The Purposeful Soul

In order to obtain an understanding of our life purpose one needs to first obtain knowledge by uniting the attribute of understanding with the attribute of wisdom. However, a closed or narrowly focused mind can constrict this process resulting in the distortion of personality. One of the greatest ongoing difficulties in life is determining right from wrong, good from bad, positive from negative, the left fork in the road or the right. These are life's decisions, the ones that define the outcome of all of our lives and affect the makeup of our character.

In our desire for a better material existence (physical world) we often cloud judgment by focusing on the pursuit and not the purpose of our mission. To be cognoscente of purpose is to be aware of all that surrounds you, all that confounds you, all you invite, wanted and unwanted. Truth and happiness are fleeting unless you discover the purpose prescribed for your soul; herein lie’s life’s challenge.

We have learned the forces of G-d are everywhere, we have learned they are a two way street, we have learned, through Torah, that the forces of darkness and light are heralded by G-d’s ministering angels and we have learned that our soulful energy flows from the 10 Sefirot along 22 paths.

The teachings of Kabbalah explain that there are three Higher World Divine Attributes;

Keter – Crown
Chokmah – Wisdom
Binah – Understanding

and seven Lower World Divine Attributes (Sefirot) through which we relate and connect to G-d. These have been referred to earlier as the vessels;

Chessed - Love
Gevurah - Strength
Tiferet - Beauty
Netzach - Victory
Hod - Splendor
Yesod - Foundation
Malkhut – Sovereignty

In the human being, created in the "image of G-d," the seven lower Sefirot are mirrored in seven "emotional attributes" of the human soul:

Chessed - Kindness
Gevurah - Restraint
Tiferet - Harmony
Netzach - Ambition
Hod - Humility
Yesod - Connection
Malkhut – Receptiveness

Each attribute contains elements of all other attributes in varying degrees i.e., "Kindness in Kindness", "Restraint in Kindness", "Harmony in Kindness", Ambition in Kindness etc. for a total of forty-nine emotional personality traits that govern who we are and what we are. By our study, understanding, practice and mastery of each of these energies we are able to perform at higher levels of consciousness in the world.

Click here for a more detailed elaboration on the levels and makeup of the soul

In the 49 days it took Israel to leave Egypt, walk through the desert, cross the sea, experience the first revelation, camp at Mt. Sinai, witness the second revelation and receive the Torah, the souls of all people on this journey were elevated to reach an intensified state, an absolute union. As a nation, they became bonded and mentally prepared, open and ready to receive. Each of their Sefirah and those reflecting the nation as a whole had reached a state of perfected enlightenment. The flow of their energies, resulting from their righteous state, focus, concentration, meditation, purification, prayer and general disposition, enabled all of Israel to sufficiently open their souls, for just a brief moment, during which G-d revealed His Wisdom to the entire world. The people of Israel received this Wisdom in a profound way because they were ready to receive it, but the other 70 nations of the world failed to recognize the importance of what had transpired and their soulful states, which had not been ready, did not fully benefit by G-d's descent and their ascent to Him.

Each year beginning on the Jewish Festival of Passover and ending the day before the Festival of Shavuot there is a tradition to count the 49-days of the Omer. This practice is a 49 day (7 Sefirah x 7 influential energies of each Sefirah) process of self-refinement, with each day devoted to the "rectification" and perfection of one influential energy of one attribute of the 7 Sefirot, a process for elevating the soul. Amongst most modern secular Jews this practice has been forgotten. If counting the Omer were revived it would rapidly become an intensified period during each year when each person devotes time every day to contemplate and rectify every attribute of their soul, in effect an inventory of who we are and how we prioritize the order of our thinking to better our lives and those around us.

The counting of the Omer serves as a reminder that our souls are complex aspects of our makeup and that we have the free will and choice to treat the soul as the important element of our being that it is. Further, that it ought to be nurtured and cared for each day of the year and especially on the 49 days of the counting of the Omer, commemorating the days preceding revelation of the Torah to the Israelites camped at Mount Sinai.

Consider the soul a guidance system that projects itself from within you, hovering within and above and traveling in front and behind every step that you take and knowing every decision you are about to make. Consider it sensitive to every aspect of G-d. Now, consider that the potential insights, knowledge and wisdom we are able to receive and perceive are simply blocked out by the noise of our lives, by our busy minds that prevent us from functioning in an optimal fashion. Although we may not know it or experience it, the soul passes energy to our heart and brain through which sub-conscious followed by conscious thoughts are processed as a direct result. With each thought we should try to recognize the occurring process then we should identify all the influences that thought are susceptible to on their way to our consciousness. We have to determine the level of a thoughts purity or impurity, only then are we equipped to process it correctly and to make an optimal conscious decision. Of course most of us don’t function in this manner, but perhaps the world would be a better place if we learned how to do this and put the practice to use.

Our G-d given purpose lies somewhere behind the noise that stands in the way of our being able to identify the purity of our thoughts before we decide how to act on them. Recognizing the importance of purity 'quietening the noise' is therefore a critical factor in being able to identify the guidance your soul provides you in your life. The more accurately you perceive the energy and attributes of your soul, the less noise you will want it to contend with. This will release your powers of wisdom and qualities of understanding enabling you to make quantum leaps forward toward your true purpose.

Every thought has a source, unless we increase the frequency with which we find our way to its source we will never be able to determine its hidden qualities and thereby reach our true potential.