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Jewish Meditation: Two Practices for Meeting our Life
by Yocheved Sheila Katz
Simeon, the son of Rabban Gamliel, said:
"I was brought up all my life among the Sages, and I have found nothing as good for the body as silence.
(Pirke Avot, Sayings of the Sages,1:17)
Meditation is a practice of
- AWARENESS that cultivates compassion for self and other,
- FREEDOM of reactivity and
- BEING more fully alive and interconnected.
It does not require "emptying the mind" but rather tuning in to what is really happening on many levels. It is a process that opens our hearts and allows us to be more receptive to the wisdom of the body and heart. Jewish meditation directs attention to the present moment of experience as the only place where we can connect with the Divine Presence, the Ground of All Being, the "Reality that Gods us."
All Jewish meditation can be divided into two kinds of practice that move us to 1. Be with What Is. (This is related to the name of God that Moses hears at the burning bush, "Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh," becoming what is becoming.) 2. Cultivate a specific kavanah, or intention. Here is a practice for each:
- Concentration and Awareness:
Find a comfortable position with the back straight that has balance between being erect and relaxed, grounded and uplifted, spine lengthening and muscles softening. Gently close eyes or keep them slightly open with softened gaze. Invite awareness to rest on Nishmat Hayyim (the Breath of Life) following the natural flow of breath all the way in and all the way out. The breath can become a friend, a constant and accessible connection to "That which Breathes us", returning us from human doings to human beings.
When you realize that attention has wandered, without judgment, return to the breath, noticing what claimed the attention. Whatever arises in the mind and body, hold it in awareness. It could be a physical sensation like pain; it could be an emotion like fear; it could be a thought like what to do about a problem. If a well-spring of emotion arises, let it flow, watching and letting go of the stories about the emotions, while being fully with the physical sensation that accompanies the grief or joy, anger or love.
If sounds distract you, try to experience the sound without labeling it. Don’t analyze, ask why, get carried away by stories, or berate oneself for whatever the experience happens to be. Instead, attend with curiosity to what arises, moving deeper into the experience. Meet life fully in this moment, return to the breath as an anchor. Moment to moment, breath by breath, we return again and again, simply being present with our experience.
- Blessing practice
Begin with the practice above. After a few minutes, repeat bring to mind an image of oneself in your mind’s eye. Focusing on that image, slowly repeat the set of blessings over and over.
May I be blessed with happiness.
May I be blessed with lovingkindness.
May I be blessed with compassion.
May I be blessed with peace.
After some time, you can switch and replace the image of yourself with the image of someone you hold quite dear, sending the blessings to them. May you be blessed with happiness. Each time you say a quality like "happiness" or "peace," embody it. Bask in the sense of "lovingkindness" or "compassion." Notice the resistances, stories, judgments, longings that arise as you stay with and return to the repetition of the blessing.
Jewish meditation is most fruitful when practiced regularly, once a week, twice a week, or if you can even every day. Set a special place and time to do your practice. It is also more difficult for most people to get themselves to meditate when they are alone. So if you can, join a meditation group.
The most beneficial is to attend a silent meditation retreat. A day of retreat can be a gift; a week of retreat can be transformative. On many Jewish retreats each day begins with davvening (prayer) by chanting a phrase from the prayer, going deeper into the ancient words with each repetition of the phrase, often with beautiful harmonies. Meditation can be a gift of healing, not only for oneself but resonating outwards into tikkun olam – repair of the world.
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