Moses emphasizes the dynamics of how we relate to
our Creator, and in this context eikev not only means because but due to.
"And it will be, because
(eikev) you will heed these ordinances and keep them and
perform, that the Lord, your God, will keep for you the Covenant and the loving
kindness that He swore to your forefathers." (Deuteronomy 7:12)
The text continues with His blessings when we
cleave constantly to Him (7:13-15) especially His power to overcome the evils
we suffer when we choose the attachment to negative passions and ego's
fantasies (idolatry). We know this attachment may be stronger than our will,
and think: "these nations are more than I, how can I drive them out?"
(7:17).
Moses urges us to trust God's love as our deliverer, the redeemer that guides us in our quest to submit all levels of consciousness (ego included) into His ways.
"(…) remember what the Lord your God did onto
Pharaoh, and onto all Egypt." (7:18)
As we mentioned in previous commentaries, Pharaoh
represents ego's pretentious rule over all dimensions of consciousness, and
Egypt the resulting narrowness and limitations.
We must understand that love's ways and attributes are not conditional to their blessings but inherent to them. We love, therefore we are blessed. As we said before, love is its cause and effect because it encompasses all. We just need to achieve this awareness by being and doing God's ways (8:6, 10:12, 11:22) which Rashi refers to as being and doing His image and likeness.
"He is merciful; then you too should be
merciful. He does acts of loving kindness; then you too should do acts of
loving kindness". (Rashi's commentary on the Torah)
This is the dynamics of our relationship with the Creator: we learn to know Him through His ways and attributes derived from His love, hence we relate to Him also through our love by being and manifesting His ways and attributes. Thus we are aware that we are love because we were created by God's love, due to His love, and for the sake of love which is its own cause and effect.
Once we realize this identity we will be able to
express it, and be love in what we are and do. This awareness has the inherent
power to reveal Love when and where concealed because we are able to tell
between love as truth, and material illusions as falsehood.
We lose this sublime awareness when we let ego's agenda take over our lives.
"My power and the might of my hand have
gotten me this wealth." (8:17)
And its devastating consequences (8:19-20).
We know that we can be very stubborn in the
process of redirecting ego and all levels of consciousness into love's
guidance.
"(…) because you are a stiff-necked
people." (9:6, 13)
We don't claim to be perfect but we know that
perfection exists when we see it in God's creation. Thus we realize that only love
is perfect, and our happiness, joy and plenitude come out of its ways and
attributes.
Loving our Creator is the essential commandment to
fully understand our relationship with Him.
"Because if you shall diligently keep all
this commandment which I command you, to do it, to
love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cleave unto
Him." (11:22)
This is our heritage, our identity and the source
of all blessings.
No comments:
Post a Comment