Riots. Rockets. Fires. Constant reports of escalating violence.
Can we make a difference by praying “for” peace?
Gregg Braden explains that we should rather pray peace “onto” the affected areas, and leaves little doubt as to the potential effectiveness of this kind of prayer.
Connecting everything, YouTube then suggested watching this video:
That got me thinking. Creation is fractal: the same functional principles apply to the micro- and macrocosm. It’s just a question how far we’re able to zoom in and out in order to appreciate this. Researchers used to say that quantum physics “defied” the laws of physics as observed in the macro universe, but now we learn that this is only due to a lack of understanding of the processes involved.
It is not far-fetched to apply the principles of this experiment so excellently presented by Veritasimum above, to the soul of humanity: we all generate ripples around us by our thoughts, words and actions. And it’s all entangled. At the big bang, the moment HaShem opened his mouth to utter the first words, יהי אור, just as the first breath was to come over His lips¹, everything was in one place. Since then, the universe is expanding. (Into what? אין סוף - different topic, though related. as everything.) All separation is just a bubble generating the illusion of space and matter. It may be hard to transmit a clear thought via telepathy, but our thoughts are influencing the world around us, because of the entanglement. How much more our words and actions!
There is a constant infinite energy all around us. In the experiment this is the speaker that drives the whole process by the power of sound. Our Creator spoke the world into existence, and this is a speech that never stops. If HaShem were to stop speaking for just one instant, the creation would immediately revert to the state of non-existence, as if it had never been². The sounds is always on. Some people are apparently more in tune with those frequencies than others, but the blessing of creation is constantly raining down on us (or traversing us, or however you want to visualize it).
The impact we have on our surroundings can be small, but even if we remain static, we generate ripples. We can also learn to let ourselves be propelled by our own ripples. This requires a fine sense of balance, like surfing. As we float through life, we leave a trail of influence, creating a pattern that, in the best case, forms a beautifully symmetrical shape and harmonizes with many other bouncy balls. In the worst of cases, we fall back onto the path we came from and cancel out the pattern we created so far (as Derek, the gentleman behind Veritasimum, mentions at the very end of the video). Teshuva, repentance, becomes very concrete then: if we take some wrong turns, we end up undoing the good we achieved so far, and missing out on the good we have the potential to generate. Yes we have that power.
The hurt and injustice we receive from other bouncy balls, from the substrate, or even from the speaker can make us bitter, and we can turn into a black hole, a funnel that sucks up other droplets into our vortex of resentment. In the case of the speaker, we may perceive that “fate” is blowing us into circumstances we do not desire. Yet there are no hurtful or unjust sound waves. This is where the metaphor breaks down a little bit: yes sound can be too loud and damaging to our hearing, but HaShem’s creational energy is never overbearing, never out of tune, never wrong. It is us often not being able to resonate with this blessing adequately.
Our task in this life is to do Tikkun, to help repair and restore. As in the famous quote by the upbeat Zig Ziglar: “it’s not how far you fall, but how high you bounce that counts.” All particles resound in their own unique way. If we feel out of place or disaligned from purpose, we need to start tuning into our Creator’s sound waves.
To me, learning Hebrew plays a big part.
Happy bouncing!
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Notes
- On using body parts for HaShem, see this excellent video of Manis Friedman.
- So explained in שער היחוד והאמונה (“The Gate of Unity and Faith”), the second part of the Tanya written by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Several teaching series are available on YouTube, I went through this one with Rabbi Tzvi Kilov and can recommend it warmly - mind-blows and worldview changes guaranteed.