Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 1 Sivan, 5783.
45th Day of the Omer.
Happy Rosh Chodesh! Last night was the new moon! Today we set our intentions on the month ahead. Listening for Hashem’s direction for our lives. What is it you intend to do/desire this moon cycle?
This week is also Shavuot. Because of this, the Parsha we have (Naso) is sort of put on hold because on Shabbat, we will read special Torah portions related to Shavuot. So we have two weeks to move through Naso. Naso means “lift” and so my goal for this week is going to be focused on the Omer and Shavuot for three reasons:
- We “lift” up the focus this week on finishing up the Omer leading into Shavuot
- We “lift” up the focus on Shavuot
- We “lift” up the focus on Parsha Naso starting a week from today.
So let’s dig into today’s Omer count. It is the 45th day. Our theme today is Tiferet of Malchut – or “Harmony of Sovereignty.”
From Chabad:
Examine the compassion of sovereignty. A good leader is a compassionate one. Is my compassion compromised because of my authority? Do I realize that an integral part of dignity is compassion?
Tiferet – harmony – is critical for successful leadership. Do I manage a smooth-running operation? Am I organized? Do I give clear instructions to my subordinates? Do I have difficulty delegating power? Does my organization work as a team? Do we have frequent staff meetings to coordinate our goals and efforts?
Exercise for the day: Review an area where you wield authority and see if you can polish it up and increase its effectiveness by curtailing excesses and consolidating forces.
So the first thing I reflect on is how our human concept of sovereignty achieves harmony. It’s usually through power and strength. When things are chaotic, power systems tend to oppress the opposition to create harmony and peace.
Within ourselves – there is a lot of chaos. As I was meditating this morning, I was reflecting on how much chaos exists within our minds. And what do we do with that chaos? We repress pieces of our minds to avoid it. We distract our minds with entertainment to avoid it. We numb our minds with substances (shopping, alcohol, drugs, etc) to avoid navigating it.
What we often DON’T do – is show compassion for it. Compassion for the chaos of our minds. We don’t internally reflect with kindness on how much of a challenge it really is to deal with our minds – the chaotic thoughts, the mood shifts, the unexplained feelings, the strong desires, the apathy, etc.
Meditation for me has taught me that our minds can be trained though. Not perfectly. I am learning about “neuroplasticity” through my mindfulness eating journey and meditation practice. We often think we cannot grow and develop in our mind because it stops growing at a certain age. But the science is showing otherwise.
We can explore our minds. We can embrace the chaos, we can welcome it with compassion and empathy. And then? Maintain our sovereignty. Over time, this does get easier. It isn’t a switch – no control vs full control. But we can move the dial from zero to 1 then to 2, etc.
I was also reflecting on “mind, body, soul.” We know we can train our bodies. We know we can train our minds (well that may be a little more controversial for some). But what about our souls? Can we train our soul? Or is it more training our mind and body to adapt to the soul inside? I don’t have answers to this – but internally, I think I would be in much more harmony when my mind, body and soul are all in alignment. Resonance. Cohesion.
That’s my current practice. Harmony. Sovereignty. I took this to a much different place than Chabad did here. and that’s ok.
Because? Doing this work for myself? It isn’t reliant on any other human being. AND. My relationships with others? Challenge me to do the work within, because it puts me in touch with where my work is. If I am willing to do the work and not distract or repress myself.
This (in my opinion) is all part of our spiritual liberation!
What are your thoughts?
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