MEDITATION AND TRANSFORMATION — JEWISH STYLE

                                          

           One of the experimental and clinical findings of scientists and doctors has corroborated the benefits of meditative breathing, because the combination of cadenced contemplation has apparently the power to harmonize imbalances to the psyche and emotions caused by life’s daily stresses. However, the esoteric teaching of the Jewish scriptures (Torah)  reveals far deeper connections between the breath and the soul (neshoma). It is no coincidence that the word for breath in Hebrew (Loshen HaKodesh) is the word neshima whose root letters are the same letters (osios) as neshoma which is the Hebrew word for the soul [1] . The Torah thereby has for over three thousand years revealed this secret of the symbiotic relationship between the soul (neshoma) and the (neshima) breath. In lay language one could say that in order to turn up the volume of the metaphysical realm one needs first to turn down the volume of physical sensations.    

        Many mistakenly assume that these meditative practices originated in the far East, however this revelation actually has its roots going all the way back to the very creation of man. [2]                 

On a deeper level we can add that within every breath, that is bound to a positive thought, we are able to nourish from the spiritual treasury of the Source of all life. Then through our exhaling we have the ability to share those blessings with others and with the whole creation.

 Also, we can consciously envision each inhalation as a Divine reenactment of that initial breath that came directly from the Creator to the first man. (Please look at footnote 2 here if you have not already done so).  Each breath is a new opportunity to reawaken our souls energy thereby revitalizing the health of the body, mind and emotions.

            One of the main purposes of the neshoma having been sent into this world is to endeavor to help purify and rectify it. The body, mind and emotions are meant to be helpmates in providing their unique functions and talents. Since thought comes before words and action, the building blocks of righteousness begins in sifting and straining any less than ideal thoughts that arise and replacing them with “kosher vibrations”.

  What are kosher vibrations you are asking? They are the kind of thoughts and perceptions that we are not ashamed to entertain in front of anyone including the Creator.  They are the good conscience factors that counsel restraint rather than indulgence.  They are the kinds of thoughts experiences we would feel proud to relate to a beloved grandparent or a respected teacher.  They are the kind of thoughts that we can safely assume have occupied the head space of great righteous people (tzaddikim). 

                Ideally, every sound we hear and image we absorb should afford us only the purest and most focused thoughts. However, in our world today, such is often, unfortunately, not the case. We begin therefore by setting up a series of “filters” through which impressions from the outside and our inside world can be sifted.  The first such filter is watchfulness.  A good exercise in watchfulness is to first identify undesirable thoughts and feelings, then isolate and expel them as you exhale into oblivion.  At first blush, this may seem stilted, however, once we begin to scrutinize how many unwanted sights and sounds pass through the “boarders” of our senses we will begin to realize that we need to tighten our “border security”. 

After a relatively short period of contemplation, we then are able to quickly recognize potentially detrimental thoughts, words and images and immediately either escort them to the waste bin or transform them into kosher thoughts and feelings that elevate the soul. However, if all we do is purge ourselves of the mental and emotional toxins, this is not enough to bring us to glowing vibrant health, because just as in a healthy diet, we need to replace those “empty calories” with nourishing foods, how much more so do we need to absorb only a highly refined supernal diet filled with holiest “nutrients”. The Torah teachings offer us a lifestyle that is balanced and the highest quality of spiritually enriched nutrients.

              (Let us now do a Jewish meditation that will aid in the purification and enlightenment process. First find a quiet moment where there are no outer distractions. Begin, for example, by saying Psalms (Tehillim), chanting in your own words, scanning some esoteric passage or by listening to an uplifting song or melody.

          Once you have begun to relax, try to stop all mental activity except for the observation of your breath.  As you inhale, picture your breath (neshima) as a renewed aspect of your soul sent to you from on High and entering  as a pure radiance of holiness and then  circulating throughout  your entire body.  Breathe in slowly, deeply holding each breath for as long as is comfortable. During this time, concentrate on the breath thinking  that this, neshima,  breath is giving you your renewed Neshama, soul which comes directly from the Creator to you with Infinite love and care and that through this you are intimately connected  with G-d.

        Then as you slowly exhale,  send  mental and  emotional stresses and undesirable thoughts out of your mind. Just breathe and let them go with a puff as if you are winnowing out undesirable chaff.    Feel  burdens and stress   lifted  from you as you purify and refine your thoughts and emotions exchanging negative thoughts for positive ones. Continue doing this until you feel totally relaxed, renewed and free from toxic stress and negative thoughts and emotions.  Now  you are able to exhale pure thoughts, filled with holiness and goodness.  Visualize yourself  as sanctifying the entire world with these pure breaths  and  thoughts, understanding  that  they are a spiritual place (mikveh) of purification for the world, bringing it  to greater levels of holiness. Before completing your meditation, verbally express your gratitude and appreciation for the gift of life.)

   Perfection of the meditation practice that was described is not meant to be an end unto itself, but only act as catalyst to help bring about a shift in consciousness that we can adapt into all of our days activities.  Even as the baby is crying or the boss is making demands or a tire goes flat on the highway, we will be able to spontaneously exhale away the stress and feel reinvigorated as we reconnect, through the breath (neshima), with our soul (neshoma) thereby successfully dealing with the challenging situations with equanimity and dignity.  However, even this desirable level is not our ultimate goal, as we should continue to refine our thinking until we reach the place where we can use every breath, word and action to express our deep appreciation of life and the bounty we constantly receive from the Creator



[1]    The soul (neshima) has no corporal form and does not exist in space and time,  yet  each individual has a unique soul. That uniqueness is expressed in the human personality, yet the personality is not the soul. How can we understand this conundrum? The Infinite Creator knows exactly which form of vessel – body – will best serve the needs of a particular soul. Like water, the soul which has no shape or form of its own disperses throughout according to each person’s potential and needs. Every place that the soul reaches is therefore potentially sacred.

             

[2] In Genesis,  the Torah teaches that G-d, created man by breathing the soul of life into his nostrils. The Zohar, in the kabalistic tradition, tells us that “One who blows, blows from within himself,”  thus teaching that  G-d  placed into man a soul, neshama, that originated from within G-d Himself .  In the holy tongue, lashon kodesh, the word for soul, neshama and the word for breath, neshima, are very similar.  Neshima, breath, has one extra letter. The extra letter in the word for breath is the letter yud which represents G-d’s Holy Name.  This parallel suggests that the breath is intimately tied to the soul and that every soul is harnessed constantly to the Supernal  Will of  G-d.                              

Parsha Bereishis 2: 7 “And Hashem, G-d, formed the man of dust from the ground, and He blew into the nostrils the soul (neshoma) of life; and man became a living being.”.

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THE DAYS OF HAGBALLAH – DAYS OF TRANSFORMATION

                       The Midrash teaches us that the other nations were offered the Torah however each of them rejected it because they found some of the  commandment to difficult to comply with. [For Ishmael it was the prescription against stealing, for Eisav it was the commandment not to murder]… However when it was our turn we in unison proclaimed: “We will do and then we will hear” – “Naasey vi-nismah”.

                          Since it wouldn’t be fair for all the nations to have commandments that they found very challenging and we, the Jewish nation, also did not have at least one commandments that was very difficult to accept, therefore, let us ask which mitzvah was a great challenge for us to adhere to? The Cassidishers commentaries (Sefas Emes and Even …) address this provocative question with an insightful response that expresses the greatest praise of our holy nation. The mitzvah of restraint – hagbalah – during the days just proceeding the giving of the Torah (Matan Torah) was a commandment that was very hard for our nation to comply with. Why? Because every Jew had such a great desire to come as close as possible to the loftiest levels of holiness as quick as possible, our willingness to follow the commandment and hold ourselves back during the days of hagbalah showed that we had the ability and willingness to unswervingly accept all the Torah.

                       Therefore the days of hagbalah were not just days of separation and preparation but they were actually days of inner growth in strengthening our “walls” of faith and acceptance of Hashem’s Torah and its timeline.     

                The Catam Sofer in Parsha’s Yisro (19-23) reveals to us a profound thought provoking remez from within the pasuk, referring to the days of hagbalah, which ends “…bound the mountain and sanctify it”, so that no one would come closer than they were permitted. The word mountain in Hebrew is Har (Hai – Raish) with the surrounding letters, in the alphabet, of the Hai being a Dalet and a Vov and the surrounding letters of the Raish being a Kuf and Shin. These surrounding letters combine to spell out the word holy (Kadosh) – Kuf – Dalet – Vov – Shin.

              From here we can learn a beautiful thought that all of the – “boundaries” – enactments that our Sages have “put around” the Torah are not there to restrict and limit us but actually serve expand and increase the boundaries of our kiddusha.

                    Chag samach.

 

                      

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CONNECTING SEFIRAS HA-OMER WITH PARSHAS BEHAR

 

          The holy Torah, our guide book through life, gives us not only direction but the fuel/energy to strive towards our goals and aspirations, yet we find almost a complete parsha ( Behar 25: 1 – 55) dedicated to commanding us on each seventh (Shemita) and the fiftieth (Yovel) years to cease from many halachic forms of “effort”. These lengthy periods of cessation from certain halachically defined activities, for the uniformed would naturally appear to be the antithesis of productive effort. However, as contradictory as it may appear on the surface, these macrocosmic periods of “applied restraint” are the most valuable times for growth and development. This is because there is no higher goal and purpose in life than achieving a level of “pro-active submission” in following the will of   G-d. “Cessation of self-determination” during these times reveals the Divine radiance on earth, thereby crowning Hashem as King of the universe.

                Even though we are not presently privy to the full revelation of the Torah as revealed through the Shemita and Yovel, we have been given the privilege weekly through the Shabbos and during the yearly period referred to as Sefiriot HaOmer to make the pro-active proclamation that we are willing to defer and or redirect our self interests.

              What application today in our own lives can we derive from the awesome transformational power of  Shemita and especially Yovel? All Jews have holy souls that have been sent down into this world garmented in physical bodies and surrounded by an environment that is ideal for each one of us in order to help rectify and elevate the creation. During our lifetimes we are given various experiences of which some are pleasant and some are very challenging, however all of life’s events are perfectly crafted to serve a purpose for our benefit. If we could but for a moment have a glimpse at our lives from the Heavenly realm, from that prospective the allotment that has been given to us as our portion in life would be seen as tailored made and artfully fitted to help us reach and fulfill our potential. From that panoramic view, there would be no more questions or doubts. Each stage of life and each unique situation whether “traveling” through the “wilderness of experience” or “submitting” to each period of “encampment” would be seen as what it really is: a golden opportunity to achieve rectification and purification.

               This ‘ladder’ of development and transition both in the microcosm as well as the macrocosm is a fifty level cycle that we experience yearly through the counting of the Sefiras HaOmer leading up to Matan Torah. Just as each day represents a different combination of attributes, whose interplay allows for refinement of our midos, so also on a macrocosmic level, when the majority of  the Jewish nation are living in Eretz Israel, there is a fifty year cycle culminating in the Yovel year, which is a special gift from G-d, that allows us to transcend the bonds of nature. Perhaps this then can be a deeper connection between the Yovel and Shavous. They can be seen as a (reflective) mirror image of each other, in that Yovel releases indentured bodies from physical bondage thereby allowing for a renewed bonding with the soul, whereas the time of Seferia releases us from our mental and emotional attitudinal bondage allowing for a renewed bonding with the Creator through His Torah.

            Just as we draw closer with baited breath to this Yom Tov of Matan Torah so also may we merit soon to hear the long awaited shofar of the final geula.    

All articles appearing on this blog are copyrighted by Rabbi Yehoshua Binyamin Falk. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to share/download/copy this information as long as it is accompanied by the copyright. Separately authored/copyrighted materia