Emuna Therapy

Demons Don't Exist

 

  Lucidio Studio

When a person following the Emuna Therapy approach says: 'that thought is coming from the Dark Side, it's not a real, holy thought' - they are making that thought completely disappear. Hashem is the only reality here, and He just made that thought disappear. We're not suppressing anything; rather, we just got a whole bunch of Heavenly help, or siyatta dishemaya, to completely take that thought out of our personal picture. It's not buried somewhere deep down, ready to attack us again even harder the next time - it's completely gone.
 
The other guy who isn't following the Emuna Therapy approach, he's got a problem with "thought suppression", because he's still looking at his thoughts as though they are real, and that he has a real "mental demon" that he has to deal with. Again, if he's trying to deal with that demon without having Hashem in the picture, then after he "suppresses" his thought the demon is going to come back; and he's going to bring his bigger brother with him.
 
But for us, those mental demons don't exist anymore. They are a mirage. As soon as we tell Hashem that we are true to Him, and that we are loyal to Him, and that we know He is the only reality in our lives, then those negative thoughts simply disappear. We know that they are fake; that they are a...continue here...

Do you want some more great reading? Take a look at these:

Avi's Story - By Rabbi Shalom  Arush

Who am I? - by Rabbi Lazer Brody

Divine Letters - By Yael Karni

Selective Amnesia - By Tal Rotem

Emuna and the Job Search - By Dovber HaLevi

Giving Peace a Chance - by Rabbi Shalom Arush

Coming Clean - By Rivka Levy

Above the Sun - By Rabbi Lazer Brody

Opposite World - By Racheli Reckles

The Ten Commandments - By Rabbi David Charlop

Friendship

Bye the way, if you'd like to be friends on facebook don't be shy. All you've got to do is request it here!

Concealed Gifts

An awesome story from Rabbi Lazer Brody's best selling book, The Trail to Tranquility. This was truly a miracle rescue from certain death. Rabbi Brody's book is available here.

Also see our parsha newsletter in time for Shabbos Tu Bishvat!  In this issue, you'll read my advice to a young man who has become discouraged about finding his match. Download CSC NL Week 16 Beshalach.

Have a wonderful family Shabbos!

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

 

Depressed? So What!

Depression doesn't have to be the knock-out punch for everything else in your life. Once you realize that depression doesn't have to be a funeral march, and it doesn't have to kill you, you'll be the happiest, highest-functioning, most optimistic depressed person you ever met. With Hashem there are no rules that restrict you from being very happy while you are still depressed. Don't believe anything that you ever read or heard to the contrary. Remember, that we are entering the World of Emuna, where everything is run by Hashem, and anything is possible. Continue reading...

Here's some more great reading material for the week:

Save the Trees - By Rabbi Lazer Brody 

First, the Peel - by Rabbi Shalom Arush

The Look of Love - By Racheli Reckles

The Two Voices - By Rivka Levy

From Head to Toe - By Chaya Golda Ovadia

Divine Illuminations - By Yael Karni

The Fantasy Horse - Tal Rotem

Here to Stay - Tal Rotem 

The Tenth Man - Rabbi Lazer Brody

The Kiss from Above - Rabbi David Charlop

Don't for get to say Parshas HaMan today in order to have a good livelihood. Hashem please send material abundance now! Rabbi Brody has a copy of the text for you right here.

Have a Blessed day,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Let's Speak

A young baby can't even lift his head, or speak when he's hungry or cold, so instead, he screams and he cries to tell his parents he wants something, or that he's in pain. If you're a two year old, that's an age-appropriate and effective way to get your mom's attention and love. But it doesn't work at 30 or 40 years' old; and it also doesn't work in a civilized world that has conditions. To see the full article click here.

Here are the rest of this week's articles from Breslev Israel:

Removing Your Own Stains - By Rabbi Shalom Arush

Emuna At Fort Bragg - By Rabbi Lazer Brody

The Amazing Divrei Yaakov - By Tal Rotem

Strange Messengers - By Channa Coggan

The Challa Deal - By Rivka Levy

Spiritual Journeys - By Rivka Levy

21 Thoughts About Joy - Yehuda Frischman

Tu'B'Shavat And Shovevim - By Rabbi Lazer Brody

Stolen Innocence - By Racheli Reckles

Wandering Jew - By Rabbi Charlop

Have a great week!

Dr. Zev Ballen

Certainty And Uncertainty

Is it true that certainty is a deep-seated psychological need? Or has it just become popular to think it is in a culture of "seeing is believing" - a culture that is devoid of Faith?

Psychology does not differentiate between the mind of one with Faith and one without Faith - this leads to faulty conclusions - for the two brains are not alike. The person of Faith thrives on uncertainty, he craves the mysterious and unknown. For him it is the unknown that stimulates him and gives his life meaning.  It is his freedom to choose Faith not "certainty" that fills him with the vitality of drawing ever-closer to his G-d. See more in The Firmest Foundation.

Check out this week's line up of other great articles courtesy of Breslev Israel: 

Blue-Chip Investment - By Rabbi Shalom Arush

The Turkey Holiday - By Rabbi Lazer Brody

Ovadia's Courage - By Tal Rotem

A Message From Above - By Yael Karni

Let It Shine - By Yehoshua Goldstein

Family Planning and Emuna - By Rajel Hayyim

Spotting The Fakes - By Rivka Levy

Making The Darkness Glow - By the Lubavitcher Rebbe

A Spiritual Antenna - By Racheli Reckles

A Taste of his Own Cooking - Rabbi David Charlop

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen

 

Breslev Crew Flies To Northeast

May Hashem protect my dear friends on their flight tonight from Tel Aviv Israel to John F. Kennedy airport in New York.  May they bring recovery and comfort to all who need it.

Living The Dream

By Dr. Zev Ballen

Lately I've noticed that I'm finally using all of the knowledge about success and happiness that I've known about for years. 
 
So, what took me so long? I've known what works for thirty years. In this time, haven't I met enough people to know what works and what does not work when it comes to success in marriage, parenting, and business? Even more surprising is that twenty-three years of religious and spiritual education was not enough to make me happy. 
 
Did I need time to develop myself and mature so I could actualize my G-d given potential?
 
No!
 
The greatest power that G-d gives man to grow and excel can be described in one word:
 
DECISION.
 
I didn't need thirty years to decide to change my life - It only took one second.
 
What took me thirty years was to find the right strategy to make the decision. You are more fortunate than I was. You can start right now because I'm going to give you what it took me all this time to discover. Continue here...

Have a great winter,

Dr. Zev Ballen

Barometer Of Joy

By Rabbi Lazer Brody

On Simchat Torah, we spend hours dancing with the Torah scrolls, both at night and during the following morning. We rejoice at our annual completion of reading the Torah, and during the same festival, we begin to read the Torah from the beginning once more. Surely, this is a joyous holiday; but why do we dance until our clothes are literally soaked and until we can barely stand up?

 

Reb Natan writes (Sichot HaRan, 299), "It was my custom to see the Rebbe [Rebbe Nachman of Breslev – LB] every year after Simchat Torah. He would always ask me if I truly rejoiced on the festival. Many times he told me how the community celebrated in his house and how much pleasure he derived from their joy. Once, the Rebbe spoke to me about Simchat Torah in the middle of the year. He asked me, 'Do you now feel joy in your heart? Do you feel this happiness at least once a year?' … The Rebbe very much wanted us to be joyous all year round, particularly on Simchat Torah… The Rebbe told me that once on Simchat Torah he was so overjoyed that he danced all by himself in his room."

 

We learn several amazing lessons from the above discourse. First, that Rebbe Nachman attributed tremendous importance to being joyous on Simchat Torah; second, that Rebbe Nachman was very concerned that his Chassidim were joyous on Simchat Torah and derived enormous gratification when they actually were; third, that Simchas Torah is the time to harvest happiness – "joy in the heart" – for the whole year; and fourth, Rebbe Nachman himself danced as an expression of his joy.

 

Two special occasions in Judaism are the best-known times for dancing – weddings and Simchat Torah. The two are strikingly similar: A wedding is the celebration of the newly-created bond between bride and groom; Simchat Torah is the celebration of the renewed bond between the Torah, the spiritual bride that's betrothed to the People of Israel, the groom. The more a bride and groom rejoice in one another, the more fervently they dance. Rebbe Nachman had lofty goals for Reb Nosson, his chief disciple. Rebbe Nachman wanted Reb Nosson to attain the level of perfect, unblemished love of Torah. Therefore, he would question Reb Nosson every year about the latter's degree of happiness on Simchat Torah, for clearly, the level of one's rejoicing on Simchat Torah is the barometer for one's true love of Torah, as we shall see in the following parable, with Hashem's loving grace: Continue here...

A Worry-Free Succos

There is no better way to prepare for and enjoy the upcoming festival of Succos, than to read well these life-affirming words of my beloved Rebbe and spiritual guide, Rabbi Shalom Arush.

Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody

It hurts me to see people persecuting themselves. Succot should be a time of the greatest joy, especially in the intimacy of the family. Yet, people have sterna nad unhappy faces because they're still worried about Yom Kippur.
 
I know that if I tell them that there's nothing to worry about, they won't listen. So, I'll play their game. Suppose that they still have stern judgments hanging over them that somehow weren't atoned for on Yom Kippur (and that's only "suppose"). That's still not a problem, as we're about to prove:
 
Gratitude and trust, when mixed together, become a magical spiritual elixir that mitigates all stern judgments. The Gemara (Tractate Berachot, 10a) shows us a magnificent illustration of this

principle in the following story: King Chizkiyahu was very ill. Isaiah the Prophet visited him and told him that his days were numbered. King Chizkiyahu answered, “Stop prophesying and leave! I learned from my grandfathers that even if a sharp sword is placed on your throat, don’t lose hope in [Hashem’s] mercy!”
 
What does this mean, the “sharp sword is placed on your throat”? Imagine the harshest decree signed and sealed on Yom Kippur; gratitude, trust and emuna can overturn this too. There’s always hope and no room for despair - ever.
 
We learn trust from King Chizkiyahu. Any person – no matter how low he has fallen – can make a complete turnaround and return to Hashem whenever he wants and under any circumstance. Things might look hopeless, but Hashem has infinite solutions and modes of salvation. Despair and depression are counterproductive. Trust, emuna, and gratitude work miracles.
 
Oftentimes, the Evil Inclination injects its poisonous propaganda into a person’s heart and brain. If it succeeds in reducing a person’s mood to the abyss of disappointment and despair, that person becomes neutralized. That’s why the Evil Inclination will tell you, “Hey, look what you’ve done! Look how terrible your sin is! You’ll never be forgiven…”
 
The Evil Inclination is a liar. Anyone sincerely desiring to make a new start in life can at any given moment. It’s so simple – Hashem loves every individual; He’ll unlock the door for anyone that truly seeks Him. We can always depend on Hashem’s mercy – this is the basis of our trust. We believe that Hashem is a loving Father and we thank Him for all His blessings. Soon, all the concealment dissipates…
 
With all this in mind, we can now appreciate what Rebbe Nachman of Breslev always emphasized – there is no despair in the world at all. There’s no reason for despair, since emuna, trust and gratitude provide a bright ray of light that guides a person out of the deepest and darkest tunnels in life.
 
Rebbe Nachman also answers the Evil Inclination’s claim that a person’s sin is unforgivable. Rebbe Nachman says, “If you believe that you can ruin, believe that you can rectify!” Once again, Rebbe Nachman’s teaching is anchored in the Gemara’s lesson about the power of teshuva (Yoma, 86a,b).
 
Hashem gives us a priceless gift called personal prayer. Anyone who spends an hour a day in gratitude, self-assessment, and teshuva attains a lofty level of emuna and trust. Hashem gives us the wonderful opportunity to judge ourselves; when we do so, Hashem doesn’t allow the Heavenly Court to judge us. Our sages explain that there is no double jeopardy in Divine jurisprudence – the Gemara says that if there is judgment in the material world, there is no need for judgment in the spiritual world.
 
Let’s take a closer look at the story of Isaiah the Prophet and King Chizkiyahu. Continue Here...

Blessings for a wonderful new year 5773!

Dr. Zev Ballen

Rebbe

By Dr. Zev Ballen

For a long time, I've known in a vague way, that there is something in me that I was meant to share with others - some type of contribution that I was supposed to make. I could never quite grasp it, articulate it or even believe in it. Now and again I got a flickering image of myself fulfilling my purpose only to dismiss it quickly as impossible - not because I didn't believe in my purpose, but because I didn't believe in myself.  
 
I've had more psychotherapy and psychoanalysis than I care to admit. The theme was always the same - feeling inadequate. All of my therapists were expertly trained to see my 'inadequacy' but none of them saw much more than this.
 
When we were newlyweds, my wife saw my 'passion.' When you marry the right person, that person believes in you. In my case there were years of detours, avoidances, and suppressions of my purpose. But even at my lowest point - my wife believed that there was something meaningful that I was meant to do. 
 
It started with the Garden of Emuna by Rabbi Shalom Arush - the book shook me out of my lethargy. For several hours straight I forgot about my 'inadequacy.' The book filled me with wonder and fresh hope. My 'passion' for something was ignited. 
 
From there, I found Lazer Beams and became a Beams junky. During one of my first binges on the Beams, I spent most of a day and night watching Rabbi Lazer Brody's videos. These videos caught me off guard, and shook me further from my habitual spiritual slumber. I became absorbed in his every word! I experienced the delight of what psychologists call the 'flow state' -  it is an optimum state of feeling fully alive. I was totally engaged in what I was doing with my whole being. I used to watch the videos twice. The first time, I let it play straight through in order to get the flow of the lesson. On the second watching, I paused it frequently in order to take notes. Every word was a pearl.
 
Rabbi Brody's message was strong, clear and quintessentially practical. The greatest lesson that he ever gave and still gives - is himself. Through his personal example, Rabbi Brody taught me how to attach myself to Rav Arush. 
 
I stopped listening to  beautiful speeches from Rabbis, however brilliant,  whose behavior didn't match up to their oratory. Yes - Rabbi Brody also speaks beautifully and is very learned - but what pulled me in more than anything was just him.  Hours passed in the blink of an eye. Intrinsically I knew what I was doing was important for my life. I became less conscious of me. While I watched, I hardly ate, drank or slept. 
 
My wife agreed...after searching high and low for a spiritual guide - this one was a 'keeper!'
 
So that's how I found 'Rebbe,' which is what I call him to this day. There isn't a word in English that can describe what it means to call someone your Rebbe: spiritual father, teacher, mentor, coach, role-model, authority figure, therapist, Rabbi,  - they all fall short.
 
Soon it became clear that it wasn't enough to have a cyber-Rebbe - however wonderful. Although I was feeling better than before, I was still having some dramatic lows.
 
The question was how was I going to begin to live with emuna and not just read about it? Hashem sent me a wonderful teacher with real emuna - but He didn't send me a Rebbe for entertainment alone. Clearly I wasn't going to learn emuna through cyber-space-osmosis. I had to do something more. But what? 
 
The answers didn't come with one flash of lightning. It took time but I realized that G-d wanted me to help my Rebbe - to serve him. 
 
That wasn't going to be easy. He was very sought after; We lived on opposite sides of the world; and he had no idea who I was!  - But a Rebbe can't be a Rebbe without a talmid (a student) - the thought was consoling.
 
I prayed.
 
And G-d took care of everything. His fame and the distance between us turned out to be inconsequential.  
 
When I came to Jerusalem I met Rebbe in person. I started to work for him and to learn from him up close. Soon I saw that as much as I had studied him on film, I was not prepared for what he was like in person. When I sat with him for the first time, I knew that he was ten steps ahead of me. I could see that he understood everything about me in the first few minutes. Yet he was incredibly simple, humble and kind. He held my hand the whole time that we spoke. I can feel it right now - it was a gift for life.
 
What amazed me most was that in one short meeting, my Rebbe could see that special 'something' in me that neither I nor my therapists could grasp. From the moment he met me, that chronic flickering image of my life's purpose was crystal clear to him. My Rebbe saw my purpose and that I didn't believe in it.
 
In private, my Rebbe is a man of few words - yes he is busy - but it's also his nature to be concise. He is extremely warm and reliable but refuses to coddle: 'Zev, I wish you believed in yourself the way I believe in you'; 'Zev, I know that you still don't believe in yourself'; 'Zev - cut it out -  I won't allow you to doubt yourself!' Continue here...

With Blessings,

Dr. Zev Ballen