124. Reincarnation: 4 Teachings That Will Change Your Life

Does life ever feel so surprising that it doesn’t seem to make any sense? We know the feeling. Nothing in life is entirely random. There are many lifetimes at play. In part 1 of this 2-part episode of Spiritually Hungry, we get into the nitty gritty of reincarnation and discuss how to go beyond simply being a “good person" so we can clear the debts of the past.

Transcript

Our soul's purpose in this world is to get back to a hundred percent of who we were and who we actually are and what we would call the spiritual work or the endeavor of becoming a better person and doing positive actions and all of that and refraining from negative actions is what makes us greater and we have to keep coming back until we become a hundred percent of ourselves.

Welcome to Spiritually Hungry.

Again.

Again and again and again and again and again,

Which leads me to today's topic.

It's a fascinating concept that usually is associated with Hinduism or Buddhism,

But in fact,

It is a very strong principle of Kabbalah and or belief I should say.

I think a lot of people,

Not those who listen to our podcast regularly,

Would be surprised to understand that this topic is very closely understood and in Kabbalah,

Which is reincarnation.

Whether somebody believes in it or not,

I think that what we're going to provide today offers a lens into a lot of the questions we come into the world with like,

Why are we here?

What's the purpose of pain?

Why do we suffer?

Is there life after death?

So I think that maybe after listening to our podcast,

If you're not a believer,

You might be become one or be open to it.

So grab a cup of tea.

Well,

I would add two things.

Like I am having,

And join us.

Not today.

It's empty,

Michael.

Where's my tea?

First of all,

I think the idea of reincarnation is one that is intrinsically innate,

Which means that if you think about it,

Most true wisdom is not something that you hear from somebody.

The purpose of study is really to come to understand what it is that we already know internally.

So that's why I always like to shy away from words like belief.

Because I don't think you should ever believe something just because somebody told you or even because it's written somewhere.

I think coming to true wisdom and understanding is a process of really delving deeply into oneself.

And yes,

Often it takes spiritual practice and study,

But to come to understand what it is that I,

What I would say,

My soul already knows.

You're so cute.

By believing,

I mean you come to a knowing and.

.

.

Right.

I think that's what you meant.

But in most people's mind,

Belief is,

You know,

We're telling you or somebody's telling you.

So you're not correcting me,

You're correcting people who might have misunderstood.

I would never correct you on the podcast.

Understood what I was trying to say.

But I'm sorry,

But the second,

Which I really hope is what our listeners get from today's podcast,

Is not reincarnation as a theory,

But more importantly,

What are the practical lessons,

Maybe changes that we need to make?

Impetus for,

I think it's an impetus for change,

Really.

And there are some aspects of the understanding that will hopefully give us a way to live,

Some changes maybe that we would make in our lives.

So simply reincarnation is the belief that after we die,

Our souls reborn into another body.

Again,

Use the word belief.

Reincarnation is a knowing.

Not knowing is the.

.

.

Understanding.

Wisdom,

Understanding.

I would use any of those words.

Okay,

Michael.

Hopefully you have more to add than just correcting me in this podcast.

Nope.

No,

I'm here just to correct.

Again and again and again.

That's a reincarnation joke.

Okay.

And then we are reborn into another body when we continue our journey of learning and growth in a new life.

So the word reincarnation literally means to make flesh again.

I like knowing the source of words.

The soul comes and goes again and again in the cycle of birth,

Evolution,

Death,

And then birth again.

I think that the other important part of at least exploring the idea of reincarnation is it gives a lot of meaning to our lives,

But also to the reason and purpose of death,

Which I think a lot of people struggle with coming to terms with.

It also gives us a lot of deeper understanding of what happens to us in our lives.

Why is my life different than somebody else?

Why do I experience different challenges than other people and so on?

Yes,

I'm going to get to that in a minute.

As I was saying.

.

.

I feel like we've done this before.

Another reincarnation.

.

.

Second reincarnation joke.

Hopefully they're going to get better with time.

Maybe next time around.

I think that the understanding that the soul is eternal is not such a wild idea,

But for me personally,

When I knew reincarnation to be true,

For me,

It really changed everything about how I lived life.

Again,

I think that it's an important question or at least exploration for people.

Also,

Science backs this up.

The first law of thermodynamics tells us energy cannot be transformed.

It can only be transformed.

It cannot be created or destroyed.

By the way,

When I discovered reincarnation,

I could no longer use my go-to phrase as a teenager because for all of my high school years.

.

.

YOLO?

No.

I would say to my friends when I wanted to encourage them to do something that was probably something we shouldn't be doing.

I was very much the ringleader.

I would say,

Come on,

You only live once,

Just do it.

That's YOLO.

What's YOLO?

You only live once?

Oh God,

You're too hip for me.

Yes.

By the way,

That was so freeing for so long.

I am hip and edgy.

I think she keeps giving you tutorials on that.

I really liked that time because we got to do whatever we wanted to without any responsibility at all.

As you get older,

I think that's more of a depressing thought than an exciting one.

The biggest question is why do we reincarnate?

I think students certainly have asked me,

I'm sure you've gotten this question as well,

Is why are we being punished now for things we can't remember doing in a past life?

It seems almost unfair.

That's interesting.

I never thought about it that way.

I don't think I've ever gotten that question.

I think that's why people have a hard time really coming to terms with this.

As I understand it,

There's three basic phases of the soul's evolution.

Baby phase,

The soul comes down in physical form,

Eats,

Sleeps,

Plays,

It experiences life as it were a small child.

Then there's the second phase.

As the soul matures,

It looks for more than simple enjoyment.

It wants to learn,

To develop,

To be something more than what it is today.

Hopefully,

And not everybody gets here,

The third phase,

The mature soul realizes it can be fulfilled only through sharing,

Which is the purpose of our spiritual work.

In a nutshell,

That is why,

And we'll unpack this,

But why people come back time and time again is to fulfill that third phase that not everybody gets to.

Right.

Also,

As you said,

If a person does things,

We'll call them mistakes or big,

Big mistakes,

And he or she does not correct them in one incarnation,

They can come back in the second incarnation to correct them,

To fix them.

It's kind of like Candyland.

You go up,

You up,

And then there's a trapdoor,

And you shoot down the ladder,

And you go down depending on your actions,

I guess.

Where you start out in the next lifetime will be different.

It's very dependent on where you left off or how you lived in that place.

You don't automatically start at the place that you started off in the previous incarnation.

It's very dependent on how you behaved in each lifetime.

Right.

Also,

I think this is,

If we're taking a step back.

I like the end also.

It's an upgrade from yes,

But.

And also.

The understanding is that all of humanity was originally one soul.

It's a little bit of a misnomer to say that my soul,

Your soul,

Souls.

What we are is a piece,

Or a spark,

One can call it,

Of the one great soul of humanity.

Because you have to unpack that a little bit.

Imagine just light.

Well,

Imagine actually.

Like blinding light,

And then it's pieces of that.

Exactly.

That then drop down.

And it can break off into many,

Many different parts.

So,

But I think it is important to understand that we originally came from,

Points to the unity of humanity,

That we are all originally one unified soul.

And as.

And do we all start at the same point?

Well,

Not at all.

That's why I'm questioning you.

If you're coming from the same spark of light,

Which you would then assume that it's an elevated,

High,

Equal,

All-encompassing light.

Not at all.

So then unpack that.

The sages use an example of the body.

In the body,

You have the brain,

The mind that thinks.

You have the heart that pumps blood.

You have the hands that do.

You have the feet that go.

Every part of the body is different and has a different purpose.

So,

When we are all part of that one unified soul,

We are still different parts of that soul.

The mind,

The hands,

The feet.

Therefore,

In general terms,

Everybody has a different job in this world.

My job is different than your job.

There's no duplicate souls.

They're all different parts of one soul.

Therefore,

There are some people whose interest is in wisdom.

There's some people's interest in doing.

There's some people's interest in going.

So,

For me,

Part of the practical understanding or lesson that comes from that knowledge that we are originally one soul compared to the body that has different parts and different purposes for each part.

I can't really.

.

.

Sometimes people have the misnomer of saying,

Well,

I'm into wisdom or maybe I'm more intellectual than that person so therefore I'm better.

Or this person says,

I'm a person who does things and this person just sits and thinks all day so I'm better.

Well,

No,

Because if you understand that we are each part of one body and we do each have a different,

Must be necessarily,

A different task,

It doesn't make one better than the other because the whole body needs to function in order for the body to live and to grow.

So you almost have to imagine this big pool of light just to explain it,

Although it's not that,

That there is the part that is the light of the head,

Of the hands,

Of the feet,

Of the heart and they,

According to the part that they.

.

.

Drop from.

That is where their energy is supposed to be manifested in that lifetime.

Exactly.

And over time,

One soul can break up into two souls,

Into three souls.

For example,

Soulmates.

Soulmates are one,

Now again,

One spark of soul that,

As the Zoroastrian says,

Before they enter into this world,

They are broken into two halves of one soul.

And this is true,

Again,

Throughout the evolution of humanity that it's seen as,

In the earlier years,

Ages and stages,

Souls were greater,

Meaning,

And then they,

In order to allow for fixing and correction and elevation,

They are broken up into smaller and smaller pieces.

So you and I are,

Were one spark of that one great soul.

You can call it a soul,

But really what it is is one spark of that one great soul of humanity.

And before we came into this world,

Our one soul was broken into two halves.

And then we were blessed to find each other.

And now we are hopefully one more unified soul,

Or more specifically,

That spark from which we,

That we once were,

Is now one,

And our goal,

And this is a little bit,

I hope it's not too detailed,

But our goal is to build upon that.

So if somebody came from that part of intellect or that part of soul,

Then would it be possible in a different incarnation to be a hand or a foot?

No,

No,

No.

So then this is an important point,

Which I think it's really important to say,

Because this explains our purpose in life.

So,

And you tell me if it's getting too complicated or deep.

I will tell you.

That one soul of which we spoke,

Of which you and I and every person in the world is a piece of.

It's a the soul.

It's a what?

It's a the soul.

Well,

The original one was a the soul.

Okay,

Because I think,

Yeah.

That great soul went through a process where a big part of it broke.

A big part of it,

As we call,

Went down into darkness.

So you're talking about the time of Adam and Eve.

Even before,

In the spiritual realm,

Even before what we would call the Big Bang,

Even before the physical creation of this world.

So why did that happen?

To allow for humanity's work,

The process created,

Again,

The story of Adam and Eve mirrors that,

Where the original soul came to a place where it realized this is not the perfected state.

The perfected state is when people have the ability to do work and earn.

So the Kabbalists refer to this,

Again,

I don't want to get too deep,

Called the shattering of the vessel.

And what happens then is that the majority of that original,

Primordial human soul,

Most of it fell into darkness.

So when we talk about the brain,

The hands,

The feet,

Imagine only 10% remains in light and perfected,

And 90% of it is now in darkness.

But why at that time did there have to be a shattering of the vessel?

If there was no lack,

There was only light.

Because the vessel,

That soul,

In order to come to its ultimate state of being,

To actualize,

Needed to build itself.

It didn't want the creator,

As we call it,

The creator of light,

The life force,

The light of the creator,

To put it in an elevated state.

So that one soul wasn't the light of the creator?

It was the light of the creator,

But the vessel,

Or that soul said,

Everything I've gotten until now was given to me,

Unearned.

And that's not a place that I can stay in.

I can't abide that reality.

I need to earn.

I need to earn whatever it is that I achieve.

I need to earn whatever light or blessings or fulfillment that I achieve.

But aren't we trying to get back to that place that we were?

Well,

We're trying to earn that state.

That state that was given to us.

Exactly.

I hope we didn't lose most of our listeners.

No,

I think it's very heady and it's very hard to wrap your head around why,

If it was perfect,

We have to shatter it to rebuild it.

When it wasn't perfect,

That's the point.

It sounds pretty great,

Though.

Again,

We use this example.

And you have to explain it.

You're saying it was all-encompassing light,

The soul.

Unearned.

And it was a state we could not abide.

Because we are of the same DNA,

The same essence,

As that creative force of the world,

What we call the light of the creator,

Or the endless,

We said we have to earn our place.

We cannot.

.

.

We're not happy if we don't earn our place,

If we don't do the work to earn our light,

To earn our elevation.

So,

Again,

It's like when you take a baby or a child and you put them in your home and you feed them and you clothe them,

Right?

If you kept that process on for the next 80 years and they never went out to work and they never went out to learn and you just kept feeding them,

They will never be happy.

So you can call it a perfect situation,

But it's also ultimately a terrible situation for that child,

For that person.

I think this is the way that our listeners can understand.

So if you compare it to a baby,

And the baby comes into the world,

Assuming it's healthy in every area,

It's a perfect vessel,

It's a perfect being,

Right?

So why do we need to change anything?

But in fact,

In order for that baby to thrive,

You have to allow it to fall and to learn and to make mistakes.

You have to let it out into the world.

The growing pains is kind of what you're explaining.

Right,

And on that deepest level,

Again.

.

.

It's just hard for people to understand because it's very esoteric,

It's not tangible in any way.

It's hard enough for people to envision the Creator and what that looks like.

And now we're talking about this is the soul that came from the Creator,

That is the Creator,

But also was.

.

.

It's the Creator's essence that was kind of removed in order to be actualized.

Right,

Right.

And again,

I think that example is a perfect example.

If you took your baby and they continued to grow in 15,

20,

25,

30,

And you said you are not allowed to go anywhere,

You have to stay in this house,

And all the clothing you need.

.

.

It would be the end of the baby.

They'd be depressed,

They'd be terrible.

It's a good analogy,

Yes.

I think we're all listening now.

So a percentage of us,

Those parts of us,

The majority would recall went into the darkness.

And so when I say,

For instance,

That my soul is a spark of light,

It has tens,

Hundreds,

Thousands of other sparks that it needs to bring back into the light.

And that's the purpose of life.

The purpose of life is the spark of light that I am,

And all the sparks that were close to me.

It's my job throughout my incarnations in this physical world to elevate more and more and more.

And that's what we call growing the soul.

So imagine one spark,

And then I do,

For instance,

An action of sharing.

That action of sharing brings back into my soul a spark that was once a part in the original one great soul that went into the darkness,

And now through this action I elevate.

So all of our life is about elevating those sparks out of the darkness.

And the more sparks I elevate,

The greater I become.

It's like Candy Land again.

I don't really know Candy Land that well.

You just go up on the ladder,

And there are certain things that propel you faster.

You can skip steps and jump up based on what you spin on,

But in terms of life,

It's how you behave and how you act.

And then also,

The more that you do,

And the more that you share,

And the more that you help elevate those other sparks,

The quicker we can all.

.

.

That's why it's never a single process.

We all have to be invested in one another's growth,

Because we all have the same ultimate destination.

Right,

But I think it's important to understand that when I do positive actions,

Whether I study wisdom,

Or I help another person out,

Each action elevates a spark and makes me greater.

So I think it's a very.

.

.

I think it might be for many of our listeners a new way to view life.

I think most people say,

Well,

This is who I am,

Right?

It's kind of baked in.

And then I can do a positive action.

I'm behaving as a good person.

It doesn't really influence who I am.

What I'm saying,

Which is I think both powerful and for me very inspiring,

Is that you're really only 10% of who you need to be.

And every positive action that you do makes you greater.

What does that mean?

You have now added one more spark.

So now you're 11% of the original soul that you were.

Another action,

You're 12%,

And so on and so forth.

So our soul's purpose in this world is to get back to 100% of who we were and who we actually are.

And what we would call the spiritual work or the endeavor of becoming a better person and doing positive actions and all of that,

And refraining from negative actions,

Is what makes us greater.

And we have to keep coming back until we become 100% of ourselves.

Which means until we elevate 100% of the sparks that are related,

Right?

If I started out as 10% of the 100%,

90% of it is in the darkness,

My job is to get that 90% back up with me.

Your part.

Everybody,

All of humanity has.

You have yours and everybody has theirs.

That's terrifying.

I think it's inspiring.

And again,

This sounds like it's not tangible.

Really?

It's not in the physical.

Like,

You can understand it,

But But I can tell you that you experience it.

I mean,

I know I experience it.

No,

I do too.

I'm just saying,

How do you get to that place of not knowing to actually living that?

Well,

Again,

I think you have to first of all,

Know it on some level,

But then live it and experience it.

But I think it's really important.

I want to maybe repeat it in a different way because I think it's so important.

Most people think they are who they are,

And they can behave one way or the other.

What we're saying is with the understanding of these sparks and the understanding of reincarnation,

I'm actually born as a realized 100% of me.

And my job throughout life is to go back to be 100% of me.

And that is done through living a life that is directed towards sharing,

That is done through a life that is directed towards goodness,

Towards helping other people,

Towards gaining wisdom,

And so on and so forth.

And the beauty of that is that you are never the same person.

You're not meant to be 10% forever or even being who you are and acting better,

Acting worse,

But the point is to grow,

To grow who you are.

And for me,

And I think hopefully for our listeners,

Knowing that propels us to push,

Push to become greater.

Become greater means every positive action that I do,

I'm able to take one of those sparks that used to be a part of me and now it's now a part of me again,

And therefore I'm greater,

I'm more powerful,

And so on and so forth.

I do want to point out that the opposite is true as well.

If I came into this world 10% and I did a negative action,

Maybe now I'm 9%,

I do another really bad negative action,

I could be 8%,

And so on and so forth.

So it doesn't just go- To the point where you don't get enough,

You get options anymore,

Right?

You can run out of times that you can come back.

Yes,

But more importantly- Doesn't Rob Ashlug say that a person has,

Or maybe they already said it,

That has if in the first incarnation they don't do anything,

They get three more times,

And then after that,

They go back into the abyss.

Not exactly that,

But that we are given three incarnations to do better.

And then?

And then it's a more difficult process.

Okay,

So the idea is this.

The soul wants to grow.

The soul wants to develop.

And that's who we are.

We want to grow.

If a person takes three incarnations and does not grow at all,

And maybe even goes backwards,

Then he or she,

That soul,

Desires to be cleansed in some way.

To be purified in some way.

And that goes through the process of pain.

And that could be true in a person in a new incarnation or even in a distant incarnation.

So that's called Gehennaum,

Right?

Which is basically any type of pain.

Any type of painful experience.

But it's like a cycle,

Like a washing machine.

They get stuck in that kind of cycle.

Yes,

But hell is not a place.

It's not a place.

There's no pitchforks and a devil.

So a person,

There are many people,

Many people,

Who experience hell here.

And the point is,

There's a purpose to all of this.

And that is that if a person is not growing,

If the soul is not going through the process of elevation and becoming greater,

You know,

More percent of themselves,

Through positive actions,

Then,

And of course,

Conversely,

If they're actually deteriorating,

Then the soul actually desires these wake-up calls or these hits of purification to wake the soul up,

To wake the person up.

Physical pain is that.

Physical,

Emotional.

As a matter of fact.

.

.

Asking what's the purpose of pain,

Nothing wakes you up more than.

.

.

Unfortunately,

Often,

That's true.

So people often ask,

You know,

I mean,

That was the question forever.

Why do bad things happen to good people?

Why is that person suffering?

How do we make sense of things?

I think this really gives.

.

.

Yeah,

Can I share a story?

Sure.

So there's a Kabbalist,

His name is the Baal Shem Tov,

And a man comes to him who was going through pain,

And he couldn't understand why.

So the Baal Shem Tov says,

Go to a certain town,

He gives him the name of the village,

And he says,

Go look for this person,

He gives him a name.

And the student is assuming that this person,

Whoever he's going to meet,

Right,

In that village,

That name,

Is going to help him,

Either give him the answer or help him get out of his problems,

And so on.

So he travels.

.

.

I love how optimistic we are when we think we're going to get help,

We're going to be saved,

It's going to be great.

Well,

Exactly.

Sometimes,

Exactly,

We get help,

But not necessarily.

Anyway,

So he goes to that,

He travels a few days to that village,

And he starts asking around the name that his teacher gave him.

He starts asking,

Anybody know this guy,

This name,

This guy,

This name?

He goes around for hours,

Nobody recognizes the name.

And finally comes upon a person who says,

Listen,

I don't know this person,

I've never heard this name before,

But there's an old man who lives on the edge of town,

He's lived here for his entire life.

If anybody lives here with that name,

Or ever lived there with that name,

He would know them.

So he goes to the man's house,

He knocks on the door,

And he tells him,

I've come from a faraway village,

And I really need to find this person,

He gives him the name.

And the old man,

When he hears that name,

He literally,

He turns white.

And he says,

I don't ever want to hear that name.

And the guy says,

Why,

Where is he?

How can I,

You know,

How can I find him?

He says,

No,

No,

No,

This person died quite some time ago,

But I knew him.

And he was the worst person that I've ever seen.

He spent almost his entire life hurting people.

He went out of his way.

He went out of his way,

And he had power,

And he had money,

And he had influence,

And he went out of his way to do as much damage to as many people as possible.

So,

I don't ever want to hear his name.

You know,

There's a concept we say that the name of a negative person should rot.

Not to be uttered again.

Not to be uttered again.

And the student is kind of shaken,

Right?

He came here being excited that this person he's going to find,

He's going to give him an answer,

Maybe help him out with his problem,

And now he finds out the guy doesn't even exist,

Right?

He's dead for many,

Many years,

And he was a terrible person,

A very,

Very terrible person.

So,

He's really like disappointed and sad,

And he goes back to his teacher,

Takes him a few days to travel back,

And he goes to the Balsantov again,

And he says,

Listen,

You send me to this guy,

Not only did I not find him because he died many years ago,

There's no way this story helps me.

Balsantov stops and he turns to him and says,

You know,

That was you in a previous incarnation.

He says,

And that's why you're going through this difficulty now.

And if you understand who you were,

You wouldn't question where you're at.

You would at least accept where you are now.

So,

The idea is that it's true that most of the pain that we experience,

Again,

Could be to help us wake up from things in our current incarnation,

But often they are also parts of the correction,

And that's,

Again,

Another level of impetus,

I think,

For our listeners,

Is the fact that if we understand that we have to correct and that the two ways is to proactively be pushing to grow and to change and to grow and to correct,

And if we don't,

There's another path which we don't want to have to be going down.

We have all the abilities,

All the faculties,

All the knowledge to be able to correct everything we need to correct in this incarnation without any pain.

Unfortunately,

Most of us have to have pieces of that.

Well,

Because we don't like pain,

We don't like discomfort,

And so we hold on to the things that make us comfortable,

And then the growth,

The understanding,

The story you just shared,

You have to kind of,

Pain is the only thing that wakes up that.

I mean,

There's so many stories like that.

I'm going to share one later,

But I do want to just say practically,

I think,

So how does this look in our lives today,

Right?

Basically,

We understand work that's left uncompleted in this life is undertaken again in a future life until the task of transformation is done,

Or we're in the abyss,

Right?

We've decided on that,

And everything that happens in our lives contains a lesson,

So most people experience,

Again,

The things that are hard.

We're like,

What is this about?

So,

For example,

From the parent who tries to shape us in their image,

Right?

We blame the parent.

We don't see that maybe there's a bigger picture,

Story,

Past life to that.

To the person that's sitting next to us at work that upsets us,

To the friend who betrays us,

To the teacher who believes in us,

All these have been with us before,

And I think that on a very basic level,

If we can go around through our days,

Through our interactions,

As difficult as they may be,

And understand this concept,

We'll be able to navigate more prepared and clearly,

And funnily enough,

I'm going through my own thing,

Right?

That I shared a few weeks ago,

And,

You know,

Where I'm finding somebody in my life who's just really just,

You know,

Not good,

And is an obstacle,

And is trying to cause me pain,

And even though in this life,

It doesn't make sense,

You know,

None of this makes sense.

I'm always very aware with how I want to respond to something that outrageous,

That doesn't make sense,

That's coming to me in this lifetime,

With the understanding and the knowing that,

I don't know,

What did I do before?

And not in the terms of shame or punishment,

But what do I need?

Where's the growth?

And that's why I'm very careful with reacting,

With responding,

I'm very thoughtful about it.

Usually it takes a day to three days to decide.

Sometimes you don't have that time right away,

But I think it's really like,

For me,

That's been a saving grace in my life,

Is to approach every you can call it a bully,

Or opposition,

With that understanding.

And I think it's a very important point,

You know,

Often you speak to people who had difficult childhoods,

The father,

The mother,

You know,

They did not have a positive experience with them.

But as you said,

When you understand that your life actually is set up perfectly for you.

We use the term we choose our parents,

And it doesn't mean we choose them because they're going to be the kindest people all the time.

It's that our specific piece of soul actually needs,

This is the perfect setup.

Siblings,

Partners,

Business partners,

Friends,

All those are perfect.

Relationships,

People,

I want this person,

I want to get married,

They don't want to get married,

I want this.

You don't even know what is the history.

When you feel something strong for somebody,

Whether it's positive or negative,

It's not just about this moment.

It's lifetimes.

And so,

Who knows what you did to that person or didn't do to that person.

I think that that's why,

You know,

Whenever somebody's like,

I just don't understand,

I don't understand what is happening,

I always say,

Trust the process.

The process is the purpose.

Right.

If I can share another story?

Yeah,

I love stories.

So,

The story goes that one of the students of a great sage I just want to say,

I'm sorry,

I just want to say one thing.

We often go through life thinking like this is just a random thing and this person did that to me,

It's random and that's random.

If you have the understanding that,

You know,

Maybe,

Maybe,

And we've talked about time in our podcast before,

But maybe what's happening today in this moment that makes no sense at all is from something that happened 40 years ago in a different incarnate,

Like 40 lifetimes ago rather,

Not even years.

If you,

And of course,

Again,

That's the part that's hard to grasp,

But if I,

That woman,

That bully,

Right,

In this moment makes no sense right now with any of the information that I have,

Right,

No sense,

But if I look back 40 lifetimes ago,

I don't know.

One life to go,

And the point isn't exactly and maybe you have some debt to her.

Which leads me to this story,

Which I think is Which is allowing me to be patient with this process if you don't really like it,

But yes.

That one of the students came to this great sage and he said to him,

I don't understand life,

I certainly don't understand reincarnation,

Can you explain it to me?

He says,

I'll do better than that.

I'd like to ask you to go into the forest,

They live near a forest,

And he told them exactly which part.

So there's a good forest in these stories.

And sit by a certain tree,

He told them exactly where to sit,

And stay there the whole day,

And what you will see will teach you the secrets of reincarnation.

So he's very excited,

He sits by the tree.

I don't think I've heard this one before.

I'm pretty sure you have.

Really?

Yes.

Alright,

Maybe you're just setting it up.

Maybe I'm just telling it better.

Maybe this time around I'm telling it better.

You've grown,

Yes.

Thank you.

I hope so.

So he's sitting by the tree,

And a few hours go by,

Nothing happens,

And then suddenly this very tired old man comes and sits kind of far away,

But he could still see him under another different tree,

Clearly tired.

He's come from a long way,

And he had this little pouch with him,

And he falls asleep.

He sleeps for maybe an hour or two,

And then he wakes up,

And he leaves,

And he forgets his pouch.

I don't know,

He's just like,

I'm gonna cry right now,

I don't know what just happened,

But when he said wow,

When he said,

The man said he was tired,

And he just,

I don't know,

I suddenly heard my father,

Like,

It's crazy,

Because towards when he got sick and had cognitive decline,

He often just said,

I'm tired,

And I don't know why I heard it differently in this moment,

Like,

I guess his soul was tired of the journey in this life.

Whew.

Okay,

Go ahead,

Your story.

So,

The man gets up,

And he forgets the pouch,

And an hour or two go by,

A second man,

A younger man,

Was walking in that forest,

And he comes upon the pouch,

And he takes it.

He walks away.

Another hour or so goes by,

And a third man,

Also an older man,

Comes to sit by that same tree,

And he goes to sleep.

While he's sleeping,

The first man,

Who forgot the pouch,

Comes back.

And he sees the man sleeping by the tree.

And he wakes him up.

And the guy wakes up,

He's startled,

He says,

Yes,

Why did you wake me up from my nap?

He says,

I left my pouch here,

I'm sure you found it,

Give me back the pouch,

It had a tremendous amount of my money in it.

We do this all the time,

By the way.

I want it back.

And the guy,

Honestly,

Right,

Says,

I have no idea what you're talking about.

There was no pouch here.

I've been walking all day,

And I'm tired,

I came here to lie down,

There was no pouch.

And the guy says,

I don't believe you.

And he starts beating him up.

He starts beating him up.

And this goes on for about five minutes,

It's really,

Really terrible,

And the guy's all bloodied,

And again,

It doesn't make any sense.

And the whole time,

He's telling him,

I don't know,

I promise you,

I promise you,

I never stole from you,

I didn't see a pouch,

I never stole from you.

And then the man leaves,

The other man hobbles away,

Hopefully to find a hospital or someplace to get his wounds fixed.

And the student is watching this,

Right?

In his mind,

This doesn't teach him anything about reincarnation.

It certainly doesn't make any sense.

It brings him many more questions than answers.

He goes back to his teacher,

And he tells him the whole story.

He says,

You told me that by sitting by that tree,

I would gain the wisdom of reincarnation and life.

I have more questions now than when I sat there.

Why would the first man lose money for no reason?

Why would the second man get money for no reason?

And why would a third man get beaten up for something he didn't do?

So he says,

Let me explain to you what happened.

He says,

The first man who lost the pouch,

He and the second man who found the pouch were business partners in a previous incarnation.

And they had a dispute whereby the first man who lost the pouch,

He stole money from his partner.

And he owed him that money.

So you understand now why the first man lost that money.

The second man found the pouch because he had a debt to him in the previous incarnation.

And then the student says,

And what about the third man?

Why was he beaten up?

Why did he have to be beaten up?

So now we understand why the first guy lost the pouch,

And the second guy,

He found the pouch.

He says,

But why did the third guy have to get beaten up for something he didn't do?

He said,

The third guy was the judge.

And he knew,

And he was bribed by the first man.

And therefore,

He was part,

He needed to be,

To get his for taking the bribe and ruling in what he knew was false and allowing the first man to steal.

Your mom liked this story.

She would tell the story all the time.

I remember she liked a good judge story.

Exactly,

But the point here is is that when you have that perspective,

Not only does it all make sense,

It also all has to be in that way.

So really to what you were saying,

And that's the point,

We have debts.

We have debts.

And when you go through life with that understanding that if I,

If this person takes from me,

If this person gives to me,

This all very intricate web of souls that goes through not just one lifetime,

But a second lifetime.

So it helps us as it does,

I think,

In your case now,

Some perspective,

Some sweetening perspective on what we go through.

On the second part of it,

Which I think.

.

.

It doesn't allow you to be a victim,

For sure.

You certainly are in it to win it,

Right?

I mean,

That's what it does for me.

It's like,

Okay,

This makes no logical sense.

Certainly,

Everything this person's claiming is unwarranted and untrue.

However,

She's in my face.

Why?

Right?

And so,

I don't know.

But I trust that there's something there for me.

Right.

And it brings me to where I think also an important part related to all this.

I think often we think,

You know,

I'm a good person,

Right?

There's that thing.

You know,

I'm living a good life.

I'm a good person.

Well,

None of us came here to be good people.

We came here to both pay our debts,

Clean our debts,

And become greater.

And therefore.

.

.

I never understood that whole thing,

I'm a good person.

I mean,

I'm a good person,

But it doesn't mean I don't make mistakes.

But it's not just.

.

.

But I mean,

It's not.

.

.

My goal in life is not to be a good person.

My goal in life is to become greater,

Right?

So I'd better be waking up every morning.

.

.

No,

I know.

But I'm saying most people go through life with.

.

.

I mean,

I don't understand how that's really ever enough,

Right?

Because I think the whole thing with I'm a good person doesn't leave any room for conversation of,

Yes,

But did you make a mistake?

Is there something for you to learn and grow?

The good person thing is like.

.

.

Right,

But I'm coming at it from a different angle,

Which is you didn't come into this world to be a good person.

Even if you are actually a good person,

You never made any mistakes.

That's still not why you're here.

You're here to clean up the past,

And we all have a past,

And to make the future,

Which is to grow.

And therefore,

We don't have time to waste.

And to falsely assume just because I'm living a relatively good life,

I'm okay?

Well,

You're not here to be okay,

And you're not here to live a good life.

You're here to clean the past,

And you're here to build the future.

And that takes a lot of work.

So we do not have.

.

.

There's a phrase that I always like,

You know,

We don't have.

.

.

We literally don't have time to waste because our soul needs to grow.

I have a question for you.

Sure.

Have you.

.

.

I don't think I've ever asked you this.

I've never even thought to ask you this,

But have you kind of found a theme or thread in your lifetimes that you know is your correction?

I'll give you an example in my own life.

So I've met with many astrologers,

Kabbalistic astrologers or mediums,

And I've heard this from different places,

Not just with Kabbalah,

But random people who people have told me to go speak to or whatever.

And in my past lives,

They've seen that I had starved in a lot of lifetimes.

Starved?

Interesting.

Like three or four,

And they told me different ones.

And I've talked about this a lot.

I had anorexia in this lifetime,

Right?

And I know that that is.

.

.

It's a very big struggle.

Whether I'm on the other side of it or not,

There's remnants always.

So I understand that that is something.

For whatever reason,

I don't know why,

But I know that that's been something that's been prevalent in different lifetimes for me.

Have you found something for you?

Don't make it something really spiritual,

Like,

Oh yeah,

Torah.

I mean,

A struggle.

Well,

I'm not sure that you would be satisfied with my answer.

I never am,

By the way.

Not never.

Sometimes you are.

No.

No,

Usually not.

Not when it's about self-introspection.

For reals.

For reals?

So my mother would often said to me,

Which always rang true and does still ring true,

That in my previous incarnation to this one,

I was a child in the Holocaust.

Yeah,

But that wasn't where I thought you were going.

I knew you were going to go there,

But then I thought you were going to go somewhere else,

But now you went back there.

I'm confused.

But we're here now.

Okay,

Yes,

Go ahead.

Well,

How was that?

Maybe you don't like my answers because you don't let me give them.

So,

Okay.

And that rang true to you,

So how does that,

How do you see that in this lifetime?

No,

So I think there's a lot which,

A lot of fears that obviously almost inborn because of that,

That I see as part of my process in this life to get rid of them,

And also all kinds of silly stuff that hopeful.

Well,

There used to be like whenever I would travel,

I would have to.

That was the story I was going to add on.

I would like pack a tremendous amount of food because I was worried,

You know,

That I wouldn't have something to eat.

I was shocked when we first got married.

I was like,

What?

We'd go to the store,

You'd buy like a bag full of stuff,

And then you wouldn't even touch it.

It's funny,

You remember this.

I was really just,

I was stunned.

The other thing is I think that I see in this lifetime is you never like to feel really hungry,

Like you don't,

You're ahead of the I'll take that as a compliment in some way.

You're ahead of the hunger.

Thank you.

Is that a fat joke?

No,

I never think you're fat.

Is that how you view yourself?

No,

Not at all.

Oh,

We're getting into Michael's psyche now.

Smelt and beautiful.

No,

But if we have to,

If there's like a fast that we're doing or something,

Like you've had it,

You eat,

Like you're not hungry for days.

Don't make me,

Now you're making me look bad.

Three days after.

You're really enjoying this.

I wish all of our listeners could see your face.

You know what's really cute is that we're so opposite here with the hunger and the food thing.

Well,

If we're going to these details,

Well,

And as a matter of fact,

Towards the end of the fast,

I'm always full and you're always hungry.

But I feel great.

And you feel full.

Me too.

I don't feel grateful.

When we were first dating,

You did share at the time that you wanted to lose a little weight.

I was like,

Oh.

I'm like,

I can help you with that.

You're like,

I want to survive the end of it.

Michael.

So we've taken a little bit of a left turn here.

I think it was a fun turn.

Well,

I'm having fun.

I think so much fun that we should do this again.

Do it again.

Exactly.

And the theme of again and again.

But I think that we'll stop here and we'll talk again about reincarnation.

And obviously we love this topic because if you haven't heard them,

We did record two other episodes on reincarnation.

Let me just see.

It was we recorded two other episodes on reincarnation.

I think it was 39 and 40.

But anyway,

So this is our third one.

Check those out if you want.

And then we're going to do another one.

Beautiful.

The purpose of any of this information,

Wisdom,

Is to inform how we live practically.

And I know for me it often,

As I think we've shared and spoken a little bit about in this episode,

If you really understand the process of the soul and the wisdom of reincarnation,

It should give you a much stronger desire to change and to grow from where you are right now.

So I'd like to remind all of our listeners there's going to be a little bit of time.

So by the way,

If you have specific questions around reincarnation,

Please send them to Monica and Michael at Kabbalah.

Com.

That would be great.

Please,

Please,

Please.

We'd love to answer those.

Or stories that you want to share or wisdom that you'd like to share,

But also questions and specific areas around reincarnation that you'd like us to speak about,

Please email us at Monica and Michael at Kabbalah.

Com.

As always,

Please continue to share this podcast with everybody you know.

Write five-star reviews on Apple Podcasts.

And as always,

I hope we hope you enjoyed listening to this podcast as much as we enjoyed recording it again.

Stay spiritually hungry.