Playing God

Life is full of games. Animals, babies, children, everyone plays games. When we become teenagers, different games begin, which become increasingly sophisticated over time. We put on and take off personas of icons we admire or that influence us, but in the process, we lose touch with who we are.

Playing God means aiming to become similar to the quality of giving, the quality that engenders all of life. It is the most complicated and most intricate game in existence. It is also, by far, the most rewarding.

Games are a natural means of development. They help us prepare for our next level of development—physical, intellectual, emotional, or spiritual. As we grow up, we come to feel that we must hide our real selves and put on some persona that will be popular. This is how we begin to forget who we are.

As we grow up, we develop new personas for every new phase in life. We develop a persona for being with friends, a persona for being at home with the family, a persona for being a parent, a persona for being at work, with strangers, or anywhere else we go. In the end, even when we are alone and do not need to put on any front, we do not know what “persona” to wear because we are so unaccustomed to just being us.

Once you have obtained that other nature, your perception expands to encompass all of reality. You suddenly understand why everything happens because you see things from the same perspective that created everything and sustains everything. You understand not only the present, but the past and future, too, become known, and “time” acquires a whole new meaning. As our perception becomes unbounded, so does our sense of existence, and life and death become phases of development, while we ourselves transcend both as we become omnipresent and omniscient like the quality that has engendered and sustains the world.

Sometimes, at night, before we fall asleep, a question creeps into our minds: “Who am I? Do I really know who I am without all the masks and fronts I have put on throughout my life? And most importantly, will I ever find the real me again?”

The answer to that question is that it is possible, but on one condition. You need to play a special game for this, and put on a special persona: You need to play at being God. God is not some kind Santa sitting on a cloud, or an entity that governs the universe. God, otherwise known as the Creator, is a quality, an attribute: God is a quality of absolute giving and caring about others. Only the quality of absolute goodness can engender something since anything else looks inward, to please itself, rather than outward, to build a new and independent being.

Just like a mother engenders life through her love, the Creator engenders life through His love. If we want to find our true selves, we need to play at being like the Creator, in a state of pure giving and caring for others.

It may feel awkward, at first, but so does every persona we put on. Just as every persona becomes natural after a while, so will the persona of the giver.

Playing God means aiming to become similar to the quality of giving, the quality that engenders all of life. It is the most complicated and most intricate game in existence. It is also, by far, the most rewarding.

There are no losers in this game because you can play as long as you want until you win. When you win, you become the persona you were playing. In other words, the quality of giving becomes second nature, a new nature that you place above your original one, and both of them exist within you.

Once you have obtained that other nature, your perception expands to encompass all of reality. You suddenly understand why everything happens because you see things from the same perspective that created everything and sustains everything. You understand not only the present, but the past and future, too, become known, and “time” acquires a whole new meaning. As our perception becomes unbounded, so does our sense of existence, and life and death become phases of development, while we ourselves transcend both as we become omnipresent and omniscient like the quality that has engendered and sustains the world.

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Opioids – an Escape from Pointlessness

According to data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, last year saw a leap of nearly 30 percent in deaths from drug overdose, 75 percent of which was attributed to opioids. According to the data, deaths from opioid overdose rose by nearly 40 percent last year alone.

The pain that drives people to opioids and other forms of escapism is the result of the pressure from being in the process of shifting from one world to another. On the one hand, pleasures from the old world no longer give them the joy they once had; on the other hand, they have not discovered the pleasure in reciprocating with others. As a result, they feel “trapped in a cave” and are desperately looking for an escape.

These alarming statistics are by far the worst of any country, but the US is not alone in its opioid crisis. During roughly the same time period, opioid use among teenagers in Israel has soared, accompanied by a surge in calls to emotional help centers.

In both the US and Israel, the problem is not opioid use per se, but the sense of pointlessness that drives young adults and teens to try to escape from reality. Today, when people have everything they need materially, questions about the meaning of it all become increasingly poignant.

This is true not only of teenagers and young adults, but also of their parents. In fact, part of the reason why teenagers cannot answer to themselves the question about the meaning of life is that their parents do not know the answer either and are just as perplexed. Since parents cannot provide answers, children remain frustrated.

Opioid abuse is only one facet of the problem. In truth, everywhere you look, people are unhappy, depressed, angry, and frustrated. This is why so many of them turn to extremes to find meaning: religious fundamentalism, extreme sports, violence, and substance abuse.

The solution, therefore, does not lie in a particularistic approach to opioid overdose. There needs to be a comprehensive system that informs people about the changing reality and teaches them how to deal with it.

This system needs to start in early childhood and continue well into adulthood. People should be placed in social circles that provide them with social support, warmth, sympathy, and empathy. The relationship with the group should be an extended one and continue through life, providing people with a base to lean on and from which to grow.

Gradually, people will begin to develop new values. Instead of seeking meaning and satisfaction derived from self-centered goals, people will find meaning in reciprocal relationships with others. They will begin with the core group I just mentioned and develop from there to wider and wider circles.

On the other side of the crisis lies a new society, connected and supportive. But getting there requires squeezing through a narrow cave where the light on the other end is dim and erratic.

The pain that drives people to opioids and other forms of escapism is the result of the pressure from being in the process of shifting from one world to another. On the one hand, pleasures from the old world no longer give them the joy they once had; on the other hand, they have not discovered the pleasure in reciprocating with others. As a result, they feel “trapped in a cave” and are desperately looking for an escape.

For this reason, it is not a bad sign when people feel bad; it is a sign of change, of growth. At the other end of the cave lies the light of a connected and caring society. If we push through and do not give up halfway, we will quickly reach the light. If we linger, reality will push us through the cave until we arrive on the other side bleeding, bruised, and battered.