17. Shofar / Kingship

It is on Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year when the shofar is blown. It is also the day of the coronation of the King, the Creator of All, who sits in judgment over all of creation on this day. This meditation delves into the secrets of the four blasts of the shofar, guiding the listener through the inner meanings of this ancient, sacred ritual.

Transcript

Hello,

Welcome to guided Jewish meditations.

My name is Eliezer.

Ancient divine wisdom teaches us that the first human with a divine soul,

Adam,

Received his soul on Rosh Hashanah,

The Jewish New Year.

It is on this day that we celebrate the birth of existence,

Because all of creation exists only for man,

For his divine mission to perfect his world,

And to connect to his creator,

The infinite source of all.

On this day,

We crown the creator as our king.

Why would an infinite creator need humans,

Creations of the divine mind,

Made of divine wisdom,

To crown him the eternal king?

The answer to this question can be found in the sounds of the shofar,

The ram's horn,

Which is blown every year by Jews on Rosh Hashanah.

Over the course of this meditation,

We will discover the secrets of the shofar,

And as a result,

Try to bring us a little bit closer to the fulfillment of the purpose of creation,

The recognition of the king of all of existence.

There are four different shofar blasts that are performed on Rosh Hashanah.

The first one,

Tekiah,

Is a simple long blast.

The second one,

Shivarim,

Consists of three shorter blasts.

The third one,

Teruah,

Contains nine very short blasts.

And finally,

The fourth and final one,

Tekiah gedolah,

Is a long tekiah blast that signifies the conclusion of the shofar blowing.

Each of these four blasts carries within it a deeper meaning,

And meditating on them connects us to this meaning.

Please find a quiet place where you can relax,

Feel safe,

And meditate.

If you've had a difficult day,

Try and put the day you've had aside,

Just for a little bit.

Sit or lay down,

Slowly close your eyes,

And begin to breathe evenly and deeply.

As you breathe in,

In your mind,

Carry the air into all corners of your body,

Illuminating it with divine light.

And as you exhale,

Relax into the air you expel from your body.

And as you do so,

Consciously remove any negative feelings or emotions you may be feeling.

Continue breathing this way,

Deeply and evenly,

Taking you deeper and deeper into a meditative state,

Where you can allow your mind and soul to completely take over.

Thank you.

Tachia,

The shofar's first blast,

Is a simple,

Long,

Uninterrupted sound.

It is the sound of the coronation of the king,

The acknowledgement and complete acceptance of the existence of the eternal creator,

The one who created all,

Controls all,

And keeps everything alive at every moment.

It is to recognize the purpose of creation,

The divine desire of the king to bestow good upon his creations,

To create a universe of wonder,

Of light and of wisdom,

Of the concepts of love and kindness,

And,

Most of all,

The ultimate good,

The ability to recognize him as king of all,

Thereby connecting to the source of all life.

By acknowledging the infinite source as king,

You complete and perfect the world by performing the act for which it was created.

You and everything around you was created out of complete nothingness,

Formed by a divine mind,

Built using divine wisdom and kept in existence with divine light.

There is purpose everywhere.

Your soul,

A very piece carved from the infinite creator,

Was given to you because your life is important and you have a divine mission.

Meditate on the simple,

Long sound of the tikkiya,

The coronation of the king of all,

On his desire to give you life,

And on your mission to perfect your life and the world around you.

Shavarim,

As your meditation on the tikkiya sound continues,

You hear the shavarim sound begin to emanate within your mind.

Every blasts of about one second each,

Again and again,

They begin to echo in your soul as a deep penetrating question forms in your consciousness.

If your existence has purpose,

If you were given this life for a reason,

Have you been true to this purpose and mission?

Have you lived your life in accordance with these truths?

Does the reason you get up every morning involve the doing of good,

Of kindness,

Of living a life of honesty and humility,

Or has your soul perhaps lost its way?

Do you have a relationship with your eternal creator,

The king of all existence,

Who on Rosh Hashanah sits in judgment over all of creation?

As these questions enter your mind and soul,

You feel the sobbing sound of the shavarim penetrate your heart,

Echoing this divine question of introspection and purpose.

Allow your mind and soul to open up to itself,

To experience true honesty as you meditate on the question of the shavarim and the intense feeling of loneliness and sobbing of the soul as it discovers how distant it may be from its source.

But also,

Experience the deep feeling of relief and gratefulness in the knowledge that the source of all life is waiting for you every day to return and resume your divine mission in life.

Teruah,

As the sobbing of your soul continues to reverberate within your mind,

You hear the shavarim blasts slowly fade away as in its place you hear the sound of the teruah,

Nine quick short blasts sounded again and again,

Approaching you from all sides.

As these quick blasts reach you and enter your mind,

You feel the air before you begin to pulsate with divine energy.

The air moves with the sound of the teruah,

The beat of the blasts creating ripples in the energy before you.

As this energy reaches you,

It enters your body from all sides,

Flows into your bloodstream and rushes throughout your entire being.

As your blood reaches every part of your body,

You feel the energy from the blasts enter every cell within your existence,

The teruah blasts infusing them with divine strength.

You feel the rejuvenating powers of purpose,

The knowledge of the deep divine meaning of life,

Invigorate and strengthen you.

Your soul was chosen by the king of all existence to be placed within your body,

In your community,

Born into your family and given the precisely measured challenges you face in your life in order to perfect your soul and your world.

This is your mission in life.

Meditate on the sound of the teruah,

The calling of your soul to action,

To get back on course on your path of life and purpose and on a renewed and rejuvenated mission to return and reconnect to the source of all,

The eternal king.

The teruah begins to fade away as in the distance you hear the faint sound of the shofar,

Low,

Steady and gently,

Barely audible in your mind.

Uninterrupted and seemingly going on forever,

The sound of the tikkiyya gidola,

The great infinite tikkiya takes a hold of your soul.

At the pinnacle of your meditation,

This is your soul reconnecting with its infinite source,

The endless sound of the shofar beginning within the depths of your soul and extending outwards into infinity.

The sound grows louder and louder,

But not painfully so as you recognize the increased volume to be the experience of your soul as it begins to glow brighter and brighter as you reconnect with your divine mission in life,

Fully committing to it.

Meditate on this endless sound.

It is you fulfilling the purpose of creation as you use your free will to recognize the creator to be the king of all and you his creation.

This is the world being reborn as new,

A rebirth from within,

The purpose of creation fulfilled through you.

As this truth fills your mind and soul,

You unite with the sound of the great tikkiyya,

The tikkiyya gidola,

Coordinating the king of all and uniting all through it.

Meditate on this unity and on your essential role in the coronation of the infinite king.

Go there.

You You You We are approaching the conclusion of this shofar meditation Breathe deeply and evenly as you allow your mind to return to the present and to your surroundings Don't rush it.

Relax as you breathe until you feel you have fully returned You You You You you This concludes this meditation As the human soul celebrates another birthday.

I hope that this meditation has helped you along your journey in life My name is Eliezer May peace be with you and may you be inscribed and sealed for a healthy happy and meaningful life