An Open Letter to University Presidents
6 min read
Addictions often develop to fill the gnawing emptiness one feels inside. There’s a better way.
The awareness that something was missing in my life began in adolescence. But I didn’t know what it was I was lacking.
I grew up in a warm and modest family, with all of my basic physical needs being lovingly met. But yet I felt as though something was missing.
As the years went on, I started searching more and more desperately, trying to find what was missing. I searched in a number of different religions, in environmentalism, in social justice movements, in high-level academics, in relationships, and each provided me with some fascinating clues, but my soul was still craving more.
Food addictions developed along the way, but I didn’t understand that they were messages calling out to me. It wasn’t until I began to learn in-depth about the ancient mystical wisdom in my own heritage and its guidelines for living life with the greatest pleasure possible, that my soul began to feel nourished.
We hear about learning to listen to our bodies, which is great. We hear about becoming aware of when we are eating emotionally, and that’s helpful too. But what goes straight to the core of addictions is becoming aware of our souls and listening to them.
That addictions result from a spiritual craving is becoming more recognized (for scientific studies on this topic, read this and this). I believe it’s the reason that resilience can manage, sometimes with great difficulty, to take place – even after years of abuse. Therapeutic intervention is often needed for spiritual nourishment to be able to be integrated into the soul if a person has experienced significant trauma. But it’s vital to recognize that the highest levels of the soul still remain pure because they are the only places within us where trauma isn’t able to reach.
When our true essence can receive the nourishment it needs, profound healing can emerge. Just as we need to nourish our physical bodies throughout each day in order to thrive, we need to nourish our souls throughout the day.
Next time you feel like overeating, ask yourself this question, “Is it my body that is hungry – or my soul?”
Addictions are widespread, and food addictions are the most common of all. Next time you feel like overeating, ask yourself this question, “Is it my body that is hungry – or my soul?” Then discover the abundance of greater and more lasting pleasures that were created for us to enjoy. That’s how our hungry souls can find the fulfillment we are genuinely craving.
When we feel deeply disappointed with our lives, addictions often develop to fill the gnawing emptiness inside. What we are desperately seeking is more lasting pleasure. That is what fills the void within.
To get a sense of the abundance of pleasures readily available to us at any moment, we can learn about the five rungs on The Pleasure Ladder, presented by Rabbi Noah Weinberg, the maverick founder of Aish HaTorah. These correspond to the five levels in the human soul according to the ancient mystical wisdom of Kaballah.
What’s on the lowest level of The Pleasure Ladder? All the natural physical pleasures. Whole foods, nature, music, movement like dancing, swimming, gardening – these are just a few examples. This lowest level of the soul is connected to our body, so when we experience these natural gifts with our five senses in gratitude, it nourishes and elevates both our bodies and our souls!
The next level up on The Pleasure Ladder is love. But how can we bring love into our lives at any moment? Isn’t love dependent on other people? Our ancient wisdom teaches that love is focusing on the virtues of another – genuinely appreciating someone else. This is an empowering understanding of love because even in solitary confinement, a person can bring the warm emotional feeling of love into one’s life by remembering a kindness that was once done for him by somebody.
The third rung of The Pleasure Ladder is meaning. Engaging in meaningful pursuits that make a positive difference brings an even greater level of pleasure into our lives. Someone mentioned to me that he was plowing through a whole box of pizza by himself until a neighbor asked for his help with something for a couple of minutes. When he returned to his apartment, he no longer “needed” to keep eating the pizza. Filled up, he could put the rest in the fridge for another time.
On the second highest level of the ladder we find the pleasure creativity brings. We experience this when we put a unique part of ourselves into the world, tapping into the creative flow of the Universe. We don’t feel like eating – or even sleeping sometimes when we are in the midst of this zone.
The highest level of pleasure is transcendence – that state of awe and wonder. It’s when we become aware of how we are all connected to each other and to the Source of everything. The illusion of estrangement clearly dissolves into a sense of oneness and unity. We also experience this when we make the first crack in a bad habit, transcending our own previous limitations, becoming freed to be more fully a part of the world around us.
Through a variety of addictions, we desperately try to fix a spiritual deficit through physical means, but only spiritual nourishment hits the spot.
Each level up the pleasure ladder brings more expansive realms of connection into our lives, moving us away from the feelings of isolation, disappointment, anxiety, and depression that lead to addictions, including food addictions. When we overeat, we are trying to fill the inner emptiness by continuing to eat, which brings immediate, though fleeting gratification. But the inner emptiness is a spiritual one, so no amount of food can fill it up.
Through a variety of addictions, we desperately try to fix a spiritual deficit through physical means, but only spiritual nourishment hits the spot.
