Taurus and the REquirement of Transcending Complacency, By Yehuda Berg

I wrote previously that this is a difficult time period—the seven weeks after Pesach. For the last three weeks, we've been challenged by judgment, disagreement and argument. It’s obvious we have work to do.
Last week began the month of Taurus. And now we'll start to feel an illusory sense of relief, one that couldn't be more poorly timed. For those of you who are born under the sign of Taurus (or are close with someone who is), you know how cool they can be. Dedicated friends, hard working employees, loyal partners, they're usually into beautiful things and peaceful to be around. But hiding inside of this nice package is one of the thickest curtains concealing the Light—not only from Taureans, but from all of us.
It is called complacency. Complacency is when we look back and appreciate how much we've changed. Of course it is important to look for results, to gauge whether or not what we're doing is working. The pitfall is that once we've climbed a steep hill, we tend to sit down to enjoy the view. While enjoying the view is nice, the longer we sit, the harder it is to build up our momentum to climb further.
Many people on a spiritual path eventually face the false perception that the work they are doing is enough. Enough to keep them protected, safe and enlightened. But each spiritual accomplishment is only there to project us to the next level. Growing spiritually is like walking up the down escalator; if we're not moving forward, we're sliding backwards.
This month, in particular, the Light feels like it is always on. Because of this illusion, most of us spend this time moving backward, and we only wake up to it around four weeks from now, when Gemini begins.
Shavuot, which occurs in the month of Gemini, is when the REAL Light turns on. And if we are not vigilant in our spiritual work, we run the risk of finding ourselves in a spiritual basement, surrounded by boxes of old habits and encased in cobwebs of negative patterns.
So, what is the antidote?
I look at the areas in my life where I feel complete. And there, under the guise of spiritual perfection, under the feeling of “everything is OK,” the ego is hiding.
When we can locate these traps of complacency—and convert them into proactive steps toward self-transformation -—the feats of growth we can achieve are tremendous.
Remember, these are the days of smallness, and one pound of effort during these seven weeks equals 100 pounds of growth during any other time of the year.
So this week, look for the darkness. When you see yourself putting your feet up on the desk and saying, “Yeah, I did that,” stop and look for where your garbage is hiding.
Talk to your teacher and ask him/her to show you where you need to change, where you can push yourself harder.
All the best,
Yehuda