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Answering a Bark in the Night

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Meet Scout

I’ve written numerous posts about my three-legged dog, Sadie and how we recently lost her. An episode of Real Men Feel was dedicated to the bond between men and dogs. Some people replace pets quickly, not wanting to be in feelings of grief and loss a moment longer than necessary. I like to give plenty of time to feel everything that is there. To me, giving the loss some time and space to breath is my final way to honor the dog I lost.

After dealing with Sadie’s unexplained seizures for nine months and then having to say goodbye, I thought it might be a year or more before I had any interest in having another dog.

My wife’s been ready to get a dog for a few weeks, maybe longer. I wasn’t. After our ten-month Universal Kabbalah program ended this past weekend, one of the many clearings I experienced was around a next dog.

I visited the Sterling Shelter site on Monday. That is where Sadie and our black and tan coon hound, Homer, before her as well as our current cat, Marge all came from. On the site I scrolled thru 34 dogs. I got to this photo of Scout and cried. I thought that meant I wasn’t ready. I visited again the next day, cried at this picture again, but thought maybe the emotion meant yes.

We made plans to visit the shelter and meet, Scout.

The morning we were to see her, I woke up at 6:15 am because I heard a dog bark. One single bark. I don’t know if it was a dream or what. There was no dog in the house or yard. Cue the Twilight Zone music.

We visited the shelter and learned that Scout is 5 months old and up here from Texas. An elderly couple had her for a month and returned her – I swear that is the emotion I felt looking at her. The pain and sorrow of abandonment.

The couple thought she was too high-energy for them. Luckily, years of three-legged soccer with Sadie have us properly trained for high-energy critters. We even have a bonus 4th leg this time around.

Welcome home, Scout. For reals!

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This was originally published on GoodMenProject.com

Ten Months of Kabbalah

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I still can’t explain it very well

This weekend I’m at a retreat that is culminating a 10-month journey with Universal Kabbalah from the Modern Mystery School. It has been astounding, heartbreaking, fun, infuriating, and every other emotion in between them.

I have great difficulting in clearly explaining spiritual and experiential happenings at times, but I do my best.

As one example of the life-changing potential in Kabbalah: Last June I was in such a precarious financial condition that my wife and I were paying our bills thanks to yard sales, while less than 18 months later, I’m driving a new Tesla.

Please enjoy my rambling, foul-mouthed, attempt to describe the last 10 months of Kabbalah.

 

Wonder what I said back at the start of this? Me too. Let’s find out.

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This was originally published on GoodMenProject.com

Venturing into the Unknown

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Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work.

Today I begin a 10-month personal growth program called Universal Kabbalah. I don’t know much about it, which is how I like to roll into new explorations of my self. I do know that Kabbalah is rooted in Jewish mysticism and most people might never have heard of it before Madonna started studying it in the 1990s.

Kabbalah is an ancient wisdom that reveals how the universe and life work. On a literal level, the word Kabbalah means “receiving.” Studying this knowledge empowers us to improve our lives by discovering our purpose, and achieve the lasting fulfillment we are meant to receive. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty sweet to me.

Universal Kabbalah is the version taught by the Modern Mystery School. I became an Initiate in the Modern Mystery School in March of 2016 and learned numerous tools and techniques that I use on a daily basis. Regarding Kabbalah, the mystery school removed the most strictly religious aspects of it to make the core wisdom available to people of all faiths. It is more of a metaphysical teaching than religion, which is another reason this particular program appealed to me.

Wikipedia states:

Kabbalah’s definition varies according to the tradition and aims of those following it, from its religious origin as an integral part of Judaism, to its later Christian, New Age, and Occultist/western esoteric syncretic adaptations. Kabbalah is a set of esoteric teachings meant to explain the relationship between an unchanging, eternal, and mysterious Ein Sof (infinity) and the mortal and finite universe (God’s creation). While it is heavily used by some denominations, it is not a religious denomination in itself. It forms the foundations of mystical religious interpretation. Kabbalah seeks to define the nature of the universe and the human being, the nature and purpose of existence, and various other ontological questions. It also presents methods to aid understanding of the concepts and thereby attain spiritual realization.

While the Modern Mystery School describes their flavor as:

The Universal Kabbalah is the purest form of metaphysical study available on this planet. Focused on understanding the fundamental basis of all creation, it’s goal is to reveal the purpose of our existence and to give us tools for reclaiming our birthright as co-creators on this planet. Through this study we come to the realization of who and what we are, fulfilling the ancient decree: Know Thyself!

Kabbalah is focused around The Tree of Life, which is the blueprint of one’s entire being. In ascending the Tree, the design of life itself is explained and influenced so that we can entirely transform ourselves inside and out. Kabbalah isn’t merely philosophy; there are practical techniques and applications for daily life.

Again, this is what I’ve been told and read. I have not yet had my own experience to agree or disagree, but I’m very much looking forward to my experience over the course of the program. Many people take this program over and over, right now I’ll settle for getting through it once.

I know quite a few people who have gone through this 10-month program. Many have described it as painful and horrible while the ends results are breathtaking, healing and powerful.

The most common metaphor is “crossing the abyss.” I’m going through it with my wife, which I’m told can make it more horrible and also more beneficial. So we’ve got that to look forward to.

I’ll take one more deep breath before I dive into the abyss. I’m sure I’ll share some updates along the way. Stay tuned.

Learn more at:
HealingBoston.com
ModernMysterySchoolInt.com