Looking out for Number One!!
“Looking out for Number One” What does that mean to us? It sounds like it means “If I am not for me, who will be for me?” which is very good advice and totally true. It is the nuances of this which must be scrutinized, for the good advice is made more complicated by the spiritual reality that we are not just bodies here in this world for a temporary time and that we have to look out for ourselves here alone. The complication is that we are souls that temporarily have bodies and that yes, we have to make our way through this world, but if that is all we do, we will have FAILED to be there for ourselves during the short journey of our soul’s expedition to this world. Our sense of responsibility to our souls must become our primary concern, for otherwise, our eternity will be quite unhappy.
We can go about our daily lives in many ways. We can be honest, we can be hard working, we can be loving – and we can say “this is what I stand for, these are my values, to be a good person.” In the end, we will not have adequately been there for ourselves. Why? Because “Looking out for Number One means looking out for the Creator of the world, from the perspective that we comprehend that we have no separate existence from the Creator and that our responsibility at all times is to bring out the aspect of the Divine image within us. And no, one of the very first things we learn is that we can’t secretly take the soul that Hashem gives us and use the power that He enfuses our intelligence and life force with and think we can be successful in bringing harm to other Jews. Hashem may grant us success; however, we must understand something very fundamental.
Unless we comprehend that we have no separate existence from Hashem, we are believing something that is NOT TRUE. If we believe the illusion that free will gives us that we are independent of Hashem and that we are here on our own and have to take care of matters in whatever way we feel is just and right to protect ourselves and accomplish our goals, no matter if it means being offensive or causing pain to others because we judge that it is deserved, chances are very great that we have merely looked into a mirror and created the very negative spiritual energy that we fear which caused us to act in the first place. Yes. We are living in a world that is a mirror to our worst nightmares. Our bodies are constantly scanning for our safety, attempting to determine the best route to our success. There is one major flaw that we can make, and that is to overlook that we are never here by ourselves.
When we scan, and should we come up with a fear of a situation or a person, our lower self then proceeds to give us very good advise about how to make sure that we are protected and taken care of, that no one should hurt or harm us. That my friends is the voice of the yetzer hara – who sounds like our best friend and advisor. What is more, when we consult others, we often get the best advise on how to implement the plans of the yetzer hara in societally correct ways. It may be legal, we may step on toes, it may actually appear to succeed, placing the object of desire or the outcome we hope for in our hands. Happy? We should not be. Why? Because we failed to take responsibility to look out for number one – anything that we did that did not look out for the Will of Hashem created negative energy that will resonate within our hearts and lives bearing consequences that we did not anticipate.
Thinking things that aren’t true and acting upon them as if they are true is a very serious psychological impediment. The fundamental thing that is not true for each and every person is that we have independent existence from Hashem. This untruth must be the constant focus of our mind in order to remain mentally healthy and attached to reality.
Reality is that all there is in the world is the simple truth of Hashem’s existence. He has created many worlds, many creatures, both physical and spiritual, far beyond our comprehension. We cannot comprehend the creation as Hashem made it. That is beyond our reach. But we CAN comprehend that looking out for Number One is what we are here to do. This world is the pathway to the next world and our sense of personal responsibility must be broad enough to include that basic reality.
Charlie Harary explains how this basic reality comes into play in every day life and how, if we have not yet embarked upon a pathway to bring this reality into our lives, it is time to start. Please visit www.connect-direct-now.com to see what Charlie Harary has to say and to find Jewish pathways to begin this journey. Highly recommended for meditation and inward examination is Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller’s Duties of the Heart
Categories: Ahavas Hashem, G-d-Consciousness, Ego
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