Weekly Guide to Transformation in the Omer

Passover and Shavuot are, respectively, the point of departure and the destination of a journey. The 49 days in between are the path we follow to reach the goal. The journey is comprised of seven full weeks, which the giving of the Torah comes to crown on the fiftieth. Each week offers us an opportunity to work on a different aspect of our being, as we cleanse and ready ourselves for divine revelation.

We complain about not having the time or headspace to really tackle what matters most. But that’s a ruse. Deep down, avoiding our key tasks cuts us the psychic slack of being able to tell ourselves that we haven’t yet undertaken the mission, so there’s still hope . . .

When we incorporate restraint into our lives (whether its origin is fear, awe, respect or opposition), we counterintuitively open another realm of possibility, and actually enhance our loving connections . . .

If you’re in an argument, you need something or someone higher to effect healing and resolution. It doesn’t matter whether that thing is a loftier internal consciousness or a person outside of you. What matters is that the healing insight is coming from a more transcendent place. As Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

If you’re in an argument, you need something or someone higher to effect healing and resolution. It doesn’t matter whether that thing is a loftier internal consciousness or a person outside of you. What matters is that the healing insight is coming from a more transcendent place. As Einstein said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

My resolve and steadfast adherence to a goal are no guarantee of making it up the mountain. If anything, relying solely on myself compromises the very foundation of my endeavors. Buying into the idea that the course of my life is a product exclusively of my desire, my thought patterns and the determination to see them actualized is arrogant. It’s also dangerous. Unmitigated ambition causes pain and damage . . .

In our source, we can be anything we desire. Because our essence contains all of who we are, when we touch it, we have the ability to manifest as whatever we choose, at any given moment. We're not locked in to one way of being. We no longer have to think of ourselves with any specific label or identity...

Contemporary culture is hooked on sexuality, but knows almost nothing of intimacy. The former has to do with the body, the act alone. The latter is personal, and also spiritual. Of course it’s physical and passionate too, but the passion and pleasure are even more gratifying because they fit within the broader, deeper dimension of soul . . .