Spiritual Awareness

A lot of us are trying to work on an Emuna lifestyle. We are trying to stay happy all the time, realizing that everything is from Hashem (The Creator) and is for our very best. Yet we all still experience different circumstances in our lives which lead us to fell emotions like anger, frustration, or sadness. Where do these feelings come from? Are they real and supposed to be felt, or is there a way to turn them into an experience of happiness and thanksgiving to Hashem.
 
Rebbe Nachman teaches in Likutei Moharan, lesson 250:
 
"Know: That all types of suffering are only present because of a lack of daat (spiritual awareness). For one who has daat and knows that everything comes about through Hashem's divine providence, will not experience any suffering, and will not feel any sadness, for "The Lord gives and the Lord takes (Job 1:21)"
 
In this same lesson, the Rebbe goes on to describe actual bodily pain which one has no choice but to feel since it is in fact happening to your body. He says that even this type of pain can be very easy for one to tolerate and can be happily received when one knows with a clear spiritual awareness that it is all from Hashem's direct providence. He then says that how much more so can one handle other types of pains and sufferings (i.e. emotional) which are not even physically felt on the body, when one has the above mentioned daat (spiritual awareness).
 
Now what exactly is this daat, and how does it succeed in removing the feelings of pain and suffering? Two examples immediately come to mind, one made up and the other one true.
 
Example #1: Let’s say you were given some bitter, unpleasant smelling food to eat, would you eat it? Probably not! OK, but let’s say you were told that this is no ordinary food, but is actually some sort of super food which has tremendous health and healing qualities. Now we all know that this does not really exist, but for the sake of the example, let’s say that this food really was able to restore you to full health, remove wrinkles, burn calories, give you energy, re-grow hair, whiten teeth and whatever else you might fancy. Now let me ask you again, would you eat it? And this time, with the awareness of all of its benefits, do you think you would even notice the bitter taste? In this example we see how with spiritual awareness one can literally change how they would experience something.
 
Example #2: One day when stopped at a red light on a hot sunny day in Los Angeles, I saw a lady standing at the bus stop waiting for her bus. It was on Pico Blvd. where two busses run, the ‘regular number 7’ and the ‘rapid number 7’ which only makes limited stops. Of course the ‘rapid 7’ approaches her and passes her right by. She started jumping up and down, huffing and puffing, ran out into the street waving her arms while nearly being hit by oncoming traffic. Meanwhile, I’m sitting in my cool air conditioned car thinking, “Poor lady, if she only knew that it was the ‘regular 7’ bus she was waiting for and not the ‘rapid 7’, all her suffering could have been avoided.”
 
It’s worthwhile to note that in the above example, the correct spiritual awareness would not have changed the lady’s situation one bit, she would still have been waiting in the hot sun for a bus, but it would have completely removed all the suffering she felt when she thought her bus had passed her by.
 
Now this level of spiritual awareness which has the ability to remove all of our suffering can only be attained through perfecting our Emuna. Emuna is belief in the idea that Hashem is our loving father and everything that happens to us in this world is under His direct control (this includes even what other free-willed people may do to us). In addition, we must believe that everything that happens to us is for a single purpose, to bring us closer to Hashem and get us to make a relationship with Him. This will in turn give us the greatest pleasure both in this world and the next.  Having this above mentioned daat will allow us to pleasantly go through all the challenges and difficulties of this world without experiencing any pain or suffering. With this daat we know that there is no such thing as a meaningless painful challenge or experience in life, but rather it is coming directly from the loving hand of our Creator in order to teach us something, fix us in some way or strengthen us, to enable us to achieve the ultimate reward which is closeness to Him.
 
This is also similar to the way an athlete always shows up to take more ‘pain’ from his coach. Why does he do it, and happily too? Because he has his sights set on the gold and he trusts his coach and knows that only his coach knows what’s best for him and how to get him there. Well in the same way, we have the best coach the world has to offer, and we are training for a prize so great and eternal that it cannot even be measured in human terms. So now we can show up happy for life and all of its challenges too.
 
So are the feelings of anger, suffering or frustration real? The answer is, you will experience them in a real way only to the degree that you lack the true spiritual awareness as explained above. The more one has this spiritual awareness or Emuna, the less one will experience any suffering and the sooner he will come to experience Hashem’s loving guidance in life which will lead him to his or her own personal redemption and will in turn hasten the final redemption of our people. May it come speedily and in our days, Amen!
 
P.S. Knowing the ideas of Emuna vs. internalizing them so that one can live with them on a day to day basis and be happy all the time takes a lot of work. It is a very good idea to have a regular study in “The Garden of Emuna” as well as in any of Rebbe Nachman’s books which will serve to constantly reinforce these ideas of happiness and Emuna.