Science and spirituality both tell us that when our consciousness is in the right place, we experience the highest expressions of ourselves, others, and the entire world. We have the ability to bring about blessings, healing, unconditional love, and freedom. Beyond that, we become radically kind and compassionate. We have the power to create miracles. On an average day, full of average thinking, we mistakenly believe that these monumental things require monumental effort when, in fact, the beginning of their creation lies in the smallest of actions—the decision to shift our consciousness to joy.
The Israelites are a perfect example. Pesach, also known as Passover, lasts for seven days, and it was on the 7th day that the Israelites first awakened a miracle with their own Light. Rav Brandwein, in a letter to Rav Berg, explained that the Light of the Creator is like our shadow—as we behave, so does our shadow. So when the Israelites came to the sea, the Egyptians relentlessly on their heels and ready to kill them all, they were trapped. It was here that they called out to the Creator for his assistance, yet The Creator assured them that they had the ability to create the miracle for themselves. This provided the necessary shift in their collective consciousness, and the Creator matched it, making a path where once there was none.
This is the power of our consciousness. Rav Berg said time and again that “consciousness is everything.” While scientists and spiritual teachers agree, philosophers support this truth as well.
Panpsychism is the view that consciousness is a universal and primordial feature of all things. Philip Goff, a philosophy professor at Central European University in Budapest, explains that it is a fundamental feature of physical matter; every single particle in existence has an “unimaginably simple” form of consciousness. These particles then come together to form more complex forms of consciousness, such as humans’ subjective experiences. Now, they aren’t saying that everything, from a rock to a table, is coherent or actively thinks for itself. Instead, there is an inherently subjective experience of consciousness in even the tiniest of life’s particles.
What sets the human mind apart from everything else that “is” consciousness is that we have the power of choice. We have the power to direct and redirect our consciousness however we want to by shifting our perspective. It reminds me of the famous quote from world-renowned author and speaker Wayne Dyer, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” When we choose a consciousness of love, we see love. When we choose a consciousness of joy, we see joyfulness. When we choose a consciousness of miracles, we see the miraculous.
Try it now. Think of a mildly stressful or otherwise negative experience you have had or are even currently having. Once you have it, bring it fully into your mind.
Now ask yourself, “How does this situation change if I try to see it as positive?”
I’m willing to bet that a few positives arose in your mind, even small ones. That person who cut you off on the way to work becomes an agent of the universe, averting you from a possible accident. Barista got your usual coffee order wrong? Voila, you now have a new favorite drink that you wouldn’t have otherwise tried. If you can start with little inconveniences like this, you’ll be in good practice for life’s bigger challenges.
Begin to apply a positive perspective, a consciousness of joy, gratitude, or kindness to each day, and you will see your entire life change before your eyes. Connecting to the power of Pesach amplifies this positivity tenfold.
Kabbalists explain that the Light is so unnaturally abundant on the first day of Pesach that any negativity that we have attached ourselves to dissolves. The Light of the Creator arrives with such power that it completely overwhelms the forces of negativity. Just as the Egyptians were forced away from the Israelites, so too are our own sources of negativity removed from us. The consequences of our negative thoughts, words, and actions—all can be fully wiped away. All as a result of bringing awareness to our consciousness and redirecting it towards joy and love.
It is not up to the Creator to change our nature; that is our work. We make the change, and like our shadow, the Creator will behave in the same way that we do. The greatest change we are meant to make is to give up our desire to receive for the self alone. Luckily, when we choose a consciousness of joy, we align ourselves with the energy of the Light, the desire to receive in order to share.
From this place, we earn the power and ability to change the nature of our world. That’s the possibility inherent in our consciousness, especially in this window of time known as Pesach.
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