The First Step is Awareness
"Tell me, if humans have a soul that comes from a perfect creator, and the creator purportedly is good and kind, then why do people kill each other?...
The Trail to Tranquility – Your Personal Guide to Overcoming Anger And to Attaining Genuine Inner Peace
We begin anew our series of The Trail to Tranquility starting with the Introduction. May we continue in our personal development and pure service to HaShem.
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Introduction
A man went to a cobbler to have his shoes repaired. As the cobbler began to work, they started a lively conversation, discussing the state of the world in general and their own lives in particular.
When they eventually touched upon the subject of spirituality, the cobbler said: "I don't believe in all that nonsense about spirituality, a soul, or an omniscient creator."
"Why do you say that?" asked the customer.
"Well, go out in the street and see for yourself; no rosy world of spirituality could possibly exist. Tell me, if humans have a soul that comes from a perfect creator, and the creator purportedly is good and kind, then why do people kill each other? Why's there so much crime? Why's there so much anger in the world? If a divine creator really existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? No! There would be neither suffering nor pain. I can't imagine how a divine creator would permit all of these things."
The customer thought for a moment, but didn't respond. Arguing the point wouldn't be conducive to a good repair job.
The cobbler finished resoling the customer's shoes. The customer paid and then left the shop. Just in front of him on the sidewalk was a down-and-outer with long dirty hair, an unkempt beard, patched and ragged clothes, and torn shoes.
The customer made an immediate about-face and reentered the cobbler shop: "You know what," he exclaimed, "cobblers do not exist."
"How can you say that?" asked the astonished cobbler. "I am here, and I am a cobbler. And I just repaired your soles!"
"No!" the customer declared adamantly. "Cobblers don't exist because if they did, there would be no people with torn shoes like that man right outside your door."
"Wrong! Cobblers do exist! People have torn soles because they don't come to me!"
"That's exactly the point," affirmed the customer. The Creator does exist! Humans do have a Divine soul that's a perfect tiny part of the Creator Himself. All the anger, crime, violence, sickness and trouble in the world come from torn souls. Their souls get torn when they don't come to Him, either."
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Few of us are aware of our souls. Spiritually, we don't know ourselves at all. That's problematic, because emotions stem from the soul. The turbulent emotions of frustration, anxiety, and especially anger come from torn and damaged souls. We owe ourselves the freedom from the chains of these turbulent emotions, but do we dare dream about a life of inner peace? Is an anger-free life really within an average person's reach? Is it possible to mend a blemished soul? Most people would say no. I say yes.
This book is a guide to attaining inner peace and an anger-free life. In the coming pages, we'll see how to develop our spiritual potential and to maintain a healthy soul. Since the soul thrives on spirituality, spiritual development is a requisite for a healthy soul. A healthy soul is the only dependable immunization against anger and frustration. As such, spiritual enhancement leads to peace of mind and health of body, and serves as the world's most effective tool in helping us achieve the goal our coveted goal of inner peace.
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I am neither a psychologist nor do I accept much of psychological theory. I am a rabbi who specializes in family and emotional counseling in one of the world's highest-stress, most problematic environments. Unlike psychological theory, my knowledge bank doesn't change from year to year. As opposed to the time-limited, once fashionable schools of Freud, Jung, and Skinner, the wisdom of the Torah[1] has a virtually endless shelf life, as freshly vibrant today as it ever was. The teachings of Talmud[2] and Kabbala[3] are just as relevant to modern living as they were to ancient lifestyles. Moses, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai[4], Maimonides[5], Nachmanides[6], Rabbi Isaac Luria Ashkenazi[7], and Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov[8] never go out of style. The soul-healing techniques of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev[9] are as clinically successful today as they were over two hundred years ago, when he helped thousands of oppressed peasants cope with the physical, mental and emotional ordeals of Czarist Russia.
The methods of this book aren't fad methods – they've been time-tested for over 3,300 years. My source material is the Torah – both Written and Oral – which has been passed down from scholar to understudy by way of an unbroken chain that links directly to Moses on Mount Sinai.
The average person – especially the English speaker – doesn't have access to much of the traditional Jewish source material that deals specifically with the spiritual health. Even the Hebrew-speaking layman has difficulty understanding the jargon of Talmud and Kabbala. This book, the product of a decade's efforts, gives the reader access to an immense amount of classical Jewish knowledge, which I've presented in an easily-read, enjoyable, frequently allegorical and digestible format for the benefit of all people.
Today, to the best of my knowledge, I'm the world's only clergyman and emotional counselor who is also a combat veteran of Special Forces. Over the years, I've synthesized my ultra-high stress experience with centuries-old methods of spiritual training to develop a practical way of neutralizing anger and achieving genuine inner peace.
During my first clerical counseling post as chaplain and spiritual rehabilitation director of a major prison, I had the unique opportunity to test my methods on the most turbulent members of our society – convicted criminals. The same methods used to help hardened inmates attain lives of tranquility are now presented for the first time to the general public, in this book.
(The Trail to Tranquility is available in the Breslev Store.)
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[1] Written Jewish Law, which includes Pentateuch, Prophets, and Scriptures.
[2] Oral Jewish Law, which includes Mishna and Gemorra.
[3] Jewish esoteric tradition.
[4] Author of The Zohar, Israel, end of 1st Century CE
[5] 12th Century CE scholar in Egypt, whose condensation of the Talmud serves as one of the principle foundations for Jewish religious law; Maimonides was also a noted astronomer, as well as the personal physician of Saladin, ruler of Egypt
[6] 13th Century CE Kabbalist and Talmudic scholar in Spain, a master of religious law and ethics, and a healer of the soul
[7] Israel, 16th Century CE father of Kabbala, whose teachings were recorded by his prime understudy, Rabbi Chaim Vital
[8] Ukraine, 18th Century CE founder of the Chassidic movement and school of thought, designed to elevate the spiritual level of the masses.
[9] 1772-1810, a classic master of the inner workings of the soul; great grandson of the Baal Shem Tov.
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