that the Creator has only good things intended for you. The source of the world’s spiritual energy is always complete. It never changes and pertains in a state of eternal love and altruism. It doesn’t need anything from you. The one with the needs, with the ego, is you.

Therefore, this condition you’re in cannot be considered “negative” per se, just because there can be no “negative” in the definition of an always-caring, positive universe.

It’s just that you can’t see it. For now, that is. And that, by itself, is a positive and constructive experience.

The Change is Within You

Always keep in mind that the universe has not turned against you and you don’t have to be bitter about it. On the contrary, by being bitter, you’re blocking the possibility of the light filling you from the inside once again. And that’s against the Creator’s intention (which is always positive and giving, remember?)

The positive side of things is not revealed specifically to you in this state you’re in. It might happen gradually. It might “enlighten” you by surprise, at once. Remember that the general state of the world has not changed. It is you who experiences this change in mood and perception. And if your perception of reality at the moment is “negative” – well, that’s just your perception of reality.

From here on you can ask yourself the following questions: what is the purpose of this “dark” side of things? What can you learn from it? Why are you going through this phase right now? And what do you need to do to get in line with the feeling of happiness and fulfillment? The Kabbalists claim to have solid answers to these questions, but I didn’t stick around to find out. I took these questions with me and left.

Down to Earth

Jumping back in to “our world” of personal development, these questions remain actual right here and right now. They are being discussed in countless personal development books, blog posts and websites. I can’t say I know the answers. But I’ll always keep in mind this valuable lesson I learned from the Kabbalah: we are all loved, and we have endless love to give back to the universe. We will always seek happiness and fulfillment. And if we can’t find it right away – that’s fine, too. In the meantime, we have to be grateful for the opportunity to walk our own path, to explore, to ask questions, to stumble and fall, and to rise up again – and to remain positive even when we think we’re facing the “dark” side.

Did you like this post? Do you have an experience you’d like to share? You should comment and spread the word on Social Networks.