Our teacher Stuart says that “the spiritual process is a day-by-day, step-by-step unfolding of consciousness” (A Deeper Sense of Surrender, The Spiritual Process, page 57). In my daily life I find sometimes such instances of the unfolding of consciousness.

I was in a business meeting yesterday with two clients who want to start a new venture. They are religious Jews, and they wanted to convey the message of their revered Rabbi through musical and educational programs. I was appointed as their business tutor, and I tried to help them to transform their vision into a viable business enterprise. The first step in such a process is to focus on the most important goals of the venture. While we were sitting and discussing in one of Jerusalem’s coffee shops, I realized that it was very difficult for them to focus. One of them became very frustrated from the effort, and said that he did not fully understand why focusing was so important. I took a break while they were still debating, and was pondering how to convey to them the importance of focusing.
Suddenly I started to think about the Kabalistic concept of creation. According to the Kabala the cosmic creative process started with contraction (Tzimtzum in Hebrew). The endless light of God contracted itself to a single point and from that point the creation of the cosmos started. So there it was— the answer to the question of why focusing was so important.
The extension of the Kabalistic metaphor to daily life teaches us that every creative process starts with focusing— contraction to a single point. After conveying this metaphor to my clients they were utterly convinced, being religious Jews they were familiar with the Kabalistic symbolism and accepted its relevance to their life. The same insight of Tzimtzum (contraction) applies not only in business, but also to spiritual life— the creative process of growth starts when the mind is focused in one point.

Our teacher Stuart says that “the spiritual process is a day-by-day, step-by-step unfolding of consciousness” (A Deeper Sense of Surrender, The Spiritual Process, page 57). In my daily life I find sometimes such instances of the unfolding of consciousness.
I was in a business meeting yesterday with two clients who want to start a new venture. They are religious Jews, and they wanted to convey the message of their revered Rabbi through musical and educational programs. I was appointed as their business tutor, and I tried to help them to transform their vision into a viable business enterprise. The first step in such a process is to focus on the most important goals of the venture. While we were sitting and discussing in one of Jerusalem’s coffee shops, I realized that it was very difficult for them to focus. One of them became very frustrated from the effort, and said that he did not fully understand why focusing was so important. I took a break while they were still debating, and was pondering how to convey to them the importance of focusing.
Suddenly I started to think about the Kabalistic concept of creation. According to the Kabala the cosmic creative process started with contraction (Tzimtzum in Hebrew). The endless light of God contracted itself to a single point and from that point the creation of the cosmos started. So there it was— the answer to the question of why focusing was so important.
The extension of the Kabalistic metaphor to daily life teaches us that every creative process starts with focusing— contraction to a single point. After conveying this metaphor to my clients they were utterly convinced, being religious Jews they were familiar with the Kabalistic symbolism and accepted its relevance to their life. The same insight of Tzimtzum (contraction) applies not only in business, but also to spiritual life— the creative process of growth starts when the mind is focused in one point.