Emuna Therapy

Relax Instantly

A calm mind is the prerequisite for Divine inspiration and assistance.

During one of our parenting classes, I mentioned that physical relaxation is actually  the experience of Hashem entering a person's system and settling within him.  This is understandable because Hashem will always come close to a person who lets Him in. 

The physical world is just a reflection of the upper spiritual worlds. What happens when you open an air-tight bottle? Air rushes in to fill the vacume. 

It works the same way spiritually.

The next time you feel stressed out, just sigh deeply and say with sincerity: Hashem: 'I'm ready to recieve You':

Hashem's Light instantly fills your body. He settles in every part of you: your nerves...your bones...your muscles.

Hashem's Light enters every cell of your mind and body. You are whole again...Your consciousness is expanded...You can answer any question and deal with any situation.

With gratitude to Hashem and Rivka White for the inspirational poster. 

Wishing You Peace,

Dr Zev Ballen

My Rebbe's Smile

By Dr. Zev Ballen

My Rebbe's smile is so beautiful and so real; lately I've been wondering about it.  The world is filled with beautiful people with beautiful smiles, but somehow when Rabbi Shalom Arush smiles - you feel something different - it's hard to describe. I've seen the 'confident' smiles of the wealthy and even of those rich in Torah scholarship - but my Rebbe does not smile like they do either.  I don't think I ever saw a real smile until I saw his.
 
What is his secret? What makes Rabbi Shalom so happy?  Does his pleasure come from being a best-selling author? No. He smiled before this.  Is he proud of the Torah institutions that he has built? No. He smiled before this. Is he smiling about his financial success, after years of poverty and debt? No. He smiled before this. Maybe Rabbi Shalom can smile as he does because he is proud of his achievements in learning or because of the beautiful children he has. No. He smiled before all of these. 
 
So what in the world is he smiling about?
 
I think that my Rebbe is smiling because he knows the deepest Truth about life and it just keeps nurturing him and giving him more and more pleasure all the time. He found this Truth when he was poor and unknown.  He realized that G-d is good and that He is the One Reality. Once my Rebbe saw that everything is G-d, it became impossible for him to complain about anything. He saw how much he had, and was grateful for it all.  Life became joyous, calm, sweet and worry-free. There were no more problems. There was only good.  My Rebbe's smile expresses his total and complete centeredness in Truth. When he smiles, he also wants nothing more than to share the Truth with you.  His passion to give can be found in his every intention; thought; movement and word. He has forfeited the illusion of 'self.' He is a limb of Hashem in this world. 
 
Imagine, for fun, how a Holy person would score on a 'cutting edge' 'highly reliable and valid' personality inventory.  The doctors would laugh at him like people laughed at the pure and simple man in Rebbe Nachman's story of The Wise Man and the Simple Man.  There are no psychological categories that can contain holiness.  If a tzaddik took a personality test, G-d forbid, he might appear psychotic, schizoid, isolative, obsessive, or grandiose. Continue reading here...

 

Wishing You Blessing Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

The Best Advice

By Dr. Zev Ballen

How do you make important decisions? Do you worry before or after making decisions? Do you feel depleted from the stress and pressure of not knowing what to do? If you answered "yes" to even one of these questions, this lesson is for you!

 

Taking Time to Re-Charge

Here are two of my favorite places to speak to Hashem. Taken near the gravesite of Samuel the Prophet, just outside of Jerusalem. Have a great Day!

Wishing You Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Rising Above Anxiety

Here is an emuna-based meditation that you can use as a preliminary "warm up" to a personal prayer session, or simply to reduce stress and anxiety. You deserve 16 minutes! Take off your shoes and glasses, loosen your belt, turn off your phone -- Now just sit back in a comfortable position and prepare for takeoff. Enjoy!

   

 

Imagine, Only Good Thoughts

 

 

In this classic footage of Rabbi Shalom Arush that was filmed and translated by Rav Lazer Brody, the Rav reveals how he worked on himself to become a person who enjoys only wonderful wholesome thoughts and has no negative thoughts whatsoever. In these precious eight minutes, the Rav reveals the essence of Emuna Therapy and how it differs from secular therapy. Based on a teaching of Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, the Rav explains that a person is essentially made up of his thoughts and that the goal must be to overcome unwholesome thoughts with good thoughts.  The failure of secular therapy results from people trying to battle against bad thoughts on their own. The Rav says that we can only succeed by inputting a large amount of new information from outside of ourselves (the Torah). Then we will start thinking differently. The Rav admits that when he first started out, as a young bal teshuva, he too had many bad and unwholesome thoughts but that he didn't confuse himself and pressure himself about this. Instead he accepted that this was the level that he was on and simply decided that he had to study and work hard to put good data into his brain. He was successful because he programmed himself like a computer with a large amount of "new data" about emuna. By immersing ourselves in learning about emuna and talking to Hashem, the Rav says that we too can be completely free of negativity. Enjoy!

Wishing you Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

The Secret is in his Eyes

by Dr. Zev Ballen

by Dr. Zev Ballen

His name was Yechiel Tzvi Lebovitch, may his holy memory be a shield for us.  The secret is in his eyes. You may recall my post of a week ago entitled From Hell to Paradise. There, I told the story of a simple grocery store owner who calmly stood ready to be shot by a group of blood-thirsty nazis, rather than give in to their demand that he open his store on Shabbos. Pointing to a wall, they told this holy tzadik that he had ten minutes to decide before they would kill him against that wall. Without hesitating the tzadick  walked over to the wall, turned his face flush against it and waited. The picture above is of the man who stood and waited by that wall - Reb Yechiel Tzvi Lebovitch.

In my first post I wrote that this man was the grandfather of Reb Yehuda Zev Lebovitch (a hidden tzadik who passed away several years ago and was one of the main spiritual guides of Rabbi Shalom Arush). I subsequently learned from Rav Dror Moshe Cossouto that this man was actually Reb Yehuda Zev's father. Reb Cossouto also said that it could be that Reb Yehuda Zev did not actually see this event but was told about it by his cousin. For the full story see: From Hell to Paradise.  Thanks to Rav Dror for the added information and the picture above.

Wishing you Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Just Relax

By Dr. Zev Ballen

Everyone wants to speak with Hashem in personal prayer, but many find it challenging. Some just can't seem to find the "right" words; others say that they can’t concentrate and quickly lose patience; and still others say that they become anxious with the unstructured nature of personal prayer. Whatever difficulty that you may be having in connecting to Hashem – don’t despair. Even the pros get tongue-tied now and then. Know that even your frustrated attempts to connect with Hashem have earned you a priceless reward - but if you want to see just how easy it is to converse with Hashem - you can see the method that is helping many people at: Just Relax right now!

With Blessings Always,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Welcome to Emuna Therapy

It's amazing - when Hashem wants something done it gets done. Soon, with Hashem's help, this blog will be a source of support, advice and information for anyone suffering from emotional distress. Secular-based psychotherapies have utterly failed to provide us with lasting joy and satisfaction because they distance us from Hashem - the sole Source of all emotional healing. Join me and you too will find your ultimate happiness in the teachings of my Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Arush. I practiced psychotherapy for 32 years before Hashem brought me to Israel to reveal the truth about what is therapeutic and what is not. This week's article, Therapeutic Wasteland, is a must read - in it I answer a collegue from a very prestigious American University who charges me with ignorance in relying on blind faith in the treatment of people with severe emotional distress.