Language as a Both Limited and Limiting Tool

"The nature of reality is such that no matter how much you say about it, you will be no closer to the end than when you began, which is why the wise sit in silence." - Leo Gura

It is when I realized language is not only a limited tool, which I had already realized before, but also a limiting one that I lost my interest in linguistics, which occupied me nearly three decades, though I'm still interested in several languages, including Hebrew, Yiddish, and Russian.

It never occurred to me that language could limit us until I realized that many of us, including myself, are trapped in our (egoic) mind and language plays a crucial role in this mental trapping. We can't stop our incessant thinking, especially, on negative things, so that when we really have to use our mind, we can't focus our attention. Our mind, which is supposed to be our servant, has become our landlord controling us. This control also prevents us from transcending our intellect and connecting to suprarational experiences.

Linguistics not only can't liberate us from this mental control fascilitated by language but even seems to strengthen it. Perhaps this limitation isn't restricted to linguistics but applies to academic studies in general. I'd prefer spending my time trying the traditional Torah study and Jewish spiritual work such as meditation and prayer instead to transcend my intellect and enhance my suprarational experiences.

Non-business Use of Facebook

I got "married" with Facebook for the first time in late August 2016 right after I got married to keep my family and close friends updated about our new married life. I had to get "divorced" from it in about six months to save shlom bayit ('domestic harmony'). Unfortunately, even this "divorce" couldn't save our marriage as one "time bomb" inside me was about to explode.

This explosion and resulting divorce have taught me a number of important lessons. One of them is that many of us are trapped in our egoic mind. Since I realized this for the first time, I've been working to raise the level of my consciousness and liberate myself from this trap. In retrospect, I also realized that Facebook as well as other social media platforms serve, not only for me but also many other users, to strengthen the ego and the illusions it shows us.

For this potential danger I was very reluctant to get "remarried" with Facebook, but I had no choice. I did get "remarried" with it in July 2018 to open a Facebook business page as one of the important online marketing tools for my new practice of Jewish life coaching. I also had to reopen my personal Facebook account to open my Facebook business page.

I was (and still am) very cautious and suspicious of the renewed non-business use of Facebook, but at the same time I also hoped (and am still hoping) to have opportunities for exchanging experiences and opinions with like-minded users of Facebook about how to raise the level of our consciousness. Unfortunately, however, it didn't take much time to realize that the non-business use of Facebook is dominated by the ego of its users - the majority of non-business posts are for instant gratifications satisfying the ego in various degrees of camouflage.

Though I post quite frequently on my personal Facebook page, my main non-business use of Facebook is to follow and read business pages of those people and organizations that have higher levels of consciousness than mine. In order to prevent the danger of my posts stemming from my ego I make all my posts open to the public, assuming that if I want to restrict them to my "friends", they must be more egoic. I'm also more and more convinced that those with a high level of consciousness generally don't use Facebook at all or seldom check it, so my above mentioned hope still remains unfulfilled.