continued,

THE HUMAN MISSION

The sages of the Mussar Movement (a technique of spiritual growth articulated by the 18th century Rabbi Yisrael Salanter) explain the human mission this way:

A human being consists of a soul together with a body. The soul is ever-perfect. We do not need to work on the soul. Rather, we have come into this world to perfect the body (which includes emotions and character traits). The body is like a child with which we have been entrusted. We are obligated to feed, bathe, and rest the body properly. We are obligated to discipline the body, to get it to behave properly, to engage it in acts of kindness, to prevent it from hurting itself or others. The commandments of the Torah are physical because their object is to train the body. Judaism aims not only for an enlightened mind, but for a sanctified body as well.
Therefore, although meditation was practiced by the ancient Prophets and continues to be practiced by modern Hassidim, flights of consciousness can never be more than ancillary to Judaism.

The spiritual work of a Jew is to train the face to smile at a nasty neighbor, to teach the hand to put a coin in the palm of a loathsome beggar, to restrain the tongue from making negative remarks, to feed the stomach only permissible foods, to drill the mind in judging others favorably, to educate the heart to love G-d, to instruct the shoulders to carry a neighbor's load, especially that of an enemy, and to control the mouth from lashing out in anger.

The place for blissful contemplation of the Divine Oneness is not in this world but rather in the World to Come. The purpose of this world is to be a place of challenge and accomplishment. Although Jews, especially Israelis, may yearn to escape to a place of peace, our purpose in this life is better served by situations which stretch, test and demand growth.

The purpose of this world is to be a place of challenge and accomplishment, of tests that demand growth.

In the Jerusalem Report, Tenzin Josh (Steven Gluck) defines the difference between Bddhism and Judaism: "Bddhism holds that life is suffering, but the Buddha's teachings show a clear way out of it (through Enlightenment). The Jewish idea, on the other hand, is just try to adapt."

Wrong.

Judaism does not just resign itself to a world of darkness. Judaism advocates jumping into the fray, facing evil head-on, struggling against one's own evil urge, rooting out baseness -- in the world and in oneself.

True, it is hard for a monk not to touch money and to live without the comforts of this world. It is even harder to labor to earn a salary and then give 10% off the top to charity, especially when you need every cent to repair your washing machine.

It is difficult to live in silence and seclusion. It is even more difficult to remain focused on G-d and one's highest ideals amidst the commotion and distractions of family life.

This world is a place of challenge and attainment. The greater the challenge, the greater the attainment.


CHEERIOS AND ENLIGHTENMENT

For the last six months, I have been working on overcoming anger, which the Talmud equates to the sin of idol worship, because anger is the result of idolizing one's own will. During the 15 years I lived in an ashram, the 16 years I practiced vegetarianism and yoga, the 17 years I engaged in meditation, I never succeeded in controlling my volatile temper.

Young children provide an ideal environment to work on overcoming anger. They are irrational, contrary, famous for interrupting the sleep cycle, demanding, and do not clean up after themselves. They also make messes, usually right after the floor has been washed, and when their mother is at the lowest point of her bio-rhythm energy cycle.

I thank G-d every day for my beloved children. But I also yell at them -- too much.

Now I am in a Mussar group in which, using the techniques of the Mussar teachers, I work to overcome my inveterate tendency to respond to stress by haranguing whichever culprit backed me into that corner.

Last Tuesday morning, my husband, a musical arranger, had an important recording session. Trying to model the ideal wife, I offered to prepare carrot sticks and humus to send for his lunch. He gratefully accepted, but, knowing my habitual tardiness, warned that he had to leave promptly at 8:30. "No problem," I assured him. In any case, my six-year-old son had to be out the door by 8:20 to get to school on time. Ten minutes was exactly enough time to prepare the carrot sticks and package some humus in a smaller container. I was on top of it.

At 8:19, my son knocked over a box of Cheerios standing on the edge of the kitchen table. My jaw dropped in horror as hundreds of crunchy O's landed all over the kitchen floor.
My mental computer screen flashed a dozen red X's screaming ILLEGAL OPERATION. The mess. The waste. The money (the Cheerios were imported from America). The time. My self-portrait as the ideal wife.

I couldn't get to the refrigerator to take out the carrots without pulverizing the blanket of Cheerios. If I took the time to clean it up now, I'd be late with my husband's lunch. My first instinct was to yell at my son, and demand that he clean it up, even if it made him late for school. My second instinct was to lash out at my husband for his damned punctuality that put me under such pressure.

I didn't yell. I didn't get angry. In a calm tone, I sent my son off to school. Then I gingerly treaded over the Cheerios to the broom closet, got out the broom, pushed the mess over to one side, retrieved the carrots from the fridge, peeled and cut them as fast as I could, took the whole container of humus (it wouldn't be too much, I told myself), put everything in a plastic bag, and, with a beatific smile, handed my waiting husband his lunch at 8:33.

I felt a wave of ecstasy sweep over me. I had done it! For this time at least, I had overcome my anger.

It was a bigger accomplishment than samadhi.


Link: www.aish.com/spirituality/odysseys/Buddhism3_Judaism3_and_The_Great_Cheerio_Fiasco.asp

Also found in the book "Heaven on Earth" Link: www.judaicawebstore.com/aish/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=887-100110
And everything that Sarah tells you, listen to her voice. Genesis, 21:12