Weekly Consciousness by Karen Berg

Some students of the Kabbalah Centre were driving to volunteer this weekend. On the way to their destination, they had to pass through a toll booth. When they got up to the window to pay, the toll booth operator told them that the driver of the car in front of them had paid for them and had wished them a happy holiday.

There are some people who look at someone who is sick and say, “Wow that person is so sick.” Then there are people who look at someone who is sick and say, “Yes, that person is sick, so let’s figure out how we can make him or her better.” We can look at almost every situation in our lives through one of these two lenses. We can get stuck in seeing the problem, or we can put in the effort to find the solution.

Dear Kabbalah Centre Students:

This week, we enter the month of Sagittarius, the month of Light and expansion. Sagittarius is one of the two signs ruled by the planet Jupiter, which is the largest planet in the solar system (about twice as large, in fact, as all of the other planets combined). Not surprisingly, therefore, this planet brings the energy of progress, vision, and of enlarging one’s scope of influence.

If you read inspirational stories, you will find that most of the people we call “heroes” are simply individuals who found a dark situation and had the passion and perseverance to create something positive-- in spite of it.

At times, it can be very easy for us to fall into a consciousness where we are preoccupied with just being alive and going through the motions. We work, we eat, we breathe, we sleep, and then we get up the next morning and do the same thing all over again. Indeed, how often have we thought, “Oh well, this is just the way it is...”

Dear Community,

At this time when we are witnessing a storm that is being reported as one of the worst in history to affect the United States. So many of us feel helpless not sure how we can help or what to do. While we are not certain what the reason is for such a storm, we at The Kabbalah Centre are blessed to have the Zohar, a tool that we can use to send a consciousness that can transform negativity to Light.

In this week’s Bible reading, Abraham becomes the leader of a great nation when he is 100 years old. Now you and I might consider this to be a rather dramatic life change to undergo at such an old age, especially since there are probably those among us who, at 40 or 50 years of age, might say, “Change? Me? Why? Half my life is over with. I’m too old for that!”

I’m sure you’ve all heard about Malala Yousufzai, the brave 14-year-old girl in Pakistan who was shot in the head by the Taliban because she refused to give in to their orders that young women should not attend school.

For the past few years, Malala had been writing a blog about the injustices she was experiencing as a girl in Pakistan, trying to awaken and inspire others to take a stand as well. Last November, her blog won her Pakistan's first National Peace Prize.

A young man named Joshua once went to the prophet Elijah and said, “Elijah, can I go around with you for just a short time and watch what you do? Would you let me be with you to see how you are creating miracles and interacting with the world?”

To this, Elijah replied, “Yes, you may come with me, but it must be under one condition: Please don’t ask questions. Just observe.”