. . . The Eternal One desires our perfection. This is the driving force behind creation. Held within the Creator's mind's eye (so to speak) is a glorious and ecstatic vision of what this cosmic "project" will look like when it is completed. In the meantime, however, the universe is a work in progress, and each of us has certain contributory tasks that only he can perform. So the question becomes, how do we know what they are? . . . The first step, is self-reflection. It is the work of sifting through our feelings, yearnings, and inclinations, and identifying those that seem to be most deeply true. This is the phase of information gathering. It provides the raw material for the service of prayer. The only means we have of peeking into the "Teacher's Edition" and glimpsing what we look like in the Ultimate vision of our perfection is through this work of self-reflection. The Infinite One communicates this information to us constantly through the voice of our inner longings. . .

. . . The deepest truth of any matter must be expressed as a paradox -- as two mutually exclusive and equally true statements. The real truth then appears as the elusive product of their tension and interaction. Unless one is grappling with paradox, one is not at the heart of the subject. . . . Our post-modern age has been forced to accept this method of inquiry based on paradox. The recently discovered scientific fact that light is a particle and light is a wave, although these are two mutually exclusive and absolutely contradictory truths, has radically transformed the way we see the world . . . You might be surprised to discover that this radical and contemporary view of the world is ancient history for the Jewish tradition. One of the most famous dicta of the Talmud is the assertion: "These and these (which are completely contradictory) are both the words of the living G-d." The principle of paradox is fundamental and explicit in the Talmud. It constantly presents two opposite and conflicting opinions, and affirms both, for the truth is something greater than either, whose depth and subtlety are only apparent by playing one side against the other and discovering the perspective where opposites reconcile. . .

. . . In other words, true prayer requires that one's desire for a thing be superseded by one's desire not to have it, if it does not accord with Divine will and Supreme Good. One's chash, or submission to the authority of Divine truth and spiritual law, must supersede one's mal, one's drive toward a particular end or goal. . .

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