In 2006 I took my first Universal Kabbalah class.
I’m not entirely sure what I was signing up for when I registered for the course.
I knew Madonna studied Kabbalah. The red bracelet thing was trending around that time.
Gudni Gudnason, the Founder of the Modern Mystery School was coming to Toronto and Universal Kabbalah was on the schedule. I was new-ish to the MMS and was taking anything I could get my hands on.
I didn’t know that that weekend would initiate something that would become a significant piece of my life’s work (but whoever does know that is going to happen.) As big and momentous as that time was, only a few key things stand out in my memory about that two-day class. The main thing was spending the better part of the day trying to answer one question. Founder Gudni had asked the group a question, and we had to answer it. We spent hours on it, and we didn’t seem to get the right answer.
We kept going around and around in circles. The answers shouted out by the group only led to more questions. We trailed off into deep conversation on topics and concepts running parallel to the original question.
We were taken on a journey. Hills and valleys, highs and lows. Getting closer and closer to the answer, only to suddenly be diverted again and again, further and further off track. Many heads were spinning. Frustrations grew, ah-ha moments were had, minds were stretched.
Finally, at the end of the day, the answer was uncovered and like twinkling lights, everyone’s eyes sparkled in the revelation. Founder Gudni launched into a deeper teaching about that answer: a new concept, a seed of ancient wisdom that the Tree of Life held close within itself.
Minds were blown, brains were fried. It was a great day.
I left elated. Fascinated by the answer. I was so excited about it, I wanted to tell everyone. I remember telling a friend about the experience. My recantation went something like this:
“He asked this question. This was the question, and this was the answer! Isn’t that amazing?!?!”
I will never forget the expression on my friend’s face, puzzled, unimpressed. She responded with, “So, is that what Kabbalah is about?”
Her question would haunt me for months (actually years) to come. What is Kabbalah all about? And why wasn’t she so impressed with that question and answer as I was?
Well, here’s the thing about Kabbalah. It is not necessarily about teaching. It’s not necessarily about learning — not learning in the conventional way most people are used to from our school systems: One plus one equals two, facts are facts, application is application. In the Universal Kabbalah we learn a new way to learn. We learn to undo the learning, the programming, and the patterns that hold our minds into their limited capacity.
We learn about the things that hold us back, come face to face with our fears and wounds, and then look at what needs to be healed within ourselves, and how we can heal it. We do that by learning to ask questions — the right questions to get the right answer.
In my years of studying Kabbalah, I quickly discovered my favourite experiences were in classes where I left with more questions than I came in with. When we are asking questions it means something. And this something is very important. It means there is something we don’t know.
In a world where all the information in the universe is at our fingertips, living in a society where expertise is equated to power, to say we don’t know something is not always the easiest thing to do.
So if asking questions means we don’t know something, what is the subject we likely know least about?
The most mysterious subject on the planet?
The subject that changes so fast it is nearly impossible to keep up with?
…..Ourselves.
We can Google the answers to pretty much everything else we could ever need to know. We can seek out experts in the field. We can go to doctors, professors and skilled professionals that know their stuff. Yet no one, no search engine, no expert can help you to answer these questions:
Who am I?
What am I?
Where did I come from?
Where am I going?
What is my purpose?
Kabbalah helps you to learn about you. Perhaps in a way that you have not yet considered before.
The Universal Kabbalah’s 10-month study and ascension program do not claim to be better than other Kabbalah schools out there. It doesn’t profess to be the only path, nor does it claim ownership on the subject on Kabbalah as a whole. The Universal Kabbalah is a Mystery School tradition that empowers the individual to find their own answers about themselves; to be in pursuit of the ever elusive Know Thyself; to develop their own profound and unique connection with the divine; and to ultimately live out their soul’s true purpose with a life of joy, peace and fulfillment.
I had eventually come to realize that, all those years ago, when my friend did not understand my excitement over the question asked and the answer received, it was because she wasn’t asking the same questions. She wasn’t seeking at that moment. I couldn’t impose the knowledge on her — she had to ask the right questions to get those right answers. But she’d have to do it for herself. She’d have to want it. (I’m still holding hope that one day she might consider doing the Universal Kabbalah program.)
All these years later, I’ve trained to become a Kabbalah Instructor myself. It gives me great joy to share this journey with others through this indescribable roller coaster. A roller coaster of soul searching, mind-bending, baggage-purging, mental releasing, emotional healing, and a motivationally inspiring process to become the person they are truly meant to be: living in alignment with their life purpose.
I’m humbled and honoured to hold the space for the group of individuals ready to ask the right questions and uncover the right answers.
The most important subject you’ll ever learn about in your life is you. And it’s the only one that really counts.
