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Ignoring That Voice Who Says ‘I’m Too Busy Right Now’By Leonard Felson Committed to re-engaging your Mussar practice? Or perhaps you’re new to the discipline and are curious enough that you want to start a practice. One of the most powerful messages I got from last month’s Mussar Kallah VI in New York was this: That voice you hear when you’re about to take the first step in your Mussar practice, that voice who says: “I’ll get to it as soon as I finish that major project I’m working on.” Or, “It’s next on my list. It really is, but let’s face it, I’m just too busy right now. As soon as things settle down in my life.” Or, “Of course I want to do it, but I can’t do everything.” That voice has a name. It’s called your yetzer ha-ra. And you need to ignore it! You need also know that your yetzer ha-ra often comes disguised, camouflaged as the voice of reason. The one who’s just being practical. Facing reality. You need to ignore it! That’s one of the most useful teachings I came home with and it’s a lesson that may help you too if you really want to see change occur in your life. Because in truth a Kallah or any spiritual retreat is only as good as your follow-through and how well you incorporate the inspiring presentations into your everyday spiritual life. In other words, if a Kallah can deepen or ignite your Mussar practice, then it will have been worth the day spent listening to some of the best Mussar teachers of the 21st century. In that spirit, I share some of the most salient points from one session last month, hoping it inspires you to take the next step on the Mussar ladder. It helps to appreciate the theory of Mussar before you begin such practices. As Alan said, Mussar is not just an intellectual discipline. Indeed, a foundation of contemplative Mussar rests on the idea that we are souls and that the purpose of life is to foster holiness. Just look to Torah and G-d’s commandment to us, our job description: “You shall be holy.” And here Alan offered another useful tool when faced with a dilemma: Ask yourself which direction carries me closer to holiness? Paradoxically, he sad, we come equipped with holiness in our neshama, our soul, but at another level, the level of the nefesh, we are challenged. One of the goals of Mussar is to re-align those middot or soul traits to allow the light of the neshama to shine through us and out into the world. Think of the way you would adjust Venetian blinds to get more light into a room. The same theory applies to adjusting the middot of your soul. So how do we make those transformations in the areas of our life where certain middot are out of alignment? The first step is to make conscious that which is unconscious and Mussar suggests keeping an evening journal, a Cheshbon ha-Nefesh (Accounting of the Soul). Here’s where my yetzer ha-ra perks up. It often says, “You’re too tired. Do it tomorrow night” And this voice too, you/me/we need to ignore. Because if you ignore that voice who wants to procrastinate, you will discover that all those fault lines in your lives are likely to surface when over time and practice you create a discipline whereby you can reflect on your day through daily introspection. And with practice, you will be able to connect the dots and know which middot to work on. A gift you’ll never hear about from your yetzer ha-ra! But as noted above, Mussar is more than an intellectual discipline. To change those impulses that create barriers in our lives, Mussar recognizes that mental determination alone will not bring about behavioral change, Alan noted. To touch beyond the conscious, you have to tap into such tools as contemplation, visualization and chanting. Your conscious mind won’t detect any immediate change, and you’ll be tempted to drop the practice, but a regular discipline of contemplation, visualization and chanting, will leave a trace on the soul, an imprint on the unconscious. And then one day in the moment of test, the change will show up with a different impulse than old behavior. Contemplative practice re-wires the brain. Those contemplative practices have real power. Indeed, the Ramchal said visualizations are the most powerful way to fight against the yetzer ha-ra, Rabbi Miller told those at the session. He offered other tools to help bring about transformation. What if you changed your perspective of a specific event in your life? How would that change the way you behave or react? And he offered another more conscious tool – daily study of Mussar, a recommendation Rabbi Israel Salanter urged of his disciples. So start the change in your life by doing your own follow-up exploration. Download an order form here to order some of the CDs or videos that speak most to you. Spend some time at the Mussar Institute’s website, www.mussarinstitute.org where there’s a wealth of resources. Or check out the websites of other presenters from the Kallah, including Rabbi David Lapin’s www.iawaken.org, who spoke about the role of Halacha or Jewish Law and Mussar; or a new site recently created by presenter (and TMI board member) Modya Silver at www.madrega.com. Finally, if you live in the west or want to spend time in a warm climate next November, circle your calendar, next year’s Kallah is planned for Phoenix. Whatever your path to transformation, do it now, and as you begin on the path, tell your yetzer ha-ra, you’re just too busy to talk right now. You have real meaningful work to get to. |
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