As many students concentrate on putting good things into their bodies, one professor thinks they are forgetting to feed their souls.
"Just as the body needs bread to live, the soul needs meaning," said David Patterson, professor of Judaic Studies at The U of M. He recently wrote and published the book Overcoming Alienation: A Kabbalistic Reflection on the Five Levels of the Soul.
Patterson, who has published 30 books and more than 130 articles on Judaism and spiritual health, yet he said this book is his most audience friendly.
"It addresses how we feel," he said, "and many don't know what to do about it."
The book deals with the five levels of the soul and how someone can serve his or her individual purpose by searching for meaning in the soul.
"I've been teaching since 1976 and seen many students that seek meaning, direction and purpose," he said. "I'm not sure we always offer something higher in higher learning. This book addresses that hunger. This one is something that might speak to anyone with a sense of fear. It addresses that deep-seated anxiety, but on a deeper level."
Although the book deals with overcoming the stress of being alienated and feeling exiled from others, Patterson said using anxiety could be positive. He said in a sense, it creates individuality.
"It reaches the person on an individual level," he said. "I discuss how the soul is made of your name, and inscribed in that name is your meaning. Each soul is created to elevate creation. Nobody lives randomly."
By using traditional Jewish teachings, the book gives insight into transforming the soul. Patterson reveals through his book the importance of changing wickedness from the world and oneself into light and positivism.
"In a sense, anxiety and alienation can be positive because it sets you into motion to seek a sense of direction," he said. "That person is in a state of anesthesia. Not only is there a need to address 'What is it?' but 'What is better?' There is a higher good to attain in the process of addressing what is evil. The goal is not to rid the world of darkness and evil, but to transform it."
Patterson said he hopes his book could address the "hunger" for many students to feel a sense of purpose. He said his intention is to aid those with an "indifferent objective." Unlike his other publications, he said this book attempts to feed the appetite for self-fulfillment.
"Students come to us for bread, and we give them stone," he said. "Ultimately, the soul needs meaning, and the soul needs joy."
