Soul Maps

Soul Maps introduces the Tanya, a 200-year-old text with a revolutionary look at the human psyche. It provides Kabbalah-based tools to discover and understand oneself.

Until the publication of Tanya, the Kabbalah was an esoteric discipline that was studied and understood by only a select few. Tanya, however, makes the teachings of Kabbalah practical, relevant, and accessible.

Predating the modern self-help movement, Rabbi Shneur Zalman authored Tanya as a stand-in for his personal mentorship. The course provides six virtual sessions of spiritual counseling from a master of Kabbalah and the nature of the soul and provides understanding in the source of guilt, conflict, and confusion, and useful strategies for developing joy, purpose, and direction in everyday life.

Lesson One
Soul Words
If we are good people, why do we have unkind thoughts? And why do “bad people” have fits of conscience? Just as psychology provides the vocabulary to speak about the psyche, Tanya provides the key terms and constructs to express the souls. Who are we at our core? And what is the cause of inner conflict?

Lesson Two
Getting A Grip on Yourself
It can be enlightening to know why we succumb to temptations that we wish we had resisted. But is there a strategy to gaining self-control? This lesson provides practical guidelines for overcoming weakness and learning to control behavior.

Lesson Three
Sync or Sink
When our heart’s passion pulls one way and our measured mind pulls another way, the disconnect can be agonizing. This lesson explores two methods for aligning reason and emotion, to reduce stress and live decisively.

Lesson Four
The Joyride
Constant doubt and emotional unhappiness can gradually sap you of the strength and will to change. But joy provides the boost that allows you to live each day with enthusiasm and resolve. This lesson provides useful perspectives that can help you generate a positive attitude.

Lesson Five
The Big Picture
Even after learning methods for overcoming personal challenges and pursuing goodness, one may still wonder why it all matters. What is the purpose of imperfect attempts at perfection? Do human failings condemn one to be a personal failure? Or might one’s weaknesses provide an opportunity for a making a unique contribution to the world?

Lesson Six
Have a Heart
Most of Tanya focuses on how one can gain control of their actions, even if their feelings and motives are not always pure. For those who are patient enough to pursue a slow but lasting fix, this final lesson provides meditations and guidelines for reshaping your essential nature over time, while recognizing that the true key to living purposefully is behaving purposefully.