(Part 151): The Complications of a Cup of Coffee

good morning and Boer to welcome back to our living with amuna series it's great to be together again and as always want to thank our amuna series for the year sponsors DRS Avi and Bella Morgan deeply indebted for your uh for your generosity who sponsored the series in memory of our dear and beloved friend Rabbi Dr Brian gabu Nas who was a embodiment of all the things that we learn about and teach about truth is each and every week I could just stay here and tell stories about Brian galet and that would be the ultimate uh the ultimate lessons of living with amuna living with amuna and leaving this world with amuna he was and continues to be a great source of inspiration to all of us also want to thank our dear friends Sal and Leslie Abid in honor of their children Joey and Marissa Abid abadi and their expected baby please God should be healthy and happy and well and give them lots and lots of Nas please God from all of their family we continue with living with amuna we' learning this amazing peace by Rita Mar Schwarz the author of the B mishan and he has been teaching in these trying times and in all times happy said easy and difficult how we can feel the presence of Hashem his guiding hand on our shoulder his loving Embrace his support to be able to lean on him as we go through life as we go through life I saw a beautiful I think it was from the we say m sh we say it on chabas but chapter 23 Psalm 23 m the Lord is my shepherd I shall not lack so I saw two interesting before we even dive back into what we're studying together Hashem God is my shepherd I'm a sheep I'm simply a sheep I'm simply a member of his flock he is my shepherd the shepherd's job the shepherd's role is to protect the flock is to lead the flock and the flock can be have a sense of assurance and comfort knowing that the shepherd is in charge sohem we declare mhem is my shepher the simple translation is that if Hashem is my shepherd I'm not lacking anything I'm not missing anything but the interpretation I saw was Hashem God is my shepherd may I never be missing that notion that he's my shepherd what L what I hope I'll never be lacking or missing is not a nicer car and a bigger house and more money it's not lar may I never be lacking the material things that I want and crave the Lar what I hope I'll never be lacking or missing is a sense of hasem to go through life with a confidence to go through life with a palpable almost tangible feeling that he's my shepherd I don't ever have to worry I don't ever have to wonder I don't ever have to be nervous or anxious because I know that all that's happening is by Design whether it's Pleasant or unpleasant whether it's pleasurable or painful but one thing I know is it's not chance or Randomness Hashem he is my shepherd and L my hope my dream my aspiration of L May I never be lacking in a sense of Hashem that he's my shepherd that I take that deep breath and I realize let go whatever is supposed to happen is going to happen he is shepherding me through this that's how we use it in a verb he's shepherding he's the shepherd and he's shepherding me through God forbid a loved one of mine is sick and I'm doming for their recovery I have Financial concerns and the the terrible negative economy I'm worried about how I'm going to make theim whatever I'm going through whatever I'm going through Hashem he's my shepherd and he will Shepherd me through it that I don't have to worry and L My Hope and my dream is L that I'll never be lacking or missing in the confidence that Hashem God you're my shepherd tell me where to walk what do the Sheep do they fall in line you ever watch sheep you ever watch The Herd they fall in line they're obedient they're compliant they walk as a group Hashem I'm falling in line you're my shepherd I'm following you tell me where to go you're going to Shepherd Me through whatever it is that I'm facing and I know there will be a tomorrow I know there will be other side I know that there will be as long as I have a breath in my lungs as long as I'm here in this world you will Shepherd me through to the other side I know Hashem may I never be lacking that and then we say means that which I that which I lean on so the the says what does it mean May the fact that I can lean on you be a source of comfort to me so it means that not when everything turns out okay but even when it's not okay and I need to lean on you you know you don't need to you don't need to lean on someone when everything is easy when you can balance yourself when you're stable when you're upright when you're strong you don't need to lean on someone when do you need to lean on someone when you feel imbalanced when you feel un stable when you feel like you're going to collapse when you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders when you feel like you're falling apart that's when you need to lean that's when we lean on loved ones and family members it's when we lean on friends we need to lean on somebody so Hashem says original one to say it Lean on Me Hashem says lean on me and I will keep you strong lean on me the fact that you hasem are my I can lean on you that's what comforts me you know what comforts me comforts me what is Comfort Comfort doesn't replace what I'm missing Comfort doesn't bring a loved one back to life Comfort doesn't put money back in my bank account Comfort doesn't put the world back to normal but you know what Comfort does it says you're giving me the strength you're giving me the courage to be able to get through this to endure so the fact that you are my that I can lean on you that's what I take comfort in that's what gives me Comfort that's what comforts me it gives me the strength it gives me the capacity it gives me the courage to be able to get through whatever I need to anyway I happened to see that last week so I wanted to share that with you Hashem hasem you're my shepherd and therefore may I never be lacking or missing in the presence of mind to know that you're my shepherd and you will Shepherd me through whatever it is I face the fact that it can lean on you may that itself be uh be a source of great comfort to me okay all that is point number one point number two is tell you uh I've said countless times how our family and I've encouraged you to have a family WhatsApp WhatsApp group following again the inspiration of yob and others who' said if you want to grow your if you want to grow with a mindfulness and a Consciousness that hasem is involved in your life then train yourself to see him as involved in your life and there's no better way to train yourself to see him than to see him and record it write it down share it scream it from the rooftops or tell it to your closest Confidant but tell people people and articulate and record how you see Hashem in your life on a regular basis so when I first learned that I've shared this countless times we started a family hash WhatsApp group and it lay a little dormant as we were living on top of one another for a while but it's back active and Alive fam is posting all kinds of things that they experienced amazing has I'll tell you a great one from this week and then we'll get back to the text I share it not because we're better or different but hopefully trying to uh Inspire and ignite a fire in you to do the same with one other person or with your whole family and simply as you live your life it it changes the reality of the way you live you're not living in in black and white you're living in high definition color because throughout your day you're looking to see is there a story I could put on the chat is there something a voice note I could leave about where I saw and how I felt Hashem in my life today and the result is to go back and to look and to listen to all of those and realize wow look how involved he is in our lives in our family look at the good and even the Bad and the Ugly it's all it's all from Hashem so last Friday last Friday my beautiful mischievous son and his sister were in the backyard and we have a uh outdoor speaker that sits under a piece of outdoor furniture to protect it sits on the ground under that outdoor furniture and as the outdoor speaker if you're outside you can listen to music they decided to lift it up the speaker and to put it on top of the chair the piece of furniture and to torture their mother to keep making it louder and to keep turning it on to keep turning it off to keep changing the music on it and they were having a good time as beautiful mischievous children might and they left the speaker there on top of the chair I would normally be upset why'd you touch it why'd you move it why'd you lift it why didn't you put it back but you may remember this past Friday afternoon batone was struck by 55 mph winds and a torrential downpour and hail and most of the other plagues the likes of which I've never seen before the rain was going down upside down sideways and in every single Direction the street flooded trees were down branches were down it was literally like a hurricane and when it was over and we looked outside we saw the expensive speaker was not sitting on the ground where it would have been sitting in a lake of water and destroyed and need to be replaced but the hash protest that the mischievous kids chose to be mischievous specifically on that afternoon and lift that speaker in a way that actually saved their parents lots of money lots of lessons to be learned number one don't always be quick to react and get angry maybe even the mischievous child is doing you a favor even if you don't see it in the moment but number two again what that was the day they chose to be mischievous with that device in a way that actually saved us that device because otherwise it would have been underwater and utterly destroyed okay back to our text so what we the B has been developing the idea that is when we realize the best version of ourselves which is The Godly version of ourselves when we recognize that the external version of ourselves is engaged in a battle from when we wake up in the morning till we fall asleep at night do I get out of bed and what do I eat healthy or unhealthy and do I say that gossip and will I be late and can I concentrate and Sh and what will I wear and even before we started our day we've battled and we are exhausted and that is the external sense of self it cannot help but battle it's battling Corona virus it's battling economies it's battling uncertainty it's battling everything in the world battle battle battle fight fight fight exhausted but there's an internal voice a better sense of self there's the Salim the godliness in us and it knows that the world is operating in Harmony and there's no such thing as a battle not the red light not the delayed flight not the canceled meeting not the bad news not the updated data not the there's no such thing because the whole world is operating in harmony because it's operating at the will of Hashem so when I live my flustered chaotic frustrated anxious envious arrogant life that's because I am only listening to my external voice and I'm only fighting that outer battle but when I listen to that internal voice when I remind myself of who I am and who I can be when I look through the world of the filter that I'm aim I'm a prince a princess I am royalty I am a peace of God in this world and I see through that filter I had that lasx surgery that I'm not making a choice of amuna and are not a muscle I engage for a moment they are actually a sense of vision a filter a way I look at the world and I see Hashem everywhere I see a Harmony to the universe I'm never battling so externally and and R Schwarz has been careful to iterate and reiterate this countless times that it's not that one is fake or false or counterfeit and the other is true they're both true the external existence and the physical battles they're all true that's a reality it's a dimension that we're living in it is a perspective that one can see it absolutely is true it's absolutely true on the one hand but it's also equally true that if we realize the internal voice that we can live with a sense of calm and peace and Tranquility that we don't have to be envious of others we don't get angry at others and we don't live with anxiety about what we'll be because we realize that best version of ourselves so we talked about when you're lifting the cup to drink and slips out of your hands so we start and we operate the default the assumption is that my muscles will work and my joints will work and my grip will work and I can lift a cup and engage it to my lips and I'll be able to take a sip and I don't even give a thought to it it's so natural it's so taken for granted it's such a given that I'm not even present in doing it because I just assume it I just assume it but a person who really thinks realizes that you know what every muscle that responds to the neurological impulse from my brain every time it doesn't slip out of my hands every time I take a drink and I ingest and I digest and I eliminate the whole process from beginning to end from A to Z none of it is a given and it's all only by the graciousness of God go I and only when it slips out of your hand and do you realize I've lost my grip I'm struggling with uh what's that called arthritis or I'm having some other problem with my fingers with my grip or the cup or it could easily slip next time or it splashed and ruined my clo only when it goes wrong do we realized how not a given it was all long how by the graciousness of God go I the truth is there's nothing in our life that there's no equal and opposing Force I'm trying to lift the cup to drink you know what the opposing force is called again I'm giving the most basic example this time I have a cup I have my cup my cup of now cold coffee thanks to thermodynamics entropy now cold I have my cup of coffee and I lift it to my lips to drink and the fact that I can lift it you'll say there's no hisus there's no opposition that's the easiest thing there's no battle the answer is there is an opposition you know what the opposition is to lifting the cup a little something called gravity gravity is actually pulling the cup down while I am opposing that Force by trying to lift it up who's going to win me or gravity well there's a difference between a 400 lb dumbbell and a cup of coffee the cup of coffee my life history has taught me that I'm going to win now my 8-month-old grandson tries to lift a cup of coffee it might as well be a 400 lb dumbbell for him his history teaches him or hasn't taught him yet just teaches the people who have to clean up after him that he probably won't win then right there the gravity is still a much greater force on him but I've lived my life 45 years now so after the eighth month I've been successfully able to lift the cup and I say ah is there something challenging me is there an opposing Force am I battling when I try to lift the cup to drink the coffee if you would ask me that before I were learning this section I would have said absolutely not but the more you think about it yes there's gravity there's inertia there's grip there's the muscle and the fibers and the neurons and the joints and there's a million things that I'm battling just to successfully lift a cup of coffee and take a sip and start my day and start my day that's the reality that's the reality so a person needs to know nagus there's only one thing on the entire planet there's only one thing in the universe there's only one thing in the cosmos that we don't have to battle and you know what that is everything from waking up and getting out of bed from lifting the cup of coffee from everything of our faculties working from things going on time or everything operating the way we want is a battle battle battle battle battle battle battle battle battle there's only one thing that we don't have to battle there's only one thing that has no and that is the almighty himself so you know what only faces No battles only who everything is exactly the way he wants he wills it is exactly the way he wishes for human beings for us finite mere mortals everything technically is a battle so when I live my life absent the consciousness that I need hashem's help to succeed in anything I do when I live my life with an arrogance and with an assumption that I'm not needing to battle even in some small way that I'm actually competing with Hashem I think I'm Hashem I see myself as a God as a de as I'm nipping and as infinite as if everything can happen I can control the cup of coffee I can control my spouse and children I can control my control my colleagues and employees I can control my rabbis and teachers I can control everything around me I can microman manage I can control I can exert power I will make everything fall into place the way I want the way I wish the way I demand you know what you're doing when you do that you are actually a heretic you're actually an idolator you're a pagan who's the source of your idolatry your paganism not some external statue you're worshiping yourself when you think you can micromanage and you can control and you're a dictator dictating terms to everything around you and you think that you deserve and you are entitled to live with no opposition with no Bing not making space or room for things like gravity or for things like other opinions when you live that way you are competing with Hashem you are denying or depriving Hashem you are actually a pagan idolator you're stealing and you are relating in your imagination as if you have you're acting as if you have the power of God that you don't have to face the things that other people face like aging and like mortality and like gravity and like loss and tragedy and like nature if you think you're above it and you supersede it and you control it then you are actually competing with Hashem the first admission the first concession to belief in Hashem is to realize not only that he exists but also that he is unique exclusive and singular that only for him is there no hisus only for God is there nothing that he has to face or compete or confront only for God does everything happen the way he wants for the rest of us mere mortals from when we wake up in the morning until we fall asleep at night and even through out our sleep to sleep through a night successfully which the older you get the more you don't take for granted but even while you're asleep I used to say from when you wake up till you fall asleep because I used to sleep like a baby but now I sleep like a baby up every few minutes you sleep like a baby so even while you sleep you can't take for granted you're facing opposition in hisus and it's not simple and it's not easy so a person has to know that only by the graciousness of goodness of God go I will I fall asleep will I stay asleep will I be rested from my sleep will I wake up will I be able to overcome the urge to eat the wrong thing say the wrong thing do the wrong thing will I be successful in every effort and every attempt and every initiative I take in everything I face I have potential opposition and battle and it's only with Hashem and when I arrogantly think I won't or I don't have to when I think I can control and micromanage then I have knocked out God and that's what R Schwarz is telling us is a false sense of self assurance and self-esteem and self- pride if it just means I know what I'm good at and I'm grateful to God for those gifts and now I use them to advance his interest then there's nothing wrong with it but if I think it empowers me or it leaves me in some position that I don't need him or that I won't face any opposition to what I want then it's a terrible terrible mistake so again it's so critically important to understand and to know I have inside of me two voices I have my external voice my animal voice that thinks I'm in charge I'm in control I'm entitled that sees me as battling all the things that are going on in life and that I deserve to not have to battle I should be able to micromanage and control and that is the inferior part of me that is the worst part of me that is the animal part of me but I also have inside me at Salim I also have inside me a unique and singular expression of Hashem in this world each and every one of us is a piece of him and writes and that just like a person just like a y a Jew has to have a in you also have to have a in yourself I where do I get auna in myself ends your faith God is great whose faith is God great in we have faith in God who does God have faith in he has faith in us if we woke up this morning if we can face another day then it means that Hashem has faith in us so says the ifem has faith in faith in us then we should have faith in us we should believe in ourselves and believe in our capacity and believe in our competence and believe in our future and that the best is yet to come we should never stop believing in ourselves or having faith in ourselves or being hopeful and optimistic for ourselves and for what can be why because we have aim because we have a piece of Hashem in US you see to not believe in ourselves in a sense is not to believe in him because he is inside us that is the better voice that we're meant to be listening to the voice of tellim the voice of godliness the voice that says the voice that sees the Harmony in the universe that is the voice of Hashem I saw a beautiful quote I don't know who said it I apologize I can't give it attribution the quote was every single person is a masterpiece because we're all a piece of the master every person is a masterpiece because we're all a piece of the master that's the notion you're a masterpiece believe in yourself see yourself as being able to operate and engage the world with Harmony not always with friction and contentiousness and tension and battling you are a masterpiece and how can you know that because you're a piece of the master because you're a piece of the master and so that's the tellim inside us tellim you're a piece of the master see the world with the harmony in it don't battle and don't fight Kan so it means to say what Schwarz is encouraging here is a level of mindfulness and Consciousness which is at such a high level it's really really difficult to achieve even more difficult to maintain and preserve it's really really hard it means to say that when I wake up in the morning and I'm making the cup of coffee and I think I'm in control and I'm in charge and I don't even anticipate that I have any tension in making the cup of coffee first of all to realize I do this something called gravity this something called the electricity to my Carri could go out the something called it malfunction the something called nobody refilled it with water and I have to fill it with water like I always do there's a million things that could go wrong so a person has to realize first of all that only for Hashem does nothing ever go wrong for us anything and everything could always go wrong and the fact that it won't is not because of us it's only because of the graciousness of him so that means that as I make my cup of coffee in everything I do I offer a stri I offer a little ding hasem help the cup of coffee go well Hashem I'm about to lift my cup of coffee let me not drop it let me not spill it let me not burn my mouth on it which is essentially what the is sh that everything that which is the catch or that we say it's not specific bread is fr of the fruit of the tree the vegetable all the other bras are specific this is the catch all and why do I say the catch all why don't I have a more specific one the answer is because the shahak goes not only on not only on the coffee for my first sip it's going on I didn't run out of K Cups and I have the flavors that I like I put it in the machine and it produced it worked I have a hot cup of coffee I'm able to lift it and gravity doesn't cause me to spill it I didn't burn my mouth on it Shah all of this all of this the farmer who planted the coffee beans the one who harvested it the one who ground it the one who produced it in K Cups the manufacturer the one who sent it on trucking and delivered it the one who stored it the delivery man who brought it to my house sh sh everything it's all your will Hashem there were four billion things that could have gone wrong between the coffee being growing from the ground and my taking that hot sip of coffee and it going into my mouth there were countless endless possibilities of ways it could have gone wrong and it went right and for that I say all those ways it could have gone wrong and it went right so first of all it's a level of Consciousness and mindfulness and awareness of what could go wrong don't feel entitled that everything has to go right a lot could go wrong but number two the fact that when it goes right it doesn't go right because you're in charge and you're in control okay you can be proud you remember to order the cups and you stored the cups and you bought the right cups and you plugged it in and you're careful and cautious and in the way you handle the way you do all beautiful and wonderful and take pride in your contribution but in the end of the day always remember and live with awareness that ultimately it's up to him so first know that how much could go wrong and then acknowledge that what doesn't go wrong is only because of him and therefore you're never nervous because and that seems contradictory if I'm aware of all that could go wrong won't that make me a absolute mess debilitated anxious pile of mess the answer is no cuz simultaneous to thinking about what could go wrong is trusting and recognizing with my Godly voice with the Masterpiece the piece of the master in me all that will or can go right because no matter what goes no matter how it works it is by definition right because it's from him that is our mission that is our mandate that is what a life of looks like it's the level of mindfulness to remember everything that goes into this cup of coffee Sha most people go through the flow of life without thinking without thinking Harvard psychologist found I think it was 50% of the time that we're doing something 49 something per of the time that we're doing something our mind is actually elsewhere half of the time that we're doing something we're thinking about something else so half of you have me right now streaming on your device but you're probably doing something else that's what's that's what the statistics say and that's probably why your cameras are off and I don't blame you you're multitasking or you are actually doing something else altogether I'm just joking but half the time that we're doing something we're actually doing something else we're not present we're not mindful we're not engaged we're not conscious and therefore we're literally not hearing the people around us they're speaking to us and we're only hearing them at best superficially it's not actually penetrating we're not absorbing we're not understanding we're not thinking we're not following up we're not asking it's not moving us and transforming us half of the experiences we have are only superficial they're so shallow because we're multitasking because we're not really present in anything that we're doing that is a plague of Our Generation it's the gift of Technology but the plague of Technology the fact that we're not fully mindful or present in anything that we're doing we're struggling and why is that how come 50% of the time we're not present in what we're doing because 50% of the time we're on what we call autopilot we're on autopilot I'm making my cup of coffee on autopilot I'm driving to the store on autopilot I'm even talking you're listening to you I'm exercising on autopilot I'm cooking on autopilot I'm doing all that I'm doing on autopilot and we're so proud of our autopilot as if it's an achievement and to a certain degree it is however it's also robbing us of our presence of our mindfulness of our Consciousness it's robbing us of our relationships of our experiences it's robbing us on our opportun ities in our transformation so for most people we think I'm an autopilot face opposition when washing the dishes opposition when driving to the store facing his nagus opposition when I'm lifting my cup of coffee what are you talking about what in the world are you talking about I'm on autopilot not only am I not facing obstacles or opposition I'm not even thinking about it I'm on total autopilot while I'm I'm doing it but that's a mistake it's a terrible mistake so what is the autopilot Loosely translate too I'm on autopilot means I'm on auto I'm on trusting in me I'm on thinking I have it handled I'm on thinking that I'm in control I'm on thinking that it's all up to me that I'm entitled to it going the way I want that's what autopilot Loosely translates to I'm in control it's all up to me I've got it covered I'm in to it happening the way I want that's essentially what I'm saying when I say autopilot so what happens only when you can't go on autopilot is when you start to turn your faith in Hashem a loved one is waiting for a diagnosis a lab report a loved one we ding that they have a full recovery that they get better and there you say well I'm not even in the hospital room I don't control the machine I don't do the surgery not only not on autopilot I'm not a pilot I'm not on auto I'm not on anything that's when we recognize first that there's opposition but you know there's as much tension and opposition and possibility of things going wrong in my making my cup of coffee as there is in my loved one undergoing surgery it's one I think I can control and the other I acknowledge and concede I can't Mission and our mandate is to realize that the success of the outcome of my kala or the success of my drinking the cup of coffee the success of my driving unscathed to the store is no more a given and the outcome is just as complicated as going under the knife for a serious surgery again not so that you become panicked and debilitated and anxious but the opposite so that we realize all of the goodness that we have to rely on that we recognize to trust and to rely that the fact that we can lean on him is the source of comfort in our life that we need what are the word means of heavens of hasema means the help the support of Hashem I need to make a cup of coffee to make breakfast to get dressed to go to work we need to successfully accomplish achieve anything and everything in our lives and that's what it means to live a life of it's not just to see him when you need him but to see him even or especially when you think you don't even when you think you've got it covered and you're on autopilot to recognize you can never as long as you're fallible and human as long as you're finite and limited you are never an autopilot and we always need him it's a level of Consciousness we can strive for together it's a level of mindfulness that we could achieve to see the that's what we learned learned the said this on the par a few weeks ago the idea of a Jew says and and and we use that language again not not not not casually or callously we use the language hopefully mindfully when we say be hasem oh I'll meet you there at this time with hashem's help with God's help why are we saying that because we're trying to remind ourselves that even that which we think is a given are we taken for granted it's only with God's help oh are you getting up off the couch with God's help could you bring me a cup of coffee with God's help what time will you be with God's help everything is with God's help even that which we think is so simple so insignificant it's all with God's help and again if there's anyone who can appreciate how it's all with God's help I sometimes feel like we're living the plagues one by one these days between this Corona virus and the pandemic we didn't expect and then Friday this incredible storm that nobody saw coming and the aftermath that left in its way yesterday a beloved family our Community experienced a tragedy their house literally burned to the ground thank God no one was in it and everyone is safe but all their belongings with the exception of a safer Toto that was housed in their home in the safer Torah is in perfect condition the fire didn't touch it and not one drop of water of the fire department putting out the fire touched it inexplicably the safer Torah is in perfect condition though I'm very cautious in celebrating that fact because they lost all of their possessions but each day you don't know what it's going to bring so anyone who thinks arrogantly that I can be confident and I can take for for granted that tomorrow will be like today hasn't lived yesterday and the day before because one thing we're learning in our time is the humility of realizing the absolute humility of realizing that I never know what's going to be and there's nothing I can take for granted and therefore only by the graciousness of God go I continue continue to shower Your Love Hashem you are our shepherd shepherd us through whatever we go through May we never be lacking or missing or deficient in our recognition that Hashem that you are my shepherd and whatever we go through M even if a person's house burns to the ground or we go through loss may you be what we lean on and may that be a source of comfort to us tonight at 9 o'clock behind the beima Dr Jerome grman amazing guest you don't want to miss it behind the Bea if you're watching on YouTube please take a moment to subscribe to our YouTube channel wishing everyone a happy healthy and a holy and wonderful day