Admor of Malta http://admorofmalta.org The official home of the Admor of Malta Thu, 23 Aug 2018 21:48:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.10 What does jealousy tell you? http://admorofmalta.org/what-does-jealousy-tell-you/ Tue, 24 Nov 2015 12:47:18 +0000 http://admorofmalta.org/?p=7070 Jealousy is the shadow in the soul that resides where there is love, attraction or attachment to a person, or an object we would like to call our own.

But my first challenge to you is, can you actually claim anyone or anything your own? Are you yourself your own person or are you just a channel through which Life unfolds into a thing of beauty? And what about your children? Are they not the same?

And what are possessions if not means to honour our living by offering wellbeing? But wellbeing is within us anyway; we just need to be aware of it and keep in touch with it. Any attachment to an external possession is a tool to turn us into slaves, robbing us of our very own and pure source of love and joy.

Jealousy is a force of gravity present in all humankind. But not every person decides or is free to allow it the same place in their life. Despite the negative connotations we may have about jealousy, there is a reason why it resides in our souls. It measures the value we hold for another person or desire. Handled with consciousness, isn’t that enough motivation to work toward achieving what we want and ensuring we act in the best practice to keep that what we desire?

The maneuver here is not to turn that motivation into a cage, where our self, our soul, our freedom are sacrificed to hold on to what we have made into a need without which we cannot live in peace. Like harmony, jealousy needs balance to give us what we need and the weight that balances its force is the strength to be brave and let go. At the end, will not that what is ours come back to us? If it doesn’t, it never was and it is not worth investing our energies on someone, or something that does not appreciate the value of our love.

In its pure form, jealousy protects us from exposing our loved ones to the greed of others who may not share the same amount of love for the person or object we love. It is the gauge that keeps us on our toes to ensure we give our loved one/s the sense of trust and confidence that ensure loyalty.

Take a child. Children are born jealous of their parents and instinctively they wouldn’t want to share them as they want to have all their love and attention... ]]>

It’s spring; a time to acknowledge the shadows of emotions and transform the stress they bring to the soul into a bright Light that guides us to live peacefully and harmoniously.

Jealousy is the shadow in the soul that resides where there is love, attraction or attachment to a person, or an object we would like to call our own.

But my first challenge to you is, can you actually claim anyone or anything your own? Are you yourself your own person or are you just a channel through which Life unfolds into a thing of beauty? And what about your children? Are they not the same?

And what are possessions if not means to honour our living by offering wellbeing? But wellbeing is within us anyway; we just need to be aware of it and keep in touch with it. Any attachment to an external possession is a tool to turn us into slaves, robbing us of our very own and pure source of love and joy.

Jealousy is a force of gravity present in all humankind. But not every person decides or is free to allow it the same place in their life. Despite the negative connotations we may have about jealousy, there is a reason why it resides in our souls. It measures the value we hold for another person or desire. Handled with consciousness, isn’t that enough motivation to work toward achieving what we want and ensuring we act in the best practice to keep that what we desire?

The manoeuvre here is not to turn that motivation into a cage, where our self, our soul, our freedom are sacrificed to hold on to what we have made into a need without which we cannot live in peace. Like harmony, jealousy needs balance to give us what we need and the weight that balances its force is the strength to be brave and let go. At the end, will not that what is ours come back to us? If it doesn’t, it never was and it is not worth investing our energies on someone, or something that does not appreciate the value of our love.

In its pure form, jealousy protects us from exposing our loved ones to the greed of others who may not share the same amount of love for the person or object we love. It is the gauge that keeps us on our toes to ensure we give our loved one/s the sense of trust and confidence that ensure loyalty.

Take a child. Children are born jealous of their parents and instinctively they wouldn’t want to share them as they want to have all their love and attention. It is a parent’s difficult task to develop this strong emotion in the child into trust and confidence – a knowledge that sits deep in the soul of the child that even when the parent is engaged in another activity with another human being, their offspring is and remains their priority until death does them part. When this beautiful transformation happens, jealousy has not been eradicated; it has been channelled and tamed by a stronger feeling of trust. Jealousy is still there, but it is managed and contained in a soul that feels comfort in unconditional love and respect towards the obligation between the two people.

In less ideal situations, individuals feel eaten by jealousy. To make corrections to this shadow, you need to rise above it. The solution is love. Expose yourself to love where it touches your heart and gives you warmth. That is what melts jealousy. And love has to be unconditional because only that pure love has the power to support you to let go of the pain of possession and feel the peace in the freedom of emotions stirred by attachments.

What is important to remember is that jealousy is a shadow and if you concentrate your energies on that negativity you lose sight of Light. Once you operate from the shadow, you are bound to attract more threatening darkness, increasing the potency of jealousy. In moments like these, you need to reflect and go within; search your Light within you and above you and focus on that power; that deactivates jealousy.

While jealousy is the other side of love, envy is the need to possess. However, while ambition is a drive to help us move forward toward higher achievements, envy comes from a space of lack. It also transmits a lack of appreciation and gratitude for what we have. When we concentrate on someone else’s possession and feel the negative nudge that what they have is more than what we have, we first of all fail to see the beauty of that object of desire for what it is, in its full glory. Furthermore, we are giving the message to our soul that who we are and what we have is not good and is not enough. That is very painful for the soul and applies the law of attraction in reverse – rather than attracting love and abundance, you attract a feeling of inadequacy, insecurity and inferiority. That is a dishonour to the self and disrespect to the very life that created us.

That is why it is so crucial to keep jealousy in check and the moment it surfaces, you throw Light on feeling gratitude for life and love. What you have is what you need. Being thankful for that radiates an attraction that brings you more abundance in your life.

On a practical level, if you are jealous of your partner, do not act on it by restricting their movements unless they are being unfaithful. In that case you need to turn away rather than hold on. Focus on the other sources of love in your life and feel its warmth. Embrace the energy of your family, your friends, any satisfaction you achieve through work or other activities that give you pleasure and consciously let go of that nagging feeling of doubt which is associated with jealousy. You are your number one; treat yourself like that. If you let yourself be overcome by the force of jealousy, be aware that it has the power to destroy you, your values, your sanity, your reason, your harmony. And these are your obligations and duties, towards yourself, in gratitude towards the life that created you. Out of respect for that, you have no permission to give these values away to jealousy or to someone who plays around with them. Let go.

Understanding jealousy is understanding also what it tries to achieve. It is the desire to control. It is the desires to have, irrespective where it is coming from. That idea of having someone, something, at all costs is very dangerous. It defies morals which are the boundaries that protect us. Is it ok to desire a man, or a woman, who is already in a relationship? If the person is unhappy in their relationship, rise above jealousy and allow them the space to let themselves free so that your love is received from a free heart, with no fear or guilt.

But if the person shows no sign of unhappiness but just some excitement of having something new in their life, then you do not belong there to offer your love. You are setting yourself up to disappointment, jealousy for someone who cannot be yours and there is no space for your love to be number one. You generate hate and sadness for being in this blind spot. You hate what hinders you to achieve what you want and that hate keeps you away from seeing the opportunities that can actually make you happy. And the soul is trapped and suffers.

There comes your strength. Look beyond and see the beauty. Open yourself up to the people who can receive your love and appreciate what you have to give.

What jealousy indicates is that you want someone, or something. For you, that desire is important and makes your soul excited. It encourages you to invest in that desire and you are willing to invest your greatest asset – love. If all this positive energy somehow turns into a painful emotion which darkens the soul, then even there jealousy is telling you something – you are not loving yourself enough to secure peace in your heart. Your first obligation is towards your heart and it demands your protection. That is the first port of your energy. Take care of that first and if it is of benefit to you, love and desire will come to you freely, unconditionally and effortlessly. But it requires courage to step back from desire and take the energy out of jealousy. If you stay in the middle, it is ammunition for war, between souls, with negative forces pulling their weight. It is a recipe for pain. And the heart and soul are the casualties.

The universe is our best example. Trees live in harmony next to each other. They are not jealous of each other, even if one is taller than the other. To grow they need to receive their own light and have their own space to expand and complete their life cycle. In the same soil you can actually have a flower growing next to a big tree. They’re both beautiful in their own right. And they are not jealous; just growing peacefully so long as they have soil, light and water. And they are wide open to receive these elements; they do not shut themselves down from this wellbeing to concentrate on other trees or flowers and let themselves feel miserable as they do not get the attention or feel less beautiful. On the other hand, because they are happy to live, they do not hurt each other, they give a nice smell and they are a pleasure to anyone in their presence.

Distance is important. Distance creates balance in life. Sometimes, when you are overwhelmed with jealousy, you only need to resort to the simple and what is so basically beautiful in life to find the balance, peace and joy. That simple form of energy will bring to you offerings that you never imagined existed.

Let us take another scenario. Sometimes you love a woman so much you want to keep her only to yourself. You want no one to see her as she is so beautiful someone might steal her away. This is your imagination and it can have the power to destroy you. If she wants to be unfaithful she will find a way.

So what can you do? You look after her, give her a place where to live, buy her clothes and make love to her to keep her happy. Give her attention, communicate and share your feelings. These seeds of love need to be planted every day, making the time to take care of your woman, speaking to her. This creates trust. She can be very beautiful but she will never betray you. But if you fail in these duties, you are allowing the space for another man to do what you are failing to do. Will you then be jealous of this competition? 

Comparing your abilities to those of other people is a recipe for suffering, frustration and failure. Your duty is not to outdo the person but to dedicate your love and passion to do things well in your own time. If someone is doing something better and you feel jealousy nipping you, it is telling you something. It is encouraging you to push gently your limits to improve on what you’re doing. That is healthy. That is channelling jealousy in the right direction for your own self-development which will ultimately benefit humankind. This is not about money. It goes beyond. Once this high level is achieved, money is bound to follow.

Along the way, love the love you love. This is a way how not to expect anything in return. But you need to understand that when you give, even if you do not expect, you will receive, not necessarily the same thing from the same source. The same argument goes about honouring a love for something, without necessarily receiving the same love back. If I love a flower for its beauty, its smell, its colour, does it have to love me back to enjoy it? But I allow myself the pleasure to appreciate that flower. The unconditional love exchanged between us will manifest with other people who sense my happiness and fulfilment. That will allow me to receive their love and gratitude for being the happy person I am.

So I invite you to let go of jealousy and look within yourself and open yourself to life. Feel gratitude for what you have and open yourself to what is attracted to you. That makes you complete. You don’t need to envy the grass of your neighbour to realise yours is green too. Look after it, honour it, feel the love for it and it will only attract what you do not even know you want.

Be Blessed,

With Love and Light.

The Admor

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Josanne Cassar – Palazzo Parisio Event (27/11/2014) http://admorofmalta.org/josanne-cassar/ Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:27:46 +0000 http://admorofmalta.org/?p=7361

Josanne Cassar

Spiritual leaders, followers, gather in Malta for Admor event

“The Admor is hosting over 90 distinguished guests – from scholars, to spiritual leaders, diplomats, former heads of state, professionals and other international authorities – who will travel from all the continents to receive the latest teachings in universal spirituality.

The Admor is the Chief Rabbi of Malta, a world renowned spiritual leader and a scholar of Jewish Kaballah…”

Read more…

View Josanne Cassar article here
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Malta Today – Palazzo Parisio Event (30/11/2014) http://admorofmalta.org/malta-today/ Wed, 18 Nov 2015 17:01:09 +0000 http://admorofmalta.org/?p=7351

Malta Today

Spiritual leaders, followers, gather in Malta for Admor event

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Times of Malta – Palazzo Parisio Event (30/11/2014) http://admorofmalta.org/palazzo-parisio/ Wed, 18 Nov 2015 16:12:52 +0000 http://admorofmalta.org/?p=7344

Times of Malta

(Sunday edition and Online)

“University rector Aurelio Tommassetti presenting an award to The Admor for a speech given on ethics and finance at the University of Salerno, Italy.

The Admor is hosting over 90 distinguished guests – from scholars to spiritual leaders, diplomats, former heads of state, professionals and other international authorities – who will travel from all continents to receive the latest teachings in universal spirituality.”

Read more…

View Times of Malta article here
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Torca – Platt Ross U Fjura – A Plate of Rice and Flower (04/04/2015) http://admorofmalta.org/a-plate-of-rice-and-flower/ Wed, 18 Nov 2015 15:17:59 +0000 http://admorofmalta.org/?p=7328

A Plate of Rice and Flower

The Jewish Spiritual leader who made Malta Home

The Admor - a plate of rice and flower

The Jewish Spiritual leader who made Malta home

In the 13th Century the Jewish Kabbalist and mystic Rabbi Abraham ben Shmuel Abulafia was known for his eccentricity. He dreamt amongst other things, to eradicate the differences between Judaism, Christianity and Islam. He therefore, decided to travel to Rome, to meet Pope Nicholas III to present his idea to him. The Pope was outside Rome at the time, however, on hearing that Abulafia was approaching the eternal city, he decided to have him burned alive. However, the head of the Church had a stroke and died suddenly before his plan was put into action and Abulafia proceeded to Sicily.  He was exiled from Sicily and he came to Malta where he lived in a cave on Comino till the end of his days. It is said that here he wrote the book Sefer ha – Ot (the book of The Signal) as well as his last book, and probably the one which is easiest to understand,  Iner Shafer (Words of Beauty). According to Maltese legend the hermit San Kerrew, who had to leave the cave he was living in, in Wied l-Ghasel, in Mosta because of the wicked ways of the people, would often cross the sea from the mainland to the island of Comino, where he made friends with Abulafia.

Six years ago, an old Jewish spiritual leader who is also a Kabbalist, who is a descendant of the Prophet Aron, Moses’s brother, came to Malta. The story of Abulafia is close to his heart, both because of Kabbalah and also because of the link to Malta. He was born in Jerusalem and he has studied Jewish mysticism and Kabbalah. Admor, Dov Beer Riger Ha Cohen, who is known as the ‘Admor of Malta’, is a very charismatic leader and has light blue eyes which connect intensely to you.  In Hebrew, the honorific title Admor is an abbreviation of the phrase, Adoneinu (our master),  Moreinu (our teacher) VeRabbeinu (and our Rabbi), and it is passed on from one generation to the next. The Admor of Malta, also has the title of ‘The High Priest of God’ and he has set up The United Order of Light, of which he is grandmaster. This Order is an international organization, made up of individuals from different religions and different professions: Science, Academia, Economy and finance amongst others. The declared aim of the Order is for people of different faiths to unite together in the knowledge of the existence of God and to be witnesses of the light of the presence of God, instead of wasting their energy in wars and on the destruction of mankind, when we should be brothers.

If you see the Admor pass by, you cannot help but notice him, as he will be dressed in beautiful ceremonial clothes. His apartment is tastefully designed and is testament to the inheritance his ancestors left him. However, he also uses his money to travel the world to listen to people and bless them in God’s name. Many say that he has cured them of an illness or helped them to change their life for the better. When he is in Malta, he constantly meets up with people. Moreover, one can ask him for a blessing through his internet site (www.admorofmalta.org) however, if you approach Admor for a blessing do not offer to pay him as this would be offensive to him as everything he does is done unconditionally and he will refuse payment for the work he does.

Malta: a Holy Land

The Admor strongly believes that Malta was and is ‘a holy land’ which is full of positive energy. “I feel at home in Malta. If I wish to I can live in any country in the world, but as soon as I spend more than a day away from Malta, I begin to miss it,” Admor told ‘It-Torca’. He told us the strange story of how he ended up amongst us without having planned it, and then decided to stay here. He was visiting Andalusia in Spain, and he had to fly to Jerusalem from there, for the Passover feast. He took a car to the airport. “The flight was at six, and I got to the airport at four “, he remembers. “But the terminal was practically empty. When I asked, they told me, that the flight had left at six o’clock that morning. I had thought the flight was at 6:00pm!” So he headed to Gibraltar, where there is a holy Jewish community which could welcome him.  After a few days there, he went back to Spain, and then flew to Frankfurt, planning to get another flight to Jerusalem. When he was at the airport, however, Malta’s name kept on coming up on the screen repeatedly and this left an impression on  Admor. He decided that once the Passover had passed after all, he was in no hurry to return to Jerusalem so he bought a flight ticket to Malta and that was the start of the Malta Chapter in his life.

After Jerusalem, Malta is the best place to serve as a “triangle of faith “

“I did not choose Malta, Malta chose me”, the Admor says. “It attracted me to it like a magnet. Malta is a receptacle of energy, and this was already felt even seven thousand years ago or more, when they built the megalithic temples, even before the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids. Malta is a holy land. Yet, its holiness comes from the energy which the land gives and not the people. However, because the land is so special, the Maltese have taken energy from it. That is why despite their defects, which after all, all people have, the Maltese are so kind-hearted and generous with people in need”.

In this context, the Admor is convinced, that after Jerusalem, with our Christian, Muslim, and Jewish history, and with our geographical position, in the crossroads between Continental Europe (Christianity), North Africa (Islam) and Israel (Judaism), Malta is the ideal place to serve as a “triangle of faith ” for the three monotheistic religions. The Admor said that discussions have begun, through Richard England, with the Ministry for Gozo, about the possibility of a building in Gozo being used for this aim. He also wishes to encourage discussion on Comino becoming a pilgrimage site for Jews who would like to follow in the steps of Abulafia.

We all come from the same tree

The Admor insists that every religion is good, and the religion one follows often, mainly depends on the place and family one is born in. “One is born in a culture and raised in the traditional religion of the culture. Yet we all come from the same tree. God is one and he is above individual religions. When we pray, all of us communicate with the light of the same God. Naturally in all religions, there are people who follow the teachings of their religion and others who only give lip service to their religion, if they don’t actually go against the teaching of their religion.”

The creation of something beautiful is praise to God

The Admor insists that even though he is Jewish, he welcomes everyone. He says that his mission is to show light and heal people in the name of God. “When someone approaches me I see and feel what there is inside him. There are sick people who have been healed while others ask for my advice. Often people want to pay me, however God does not allow us to accept money for that which cannot be bought with money. A priest who does not bless others will not be blessed by God. Spiritual work must be performed only through conditional love, which does not accept anything in return. I work all the time, I see people all the time and I find satisfaction in seeing that people are happy. Whether people are rich or poor does not make a difference to God and neither to me.”

Poverty and Spirituality

We had a discussion about how, often, our culture associates spiritually with poverty, and whether therefore, the fact that the Admor comes across as being rich and loving comfort, conflicts with his spiritual mission:  “Do the Maltese see me as a good man, an eccentric man, a rich man? I don’t bother about what people say. In the end, it is what God thinks that counts. I am not in Malta to ‘market’ myself or to look good, I just want to help people “.

“I do this both on an individual level, but also in a wider sphere, by organizing events, where I give people the opportunity to meet each other. I hold these events in beautiful places and I love to see people getting to know each other and establishing respect towards each other. I do not make a difference between people of different religions and between the well established people and the not so well established people “.

The Admor believes that he shouldn’t be fake and act as if he is poor to convince people that he is a spiritual man. At the same time he is a firm believer in the value of beauty as a way to praise God and attract people towards Him. That is why he remarked, our ancestors decorated the churches, synagogues and mosques with the most beautiful art, gold and precious stones, even if to do so they had to make sacrifices and do without other things themselves. Moreover, it is for the same reason that spiritual leaders, such as Cardinals and bishops dress in fine ceremonial clothes. They do not do this to look beautiful themselves, but so that through their clothes they will praise God, as it is God that they represent on this earth.

We are forgetting life is a gift. We are forgetting to be grateful for this gift

“Are Catholic Cardinals bad people because they wear beautifully colored clothes as required by tradition?” the Admor asks. “Will they only be good people if they go to live in a cave and eat bread and water? My Spirituality (holiness/sanctity) comes from within “.

“It is important to appreciate beauty and not associate it with evil. When a person creates beautiful things – art, buildings, clothes, and others – he will be using the talent God gave him well. The creation of something beautiful is praise to God”.

He explains the above through a parable about a young Japanese girl, who, a long time ago, from the window of her home, would daily see a man who worked very hard all day long. At the end of the day he was paid for his day’s labour and would use half of it to buy a plate of rice and the other half to buy a flower. This went on for a long time, until the girl gave into curiosity, and she went up to the man and asked him: “My father, wouldn’t it be wiser to buy two plates of rice with your wages instead of one?”  The man replied immediately:  “My daughter I buy the plate of rice to live… and I buy the flower to have a reason to live”.

Unconditional Love

Two of the themes that the Admor loves preaching about the most are the beauty of the miracle of life and unconditional love:  “People do not love enough. We need to love and we also need to love, love. True love does not impose any conditions. I see a beautiful flower in the garden and I love it. Will that flower love me back? I don’t know. Does that mean that I cannot love it? The flower opens to light, to the sun. Man must do the same, he must open him to light, to love. We forget that life is a present. We forget to be grateful for this present. We love ourselves in the past or worry about the future, and forget to live the beauty of the present moment. We are relying less on providence and are putting all responsibility on ourselves. How can one explain how in the recent past, when there was so much poverty, a mother would have ten children, yet in some way she would manage to feed them and raise them as men and women, while today, with money, technology, and all the opportunities we have, ironically we hardly manage to raise one child?”

The Admor believes that loving each other is the cure for more love to reign in the world and for there to be less hatred, suffering and pain: “There are many children in the world who are dying of hunger every day or who have to do without and who live without hope. In this atmosphere, they grow up with hatred and disdain in their heart towards the world and towards those who they feel could have helped them yet ignored them. These negative feelings can then lead to these children committing violent acts once they grow up.”

 


 

Translated from “Platt Ross u Fjura” in It-Torca 5 April 2015, by Sandro Mangion

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