The Compass of Consciousness, Part 1

Part 1 

The Compass of Consciousness is a three-part series that describes a tool that can help you to focus your consciousness precisely when you in a test. It is a toolkit that works in real time. 

Introduction 

Faith, Prayer, gratitude, humility, mindfulness, meditation, charity, consciousness and many other wise teachings and powerful concepts are part of the holy tools and methods that our Sages teach us from generation to generation. We can practice them to grow constantly in every aspect of our lives and to become who we are meant to be, while actively using our abilities to service our Creator. These tools are designed to guide us especially when we are going – “growing” – through challenging periods in our lives.  

In today’s world, Hashem has blessed us with unlimited ways to access and learn His wisdom: in synagogue, classes, books, audios, videos, zooms, conferences, courses etc. Nevertheless, just when we feel we have learned the theory and fundamentals on how to grow our spiritual and emotional intelligence, suddenly we get tested by unexpected life situations. Sometimes we fall in the trap of our evil inclination without recognizing that these tests that seem to be heavy obstacles are really there to strengthen our relationship with our Creator and to help us grow and transform into the being He wants us to be, day by day. 

Yes, we ALL face challenging moments, not only in the big picture or over the span of our lives but primarily throughout the course of every ordinary day. Some days are entirely challenging. Others, no matter how balanced they might seem to be, always include some surprising challenging aspect that takes us off guard. They test our instinctive and irrational reaction and triggering an automatic adverse response, that sometimes develops without us even noticing. 

I was blessed by Hashem for introducing me to Rebbe Nachman’s teachings through Gedale Fenster’s classes. Soon after my father, Toufic ben Malake Z’L passed away last year, I started attending Gedale’s daily classes. I am thankful for sharing Gedale’s knowledge, which has opened my perspective into new dimensions.  

Without planning it, I immediately connected with the wisdom of Rebbe Nachman and started a new spiritual journey to expand my consciousness and connect with Hashem in ways I had never experienced before. I am constantly learning how to connect with my Creator through my actions, my words, my feelings, my thoughts, and my energy. I also learned that the opportunity to grow comes daily and is usually hidden among ordinary situations or wrapped within obstacles and trials that constantly cause us frustration or impotence. When I think I am ready to face certain challenges in my life and as soon I start getting too comfortable, bam! – something unexpected arises and my instinctive reaction is sometimes the opposite of what I know I have to do. This reaction causes double the pain; first for the situation itself and second because I know I just learned how to react or accept that situation and I still manage to sabotage myself, generally driven by my ego. Rationally, my mind had the knowledge, but emotionally my ego would take the driver seat and lead me to react adversely, hurting those around me and certainly also affecting my relationship with my Creator. 

On November 2020, during a predawn meditation ”Hitbodedut” I expressed to my Creator my desire to create a tool that would help me realize where I was focusing my consciousness exactly when I was being tested, right before my mind became foggy with hurtful thoughts and emotions. I prayed for a toolkit that would work in real time and without too much thinking to access the teachings I was learning from our Sages but wasn’t generally using them in a timely manner. I prayed for a better way to be preventive of my evil inclination “Yetzer Hara” rather than corrective of my actions after-the-fact. 

Compass of Consciousness 

With Hashem’s help and inspiration, my initial sketch of a basic chart evolved into the Compass of Consciousness that I gratefully describe to you below.  

First, let’s understand Consciousness, as your own ability to see yourself from a point of view outside your own self and by using a neutral lens to observe your own being, your actions, thoughts, and emotions objectively and without judgement. 

Just as a boat in the middle of a storm needs its compass to navigate back to safe waters, the Compass of Consciousness is designed to help you navigate your day. It enables you to use your thoughts and emotions in real time as channels to connect with your Creator and recognize Him as the source of everything that happens in your life. No matter how big or small the situation might seem to be, He is always there supervising how you live your life. 

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Isaac Khabie, Passionate about building Consciousness as a channel to connect with our Creator.  A Miami-based entrepreneur and architect, is the founder and CEO of ARK VENTURES a real estate development company.