Source Wikipedia. Interesting piece on Jewish Meditation, et al. RS.
Jewish
meditation can
refer to several traditional practices of contemplation, ranging from
visualization and intuitive methods, or forms of emotional insight in
communitive prayer, to intellectual analysis of philosophical, ethical or
mystical concepts. It often accompanies unstructured, personal Jewish prayer
that can allow isolated contemplation, or sometimes the instituted Jewish services. Its
elevated psychological insights can give birth to dveikus (cleaving to God),
particularly in Jewish mysticism.
Through
the centuries, some of the common forms include the practices in philosophy and ethics ofAbraham ben Maimonides; in Kabbalah of Abraham Abulafia, Isaac the Blind, Azriel of Gerona,Moses Cordovero, Yosef Karo and Isaac Luria; in Hasidism of the Baal Shem Tov, Schneur Zalman of Liadi and Nachman
of Breslov; and in the Musar movement of Israel Salanter and Simcha Zissel Ziv.[1]
In
its esoteric forms, "Meditative Kabbalah" is one of the three
branches of Kabbalah, alongside "Theosophical" Kabbalah and the separate Practical
Kabbalah. It is a common misconception to include Meditative
Kabbalah in Practical Kabbalah, which seeks to alter physicality, while
Meditative Kabbalah seeks insight into spirituality, together with the
intellectual theosophy comprising "Kabbalah Iyunit" ("Contemplative
Kabbalah")[2]
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Practices[show]
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There
is evidence that Judaism has had meditative practices from the earliest times.
For instance, in the Torah, the patriarch Isaac is
described as going "lasuach" in the field - a term understood by all
commentators as some type of meditative practice (Genesis 24:63).[3]
Similarly,
there are indications throughout the Tanach (the
Hebrew Bible) that Judaism always contained a central
meditative tradition.[4]
Historians
trace the earliest surviving Jewish esoteric texts to Tannaic times. This
"Merkavah-Heichalot" mysticism, referred to in Talmudic accounts, sought
elevations of the soul using meditative methods, built around the Biblical
Vision of Ezekiel and the Creation in Genesis. The destinctive conceptual
features of later Kabbalah first emerged from
the 11th century, though traditional Judaism predates the 13th century Zohar back
to the Tannaim, and the preceding end of Biblical prophecy. The contemporary
teacher of Kabbalah and Hasidic
thought, Yitzchak
Ginsburgh, describes the historical evolution of Kabbalah as the union
of "Wisdom" and "Prophecy":
Historical Kabbalisticpractice
focused on Kavanot(meditations)
of Divine names.Angels elevated
or blocked prayers in the ascending
Worlds. The names were seen as keys to gates in Heaven for elevated
people, though simple tears of others could also open gates
The numerical value of the word
Kabbalah (קבלה-"Received") in Hebrew is 137...and is the value of the
sum of two very important words that relate to Kabbalah: Chochmah (חכמה-"Wisdom")
equals 73 and Nevuah(נבואה-"Prophecy")
equals 64. Kabbalah can therefore be understood as the union (or "marriage")
of wisdom and prophecy. Historically, Kabbalah developed out of the prophetic
tradition that existed in Judaism up to the Second Temple period
(beginning in the 4th century BCE). Though the prophetic spirit that had dwelt
in the prophets continued to "hover above"
(Sovev) the Jewish people, it was no longer manifest directly. Instead, the
spirit of wisdom manifested the Divine in the form of the Oral Torah (the oral
tradition), the body of Rabbinic knowledge that began developing in the second
Temple period and continues to this day. The meeting of wisdom (the mind,
intellect) and prophecy (the spirit which still remains) and their union is
what produces and defines the essence of Kabbalah.
In the Kabbalistic conceptual scheme, "wisdom" corresponds to the sefirah of wisdom, otherwise known as the "Father" principle (Partsuf of Abba) and "prophecy" corresponds to the sefirah of understanding or the "Mother" principle (Parsuf of Ima). Wisdom and understanding are described in the Zohar as "two companions that never part". Thus, Kabbalah represents the union of wisdom and prophecy in the collective Jewish soul; whenever we study Kabbalah, the inner wisdom of the Torah, we reveal this union. It is important to clarify that Kabbalah is not a separate discipline from the traditional study of the Torah, it is rather the Torah’s inner soul (nishmata de’orayta, in the language of the Zohar and the Arizal). Oftentimes a union of two things is represented in Kabbalah as an acronym composed of their initial letters. In this case, "wisdom" in Hebrew starts with the letter chet; "prophecy" begins with the letter nun; so their acronym spells the Hebrew word "chen", which means "grace", in the sense of beauty. Grace in particular refers to symmetric beauty, i.e., the type of beauty that we perceive in symmetry. This observation ties in with the fact that the inner wisdom of the Torah, Kabbalah is referred to as "Chochmat ha’Chen", which we would literally translate as the wisdom of chen. Chen here is an acronym for another two words: "Concealed Wisdom" (חכמה נסתרה). But, following our analysis here, Kabbalah is called chen because it is the union of wisdom and prophecy...[5]
In the Kabbalistic conceptual scheme, "wisdom" corresponds to the sefirah of wisdom, otherwise known as the "Father" principle (Partsuf of Abba) and "prophecy" corresponds to the sefirah of understanding or the "Mother" principle (Parsuf of Ima). Wisdom and understanding are described in the Zohar as "two companions that never part". Thus, Kabbalah represents the union of wisdom and prophecy in the collective Jewish soul; whenever we study Kabbalah, the inner wisdom of the Torah, we reveal this union. It is important to clarify that Kabbalah is not a separate discipline from the traditional study of the Torah, it is rather the Torah’s inner soul (nishmata de’orayta, in the language of the Zohar and the Arizal). Oftentimes a union of two things is represented in Kabbalah as an acronym composed of their initial letters. In this case, "wisdom" in Hebrew starts with the letter chet; "prophecy" begins with the letter nun; so their acronym spells the Hebrew word "chen", which means "grace", in the sense of beauty. Grace in particular refers to symmetric beauty, i.e., the type of beauty that we perceive in symmetry. This observation ties in with the fact that the inner wisdom of the Torah, Kabbalah is referred to as "Chochmat ha’Chen", which we would literally translate as the wisdom of chen. Chen here is an acronym for another two words: "Concealed Wisdom" (חכמה נסתרה). But, following our analysis here, Kabbalah is called chen because it is the union of wisdom and prophecy...[5]
Abraham Abulafia (1240–1291),
leading figure in the history of "Meditative Kabbalah", the founder
of the school of "Prophetic/Ecstatic Kabbalah", wrote meditation
manuals using meditation on Hebrew letters and words to achieve ecstatic
states.[6] His work is
surrounded in controversy because of the edict against him by the Rashba (R. Shlomo Ben
Aderet), a contemporary leading scholar. However according to Aryeh Kaplan, the
Abulafian system of meditations forms an important part of the work of Rabbi Hayim Vital, and in
turn his master the Ari, Rabbi Isaac Luria[citation needed]. Kaplan's pioneering
translations and scholarship on Meditative Kabbalah[7] trace Abulafia's
publications to the extant concealed transmission of the esoteric
meditative methods of the Hebrew prophets.
While Abulafia remained a marginal figure in the direct development of
Theosophical Kabbalah, recent
academic scholarship on Abulafia by Moshe Idel reveals his wider influence
across the later development of Jewish mysticism.
Rabbi Moses ben Jacob Cordovero (1522-1570 CE),
central historical Kabbalist in Safed, taught that when meditating, one does
not focus on the Sefirot (Divine
emanations) per se, but rather on the light from the Infinite
("Atzmut"-essence of God) contained within the emanations. Keeping in
mind that all reaches up to the Infinite, his prayer is "to Him, not to
His attributes." Proper meditation focuses upon how the Godhead acts
through specific sefirot. In meditation on the essential Hebrew
name of God, represented by the four letterTetragrammaton, this
corresponds to meditating on the Hebrew vowels which are seen as
reflecting the light from the Infinite-Atzmut.
The
essential name of God in the Hebrew Bible, the
four letter Tetragrammaton (Yud- Hei- Vav-Hei), corresponds in Kabbalistic
thought to the 10 sefirot. Kabbalists interpret the shapes and spiritual forces
of each of these 4 letters, as reflecting each sefirah (The Yud-male point
represents the infinite dimensionless flash of Wisdom, and the transcendent
thorn atop it, the supra-conscious soul of Crown. The first Hei-female vessel
represents the expansion of the insight of Wisdom in the breadth and depth of
Understanding. The Vav-male point drawn downward in a line represents the birth
of the emotional sefirot, Kindness to Foundation from their pregnant state in
Understanding. The second Hei-female vessel represents the revelation of the
previous sefirot in the action of Kingship). Therefore, the Tetragrammaton has
the Infinite Light clothed within it as the sefirot. This is indicated by the
change in the vowel-points (nekudot) found underneath each of the four letters
of the Name in each sefira. " Each sefira is distinguished by the manner
in which the Infinite Light is clothed within it". In Jewish tradition,
the vowel points and pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton are uncertain, and in
reverence to the holiness of the name, this name for God is never read. In
Kabbalah many spiritual permutations of different vowel notations are recorded
for the Tetragrammaton, corresponding to different spiritual meanings and
emanations.
Sefirah
|
Hebrew Vowel
|
Keter (Crown)
|
Kametz
|
Hochmah (Wisdom)
|
Patach
|
Binah (Understanding)
|
Tzeirei
|
Hesed (Kindness)
|
Segol
|
Gevurah (Severity)
|
Sheva
|
Tiferet (Beauty)
|
Holam
|
Netzach (Victory)
|
Hirik
|
Hod (Glory)
|
Kubutz *
|
Yesod (Foundation)
|
Shuruk *
|
Malchut (Kingship)
|
No vowels
|
*
Kubutz and Shuruk are pronounced indistinguishably in modern Hebrew and for
this reason there is reason to be skeptical as far as the association of Kubutz
with Hod rather than Yesod and vice versa.
Rabbi Hayim Vital (c. 1543-1620 CE),
major disciple of R. Isaac Luria, and
responsible for publication of most of his works. Here he presents the method
of R. Yosef Karo.
Meditate alone in a house, wrapped in a prayer
shawl. Sit and shut your eyes, and transcend the physical as if your soul has
left your body and is ascending to heaven. After this divestment/ascension,
recite one Mishna, any Mishna you wish, many times
consecutively, as quickly as you can, with clear pronunciation, without
skipping one word. Intend to bind your soul with the soul of the sage who
taught this Mishna. " Your soul will become a chariot. .." Do this by
intending that your mouth is a mere vessel/conduit to
bring forth the letters of the words of this Mishna, and that the voice that
emerges through the vessel of your mouth is [filled with] the sparks of your
inner soul which are emerging and reciting this Mishna. In this way, your soul
will become a chariot within which the soul of the sage who is the master of
that Mishna can manifest. His soul will then clothe itself within your soul. At
a certain point in the process of reciting the words of the Mishna, you may
feel overcome by exhaustion. If you are worthy, the soul of this sage may then
come to reside in your mouth. This will happen in the midst of your reciting the
Mishna. As you recite, he will begin to speak with your mouth and wish you
Shalom. He will then answer every question that comes into your thoughts to ask
him. He will do this with and through your mouth. Your ears will hear his
words, for you will not be speaking from yourself. Rather, he will be speaking
through you. This is the mystery of the verse, "The spirit of God spoke to
me, and His word was on my lips". (Samuel II 23:2)[8]
Hasidic
prayer left aside previous focus on KabbalisticKavanot (mental
visualisation) of Divine names, in favour of innate dveikut (cleaving to God)
of the soul
The Baal Shem Tov,
founder of Hasidic Judaism,
took the Talmudic phrase that "God desires the heart" and made it
central to his love of the sincerity of the common folk. Advocating joy in the
omnipresentDivine
immanence, he sought to revive the disenfranchised populance in
their Jewish life. The 17th century destructions of Jewish
communities, and wide loss of ability to access learning among the simple
unlettered shtetl Jews,
left the people at a spiritual low. Elite scholars felt distant from the
masses, astraditional
Judaism saw
Talmudic learning as the main spiritual activity, while preachers could offer little
popular solace with ethical admonishment. The Baal Shem Tov began a new
articulation of Jewish mysticism, by relating its structures to direct
psychological experience.[9] His mystical
explanations, parables and stories to the unlearned encouraged their emotional deveikus (fervour),
especially through attachment to the Hasidic figure of the Tzaddik, while his
close circle understood the deep spiritual philosophy of the new ideas. In the
presence of the Tzaddik, the followers could gain inspiration and attachment to
God. The Baal Shem Tov and the Hasidic Masters left aside the previous
Kabbalistic meditative focus on Divine Names and their visualisation, in favour
of a more personal, inner mysticism, expressed innately in mystical joy,
devotional prayer and melody, or studied conceptually in the
systemised classic works of Hasidic
philosophy. A traditional story typifies this:
On his 16th birthday, the Baal Shem Tov wandered
into the open fields to meditate on the significance of the day. He had been
lodging at a local inn in a nearby village, managed by Aaron Shlomo the
innkeeper and his wife Zlata Rivka. The simplest Jews, they were barely
literate in daily prayers. but both were God fearing, and praised God at every
opportunity. "Blessed is He forever!" offered the innkeeper, while
his wife would say, "Blessed be His Holy Name." In the fields the
Baal Shem Tov recited Psalms with great feeling, concentrating on the various
mystical intentions associated with each verse, that his mentor the hidden
Tzadik Rabbi Chaim had imbued him with. Immersed in spiritual thought, he
suddenly sawElijah the Prophet standing before
him. Although he had merited such visions before with the other mystics, he was
humbled by this first vision alone, a smile on the Prophet's countenance. Said
the Prophet, "You invest such effort in meditation, trying to attain lofty
levels, while the hearfelt words said by Aaron Shlomo and his wife cause a
delight in Heaven, more than the commotion caused by the esoteric meditations
of the righteous. When God is blessed, this causes great satisfaction on High,
particularly when offered by simple folk, whose sincere faith unites them
constantly with the Creator." The Baal Shem Tov later shared this
revelation with the circle of hidden mystics, and
suggested they inquire after the welfare of the common folk in their travels.
This will cause them to praise God, and if they are not faring well, our
concern will cause them to arouse Divine mercy with their supplications.[10]
Habad differed
from mainstream Hasidism in its preparation for prayer by intellectual
contemplation ofHasidic
philosophy. Nonetheless, an aim of this is to reveal simplicity of
soul, which all possess. TheRebbes of Habad were
envious of the sincerity of the simple folk
Rabbi Dov
Ber of Lubavitch, the "Mitler Rebbe," the second leader of
the Chabad Dynasty
wrote several works explaining the Chabad approach. In his works, he explains
that the Hebrew word for
meditation is hisbonenus (alternatively
transliterated as hitbonenut).
The word "hisbonenut" derives from the Hebrew word Binah (lit.
understanding) and refers to the process of understanding through analytical
study. While the word hisbonenut can be applied to
analytical study of any topic, it is generally used to refer to study of the Torah, and particularly in this context, the
explanations ofKabbalah in Chabad Hasidic
philosophy, in order to achieve a greater understanding and
appreciation of God.
In
the Chabad presentation, every intellectual process must incorporate three
faculties: Chochma,Binah, and Daat. Chochma (lit. wisdom) is
the mind's ability to come up with a new insight into a concept that one did
not know before. Binah (lit.
understanding) is the mind's ability to take a new insight (from Chochma),
analyze all of its implications and simplify the concept so it is understood
well. Daat (lit. knowledge),
the third stage, is the mind's ability to focus and hold its attention on theChochma and the Binah.
The
term Hisbonenut represents an important
point of the Chabad method: Chabad Hasidic philosophy rejects the notion that
any new insight can come from mere concentration. Chabad philosophy explains
that while "Daat" is a necessary component of cognition, it is like
an empty vessel without the learning and analysis and study that comes through
the faculty of Binah. Just as a scientist's new insight or discovery (Chochma)
always results from prior in-depth study and analysis of his topic (Binah),
likewise, to gain any insight in Godliness can only come through in-depth study
of the explanations of Kabbalah and Chassidic philosophy.[11]
Chassidic
masters say that enlightenment is commensurate with one's understanding of the Torah and
specifically the explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. They warn
that prolonged concentration devoid of intellectual content can lead to sensory
deprivation, hallucinations, and even insanity which all can be tragically
mistaken for "spiritual enlightenment".
However,
a contemporary translation of the word hisbonenut into popular
English would not be "meditation". "Meditation" refers to
the mind's ability to concentrate (Daat), which in Hebrew is called Haamokat HaDaat. Hisbonenut,
which, as explained above, refers to the process of analysis (Binah) is
more properly translated as "in-depth analytical study". (Ibid.)
Chabad
accepts and endorses the writings of Kabbalists such as Moshe Cordevero and Haim Vital and their works
are quoted at length in the Hasidic texts. However, the Hasidic masters say
that their methods are easily misunderstood without a proper foundation inHasidic
philosophy.
The
Mitler Rebbe emphasizes that hallucinations that come from a mind devoid of
intellectual content are the product of the brain'sKoach HaDimyon (lit. power of
imagination), which is the brains lowest faculty. Even a child is capable of
higher forms of thought than the Koach
HaDimyon. So such imaginations should never be confused
with the flash intuitive insight known as Chochma which can only be
achieved through in-depth study of logical explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic
philosophy.
Breslov Hasidim
spend time in secluded communication of their heart to God. In Jewish
communities they often seek this solitude in Nature at night
Hisbodedus (alternatively
transliterated as "hitbodedut", from the root "boded"
meaning "self-seclusion") refers to an unstructured, spontaneous and
individualized form of prayer and meditation taught by Rebbe Nachman
of Breslov. The goal of hitbodedut is to establish a close, personal
relationship with God and a clearer understanding of one's personal motives and
goals. However, in Likutey Moharan I, Lesson 52, Rebbe Nachman describes the
ultimate goal of hisbodedus as the transformative realization of God as the
"Imperative Existent," or Essence of Reality. See Hisbodedusfor the
words of Rabbi Nachman on this method.
The Musar (Ethics) Movement,
founded by Rabbi Israel Salanter in the middle of
the nineteenth-century, encouraged meditative practices of introspection and
visualization that could help to improve moral character. Its truthful
psychological self-evaluation of one's spiritual worship, institutionalised the
preceding classic ethical tradition within Rabbinic
literature as
a spiritual movement within the Lithuanian Yeshiva academies. Many of
these techniques were described in the writings of Salanter's closest disciple,
Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv.
Two paths within Musar developed in the Slabodka and Novardokschools.
Practices:
§
Kavanah
§
Dveikut
§
Niggun
§
Teshuvah
§
Mitzvot
§
Tzedakah
Concepts:
§
Ohr
 |
2.
^ What is Practical Kabbalah? from
www.inner.org. Distinction of the two forms and three branches of Kabbalah
explained further inWhat You Need to Know About Kabbalah, Yitzchak
Ginsburgh, Gal Einai publications, section on Practical Kabbalah; and Meditation
and Kabbalah, Aryeh Kaplan, introduction
4.
^ Kaplan, Aryeh (1985). Jewish
Meditation. New York: Schocken Books. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0-8052-1037-7.
10.
^ The
Great Mission: the life and story of Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem Tov, Eli
Friedman, Kehot pub, p. 16-17
11.
^ http://www.kabbalaonline.org/Meditations/jewishmeditation/Active_vs.Passive_Meditation.asp Active
vs.Passive_Meditation
§
Jacobs, Louis (translator), Tract on Ecstacy by Dobh Baer of Lubavitch,
Vallentine Mitchell, 2006, ISBN 978-0-85303-590-9
§
Roth, Rabbi Jeff, Jewish Meditation
Practices for Everyday Life, Jewish Lights
Publishing, 2009, 978-1-58023-397-2
§
Seinfeld,
Alexander, The
Art of Amazement: Discover Judaism's Forgotten Spirituality,
JSL Press 2010, ISBN 0-9717229-1-9
