(from a recent lecture)

As many of you know, we just came back, this past week, from our trip to Africa.

Those of you who have not been to that area in Malawi (which is the second poorest country in the world), you can watch video, see pictures, hear stories, but unless you are actually there and experience it, you cannot even being to imagine the level of poverty, the level of pain that there is in that part of the world.

I was thinking while we were there, and certainly after we left, both about what we are doing there, and about the problem in general. There is a very important lesson both for Africa and for our lives. Very often in life we find ourselves in difficult situations, with problems. Depending on the level of difficulty, we either think we can handle it or we are overwhelmed.

We could assume that overwhelmed is the more difficult situation. But the reality is that the only true answer to end both the small and the great difficulties we have in life is the injection of the Light of the Creator. We can then understand it is probably better to be overwhelmed than not, but with the right consciousness.

One could say there is so much to do that I might as well give up. That is not the overwhelmed we are talking about. To be overwhelmed is to realize that I, alone or as part of a collective, cannot solve the problem. All we can do is do an action. The small action that we do to ignite the Light of the Creator allows the Light to come in. The action is definitely necessary.

It’s important to understand when we are doing the action that we are overwhelmed with the problem, but we know that with the Light of the Creator in the situation the problem can be solved. If we understand that, when we find ourselves in global or personal situations, when we find ourselves being overwhelmed, then we understand we cannot solve this problem by ourselves. We understand that the only solution is for the Light of the Creator to come into the situation. We do whatever small action we can do, not to solve the problem, but to ignite the Light of the Creator.

When we were there in Malawi, on the first day we went to a place outside of the cities, on the outskirts of the villages. As far as the eye could see, there were thousands and thousands of orphan children. One of the amazing things about Malawi is, everywhere you go, the pervasiveness of the problem. Literally, you will see two- and three-year-olds playing and sitting on the side of the road. For the most part their parents have died. Most have no food to eat. Many have AIDS or malaria or tuberculosis. As you travel, you realize the problem is unbelievably vast and deep.

After the first day we were there, and everywhere you go, you are surrounded by thousands and thousands of children. You chas v’shalom, start to wonder about the diseases you could get. I wanted to make myself feel little bit better. There was an American doctor living in Malawi. He said, you probably met people today with meningitis, with TB. He didn’t really calm us down. Because he was saying, it’s an unbelievable thing, if you have a group of a few hundred kids, you will have AIDS, meningitis, malaria in the rainy season. It’s an unbelievable situation.

It’s important for us to understand. In every part of our lives we find ourselves in overwhelming situations. It’s important not to try to get rid of that feeling. That feeling is the key to opening us to truly desire the Light of the Creator.

We know the only way the Light can manifest is with the vessel. We know the vessel is the desire. That begins with overwhelmed. That begins with knowing that we, that I, cannot solve this problem. Knowing that all I can do is ignite the spark of the Light. That is an important lesson in many areas of our life. Certainly in Malawi.

We came to this one village on the second day. These are all villages we are helping out. Prior to our help, on a good week, they would eat twice a week. Thanks to the help of what we are doing, they now eat every day. They were lined up with plates and food that they never had before to show us what our help was doing. You cannot really relate to the type of work that we are doing there. But it’s important for all of us connected, involved with the Centre, to appreciate the work we are doing on many levels.

It filled me with a tremendous amount of joy to see these kids, thanks to the work we are doing on the simplest level, eating every day of the week. And there is so much more that we are doing.

At its core, what is the purpose of the Centre? We believe the purpose of the Creator of this world was not to have the pain and suffering in our world. But rather, the Creator gave us the opportunity to bring the end to pain and suffering and death. If you think about that in the true sense, you feel overwhelmed. In being overwhelmed, to know that all we have to do, and we think about the work of the Centre, our happiness or fulfillment will not come with when the Centre is bigger and bigger. It will come when we get to the ultimate goal.

It’s overwhelming. You think about how much there is to do. Is it possible? It’s not just the Centre as an organization, but all of us connected to the Centre to take it upon ourselves to ignite that spark for which the world was created, without pain, without death.

Consciousness is the key here. Consciousness that all I’m doing in this one action is igniting the Light of the Creator. It will be the Light that comes from these small actions that we do that will bring the end of pain and suffering. It’s important to keep the end goal in mind, to be overwhelmed, and to realize the small actions ignite the Light. They are connected and, all together, will bring the final result.