Quote: "Irwin Kula shows us how to to live our humanness -- the pleasures and the challenges, the messiness and the triumphs -- with a profound acceptance of our desires and foibles and a joy that can only come from understanding." --Deepak Chopra
"Yearning. After twenty-three years as a rabbi, I can think of no more defining human experience."
Life can be messy and imperfect. We’re all looking for answers. And yet, as renowned rabbi Irwin Kula points out, the yearning for answers is no different now than it was in the times that gave rise to Moses, Buddha, and Jesus. Far from being a burden, however, these yearnings can themselves become a path to blessing, prompting questions and insights, resulting in new ways of being and believing. In this, his first book, Rabbi Kula takes us on an excursion into the depths of our desires, applying ancient Jewish tradition to seven of our most wonderful yearnings. Merging ancient wisdom with contemporary insights, Rabbi Kula shows how traditional practices can inform and enrich our own search for meaning. More importantly, he invites us to embrace the messiness and complexities of the human experience in order to fully embrace the endless and glorious project of life.
It's true that we can place too high an importance on positive validation from outside of ourselves. We actually become miserable without it and even think we cannot live without it. In the Schnarch interview I referred to on another thread, he talks about "using sex to feel good about yourself." I believe that is what I have always done. Sex hasn't been about expressing affection and "giving," as much as it has been about proving to me and to others that I'm desirable and okay. Sex has been all about validation of me as normal, attractive, skilled in bed, etc.
Great minds, eh? 