Ki Tisa

As human beings we seek calmness and harmony in our lives.

Everything we do is guided by this profound inner quest for peace.

Life however presents a multitude of challenges which constantly undermine our ability to achieve this tranquility.

In truth, both of these seemingly contradictory forces are the embodiment of what constitutes life.

The mystics refer to this tension as the intersection between “Transcendence”and “Decadency”.

Or in other words, between the “infinite” and “finite” forces which are both embedded in G-dliness.

In simple terms our purpose in life is to synthesize these contradicting forces into one.

We can do so by trying to discover the unifying principle within the disparate parts.

This is the story of our lives each and every day. Indeed, every moment.

We start each day with specific tasks in mind, both regarding our personal and professional needs.

But as we know, things rarely go according to plan.

We are confronted by events which are not what we expect.

People with whom we have to deal with at work, or socially may not always see eye to eye with us.

We would rather a simpler method of solving a problem. We don’t enjoy being challenged to do things differently to the way we anticipated.

However, there are greater things at stake.

In order to reveal a deeper harmonious state,

there must first certainly be a thorough dissection of the parts.

Just as with the intellectual process, one can only gain genuine clarity of an idea after a lengthy analytical exercise.

However life is an infinite journey.

This means that each time we achieve relative harmony in our lives, we are going to be challenged to dig ever deeper.

The sequence is as follows:

First there is a great desire for transcendence, which comes because of a more powerful light that enters our lives.

This brighter light also reveals fragmentation in our lives, of which we were previously unaware.

Sometimes to the point of causing great disruption and anxiety in our lives.

But all of this is only so that we will discover deeper levels of tranquility, which reveals a unity that can only come out of a true diversity.