Kabbalah of positive thinking and success
Once a person feels secure in his or her own skin, failure is no longer a major threat and they are left unencumbered to think and feel totally positive
The thesis of the book is simple: Through positive speech and thought one attracts good things to oneself. The author states that three words should be eliminated from conversation: No, don’t and not. Since encountering this book I have shared its ideas with numerous people and all of them have found this simple concept enlightening. However what fascinates me most is that the concept of positive thinking is not at all new.
The great Kabbalists have long said that positive thoughts attract positive realities and consequences. Many people think that this is some type of nicety which has no basis in everyday life. However that could not be further from the truth. Positive thinking is key to a successful life in all areas. The question however is how one actually achieves it.
Waking up in the morning to a negative feeling is hard to change. One may be able to push the negative thoughts away and replace them temporarily with positive ones. Or instead of using the negative tense of for example, "I do not want X to happen" one can say it in the affirmative, "I want Y to happen" – a suggestion the author of the above mentioned book gives. However deep down the negative feeling remains and it is this that really needs to be changed because it is out of that deep-seated pessimism that all negativity grows.
Relating to oneself on a soul level
The solution is in fact rather simple but demands dedication to carry out. Once one has mastered this technique positive thinking becomes effortless. The trick is to realize that one is complete without outer measures of success. To do this one must be authentic with oneself. This means relating to oneself on a soul level.
Most of us measure our success and failures against our outer achievements and those of other people. In fact this is futile because the true extent of success is deeply personal and in this area no two people are alike. However to be truly cognizant of this one must be connected on an inner level. This involves peeling away all the externalities, all the barriers that we build around ourselves and seeing ourselves for what we really are—a complete individual with no need for outside recognition to make us whole.
At this soul level we are complete by virtue of the fact that we exist. This is the process the Kabbalists go through to see the true reality of the universe. One can see the world on the external artificial level where all that counts is the material or we can peel away the external and stare directly at the divine energy that keeps all things in existence. When this is done, because there is nothing loftier than the divine itself, the material loses its relevance.
A person who sees themselves and the universe on this soul level becomes relaxed with their place in life. The external measurements of success are seen as irrelevant and negative thoughts and the fear of failure become subverted. Once a person feels secure in his or her own skin, failure is no longer a major threat and they are left unencumbered to think and feel totally positive.
The benefits of this strategy are thus twofold. First life becomes more relaxed and second, the more positive and optimistic outlook actually attracts the good things the person really wants from life.
Ancient wisdom is constantly being repackaged and sold to contemporary audiences in different ways. The despite the odds success of this self-published book tells us that real wisdom is timeless and always relevant. It is a shame that more people don’t look for it where it is found in its most pristine state - in the Torah and its mystical teachings.
Rabbi Levi Brackman is executive director of Judaism in the Foothills and the author of numerous articles on a whole range of topics and issues, many of which can be found on his website
