Welcome to Integral Jewish Meditation based on the Hebrew letter Aleph.
I'm Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.
If you haven't yet learned the basic practice,
You can listen first to the track called Learn Integral Jewish Meditation,
Then come back to this one when you're ready.
Now on to the meditation.
As the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet,
Aleph represents oneness.
On a level of consciousness,
The experience of oneness arises when we allow this moment to be as it is,
Without resistance.
Ordinarily,
When we experience something painful or unpleasant,
We tend to contract emotionally and resist the moment.
And when we resist,
We actually create a sense of inner division,
The opposite of oneness.
But when we intentionally say yes to whatever arises in our experience and open fully to our feelings,
Then this division is healed and that sense of inner oneness can blossom.
This is embodied by the shape of the letter Aleph,
With one arm reaching upward and the other downward.
The upper arm represents joy and bliss,
While the lower arm represents pain and bitterness.
They are bridged by the shape of the letter Vav,
Which means and.
The message is,
Open yourself to feel everything,
From the sweet to the bitter.
Say yes and to all feelings that arise and you will come to experience the inner unity of Aleph.
To begin,
Be in a comfortable position.
Let your hands be free and unencumbered.
If you're holding your device to listen to this,
It's best just to set it down so that you can let go of the impulse to engage with it.
Just let your body be relaxed in a position that's conducive to stillness.
Next,
Let's invoke the quality of Aleph.
If you like,
You can take the body pose for Aleph.
Lift your arms over your head with your palms open to the heavens in a gesture of openness and receptivity.
Now let's chant the affirmation,
I am feeling,
I am open,
I am openness.
I am feeling,
I am open,
I am openness.
For the chant,
Let's use the verse that begins with Aleph from Psalm 145.
The words are,
Which we may translate as,
I transcend into you my divine essence.
I transcend into you my divine essence.
I transcend into you my divine essence.
Coming now into meditation through the three portals,
Beginning with the portal of the heart.
Place your right hand on your heart,
Taking the attitude of offering your attention lovingly to whatever feelings are arising.
Give your feelings permission to be as they are,
Being an attentive,
Loving presence,
And express this offering of attention with the word L'chah on the long out-breath.
Deep breath in,
L'chah.
L'chah.
Now with your right hand still on your heart,
Bring your left hand to your belly.
Bring awareness down into your belly,
Permeating your organs,
Bringing healing and gratitude to your body,
Opening to whatever feelings are there.
Let your awareness flow downward through your hips,
Your thighs,
Knees,
Calves,
Feet,
And toes.
Now let awareness shine upward from your belly into your chest,
Heart,
And lungs,
Neck and shoulders,
And flowing down through your arms,
Hands,
And fingers.
Take a nice deep breath.
Ah.
Feeling the movement of your breathing,
Each breath drawing awareness more deeply into the body.
And now feeling upward into your head,
Facial muscles,
Brain and nervous system,
Bringing a little smile to your lips,
And filling the entire temple of your body with consciousness,
Anchoring with Nah-ah-say on a long out-breath.
Deep breath in.
Now keeping your left hand on your belly,
Bring your right hand up from your heart,
And touch your fingers lightly to your forehead.
Open to the world around you,
The sounds,
The feel of the space,
The support beneath you.
Notice that the outer world as you perceive it,
Together with the inner world of thoughts and feelings,
Are all arising within the field of your awareness.
This field has no boundary or border,
No shape or form,
And you are this vastness,
Within yet beyond your body,
Filling yet transcending your thoughts and feelings,
And affirming your identity as this vast openness with Venishma.
Deep breath in.
Kissing fingers and relaxing your hands.
Help us to meditate deeply and effectively.
Help us to know our essence as the vast openness of consciousness,
Anchoring the mind in the tefillah,
Ah-Tah-Hu.
You who are not separate from anything we encounter.
You who are not separate from this awareness that we are.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
You are the Divine.
You are Hashem.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
Resting the mind now in the silent repetition of Ah-Tah-Hu.
Thoughts will come.
Let them come and let them go.
Returning the mind again and again to the tefillah.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
As we come now into silent meditation.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
Ah-Tah-Hu.
And closing the meditation,
Once again bringing your right hand to your heart and offering your attention with Lecha and bringing your left hand to your belly.
Awareness consciously inhabiting the inner space of the body.
Na-Ah-Seh.
And bringing right hand to forehead,
Opening to the space around you,
Being the vast open space of awareness itself within which all experience comes and goes.
Ve-Nish-Ma.
And kissing fingers,
Relaxing hands.
As you prepare to return to your activities,
May you be imbued with this quality of Aleph,
Consciously opening to the world of feeling,
Relaxing all inner division and knowing yourself as the one field of consciousness that is able to be present to whatever arises without resistance.
Amen.
I'm Rabbi Brian Yosef.
All blessings to you.
