The search for God is, ultimately, the search for Self. I am that I am, and all else, even the concept of an individual soul, is merely passing show in the eye of the Holy ONE.
I wrote last time of my trip to Spain, and concluded the first part in Seville, where I caught a glimpse of Christ-Consciousness. My journey continued with a visit to the city of Cordoba, at one time a major Jewish centre of learning. Here there is an unusual cathedral, built in the middle of what was previously a mosque.
I had not been in good health, and, entering the building, I had a coughing fit that left me quite shaken. Walking through the mosque area, I experienced a sudden wave of emotion. It was a strange feeling, strange even now as I type this, but I wanted to kneel and pray! As if this was the most natural thing in the world to do…in a Cathedral full of tourists, I felt as if I were being called to prayer!
I experienced the powerful realisation that I had been here before, probably around the turn of the 11th Century and, for me unexpectedly, that I had been Muslim, not Jewish.
When I wrote part one of the story, I thought this would be the focal point of part two. It is not the first past life experience I have had and I work on the principle that one can only live one life at a time. So whether I actually had been there before or not, this prompted me to consider what lesson I had come here to learn. It became not the conclusion of the journey but a starting point.
The search for one’s Divine Self, one’s relationship with Godhead, Christ-consciousness, call it what you like, requires a map – mine is the Tree – and the events of life appear as signposts along the way. The Shemah, says “You shall bind them [the words I command you this day] as a sign upon your hand and as frontlets [in Hebrew, Totafot] between your eyes”. This day means THIS day, today, now: the Holy One communicates Divine Will in every moment. Every experience is a sign to be viewed with open eyes, hence the Totafot, in order to understand their meanings.
I am, of course, avoiding explaining what it meant for me! Truth is, I don’t fully know yet; map reading for Kabbalists is a fine art! However, a couple of things have emerged since to help decipher the message.
The first was watching the movie, Ben Hur, again! It reminded me that we are touched by God in our darkest hours. I was suffering from quite a horrible chest infection; not quite being sold in slavery like Ben Hur, I know, but it was certainly getting me down. I was being reminded that nothing happens for nothing, even a nasty cough.
Secondly, far more interesting, was an article in the newspaper. A couple, whose baby son was saved by a serious heart operation, were able to repay the debt to the surgeon by treating his dog. They were vets and heard that said pet was also unwell. It turned out the dog was suffering from exactly the same heart condition as their son, and they were able to operate and save it.
What are the chances of that happening? Here was an extraordinary synchronicity, a karmic co-incidence. Apologies to all dog lovers, but nothing can repay saving the life of a child, not even saving a treasured pet, so this was by its very nature a Karmic sign.
One can only speculate but here are some possible scenarios:
- In a past life, the parents had done a similar thing for the surgeon – saved his life, or the life of a dear loved one. Saving the dog signalled, perhaps, that a Karmic debt had been repaid.
- Perhaps the man, the surgeon in this life, in a previous incarnation had taken the life of someone’s child and was putting things right in this life. Saving the dog is the parents way of acknowledging, albeit at the level of the soul, that the debt is clear.
- Perhaps these souls have encountered each other over many lives and their relationship has been one of ongoing reciprocal help and support, hence you did this for us (this time round) and we’re doing this for you.
- On the basis that the life of a dog is not on the same level as the life of a child, perhaps this Karmic payment is to allow the souls symbolically to move on, so that they DO NOT need to meet again in a future reincarnation with that debt hanging over them.
- Over to you…any thoughts?
One can continue exploring possibilities and I am not suggesting that any of these is the case. It may be just as it appears to be. Two lives saved, a child and a dog. People doing their work in this life, with devotion and care.
Yet events that seem random, rarely are.
The search for meaning is ultimately the search for God, for the Divine within ourselves. In this life I am Jewish-born, British, a Kabbalist. A thousand years ago, it seems I was a Moor, Muslim, perhaps a Sufi. Then as now at a cross roads in history, I too had my place, my work to complete.
In all things, we give meaning to our lives in how we live our lives. We find God in the meaning.
The final part of my holiday was in Granada. I visited the Alhambra and had a couple of wonderful meals with a dear friend with whom I had been travelling, including my first authentic paella! The gratification of the senses also has its meaning. The Holy One experiences creation through our experience in each life, even the small or trivial.
May you always find meaning in your lives, for where there is meaning, there is the Divine!
The Spirit of Kabbalah 