A Follower or A Star?

Am I a Follower or a Star? A Question of Unity

Am I intelligent and curious, or ignorant and Pollyanna-ish? Am I a rule follower or a unique trailblazer? Am I mindful or mindless? Should I follow this blueprint, the Torah, even if I don’t “feel” it, or does that make me inauthentic—a sheep among the flock?

Should I act first, trusting that meaning and connection will follow? Or should I wait until I feel inspired, until I truly “know,” before I begin? Am I a follower or a proud, unique star?

The answer isn’t either/or. It’s not a choice between being a rule-following sheep or a blazing individualist. It’s not a line with one end labeled “mindless” and the other “authentic.” The truth lies in recognizing that one completes the other. It’s a wave, not two separate pieces. A circle, not a line.

The Wave: A Metaphor for Action, Feeling, and Unity

A wave oscillates. At its crest, droplets rise above the wave, carried upward by the energy of the surface. For a moment, they appear separate, as though untethered from the wave. But this separation is an illusion. The droplet, the surface, and the depths are not distinct entities supporting one another—they are all expressions of the same unified phenomenon.

1. The Droplet: A Moment of Ascent

As a droplet rises, it momentarily separates from the surface. But this ascent has limits. The droplet’s small mass cannot sustain its motion indefinitely. Gravity pulls it back, and the droplet descends—not because it fails, but because its loneliness, its smallness, makes it impossible to continue without rejoining the whole.

• Physics Analogy: The droplet ascends by converting the wave’s kinetic energy into potential energy. As it descends, that potential energy converts back into kinetic energy, accelerating its return to the surface. Its journey is not independent but part of the wave’s continuous motion.

2. The Surface: The Oscillation of Energy

The surface is the visible expression of the wave. It creates crests and troughs, propelling droplets upward while remaining anchored to the depths below. The surface is not separate from the droplet or the depths; it is their outward expression.

• Physics Analogy: The surface serves as the medium for energy transfer, maintaining the interplay between the droplet’s motion and the mass of the depths. It translates the unseen energy of the depths into visible motion.

3. The Depths: The Foundation of the Whole

The depths are the unseen core of the wave. They provide the mass and inertia that anchor the surface and sustain the motion of the droplets. Without the depths, the surface and the droplets could not exist.

• Physics Analogy: The depths represent the system’s stored energy and momentum, providing the stability necessary for the surface and droplet to function as part of a unified whole.

Unity in Motion: Not Support, But Oneness

The droplet, surface, and depths do not “support” one another—they are one. Their apparent separations are simply different expressions of the same system.

• The Droplet’s Ascent and Descent: The droplet’s motion is not independent. Its rise and fall enhance the wave’s motion, adding momentum to the surface.

• The Surface’s Oscillation: The surface is where the wave’s energy becomes visible, but it is inseparable from the depths.

• The Depths’ Stability: The depths are the wave’s core, giving rise to the surface and droplets as expressions of its unity.

This unity is not dependency but expression. The wave is not composed of separate parts; it is one phenomenon, expressed in different ways.

Loneliness as a Reminder of Oneness

The droplet descends when it becomes “lonely”—when its small mass cannot sustain its motion without rejoining the wave. This is not a failure; it is a reminder of the truth: the droplet is part of the whole. Its rise and fall are expressions of the same oneness, inseparable from the surface and the depths.

Just as the droplet cannot ascend alone, neither can we sustain ourselves in isolation. We may rise momentarily, but our strength lies in returning to the collective, where unity gives us momentum and purpose.

The Macro and Micro Lessons of Unity

1. Macro Unity:

At the macro level, unity is the system itself—the wave, the surface, and the depths functioning as one. Poisoning this unity introduces separations that disrupt the system’s ability to sustain life.

• Physics Analogy: Introducing a toxin into water breaks the molecular cohesion that allows water to flow as one. This micro disruption cascades into macro effects, rendering the water incapable of supporting ecosystems.

2. Micro Unity:

On a personal level, we often see ourselves as separate droplets, disconnected from the greater whole. This illusion creates loneliness and fragmentation. The Torah teaches us that true unity is recognizing our place within the infinite system of Ohr Ein Sof.

• Physics Analogy: The droplet’s journey mirrors our own. Its ascent is an expression of individuality, but its descent back to the wave is a reminder of its inherent oneness with the whole.

Separation Is the Real Poison

Separation—whether molecular, systemic, or spiritual—is always the real poison. It is the illusion that the droplet exists independently, that the surface is distinct from the depths, or that we are isolated from the infinite source.

• Molecular Separation: On the smallest scale, toxins break the bonds that unify water molecules, disrupting its natural flow.

• Systemic Separation: On a larger scale, poisoned water loses its ability to sustain life, fracturing its connection to the systems it supports.

• Spiritual Separation: Believing that we are separate from the source—Ohr Ein Sof (the Infinite Light)—fractures the unity that sustains us, leaving us feeling isolated and disconnected.

The Torah as the Blueprint for Oneness

The Torah teaches us to avoid the poison of separation by maintaining unity at all levels:

• Action and Feeling: There is no division between what we do and what we feel. Both arise from the same source.

• Individual and Collective: Our individuality is not a rejection of unity but an expression of it. Like the droplet, we return to the wave not because we are weak, but because we are one.

• Surface and Depths: Outer rules and inner discovery are not opposing forces. They are one continuous flow, just like the surface and the depths of the wave.

The Answer Is Oneness

So, am I a follower or a unique star? The answer is yes. I am both. And so are you. The droplet, the surface, and the depths are not separate—they are one. Every rise, every fall, every moment of motion is part of the same infinite flow, rooted in the unity of Ohr Ein Sof.