Questions For the Rabbi

Q: What is meant when they say God is the light?

R: It means that without God we cannot see the world.

Q: You mean without God we are in the dark morally-speaking?

R: No, we are literally in the dark. The world cannot be fully seen or experienced for its wonder. Like a flower that cannot be seen with all its colours. Like honey that cannot be tasted for all its sweetness. How can one fully experience creation without acknowledging the presence of the creator?

Q: But people say creation is a process of evolution, through cause and effect. What do people mean when they talk about cause and effect?

R: It means they don’t understand anything.

Q: Why? Isn't everything we know a result of cause and effect?

R: No. Everything has many causes and many effects. If you ask me to show you a desert and I place a single grain of sand in your palm, or even a scoop of sand, have I shown you the desert?

Q: Of course not.

R: It's the same as telling you I can describe the universe by cause and effect. It misses the essential part, and tricks you into believing everything is explainable. A single event at a single moment of time cannot be explained without understanding that it was given birth by everything that exists in the universe. Everything at every moment is composed of the entire universe. It is also what we mean when we say God is everywhere.

Q: If God is everywhere all the time, is God responsible for the bad things that happen?

R: There are no 'bad' things. Just as there are no 'good' things. 

Q: Surely tragedies befall people?

R: The only tragedy is to live in a world defined by 'good' and 'bad'. 

Q: You mean there is no such thing as misfortune?

R: There is only expectation. What we don't expect we call misfortune. What we expect we call fortune. Expectation comes from not living fully in the present moment. Expectation comes from believing that the past indicates the future, and the past and future are real. They are not. 

Q: What then is our purpose?

R: To live in the present as fully as you can.

Q: Are you saying that there is no higher purpose to life?

R: The pursuit of a higher purpose, only serves to take your mind away from living in the reality of the present moment, which is the essence of life. 

Q: It all seems so arbitrary and meaningless.

R: If you say so.