"Connecting the Dots"

Children play a game called "Connect the dots," sometimes called "Dot to Dot." Connect the Dots is a kind of puzzle that contains a hidden picture. Drawn on paper with pencil it begins with a sequence of numbered dots, letters or symbols. By drawing lines between the dots in numerical, alphabetical, or symbolic order, one completes the image that is prefigured in the puzzle. Most puzzles contain line art to supplement the image created by the lines between the dots.

Although we don't realize it, we are all involved in a cosmic game of "Connect the Dots." The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that every person has a tiny, hidden desire within to discover the meaning of life. This desire is referred to as the "Point in the Heart." In some people, the Point in the Heart awakens, and the person begins to ask questions such as "Why do I exist? Why is there so much suffering in the world? Is there more to life than this?"

In fact, according to Kabbalah, the goal and purpose of life is really all about connecting one Point in the Heart with the Point in the Heart of others, thus completing the Big Picture. Yet, what is the 'Big Picture'? Well, just like a Connect the Dots picture puzzle, we can't really know for sure until we begin to connect those dots.

One might shrug and say: "Who cares?" However, this is no ordinary picture; it affects each and every person on the planet! The Big Picture we are trying to create is no less than a world where people live in peace and harmony, each realizing the happiness that is intended for us in the thought of creation.

Surely such a lofty goal is worthy of the effort required to uncover it. So how do we go about connecting those Points in the Heart? We make the connections through our personal experience with people, events and circumstances that seem to occur at random, shaping and leaving their indelible mark on our lives.

If we are truly honest with ourselves, we find that our interactions and choices are currently concerned with what is best for me; what makes me feel happy or good. This focus on the self is what isolates each Point. In order to connect the Points, we must shift our perspective to what makes the other Points happy. In other words, we must learn to care for others as the driving force behind all of our actions.

This idea is not new. We have all heard the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." We try to instill concepts of caring and sharing in our children, yet it never seems to make a difference. The world is still filled with selfishness, anger and hate. We are unable to connect those dots, no matter how hard we try.

According to Kabbalah, the problem is that we don't understand the rules of the game. We try to play, but are constantly breaking the rules and having to starting over again. The pictures we create are meaningless and full of suffering.

Kabbalah provides us with the rule book, but it also gives us the strategy that we need to be successful. Through our study and personal inner work, we learn how to transform our nature so that we care about giving rather than receiving. That transformation creates the connections between the Points in the Heart.

As more and more people join in, the picture will become clearer and clearer. In the end, we will have solved the puzzle and created that Big Picture of happiness and harmony that really was there all along.