A neighbor shall no longer be defined by material attributes but by our innermost connection to the Creator. We are all human beings. We all matter. We are all of One.

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Every story in the bible contains the message for us to “love each other.”

This week, we are invited to listen from a place of love and understanding, a conscious choice available to us in every human interaction.
Drawing inspiration from the portion of Ha’azinu (meaning “listen”), the first sentence opens with a request to the heavens from the prophet, Moshe, to listen as he speaks; he follows this with an appeal to the earth to hear his utterances. I was immediately struck by the distinction he made between listening and hearing and also where he chose to direct each request.

It was almost as if he were prepping the celestial bodies to receive and act on his words—a clear reminder to the reader of the power of our words. Just as the world was created through word, so too is every word of ours recorded under the sun in our world of creation.

Ask and you will receive.

The second priority was the earth’s hearing—a totally different function than listening. As we understand it, hearing is a psychological experience deeply rooted in the individual’s perceptual frequency. No two people hear and perceive the exact same things; therefore, our hearing is not foolproof. In order to connect to our own heavenly consciousness, we must learn to hear beyond our five senses. This also helps us to see people for who they really are (mindsight is also 20/20).

Seek and you will find.

What we listen for, we will hear—for good or for ill. Our listening says more about us than it does about what we hear. If we, as listeners, experience love internally (both self-love and the love of GOD), we tend to listen to all on a loving vibration; as such, everything we create as a result will reflect the love we hold for ourselves. Hurt, hate, and fear work the same. We all must come to terms with the idea that we also create people and things as we listen to them

How can you expect love from anyone if you don’t experience it within and for yourself? How would you even recognize it?

True, thoughtful listening requires an open heart; the student must prepare a space and when the student is free and clear the message will appear.

Knock and the door will be opened.

The Sages teach that some messages will show up like strong winds and torrential downpours of rain to those who have earned the capacity to absorb a great deal—Seekers of hidden meanings and sacred wisdom reserved for the strong. Other messages can be as soft as rain drops nurturing dry soil, covering the mustard seed that needs to evolve into the tree. We are all at different stages in our individual journeys.

Regardless of where we’re at in life, we can all learn to give pause and connect with our higher selves before speaking. In that moment, we can see the ALL as so much greater than our grandest idea of what love is: immutable and supportive on a mighty throne. Just before the beginning of every task, in times of great difficulty, when we can’t comprehend how all the “broken” pieces can possibly fit together into the abundant lives we are here to live, we must learn to take our moments before we speak and listen.

In these moments, we’ll realize that higher connections and consciousness are the true keys to the kingdom of Heaven.

Love is the way.

Action steps:

1. Identify at least one way in your own life in which you are negatively creating people as you listen to them.
2. Carve out at least one moment this week in which to pause and listen from a place of loving vibration. Create a space for the teacher to appear to the student in your heart.
3. What are you listening for? Do you listen for goodness, or do you listen for ill will? Reflect on these questions, in writing or in meditation.

Polarity lives in everything; nothing and no one exists on the physical plane in just one way.

We are all ever-evolving, complex beings holding a myriad of (conflicting) thoughts, feelings and experiences inside us. We cannot truly know someone until we acknowledge this first and then choose to love them anyway. Our strengths are directly connected to our “weaknesses”; there is no separation there. Just as a magnet gains its powers of attraction from its opposing poles, so too, do our “opposite” aspects thrive off each other and ultimately make us who we are. To love one side is to love the other. 

The difficulty is in determining which side is in operation at any given moment. As my godmother has taught me to ask myself in times of trouble, “Is this your higher self?”

Reconciling our opposing natures is confronting; it requires a day to day practice of awareness and discernment. Otherwise, we find our relationships with others and ourselves in constant turmoil. We are like the twins (Esau and Jacob), born to two loving parents, embodying two seemingly opposite extremes from the womb. Pregnant, the mother noticed activity in her belly every time she would come into contact with different stimuli in the environment. Loving and humble vibrations would elicit a reactionary kick from one twin, while the complete opposite would inspire movement from the other. 

At birth, the first and oldest is described as “fully developed” while the younger comes out grasping the older twin’s heel. The deeper meaning here is that as soon as we think we’ve fully developed, there will always be someone on our heals willing to do way more. We also kill our opportunity to evolve as there is no room to further develop what is already "fully developed". So, how do we evolve? By recognizing that our lowest points are the same as our highest. There is no separation. The new opportunity is directly connected to our old accomplishment - coming on its “heels,” as it were. They are the same, just positioned at different degrees on our own individual life poles.

As the story of the twins unfolds we see so much strife, self-betrayal and exile stemming from the perceived separation.  All of which may have been avoided had they both recognized their level of impact and individual strengths, considered working together as a whole, as opposed to seeking their individual agreements in separation.

What would the world be like today had both nations fully integrated? 

What would your world be like if you integrated the "opposing nations" within yourself?

We ALL have the same destination. Separation is just an illusion.

Action steps:

1. Identify polarities that exist for you.
2. Offer a prayer of thanks for these “opposing” poles. Ask God and the Creator for the guidance to integrate these dual natures. 
3. The next time you notice these “opposite” poles seeming to be at odds with each other, pause and breathe into that feeling. Ask yourself what is truly in conflict here. Ask yourself how you might bring these two poles into harmony, how they might work together.

Life was good in the days of Noach. Perhaps too good.

That era ushered in the first recorded affluent society. But rather than turning toward the benevolent source energy and codes of honor they followed to attain that abundance, the beneficiaries collectively turned away.

They separated from the Source and became corrupt in their dealings with one another. As the Cohen Hagadol would later proclaim,

“How
hard it will be for those who have money to enter the kingdom”…

Cohen Hagadol

It is said that back then humans possessed enormous physical strength, lived for hundreds of years, and children always outlived their parents.

There was no suffering, no bitter seasons, and the earth produced sufficient harvest on a forty-year schedule. It was a time of affluence, but
that’s not the same thing as harmonious - a lesson which we are all still learning to this day.

It’s easy to lose sight of how good we have it when everything we have is good! The work is in understanding that greater levels of abundance are only channels for greater levels of sharing.

Hoarder energy (modern idol worship) is designed to slow down the network.

Valuing things that are created over the one who created them is certainly enticing. I sometimes cringe at the thought of having to go back to “square one" in order to create something greater than myself. It would be much easier to keep my focus on what I’ve accomplished, been given and become than to connect to the source again in order to create more. It’s harder when you already think life is good. We might fall in love with, worship and want to stay in that goodness - all totally understandable, from a worldly perspective. But there is always more to get when the source is endless.

We must never think that goodness is good enough. Complacence is not neutral; it is destructive.

We must raise the bar and leave it at greatness for the next generation of leaders. In the case of Noah, I can’t say whether or not he understood what it meant to be great, but He was described as “righteous in his generation.” He was a prophet who feared GOD and remained fiercely obedient in a time of great distraction, he was careful about whom he kept company with, and he focused on overcoming his own natural impulses. It may not have been the popular way, but it was necessary in the fulfillment of his purpose, as he would eventually set sail over troubled waters others were made to drown in.

The hardest part about moving in GOD’s own image is cultivating understanding and awareness of our human nature.

We were made part earth, and so will always be susceptible to earthly
influences. As we take control of our earthly bodies and impulses, we too find favor in fulfilling our life purpose. Just as Noah did. And even that wasn’t enough.

He still had to go out and build that ark.

The Sages say it took Noah 120 yrs to construct that ark “for himself”, indicating that civilization at a time of extreme affluence was given a whole lifetime to turn it all around. As always with GODLY matters, grace before judgement. We can all be more conscious of the recurring instances of grace we’ve been given in this lifetime and all the earthly abundance we experience every single day as a result, before we pass our judgement.

Being obedient may get us chosen, but greatness is reserved for those in the game of extraordinary service.

Action items:

1) Ask yourself: Where have you forgotten the creator and prioritized the creation?

2) Commit to a week without complacence. What happens when you consciously orient yourself toward greatness over goodness?

3) What would it mean for you to “build the ark” in your life right now. What is your ark?

Life is a continuous vibrational energy manifested at various modes and rates of intensity.

The lower, slower vibrations are easily accessible at any moment to the five senses. These are basically materially reactive while the Higher/ Faster vibes travel at a pace not accessible to the five senses. These higher vibrations require a different level of consciousness to interact with them. Every second of the day we are in communication, even when we are silent.

As we have said, consciousness (and spirit) dominate the higher vibrational frequencies. Higher isn’t necessarily better, but these opposite poles give us a clear distinction between which frequencies we are communicating at any given time and what may need adjustment. With this distinction in place we are empowered to ask ourselves, “Is this my higher self thinking or is this my lower?” before reacting in any situation and then we can actually decide how we are going to be. 

It is my belief that if we truly grasped this concept as a nation, we would gain access to levels of understanding and sharing never before seen in the history of this country. There would be no bickering over material objects like money or surface differences like skin color and sexual orientation, no discourse over things that really shouldn’t matter to any of us. Every interaction would be uplifting to the collective consciousness, always demonstrating compassion for who we really are: enlightened beings having a temporary human experience together. We would easily know how low we are willing to go and what it would cost if we were to step outside of our own personal frequency to match someone else's.

When we reserve judgement only for ourselves, we recognize that we too have done things that were very low vibrational in nature and while we may have ascended to higher levels of awareness since then, others may be at a totally different vibration and space in their own spiritual journeys. Grace is a high vibration.

Each energy we come into contact with is specifically designed to assist us on our way. 

This week brings the energy of reunion. Jacob, operating at the higher side of the pole, had just returned from a 34 year exile after a dispute with his Brother. Understandably concerned with his brother’s wrath, there were steps that he knew to take before reconnecting with the dominant energy he’d escaped from years back. Esau had remained in the home country and prospered materially.

This story reveals to us two seemingly irreconcilable energies. Without awareness (central column) or the ability to harmonize, these energies needed space from each other. Judging by the eventual reconciliation and all that they had acquired during the separation, temporary disassociation proved to be the best path for them. The season of healing had arrived, not only because of the time away from each other, but because of the actions they took during that time. 

Jacob had spent 34 years climbing through loss, love, deception, and karmic lessons before one final struggle with the opponent to earn his final blessing. He’d literally fought for his life, and the insight he had acquired at his height connected him powerfully to the higher side of the pole! No lower vibration can withstand the energies of grace, mercy and love present our aura after we do the self work. It is true blessing to be in the presence of those who have acquired such attributes. All the while Esau had only managed to acquire material wealth and despite the conflict that had initially separated them, Esau was overcome with grace and mercy at the first sight of his brother after all. Anger didn't stand a chance...

This story has many hidden lessons, but the main one we learn is that our lower nature is always inclined to yield to a dominant higher consciousness.

History teaches us that this is an inescapable lesson as our life pendulum continually swings toward the negative aspects. The lower nature will always be here, rendering any disassociation temporary in nature. But there is always a way of escape! 

Conflict and confrontational moments, such as the ones Jacob went through, allow us to ascend to higher spiritual planes, understanding our position in the universe. They are necessary. It is all masterfully designed for us to ascend.

Remember All is connected. Even though we may seem separate, energy doesn’t work that way. It never rests and it never really disconnects.

Action steps for this week:

1. Think of a moment when you’ve been in your highest vibration, when your highest self was in control. What felt different? Did you let it go? Did you know in the moment? If so, how?
   
   
2. What are some areas in your life where you could act from the higher? What would that look like?
   
   
3. This week, in moments of frustration or fear, take a moment to breathe and invite your higher self to flourish. Welcome a higher vibration and see what happens.