How can we find life in meaning? In this episode of Disrupt Reality, host Tonya Dawn Recla shares her time with guest Rabbi Simon Jacobson as they talk about the idea of why we would be in pursuit of our evolution. Rabbi Jacobson shares what he has to say about finding your purpose, what that pursuit means for us, and what lies on the other side of it. Rabbi Jacobson also discusses how this pursuit for a life of meaning can be done, and what it looks like when we open that up. Join Tonya and Rabbi Jacobson in today’s episode to discover how you can live a life of meaning and see the real gift inside all of that.
Hello everyone. This is Tonya Dawn Recla, your SuperPower Expert. And I am so excited about today’s conversation. We have a delightful gentleman here with us today who really spends time. And I would challenge you to spend a moment in his space, virtual space there, and just tap into him in the sense of that beautiful light that he is in the world. And it’s just remarkable. We see a lot of folks in the transformation space and I’m most excited about this conversation because it’s that real consumable, right? Relatable, like down-to-earth kind of approach to spiritualism that really helps people make headway and incorporate it and embody it into their existence. And we know we could use a lot more of that right now. And this conversation that we’re going to have between us is all around this idea of why we would be in this pursuit of our evolution.
Why would we continue to try to squeeze and stretch ourselves and really uncomfortable ways when we could just opt out of the whole growth thing and just kind of distract ourselves with whatever’s around us, right? We could choose that and perhaps somewhat argue that you can only choose that momentarily, then you’re going to get back on your path. But regardless there’s still a choice in every moment. And today we’re going to talk about the why of that. Like, what is the point, what other than like when you die and whatever your beliefs are about that. But this conversation is all around finding life in meaning, right? A lot of times everyone’s looking for their meaning and their purpose in life, but why, right? What is that pursuit for us and what lies on the other side of it?
We’re going to dive into that today. And our guest today is Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Again, as I said before, just spend some time in his space. You can find out more about him at meaningfullife.com. I almost don’t have the words, but in a sense, the concept of this engaged Sage that he uses to describe what he does is absolutely perfect. And we’re going to open up space right now and invite him in so that we can talk with him about how this helps people pursue a life of meaning. And then what does it look like when we open that up? And what’s the real gift inside all of that. So please join me in welcoming to the show, Rabbi Simon Jacobson. Welcome, Simon. I’m so glad you’re here with us.
Thank you so much for having me, Tonya, it’s a delight. Thank you for your kind of warm words and look forward to really digging in with you.
Beautiful. Well, we will do just that right after we ask you, what are your superpowers?
Living up to the title. One of my superpowers is I know how to be the eye of a tornado. And they say that the eye of a tornado is the comm center amidst all the turbulence around you. For some reason, I don’t know, maybe it was my upbringing, my childhood, my parents. I was always able to create that inner calm, even when things were really disturbing around me. We live in a world today, with plenty of turbulence and upheaval and polarization, as you alluded to. It’s really, I see it as a superpower of mine to be able to, how do you get that space to be above the fray, to transcend and really look inwards and not be a victim or a product of your environment and circumstances, but really be proactive and define yourself instead of being defined by the environment around you.
We refer to that as the concept of being in the world, but not of it, and remember that we’re more than what we see and staying attuned to that. And, it is a remarkable gift to the world.
Absolutely. Because it’s you as you mentioned it as well. There’s so much going on and especially today’s technology and all the streaming, we’re inundated with so much information overload that you begin living vicariously through others and other people’s opinions. And so on as to, what do you stand for? And I’ve asked people also, who are you? They give you their business card, but that’s what you do. That’s not who you are. And that question, who are you at the core is I think Vatanen today more vital than ever.
Well, it’s the only place where we’re going to find a connection, right? Everything else is divisive. And it’s designed that right when we identify as individuals or as groups, and we separate, it’s designed so that we participate in the illusion of separateness and of duality. And when we play in, and that has its purpose too, and it makes for that cohesion, the harmony in societies and globally really challenging. If we don’t start training people, how to rise above that. It’s awesome to root for your favorite football team. And when we allow the identity of that to consume us to bring on actual emotional responses attacks right, then now we’ve gone past a casual, fun activity and moved into where it’s actually a threat to the identity and people start to react.
That’s just a really kind of not benign, but a casual example of why I think it’s so important to be able to access that peace and that stillness that you speak of in the eye of the storm. And truthfully, I mean, it fits really perfectly with the conversation that I saw in folding between us, because that is the promise, right? If you commit to setting your life on a trajectory toward meaning and you move into that space and you sit in that beautiful, perfect space where your abilities and the world’s needs and everything kind of meets up perfectly, then you get to have that experience that you’re speaking of, which feels like, it’s like the world’s not calming down. It’s not like it’s getting any less chaotic or complex, but our experience of it gets to be different. And this goes way beyond the Pollyanna Rose-colored glasses, just have positive attitude stuff. You truly have this peaceful school experience at Simon just explained. To me, that’s the gift and the work that you do.
Absolutely. I deal obviously with many different people. People have marital issues or other conflict management. And one of the things I do through the meaningful life center is exactly that. When two people have, let’s say a disagreement, and so there are the two conventional ways of dealing with it is one annihilates, the other, and a survival of the fittest type of thing. One dominates and other acquiescence, another approach they remain at war and they just never agree. And the real approach is not to eliminate, but to actually appreciate what I like to call harmony within diversity. I love the analogy of music. Musical notes are very different, a symphony, an orchestra, but what’s beautiful about it is that there’s diversity. Everyone has their sound, their song, their beat, but they work in perfect synchronicity and the human body-like nature. And that seems to be the elusive third element of creating harmony, seeing the diversity, not as a root for divisiveness, but actually as a root for beauty and harmony.
Beautiful. I have, I definitely have something that I want to add into that, but before we do, let’s go ahead and take a break and first remind people where they can go to find out more about you.
So meaningfullife.com. is a primary website, a diverse material there, and many different programs, especially addressing the turbulence and the peoples of our time.
Beautiful. Well, thank you. And thank you again for the work that you put out into the world. Folks, we appreciate you listening to us, stay with us. We’re going to touch in on that and how you can create that sort of harmony within your own existence. We’re talking today with Rabbi Simon Jacobson, and we’re talking about finding life in meaning. Me and my play on words, folks. So sit with that for a moment. Listen to the break here and we’ll be right back.
To listen to the entire show click on the player above or go to the SuperPower Up! podcast on iTunes.
Podcast: Play in new window
