Is KARMA REAL?!

[00:00:03]Welcome everyone and to our cyber space audience as well.

[00:00:12]Simmon Jacobson here. We're going to be speaking about um is there is karma something that Judaism believes in?

[00:00:29]Now karma is a word that is used um especially in far eastern thought and um it actually has many interpretations and definitions from the general concept of causality. the theory of or the rule or the law of causality which means that our actions have consequences and every action we do has a cause and effect that affects our life going into the future and even future lives based on the principle of reincarnation.

[00:01:08]So essentially when you do something it creates a karma which is a reaction to to your action and that defines your destiny for good or for bad.

[00:01:21]You know some connected also with a cosmic and more spiritual.

[00:01:26]Can you tell them maybe to um the more cosmic and spiritual dimension to it that essentially our our actions um trigger and generate different cosmic reactions both in our lives and in the universe.

[00:01:44]Then there's of course um the most basic element karma has become something that's become popular even in western culture which is much more loosely not so uh mystical but rather practical what they call vibes like someone will say I come into a room and I feel an environment you know good karma bad karma like a good mood or a bad so despite how we interpret it the question is really this of course addresses big issues like fate and destiny and uh predetermination and pre- um pred pre predestination. In other words, is our are our lives predetermined? And no matter what we do, it's already determined by actions that happen in previous lives or by actions that happen even in our lifetime. And that's that. In a sense, our destiny is already etched in stone, which of course would challenge the entire concept of free will.

[00:02:44]um and the ability to repair something if something was mistaken, if we made a mistake or there was a setback. So bottom line is this topic obviously touches upon so many um so many elements and has so many implications and uh so it's really a worthwhile topic to address because it really talks about um the deeper forces that shape our lives and the things that transcend our lives. And on the most basic level, it seems to make a lot of sense the concept of cause and effect. Because wherever you look in nature, there is cause and effect. To use a simple example, God forbid a person puts their hand in fire.

[00:03:26]Since the natural laws of the universe dictate that that hand will be burned, if you put your hand in water, it gets wet.

[00:03:36]Just to use that example. So it seems logical that every action will have a reaction. Every cause has an effect and that's that. It doesn't mean you can't heal from it but it means it does have an effect. So one would seem to suggest then that our actions in in our lives will essentially determine what the destiny we have. You know if a person for instance will hurt someone else obviously there's going to be a reaction. They it generates negative energy and that person may reciprocate.

[00:04:07]It definitely does not create good will.

[00:04:10]If you behave nicely to someone, you're kind and loving to them, you can expect perhaps a reciprocity of love coming back to you. So it seems to make sense the concept of karma in that way. But as I said, the problem is what happens if you really did something that was really damaging or destructive. Is that mean that it's forever? You know, for example, there are accidents, God forbid, that where we sever some or someone severs a limb or there's damage that's permanent, excuse me, permanent damage. And certain theories of karma would suggest the same idea that you really don't have any choice. These are all based on choices that were made before us either by our parents or previous lifetimes.

[00:04:55]And really takes away then the accountability because then you can sly make the argument that it makes no difference how I behave whether I behave good or bad. My my destiny has already been determined by past behavior.

[00:05:07]So that would seem to fly in the face of uh Jewish thought where there's the concept of chuva. Chuva means the capacity to repair. We have a yum kiper every year. every day of our lives, we can ask for forgiveness both of God and of other people and they can grant forgiveness and we can heal from our wounds.

[00:05:29]And frankly, if you think about it, especially in the day and age that we live in today, we call the therapeutic age where so many of us are going to therapy for wounds, injuries, psychological, emotional, real, or imagined.

[00:05:44]And um and then we're told, you know what, nothing's going to work. We could soo you and make you feel a little better, but what has happened to you in your life, if you grew up in an abusive home, that's it. That's your destiny. If you grew up in a good home, that's your destiny. It would seem to undermine any real type of reconciliation and growth and hope. Hope is an important word here. Hope that you can actually correct and repair. And anyone listening to my classes, you know the things I've written of the book 60 days which covers the period of time that we just came from last month, the high holiday season that so much based on the concept of hope. A beautiful line that I read somewhere, I don't even know who wrote it, but that especially for relationships that trust trust is not built on perfection. Trust is built on accountability. We all are flawed human beings and we'll all make mistakes. So then how could you build trust? If someone says, "Listen, I'll only trust you if you're perfect." Is that even real realistic? There are people who say that, especially people who have been hurt say, you know what, I don't want to take any more risks. Unless you're perfect, I can't trust you. I can't love you unconditionally. We all know that's completely not practical. So then how do you build trust? If we're all flawed, then we could make mistakes because we have something else. It's called accountability. So trust is not built on another person's perfect behavior. It's built on accountable behavior.

[00:07:06]Accountable means that when I make a mistake, I will not cover it up and I'll not deny it and I will speak openly.

[00:07:13]I'll be transparent. That you can tr that builds trust. That's what real whenever you see real trust in people's lives, you'll see it's based on that that there's accountability. And as a matter of fact, everyone will forgive a mistake. But when there's a cover up and you lie about it and then the mistake is compounded because of all the coverups, as they say in the in the healing world, it's a very extreme expression, but they say the silence is worse than the rape.

[00:07:43]The silence, the cover up, the denial, the making believe nothing happened is far worse than the original crime. Crime happened terrible. No one's denying that. But at least there's acknowledgement. For children especially who grow up in homes that are very abusive or even not very. And then they're told you weren't abused. It's your imagination. Something wrong with you. That's far more devastating than the abuse because then you don't can't even trust your tools. You know, you want to cry and they're telling you there's nothing to cry about. Everything is beautiful. I can't tell you how many times I've heard the heart-wrenching cries of adults and then they say the worst thing for them was holidays, Thanksgiving or Khan or whatever the holiday season. Why? Why the holiday season? Because the holiday season we had to all make believe everything is beautiful. We all got dressed up and we're posing for beautiful pictures and the abusers are in the pictures with us and no, you can't rock the boat. You can't disrupt. And that was far worse than the crime because it means I can't even cry. I can't even protest that something happened. That means it's invalidating even our tools and our natural instincts that we have pain. It would be like you have pain. No, you can't you can't acknowledge you have pain. You have to make believe it has no pain. It's like complete create and it creates a so much insecurity cuz then you start second guessing yourself and you'll see one of the big big deep the big deep implications that that causes is as a person goes into adult they they start not trusting their own instincts because they were told they were they were wrong. So then when someone insults you say maybe something matter so maybe I'm at fault and you find this and people wonder how is that possible you know you're not at fault they don't realize children are impressionable and children are vulnerable and when they're told enough times that they're the problem or there's no problem they begin to to doubt themselves and their natural instinct for a person to cry I remember is is basically stolen from them I remember a fellow came to see me years ago He was um a very lonely soul. He came to the class here once and I saw he was very reclusive and didn't want to talk to anyone. I don't know how even how he got here. I think someone suggested and he came to see him. I said let's you know come to my office we'll sit and talk and I saw you know his body language was such a it talk about karma such negative energy.

[00:10:07]I could see he was like he could almost feel like he was recoiling like in a fetal position like his body was literally feeling like like he doesn't want to let anybody in. You know sometimes you see that and we started talking and he told me his life was a very very horrible life always been beat up by his parents and by friends and his life has been now at this point he's being beat up because he really feels he deserves to be beat up. So he's almost like sets it up. That's what his became his threshold that he is the person that deserves to be the beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat beat up so he basically avoids people that's what he does I'm going to go the whole story but it's a long story but bottom line is I remember it was right before Passover because I remember I shared with him something about Passover so I asked him to stand up he was sitting on the couch I was sitting in a chair he stood up he was like right I saw immediately I stood up he got all frightened because his natural reaction that he's going to be beat up again. Now, I didn't indicate there's nothing I did that was indicative that I'm going to hurt him, obviously. So, I went over to him and he says, "Why are you coming over to me?" I said, "I want to give you a hug."

[00:11:11]And he was like shocked. So, so I gave him a hug.

[00:11:17]I wasn't a human being I was hugging. I felt I was hugging a concrete pillar, like a pillar of stone. He his body so tightened up. I literally It was like not human. It was so chilling to me. So I said to him, "I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to give you a hug." He said, "Nobody's ever hugged me." So he tells me and we were talking. I said to him, "Did you ever cry?" He said, "When I was 6 years old, the last time I cried, my father told me, only babies cry. You don't cry in front of this house again." He cried because someone had insulted him. And I guess he was a fragile child. I don't know the whole story, but bottom line is instead of being nurtured and given encouraged and reinforced, he was basically berated again and again and again until he began to believe it.

[00:12:04]So he said, "I haven't cried since." So I said, you know, I was like I was like shocked by that. I said, "Maybe it's time to cry over your life. You know, you very sad life." So he said to me, "I can't start crying because if I start, I'll I don't think I'll ever stop."

[00:12:20]because he knew it. It was like, so I said, you know, when you don't cry, it's like a kettle of hot water boiling and there's no spout. So what do you think happens? It implodes. You start winding yourself up inside, inside, inside.

[00:12:34]There's no release. Tears are release.

[00:12:38]You know, I mean, he was an intelligent person. He understood. But he was so emotionally wounded. I mean, I remained friends with him.

[00:12:46]I I don't believe anyone's beyond hope, but he was very difficult because he was his own worst enemy. That was the problem. He was not responsive. I mean, he stays in touch because he he does somewhat trust me, but he needs really a lot of love and a lot of work. He needs parents. That's the truth that he never really had. My point I want to make is is that this, you know, I'm using an extreme example obviously that does not that common, but it's also not that uncommon. And in addition, every one of us can learn from it because on a milder form, that's what happens when you don't allow someone doesn't allow you to cry.

[00:13:22]So the accountability goes is is is flies in the face of a real karma that carves your destiny only one way and that's it. Because then basically there's no hope. There's no way to repair.

[00:13:35]So that's why from that perspective I would say that Judaism when I say Judaism I I'm talking obviously not just not trying to pit Judaism against Hinduism or Buddhism or Far Eastern you know from my point of view I look at it like a universal system that's been around for thousands of years and we can look to it to learn lessons in our lives. So the idea of cause and effect as we shall talk is a legitimate one. But to the point that it's etched in stone that would defy the mere the very concept of existence itself of God creating us with a purpose and knowing we're flawed. There's no human being that's perfect. So immediately as soon as you say that you know you burned your hand and that's it.

[00:14:17]It can't heal. You're basically destroying the possibility for any type of reconciliation or any hope. And the famous story upon which I I I build that the book toward 60 days that that in the Bible the classic story that after the Jewish people receive the Torah at Sinai they 39 days later they build a golden calf utter betrayal utter betrayal idolatry they build a golden idol and of course they did it quite deliberately it wasn't a mistake and God says okay the ultimate betrayal It's like the ultimate uh infidelity.

[00:15:00]Yet Moses goes back, long story short, marches back up on the mountain and refuses to accept what God says. Go build a new nation. I've I've had it with them. I said, "Absolutely not. You need to forgive them. They'll be accountable, but you have to forgive them." And it's a dramatic story. 40 days, Moses prays 40 days and 40 nights, and he does not succeed. And he goes again for another 40 days. So 80 days, 40 days to receive the law, 80 days to receive forgiveness. And finally the 80th day or to be precise the 120th day from when Sinai happened is what day in the year? Yam kipper.

[00:15:43]comes down with the mountain and God says as we say right after in the service we say three times that God says I forgiven them as you have requested as you spoke I would say it's probably the greatest single event in history because a man stood up to God it's not just simply stood up to God and um and did not take no for an answer and said to God basically you cannot leave me um without the hope to tell human beings that they can get forgiveness. They need to earn it and they need to uh be accountable absolutely but don't tell me I cannot get forgiveness because if that's the case the human race is doomed. Everyone's going to make mistakes. So you need to give me the power of the door of chuva. Now why was God so resistant? You could say this is the argument of karma versus um the ability to transcend karma.

[00:16:41]Why was God so resistant? Because God was saying to Moses, I'm I'm paraphrasing, but this like in a conversation, God saying, "I didn't do anything. They did it to themselves.

[00:16:51]They cut themselves off for me. They betrayed me. I didn't betray them. What do you want me to do? How can I contain a relationship with a people that went to basically adultery? They went to another god. They went to build a golden calf. What am I supposed to do to cause and effect? You know, you put your hand in fire, you get burned. I didn't tell you to put your hand in fire. And and Moses said, "No, but you're God. You're the one that created that cause and effect. So, you can also undo it. And I'm asking you to give go back to the engine room and say, "Yes, generally speaking, cause and effect does have impact and consequences.

[00:17:29]However, if you if you do enough chuva, if you show re true remorse and you're sincere and you work at it and you regain the trust of the person you hurt or betrayed, God will give you the power that's what Moses was asking to rewire even cause and effect. So though in the in the normal and natural parameters of existence think cause and effect is a reality cause action reaction here Moses was able to gain forgiveness from God and obviously the sincerity of Moses' request and in truth God's love for the people at the end of the day prevailed that he finally gave and granted forgiveness and that's why yum kiper is the holiest day of the year it's a tremendous lesson to everybody to Jews and nonjud being on the birth of hope.

[00:18:20]Hope, you know, so if someone were to ask you, if you had one request to make, what would it be of God? So most people would say, give me a life with no no uh with no pain, a life without anguish, a life without any challenges. That's a childish answer. That's not life. It's impossible. Any any life worth living is going to have challenges. Everything's going to have a setback. What you want to ask for is not give me a life of total bliss. Give me a life that no matter what comes my way, I know I have hope that I can navigate through it.

[00:18:56]That's a real answer. Because that's like saying, don't just give me a life where you know you don't have any challenges. Give me a life that it's like they say, don't teach me, don't give me fish, teach me how to fish.

[00:19:07]Don't give me something. Teach me how to navigate. teach me how to swim through the ups and downs of life that whatever comes my way I'll have the strength and the fortitude and the clarity and the direction to move forward to forge ahead that's because every there is inevitable we live in a world at least in this world where there's going to be death that's the nature of the universe for now and you know hopefully we death will happen in in old age and happen to parents and not to children and all that we ask for but There is going to be loss in a in adult life. No one's is immune from experiencing a loss. So you could either say okay I don't want loss or you and then when it happens complete devastation or you could say give me the strength and that's exactly what we're told that God does not give us a challenge that we don't have the strength to deal with. And Moses that's why he was Moses was able to insist and demand. So is there karma in that context? Yes and no.

[00:20:06]Is it cause and effect? 100%.

[00:20:09]But there's also the capacity to transcend cause and effect and to reach a deeper place. So when you think of it that way, the idea of cause and effect actually is really the true definition of reward and punishment because you know the there's a very fundamental question that's asked. God is a creator.

[00:20:28]We the we're the creatures. We're flawed. We're mortal. We're finite limited creatures. God is infinite and beyond infinite. created us flawed and then what we do something wrong we get punished so what is God like getting even with us you can understand you go to school so the principal the teacher you don't behave there's a consequences cause and effect but how does that apply to God why would God want to get even with mortals that he created and created with flaws so this is the question that's asked by some of the great sages and uh the shalah rautkowitz a great 16 16th 17th century mystic and sage. He's the chief rabbi of Krakco, one of the largest Jewish communities in Poland, then ended up in Israel's last years of his life. So he cites and and gathers together the different opinions on this matter. What is in Hebrews and reward and punishment? Because ostensibly it doesn't make sense. Why would why you know again reward and punishment? Yes, you have a child and you say if you're good at school give you a candy. you're bad, we'll discipline you. But how does that work with God and the people? And one of the main answers is that reward and punishment is actually not reward and punishment. It's more cause and effect.

[00:21:47]Would you say when you put your hand in fire, the fire punishes you by burning you? No, you don't call it a punishment.

[00:21:54]That's the nature of events, cause and effect. So the same thing the Torah is telling us that when you behave a certain way, a good way, the effect will be bringing goodness into your life, it'll make you a healthier person. No different than if you eat the right foods, you exercise properly, your hygiene and diet is healthy. What is there's a there's an effect from that.

[00:22:15]You will have a healthier body. Simple as that. If you consume or ingest pollutants or toxins, it's not a punishment. The effect of that is it will contaminate and pollute your life and cause illness and infection and so on. So we all understand that that is classic cause and effect and therefore that's so therefore reward and punishment is not a matter of punishment. It's a matter of telling us the cosmic immune system if you wish.

[00:22:44]Like just like an infection enters the body, what happens? The white blood cells all gather to fight the infection.

[00:22:53]And for example, right now you hear congestion inside of me. Some bronchial infection or whatever it is, bacteria, viral, not bacteria, it's more viral probably. So there's no antibiotics for it. So you know, I did a little research on it. What happens is what is the mucus and the stuff why you stuffed up because the white blood cells are all coming to attack that infection and white blood cells have a certain green U even though they're white blood cells but there's a certain some of the enzymes are greenish that's why mucus becomes green I don't mean to be gross or anything I'm just pointing it out and I'm demonstrating with the cough here we are I'm using myself as a as a living guinea pig kosher guinea pig example So, so sometimes when we have reactions, the re the actions are reactions to an action. Something happens and our body is trying to eliminate it. So, it's true makes you miserable. You're all stuffed up and so on. But that's the way that's the way to deal with the problem. When a person coughs, it's actually because it's trying to clear the passage. When you have pain even and we all hate pain, pain is a warning signal. God mighty, God forbid, if we didn't have pain, we wouldn't have a warning sign. You can end up hurting yourself very deeply because you can end up biting your tongue and not even feeling you're biting it. So the nerves, active nerves cause pain, tell you there's a problem.

[00:24:13]It's a warning, a red flag. Go do something about it. So it's true for short term we take painkillers. But if you take painkillers for too long and you don't address the problem, you not solve the problem. What all you simply did was you got rid of the symptom. You didn't get rid of the problem. It's like becoming numb to the problem.

[00:24:33]So this is the cause and effect dimension of things. But then there's another element to the human spirit that it has a divine dimension. And the divine is a creator. The creator is not bound by the rules of cause and effect that existence is bound by. Even though it's true, we we read and we learn that God does not just perform miracles and he won't just suspend nature. And even when the sea was parted, the Talmud says it was difficult for God to part the sea. As a matter of fact, it compares it to a shik to a marriage to a match. The shik match between man and woman is as difficult as parting the sea.

[00:25:15]That would explain a lot of the crisis we have in single uh the Mecca and the epidemic of single life. Because the Talmud says, "Yes, it's as difficult as parting the sea." Why? Cuz a woman is like water. A man's like land and to get them together is >> opposites.

[00:25:31]There we go. It looks like you have experience.

[00:25:34]>> Huh?

[00:25:35]>> Yeah. Every day.

[00:25:36]>> And that's the miracle. You need the miracle all the time because two opposites to keep them together. So there has to be a third power that that that achieves that. So it says, so how do you explain difficult for God, it's difficult for us. So it says because God bound himself. He created these rules of nature, the rules of existence. So so to speak as they say so to speak it's difficult for God as he manifests in the rules of nature to suspend his own rules. So that's the world of cause and effect and it's a very real world and it does have truth to it. That sense the karma as I described it is correct.

[00:26:11]Karma action reaction could have effect on your future on your destiny can affect on future lives. We could be affected our lives by things that happen by but that is one track and here's the beautiful concept that I have not seen in the schools of thought that talk about karma address. There's another track the track of transcending cause and effect like Moses did. So we have a capacity that take a backdoor route and we can actually transcend cause and effect. So you really have like two tracks in your life which means one yes the regular system is going to go by the rules of re action reaction cause and effect but then there's another dimension that if you really insist and if you fight for it you can find a way that's not airtight you could find a way to even transcend cause and effect and even things that should affect one way you can actually change your destiny which is basis the whole basis of truth that I described repentance remorse true remorse we're not talking about we're talking about sincere in the way that as the mymanities writes that should you be faced with the same challenge you will not repeat the mistake you know many people say I regret it but as soon as the challenge comes again they do it again you know this is common no real lesson you learned you will not do it again and it's also the basis of prayer because prayer interestingly is also So challenging cause and effect. Let's say God forbid somebody was an accident.

[00:27:46]Somebody be fell ill. And you could say, "Hey, you know what? That's what God wants. I can't change destiny. The person is ill and whatever. I'll pray that God should have mercy, but you can't change destiny." And we don't say that. We say that prayer has the capacity to bring healing. You say, "Wait one second, but the person wouldn't be ill if God didn't destin. if maybe that's their destiny. As a matter of fact, there are opinions in the Tama that's that not opinions, a consideration that maybe we shouldn't pray because in a way it's like it's like a nerve to challenge God's plan.

[00:28:23]How do you know better than God? And yet God insists that we pray. And when Moses did not pray for the scouts as he did for the people after the golden calf, God said, "Why are you not praying?" And Moses said, "Because you said you won't forgive them." He said, "But no, that's not your business. You need to always break down the door. You never take no for an answer." So, we see another track where we have the capacity that even though destiny may appear to be one way, we can go ahead and say no, we want to change reality. And if you think about it, it's a it's one of the most powerful and um I would say um what do I want you to inner resilient forces in the spirit when you see that it is when you hear stories like stories that all that always touch us. A mother has an autistic child, God forbid, and the doctors say you can't reach this child. It's just impossible medically, psychologically, emotionally.

[00:29:23]The child is not social. Autistic child, there's no connection.

[00:29:28]We suggest you put the child in a good home, visit the child, provide for him, but there will never be the bond of a healthy mother or father to this child.

[00:29:40]And when a mother insists, and this is not just theory you have, no, it's my child and I will have that child in my home and I will speak to that child every day and you see miracles. I've read stories it's not always doesn't always happen where doctors say we do not understand it but yes a mother was obstinate and there's some mysteries in people people love has ways to reach now that doesn't heal the child the child didn't become nonautistic but they saw with the over the years a bond was created because what do we know is going on in the inner spirit of a human being I don't know if you remember Oliver Saxs the psychologist who wrote the number of books Some were made into films. He he dealt with a lot of this strange psychological phenomena. He had a book uh called the man who who mistook his wife for a hat.

[00:30:36]Not that's not a joke. Just that a psychological quirk. He thought his wife was a hat.

[00:30:43]That's not your story. No.

[00:30:45]Um and he had a book called Awakenings.

[00:30:50]Awakenings. Awakenings. True stories. By the way, he just dealt with a very bizarre and strange psychological case.

[00:30:57]Remember, the mind has all kinds of weird things.

[00:31:01]Anyway, the story awakenings is a fascinating story of of people in their 20s, 1920s, young people were some where some virus that struck something like 50, 60 people in different areas and no one knows exactly what it was. maybe something in the water and it turned them into catatonic states. They became like frozen and sometimes just like this middle of nowhere. They sat in a chair, they froze up and they remained that way for decades.

[00:31:33]So, and then they started documenting and they saw there was a number of them.

[00:31:37]I think something like 50, I don't remember the exact number. And there was a home that they built that that they that they said to people, anyone that had a child, God forbid, I think in their young teens, maybe. I'm not sure exactly what age or maybe late teens or early 20s and you had this home, a hospital where these people were provided for. They lived. I mean, they were breathing and they needed to eat and needed to be taken care of, but they were paralyzed.

[00:32:02]Not in a coma. Their eyes were open, but no one knew, do they hear what we're saying? There was no way to reach to them. One day, by mistake, I think Dr. Sachs got involved because he wanted he was studying them to see what was exactly the mental condition that they're in.

[00:32:22]They made they did tests obviously and they did research. They didn't have the scans we have today. I don't know if it would have made a difference but it probably would. Anyway, by mistake um someone throw threw a ball in the ward where these patients were there.

[00:32:37]Many of them were sitting in wheelchairs. Others they used to put them on bed. They they were able to move them. No cooperation on their part. So they put them to sleep by day. They would make you because because they didn't want to atrophy. So they would move them around. They'd walk with them.

[00:32:52]They couldn't walk. So they would walk with the wheelchairs. But they made them move as much as they were able to massage their muscles. Someone threw a ball in the ward and suddenly one of them lifted his hand like that. For the first time in 30 years, this person moved and grabbed the ball like that.

[00:33:12]So, first they thought it was just reflexive. You know, there's reflex.

[00:33:16]They threw it again and again. And they threw it to another person. All the people in the ward suddenly reacted.

[00:33:21]They caught this ball. So, the Dr. Saxs realized there's something going on here. He doesn't know why exactly.

[00:33:29]Anyway, they realized that they're more awake than we think they are. There's just no connection. So they started administering different type of drugs to try to work on their neurons and f the first one who had grabbed the ball um began to come out of it and they normalized them all at some point.

[00:33:53]But they still kept them under watch because they didn't know if the medication would last. And unfortunately it didn't last. not only didn't last, they needed higher doses and higher doses and it became they became very irritable. They even took them out on trips, but they they only remember the 1920s. Now, it was the 1960s. So, they took them to a club where they jazz music from the 1920s. I mean, it's a fascinating story. There's a reason I'm telling it for one specific reason. So, there's a scene there along Robert Dairo acts, right? You know the movie. So there's a scene there then then they started convulsions and you know uncontrollable convulsions.

[00:34:35]It's very sad because they want to be treated normally but they but there was this they the virus was still there. The medication was just a cosmetic.

[00:34:46]But in the cafeteria, the main actor, the main one of the main characters meets a beautiful young woman and they begin to talk and they like a romantic connection is developed, but they don't let him out of the hospital. So, they talk in the cafeteria. She comes to visit her father who was not in that state. He was he was also in the hospital, but he was like in a coma.

[00:35:06]And the last scene is like so heart-wrenching when they meet for the last time because he knows that they're going to have to take off the medication. It was becoming too they're uncontrollable the convulsions and the and all kinds of stuff. So he meets with her and they like dance in the cafeteria and he can he can barely like it was keep himself stable. It's like they're basically saying goodbye to her and she says, "You know, I don't know. I think I'm going to stop coming to see my father because he's in a coma. I read to him, I don't know if he hears anything.

[00:35:42]And and this character says to him, says to her, he hears every word because he knew that he hears every word. And it's just a touching scene because it gives you this sense we don't know the mysteries of what's going on. Not in an autistic child. Not in a mentally handicapped child, not in a any of the unfortunate mental or emotional diseases that sometimes take control of a person and we don't and we think person is gone. It's not true. The spirit and the soul is not gone. Unfortunately, it's trapped in a place. But never think that it's gone. And that I think is a tremendous important lesson to realize that karma cause and effect. Yes, on a certain dimension, but there's mysteries of the soul that love can pierce. And even if every doctor and every scientist and every statistician and every technician comes with all kinds of theories, this can't work. We don't know what the spirit is made of. Just like the mothers were able to reach their autistic children, there there are many stories like that. It takes persistence and it takes a very deep connection but you the connection is there. It's vital to understand that and that story captures it so well story with awakenings and there are many others.

[00:37:02]There are many others you know you whether it's the story of Hel Helen Keller born blind deaf mute handicapped in every way and then this where's that spirit come from? We don't understand it. So it would be arrogant for anyone to say no doesn't look like that person understands. They tell the story this guy unfortunately his wife contracted Alzheimer's disease and unfortunately you know how Alzheimer's works. It slowly deteriorates and the person stops recognizing things recognizing people and stops recognizing their own family and it's it's it's horrendous. It's even worse than death because you see the person and they don't see you. They don't know who you are. So one nurse tells the man he's to come to visit his wife every day. Every day. At some point she says, "I feel bad for you. You know your wife doesn't recognize you anymore. There's no point for you to come." He says, "Yes, but I recognize her."

[00:38:06]You see was and that means there's a connection and you don't know what's going on just because the person doesn't react. That's on a conscious level. How do you know what's going on on the unconscious level? And I believe that that is a tremendous lesson not just in times of illness or tragedy. It's just to recognize even we're sitting right here. What do we know about each other?

[00:38:28]Yes, we know we have bodies. I know what you look like. You know what I look like? You can figure out some body language, some ostensibly some basic superficial things. You have a conversation, you learn more about a person. But how deep down the rabbit hole, so to speak, is your soul? How far can we go? Anyone that'll say here's till here, how do you know? Someone says to you, how much potential do you have?

[00:38:55]How could you answer that question? How do you know you have how do you know your potential? You only know what you've done. You can't know what you haven't done. And then when you're pushed, suddenly new things open up. And when you're challenged and sometimes, God forbid, crisis.

[00:39:09]I think Eleanor Roosevelt said about women that a woman's like a teaag. You don't know how strong she is until you put her into hot water, you know. So s you look at a tea bag. Doesn't look strong at all. You know what is it? A little bag with leaves in it. And then s you put it into hot water. It releases the aroma, the taste, the effects, the healing effects. So all whatever the effects of of tea and it's not just tea it's many things whe you heat them you warm them so why can't you say the same thing with human beings apply heat warmth love to another person and suddenly things come out of them that you've never seen before people think that we live in a day and age where everything is a commodity based I want results now I press a button I want to deliver it 24/7 out of reason you know we got used to forgot that there's a process and things emerge real things in life emerge they don't you can't grab them you can't for force a flower out of the ground you water the ground the soil you nurture it you weed it and then a flower will emerge and I always tell people in relationships that's exactly you think you could force love out of your partner out of your spouse it's like a flower water it and someone says I I don't want to water it until it shows me it's a flower. Okay, good luck. Get a flower out of the ground and say I'm not going to water you until you show your face. Doesn't work that way. The watering brings shows you its face. The petals open when you nurture it. It's a basic rule, but we got used to commodity. I press a button, I want love. I press a button, I want nurturing. Doesn't work that way. Things emerge and there's a process. And a process takes time. A flower will not come out of the ground or in in five seconds. You water it enough slowly it sprouts. These are lessons that we have lost because we live in this highly technological fast food age. Everything is immediate. Instant this and instant that. Instant coffee and instant an Instagram.

[00:41:18]Another instant. Everything's instant.

[00:41:21]So of course there are things we can achieve quickly. But the real things in life finding truth, finding soul, finding God, finding love, these are all emerging forces that take that's a process and as such when we realize that realize that what that's what's inside the soul is far more than we can even imagine.

[00:41:46]Sensitivity to that the humility and recognizing that is the secret to really transcending even karma. So in that context, yes, there are dimensions of cause and effect. And then there's dimensions that are deeper than that.

[00:42:01]That would be the equivalent. Let's say somebody really hurt you. You got really angry and you and and and deservedly so.

[00:42:09]You don't want to talk to them. Let's say it's a sibling, someone you love or have loved and that's it. You I'm cutting off. I don't want any more relationship with that person. They hurt me too much. I'm not talking about imaginary. Let's say a legitimate grievance.

[00:42:26]But then that person surprises you.

[00:42:30]Surprise you either in their their abstinence to reconnect or they make gestures or they do things. So of course you could keep yourself very locked and say I will not let that person in. Or sometimes a person like Moses did can actually reach into your deeper place.

[00:42:48]What happened? They reach a deeper place. deeper when you're where the hurt took place and then suddenly you feel a connection that's deeper. It's not like the cause and effect is not legitimate.

[00:43:00]It's legitimate on that dimension. But then there's a whole other story.

[00:43:06]Let's say with a child, it's your own child. Even if the child hurts you, there's a point where there is something deeper than the hurt. And when you reach that, you're reaching a a dimension that is like a divine dimension that transcends the rules of regular conventional cause and effect. And this happens doesn't happen as much as it should happen because we give up. We say, "What could I do?" The person says, "No, I don't want to talk to you again."

[00:43:30]But you don't give up. That's the lesson. You don't give up because you know the spirit has more dimensions than we can ever imagine. So there's an expression in the book of Kahel, the book of Ecclesiastes. Yeah. Yeah, if you don't mind give me that.

[00:43:46]Come with me to everybody.

[00:44:08]>> Thank you. Um so in the book of Ecclesiastes in Kahellet King Solomon writes it's a very sad it's a very depressing book on the surface level because he talks about how life is vain everything is vanity vanity of vanities and then there's this verse this devastating verse if you wish where he says talks about the cycles of nature and then says, "A generation comes and a generation goes and there's nothing new under the sun."

[00:44:49]You know, it's basically the line of the sarcastic, the cynical line that more things change, the more they stay the same. Don't get so excited. People come, people go, and nothing new under the sun. We've been around for thousands of years. It's the same story, just a different name, different address.

[00:45:11]And this is a very, you know, very depressing thought because it's like we're basically doomed to monotony.

[00:45:19]And then he says all the rivers run to the sea and the sea does not get full.

[00:45:23]Like there's no no hope.

[00:45:26]Reminds me of the famous story from Kalum.

[00:45:31]Kalum. You know, I've heard of the city of Kalum. Town of Khalum was this like town of intelligent people, but their neighbors created this folklore of the fools of Kalum. So this guy in decides enough is enough. Doesn't want to be with his nagging wife anymore. His children are frustrating him. The whole town is making him nervous. He's out of here. Picks himself up and he's going for a trip. It's a new place. I mean you have to take use a little imagination because they're all like imaginary tales but they give you like a twist on human psychology. So he goes packs his bags starts traveling. The evening the night falls and he needs to find a place to sleep. There's no way around. So he decides he'll sleep at the edge of the road. He he he pitches a tent. Okay.

[00:46:24]Now person a fool he says when I wake up in the morning I may forget what direction I'm going I don't want to go back home so I say he put his shoes in a direction away from his hometown but as luck would have it masle some animals come at night they play around there and one of the things they do is they move his shoes in the other direction he wakes wakes up again. This is just a story just to capture something and he get dressed. He's he washes his face whatever says his prayers ready to embark on the continue in the journey. He looks at the shoes.

[00:47:06]Okay, that's direction. Something's weird. No, no, no, I don't remember that. But you know, can't the shoes don't lie.

[00:47:14]So he start traveling basically back. And the more he travels, he says something. It's like everything is the same. It's like I remember these trees and I remember this crossroad and I remember this house and this barn and says, "But but my shoes were directed this way." Keeps going, gets closer to this town. He says, "So weird. It's exactly like it was my original town. He comes in, says, "I got to see this."

[00:47:40]Goes to the street where he used to live. Says, "Same street." And then he goes to the house. It's the same wife.

[00:47:47]Same wife.

[00:47:48]>> He says, "What's my point? Wherever I go, I'm going to get to the same thing anyway." So, what's the point? I mean, it's a lesson in life when people try to run away. You can't run away from your own self. It's the the point. So the more things stay the more the things change the more they stay the same then generation comes nothing new under the sun. So how do we respond to that? The answer is under the sun nothing is new but there's a place above the sun beyond the sun. under the sun. Yes, the sun will rise, the sun will set, sunrise, sunset, and the moon will rise and the seasons will change and winter will come and then spring and then summer and then autumn and the cycle will repeat itself.

[00:48:36]That's all under the sun. But there are places we can reach that is above the sun. And that's the place where karma does not have that much impact or or the ability to go beyond masle says that Israel is not bound by the masle which is predestination.

[00:48:55]Yes, there are predispositions.

[00:48:58]Obviously, we're all born with dispositions and personalities and inclinations. Some people are more emotional, some people more cerebral. We have inclinations but we don't have destiny dictated for us.

[00:49:12]So it's everything in life you know you may wake up one day you're not such a good mood. That's part of life but does not m that mood doesn't control your destiny. However look as a people the Jewish people have suffered greatly but we did not become sufferers. Just because something happens to you doesn't mean that identifi that you that should identify you. That's a key thing you'll see in all healthy people. Bad things happen to many people to everybody but they don't let themselves be defined by their by their experiences. That's that you experience it. I experienced it but that's not me. I went through it. I experienced it. And you'll see one of the first hallmarks of unhealthy behavior or people who don't have that control is they overidentify with their experiences. Someone hurt me that defines me. I'm angry. something wrong with that person, something wrong with me. It becomes this like like locked in identity. It's not your identity.

[00:50:10]Something happened. That's it. It would be like saying but like you know you slip on this slip and fall that means you're a person that slips and falls.

[00:50:17]No, that happened. Next time be more careful.

[00:50:22]Now it sounds simple but it's not simple when it comes to emotional blocks and psychological blind spots. we don't see it and we start convincing ourselves no I deserve it or that's me once you make that statement you have written your own destiny you have written that I am going to be um a victim of circumstances and then you have brought karma upon yourself that doesn't let you out of your karma whereas if you say to yourself you know what that happened there is cause and effect but there's another part of me that's beyond that all and that's what I'm going to embrace and there there's hope and there's has changed and it's above the sun. So no, it's not a generation comes, a generation comes, there's nothing new.

[00:51:04]There's absolutely new things and there's new opportunities and there's new hope. And even if yesterday didn't work, today's a new day, new possibilities.

[00:51:15]You'll always see sign of the again the hallmark of successful people is not that everything goes their way is they don't allow the things that don't go their way to find them. So they go ahead and say, "You know what? Okay, tomorrow I pick myself up and I'll start again.

[00:51:31]I'll try a different way. Won't be this way. I'll go this way." And they keep at it. They keep at it. Obviously, there's times you have to say to yourself, "This may not be the thing." But fine. But then generally the attitude is a winner's attitude.

[00:51:46]Sunsu, the famous Chinese writer, the art of war, he wrote the definitive book over almost 2,000 years ago.

[00:51:56]So he writes wars are won before you begin the battle. It's all here and then he says you win first and then you go to battle to implement it. Winners always begin the attitude. It's the attitude. I am a winner. I will prevail. Sometimes it works this way, sometimes that way.

[00:52:18]People that have that type of focus are unstoppable.

[00:52:23]Now it doesn't always work out exactly the way we want. I'm not saying you can it's not that simple how you know I want something that's exact. It may work out a different way but you always remain a winner. Winner doesn't mean you always get what you want. Winner means that you always have a winning attitude and you're never defined by your failures.

[00:52:40]Frankly, you're not even defined by your successes. You're defined by your spirit but who you are.

[00:52:46]So not successes define you and not failures define you. So your personality is never shook and shaken up by experiences. That doesn't mean we don't want positive experience. Obviously we do. That's why I'm saying we're not just going to that place that's beyond karma and beyond cause and effect. We want to bring that into the world of cause and effect. That we also want to live in a world where there are predictable and there are reactions and actions and reactions. But we want to always reserve and the ability to have that dimension where you can bring something from a greater place. That hope and that's the thing we have to work on most because cause and effect we're all in that world. Everybody knows that you know I have a cold I'm under the weather. Okay, I'm going to lie in bed a little extra.

[00:53:29]What about if you need to go and push a little more? That's where we need the effort to push beyond human efforts. is a very interesting statement.

[00:53:40]You may be familiar with it. The most famous liturgy in Judish Judaism is the right.

[00:53:49]But then we continue. We say then we say you should love your God.

[00:53:57]And there's three expressions that that love of how one loves with all your heart with all your spirit with all your might or the word actually means with all your with all your with all your all means a lot with all your everything.

[00:54:20]And there are different explanations what these three dimensions mean because really it's a lesson not just in loving God. It's a lesson also loving people loving people that you love.

[00:54:32]You know seems relatively with your heart. You love with all your heart. Not just part of your heart. All of your heart. The Talmet even says there's a right side of the heart. There's the left side of the heart. Which means your good inclination, your evil inclination.

[00:54:45]that with every all of you all of your life all of your heart is deeper because not just your heart it's also your spirit it's not just an emotional connection it's all of your spirit including your mind and including your whole being but what does the third thing add the third thing adds an interesting means beyond your natural capacities the heart and the soul or the heart and the spirit that's your heart and your spirit and you give all of it but not more than all. And the third one says you can go more than all which doesn't seem logical. What do you mean? That's all I have. How could I give more? But you'll see the concept you give till it hurts. You push a little more because we because it shows the depth of the spirit. There's more to you than you think there is. So everyone can relate to the first two in a sense. Okay, I give my love. I give my heart. I give my spirit. What else? But there's that extra mile that you go the extra step.

[00:55:43]Like I've talked a number of times that there like three types of love. You love someone. They ask you to do something.

[00:55:50]Even if it's inconvenient, you do it.

[00:55:52]You love them. That's second level. Even deeper love is is they don't ask you.

[00:55:58]They hint to you. They elude.

[00:56:01]So you can make believe you didn't hear it, you know. But if you love someone, you even even if they allude to it, you also do it. You don't say, "I I'm not sure what you said." said, you know, but that's still not still not the deepest love. The deepest love is you anticipate what would my beloved enjoy and they don't ask for. They didn't ask for you. They don't even allude. They're not even expecting it. You completely surprise them. That's the deepest love.

[00:56:29]You know why? Because it's not based on expectation. It's based on completely going beyond the expected.

[00:56:36]So there are people who love, they say, you know, okay, I love that person. I'm following the contract, so to speak, my obligations, and that's it. I don't need to give more. Would any healthy person ever say that about, let's say, love to children? I've given my quot of love to my child today. That's it. Don't ask me for more love. That's ridiculous.

[00:56:56]It's not just because there's always more because it's a I remember my grandmother, nine children. My mother's the oldest of nine. A journalist came to interview her. It was years ago. So I was in the house by her interview was a real secular woman, a feminist who was like shocked that she has nine children.

[00:57:15]My grandma's also very accomplished. She was educated, well read. So she says, Mrs. Lipk, that was her name. She said that nine children didn't stop you from really developing your own potential. She said, in the contrary, my children brought out my greatest potential. The hardest thing to do is bring up children. much easier to do a career. You know, children bring out the best in you. There's a challenge. So then she asked her, she said, "But you have nine children. How do you spread the love to nine children?

[00:57:48]You have to like compromise the love for each one because another child comes in, you can only give a ninth of the love now."

[00:57:55]So my grandmother smiled and said to her, "Did you ever have children?"

[00:58:00]Obviously she realiz said, "No." She says, "That's why you're asking this question." get married, have children, and you'll realize. Then my grandmother explained to her, I said, my grandma said, "Love is not a pie. It's not a cake that you cut up in, let's say, 10 pieces and that's it. You want to give it a little there's no more. Okay, cut smaller pieces, 20 pieces, 30 piece, but some point you run out of it's a physical. Love is not defined by measurement."

[00:58:29]And she gave her analogy. She said the same sun that's reflected in the great Pacific Ocean is reflected in a in a water a drop of water. Same sun. Put a drop of water and the entire Atlantic Ocean, the same sun's reflect. You have a thousand drops of water, the same sun. When you're dealing with qualitative experiences like love, it's not like you have to cut it in parts and say, "Okay, I've ran I ran out of love. I ran out of gas. I don't have any more love. That's not the case. So tells us besides all your heart, besides all your spirit, you have even more than you think you have.

[00:59:12]The with all your might, with all your even the beyond.

[00:59:16]Andic thought says means going beyond your natural. And when you do that, you get what is beyond natural from God as well. You transcend your karma. You transcend your def defined state. Now obviously if you're five feet tall, you're six feet tall, you have blue eyes, green eyes, brown eyes, you're not changing that.

[00:59:38]But there's a whole other dimension that we have that we can change and we can experience things that are beyond our destiny. That's the beautiful concept.

[00:59:47]Yes, we have destiny and we have fate, but you can control and change your destiny. But it's up to you because if you bind yourself and say, you know what, I can't do more. You've past your own verdict that you're limited. But if you say, "I could do more. I can dig deeper. I can access more." Then that more will come out of you. It all comes down to attitude. And so how do you develop such an attitude?

[01:00:15]You study about your soul.

[01:00:18]You hang around people who believe in a soul.

[01:00:21]And you try to avoid others who are just naysayers and tell you you can't do anything. You're a loser. Or don't get your hopes up.

[01:00:29]You know, you you're you have to be around people that have that spirit, that have that spunk, that have that that uh twinkle in the eye that says you could do everything. You know, you hear you hear so often so many people, parents, grandparents who dashed all the dreams and idealism and aspirations of young people. Then you hear those stories or a grandmother tells a child, "You can do it. I believe in you." Absolutely.

[01:00:57]I was just yesterday honored in the Brooklyn Jewish Hall of Fame. I was inducted and near me with another nine people.

[01:01:07]There we was near me was standing a was sitting a man in his late mid mid 80s is Mel something or other. He was called Mr. Seltzer in New York. For 60 years he delivered seltzer.

[01:01:23]Anyway, each of us was interviewed a little. We said a few words. He got the he's the last one, right? I was I was next last. He was after me. And he says, he tells the whole story how he didn't have a penny to his name. He didn't even couldn't even buy on credit. Whatever.

[01:01:38]But he needed a van. We're talking now 60 years ago would be well, how many years ago? That's in the 40s, huh? 30.

[01:01:49]He says that he needed $40 which was a lot of money then to to buy something to deliver seltzer or whatever his first bottles beer or seltzer and he couldn't find it. His grandmother comes or mother his grandmother I think she brings him 40 silver dollars which she had for from her family for a generation.

[01:02:12]He says I can't take this from you.

[01:02:16]I can't take this from you. It's like you know the I'll find my I'll find the 40. She says, "Noah, I believe in you.

[01:02:24]I'm giving it to you. This is my vote of confidence in you." And it was so meaningful to him because she she was giving silver dollar. It was like a family thing. It wasn't just money.

[01:02:34]And she and and that you know, you hear something like that. He says it gave him that type of confidence. We should all be blessed to have such people in our lives. And we always need it. Doesn't matter how old you are, doesn't matter how experienced you are.

[01:02:48]We need it. And when you're surrounded by that and you focus on soulful understanding your soul which is studying the science of your soul basically which is the thing I so I'm so involved in which is thought cababalistic thought that to teach you teaches you about the dynamics of your soul and the potential of your soul and you read every morning we say in the prayer God returned the soul to you and the soul is pure you created it you shaped it you formed it. You imbued it in me. He realized there's dimensions and dimensions and it's just awesome. It's like digging and digging and you think you already got there. No, there's a whole new you're digging for oil and there's much more treasure you'll ever imagine. That's how we have to see ourselves and see others. That's how love grows.

[01:03:40]You believe and you hope and you know confident with confidence that there's more treasure in every human being. So even on the surface something may not work out and sometimes it really is a problem but there's deeper dimensions.

[01:03:55]Dig deeper.

[01:03:56]Most of us give up because we don't like what we see. It doesn't appeal to us.

[01:04:01]You dig deeper you suddenly find resources. You find depths. You find power. I always thought about it like why God made it that way that people dig for oil deep oil wells. And where do we find diamonds and where do we find precious stones? all the depths because it teaches us you want pre treasure, you want value, you got to go to the depths. It's not going to be on the surface.

[01:04:27]That's where the most precious things.

[01:04:28]And if that's the case, even with physical commodities like oil or natural gas or precious stones, how much more so with the soul of a human being?

[01:04:40]So my friends, yes there is an element of karma and our actions have reactions and our causes have effects and they should they should have effects but there's also another track where you can reach a place that is beyond beyond and each of us can do that. Now, it's not always easy to hold on to because we live in a world that's constantly telling us how weak we are. And if you don't buy this, you're not complete.

[01:05:11]That's what advertising is based on. And we have to recognize that we are tr we are priceless because God put us here.

[01:05:20]Like I always quote from my book toward a meaningful life, birth is God saying you matter. You're indispensable and you have within you unbelievable resources and treasures beyond that we can ever imagine and the people around you also have them and that's how we have to look at each other. It's a great blessing to be around people that see you that way and great blessing for them you to see them that way.

[01:05:46]So that's what I want to leave you with to look for look for that in other people look for in yourself and it's reciprocal. If you see that way, you see yourself that way, you're going to see it in others. If you look at others that way, you'll see it in yourself. If you limit and don't want to look for deeper, then whatever you look at is going to remain somewhat shallow. And when you access that, tremendous things can happen. Real changes because you're going above the sun. But don't underestimate the power of gravity, the gravitational pull that keeps you in the place where the more things change, the more they stay the same under the sun. Nothing new under the sun because it is a struggle, but it's doable. And that's what we need to help each other be able to reach a place like that. You know, um, our history dictates that's absolutely doable because how many obituaries have been written for the Jewish people? How many times did we almost go extinct even our latest holocaust a few decades ago, seven 70 years ago?

[01:06:51]And yet like the moon as it disappears, it's reborn, waxes and waines. Not like the sun, the sun is all powerful.

[01:07:01]It's always shining. I mean little fluctuations here and there. The moon is constantly every month reminds us there grows, grows, waxes. Then it waines, disappears, you can't even see it and it's reborn again.

[01:07:17]That's the lesson. That means that don't be deceived by looks. You know the cliche, the most famous cliche that is completely false is they tell you don't judge a book by its cover. You know it's a billion dollar industry to create book covers because everyone judges a book by its cover. It's called packaging. How much money is spent on packaging and how much is on the product? the sizzle, not the steak.

[01:07:43]But they say, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Because we judge things by cover. We're we're seduced by our senses. Our sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell holds us hostage. And everyone's trying to manipulate our senses.

[01:07:58]But there's another dimension that is not bound by the senses. And that again is beyond the cause and effect.

[01:08:06]And that's the place we need to hold on to and reach into.

[01:08:10]So I bless you all to be able to access that and hold on to it to find the people and the books and the resources that nourish and nurture that soul part of you and you'll discover every day new things about yourself. Imagine every day something new and discover something new in the people you love and even in strangers cuz there is always more than what meets the eye. And that's really I believe like in a sense when you say someone believes in God you believe in possibilities that more than that are more than just human.

[01:08:47]They say to is human to forgive is divine. you believe in forces that go beyond the natural structure of things and I try to in the meaningful life center all of us our team tries to hold on to that um message and transmit it and hopefully we all can give and take and help each other in that type of attitude and hope so please stay in touch wherever you are like us share connect all the different ways we use technology Facebook, YouTube. I say we're soon going to be broadcasting on Instagram.

[01:09:27]It's all uh to me it's all overwhelming all this stuff. But uh all I have to do is one talk and it goes on all the different channels so I don't really have to worry about I have other great people doing it. And everyone should have a very blessed week. I apologize for my congestion but you saw I used it as an example.

[01:09:44]And uh until next Wednesday everybody be well and please visit our website meaningful.com.

[01:09:52]A lot of very rich resources someone very moving wrote to me once that sometimes when I have insomnia and I can't sleep I go to your site. It's just soothing to look at it.

[01:10:08]The colors it's warm. It's soft. It's sensitive. So in case you need something like that, you can always do that. That's what the internet provides. That's 24 six, I guess. Everyone have a very blessed week and until next week, God bless you all.