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BUILDING BLOCKS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
B.S.D.
Rabbi David Aaron
Excerpt from "Seeing G-d"
 How would I act if I really believed that Hashem's presence filled my life, my home, my office, my city, my world? How would I speak to my wife and kids? How would I treat the stranger? To the extent that I think, speak, and act in accordance with this heightened awareness, to that extent, Hashem can be present in my world. It's not just a matter of believing and saying so. We have to acknowledge Hashem's presence in the world constantly, by how we conduct our relationships, how we speak to others, how we eat our lunch, how we do virtually everything. Spirituality without a daily discipline is just a hobby. Once I was asked to officiate at the bar mitzvah of a boy who lived in an ashram. This particular ashram, which was located in India, was comprised mostly of Jews. The guru told the boy's mother to take her son to the Western Wall in Jerusalem and celebrate his bar mitzvah there. So, many of the Jewish people from this ashram came to Jerusalem. They looked for an open-minded rabbi to be willing to officiate at this unusual bar mitzvah, and they came to me. "Sure, why not?" I thought.
After the ceremony, we went back to someone's home for a celebration. There the boy gave a bar mitzvah speech like I'd never heard before. He said: "I want to thank the One and the Only, All in One and One in All." This thirteen-year-old boy really impressed me with his lofty, mystical articulations. He and his fellow ashram dwellers were very spiritual people. After the speech, everyone was invited to have some food-all strictly vegetarian. Everyone was barefoot, having
left their shoes at the door. The meal was a buffet, so after the guests got their food, they sat down cross-legged on the floor and ate.
I had three of my kids with me and we helped ourselves and sat down on the floor like everyone else. At that point, my son Nuri, then five years old, looked at me, and exclaimed, appalled,
"Daddy, you won't believe it. They didn't say a blessing before they ate."
His shock was cute, and he may have missed it, but the irony struck me as sad. I have met self-acclaimed, highly spiritual people, who have the consciousness to be vegetarians, and the humility to take off their shoes and even sit on the floor. But when it came to consuming their food, they just stuff themselves. They do not even pause and meditate for a moment, to appreciate the food as a Divine gift. On the other hand, my kids, who I can guarantee it are spiritually unsophisticated, would never think of popping a crumb into their mouths without first acknowledging Hashem as the source of the food.
For a thirteen-year-old to talk about "the One in the All and the All in the One" is impressive. But how does one take this high level of philosophical content and turn it into an everyday consciousness? How do we bring it into the office, bring it into the kitchen, bring it into the living room, bring it into the bedroom?
It is not only through a collection of very deep ideas that I build consciousness of Hashem. I need a daily concrete way to walk the talk. The so-called good deeds and rituals of the Torah's spiritual tradition are designed to be building blocks for nurturing and concretizing consciousness all day long, so that I can channel Hashem's presence into the world and into my life.
By increasing my consciousness of Hashem, I thereby allow the light of Hashem and all the gifts of spiritual wealth to pour into the world. Few realize the true goodness in deeds and the real richness in rituals. They deeds and rituals are really invitations to Hashem. What we are saying in both words and actions is, "Hashem, I want to get You into my life!" When I reach into my pocket and give charity to the beggar on the street, when I smile at the person next to me in the supermarket line, when I extend myself to help my neighbor unload heavy packages, when I spend quality time with my kids by reading with them, I am inviting Hashem into my world. All these good deeds actually become invitations to bring the Divine into our world.
Exiling Hashem
I have choice. I can nourish the consciousness of Hashem through my speech, thoughts and actions. Or I can neglect it, I could choose to filter out the divine qualities from my awareness and thus live in a godless world. Kabbalah refers to that state as "the exile of Hashem's presence." In other words, I can throw Hashem out of the world. An amazing verse in Psalm 119 says, "I am a stranger on earth." According to some commentaries, the "I" refers to Hashem, who considers Himself present in this world, but unrecognizable by anyone.
In another astounding verse from Isaiah 43:12, we are told, "You are My witnesses. I am Hashem." The Midrash comments, "If you are My witnesses, I am Hashem. But if you are not My witnesses, I am not Hashem." What does that mean? It's an unbelievable idea. Hashem depends upon our acknowledgement in word and deed in order to enter into our world. For Hashem to appear in our world we must be Hashem's witness. Hashem depends, so to speak, on our consciousness in order to enter into our world. I once had a student who though he was raised in a religious home didn't believe in God. He himself didn't understand why he didn't believe in God. He attended religious
schools, learned to say prayers and blessings, and was taught that there is a God. His parents, however, although they professed belief in God, treated people like dirt. In other words, their behavior denied God. Their denigration of other people demonstrated their total lack of a consciousness of Hashem's presence in this world. Although in words they said, "We believe in God," in action they said they really didn't. And actions speak louder than words. Thus, they raised their son in a godless world. Naturally, he concluded that there is no God, because that was true for the home he grew up in-Hashem was not present there.
Of course, Hashem does not need our acknowledgment in order to exist, but Hashem does need our acknowledgment in order to exist in our homes, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our perceptual world. Without our consciousness, the light of Hashem cannot illuminate our world, so we find ourselves in a frightening darkness, and the darkness that results from the absence of Hashem's light creates the space for evil.
I am always amazed when I take off in an airplane on a dark and gloomy cloudy day at how bright it actually is once we get past the clouds. I always try to remind myself during dark times in my life that the light is actually still shining. I just need to pierce the clouds and let the sunshine in. The darkness comes only because something is blocking the light. We can block Hashem's light from the world by creating cloudy consciousness through our thoughts, speech and actions. If we close our eyes to seeing Hashem, we'll create a dark world that is seemingly governed by chaotic, meaningless forces that promote destructive behavior.
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