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Sylvia Boorstein: How does what we do in Jewish meditation connect to our lives? by Yocheved Sheila Katz How does what we do in Jewish meditation connect to how we live our lives? What good does it do us? Judaism can be a conscious community dedicated to transforming habits of mind through contemplative practice including prayer, meditation, mitzvot, care for the earth and for each other. It creates intention to see more clearly our habits of mind. The tools of prayer and meditation can transform habits that lead to suffering into habits that lead to happiness, the kind of happiness that is not so dependent on external or internal ups and downs, and the kind of happiness that leads to compassion for self and others. When we come together we ask each other: what practice do you do? How do you do it? What do you hope will come of it? What is supposed to change when we pray or chant or meditate? How does the practice do that? What have you noticed? In meditation, the intuitive part of us can go into action when the linear part stops. We stop and say: Hineini (here I am). I am here and open. That's when the still small voice can be heard when the mind stops trying to solve things. One of Sylvia's teaches describes revelation as an accident. When we give the stories of our lives a chance to stop, we open to revelations that arise that teach us how to live differently. Her teacher said that meditation makes us "accident prone." One can't decide to have a revelation. But through Jewish contemplative practices, we set up conditions for that possibility. Meditation wakes us up to new ways to understand and experience liturgy and sacred texts. The Sages recommended silence for an hour before prayer and Torah study. I experienced what a difference this makes. Once on a Jewish meditation retreat, on the 11th day of silence our teachers gave us a few lines of Torah from the parsha. The depth of meaning to me of these lines was astounding. They kept opening and opening. I felt I would need only those lines for the rest of my life to keep learning about how to live more compassionately and fully. That night we spoke for the first time to study Torah with hevrutas (study partners). I lifted my eyes from the text and looked into the eyes of the stranger who would one day become my beloved. So meditation opens up the mind and heart in astonishing ways to pray, read Torah, and meet each other in astonishing ways.
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