Shalom,
Dear listeners.
In light of recent events,
I'm offering this meditation,
Which is a journey through the four worlds of Kabbalah,
Connecting our emotions,
Intellect,
Physical body and spirit to the source of all life.
I invite you to find a comfortable place to listen to this meditation.
You could be walking,
You could be sitting,
But just make sure that you can,
Wherever you are,
Focus on this present moment and what's happening inside of you,
In your body,
In your heart,
In your mind and in your spirit in this moment.
Let's begin with the world of the physical,
Asiya.
Begin by being aware of your breath as it comes in and out of your body.
You can feel the breath as it comes in and out of your nostrils or your chest as it rises and falls or your belly as it rises and falls.
As you breathe in,
I invite you to think,
I'm aware I'm breathing in.
As you breathe out,
I invite you to think,
I'm aware I am breathing out.
You can abbreviate this to in and out,
In and out.
Now I invite you to become aware of your body as it makes contact with the earth,
With your clothing.
You can do a quick body scan,
Starting at the tips of your toes and moving your way up to the top of your head.
Each part of your body,
As you become aware of it,
You can just become aware of it to the rhythm of your breath.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my toes.
Breathing out,
I send love to my toes.
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my heels.
Breathing out,
I send love to my heels.
And slowly work your way up,
Scanning through your body,
Becoming aware and sending love to each part of your body,
From the bottom of your toes all the way up to the top of your crown of your head.
As you breathe in and out,
Aware of your body.
There's any one place in your body that is a little achy,
Is a little crampy,
Is a little in need of attention.
You can just linger there for a number of breaths,
Becoming aware of the sensations of that part of your body and then sending love to that part of your body.
Once you have finished your body scan and paying attention to the physical body parts that need a little bit more attention,
I invite you to relax your body.
Breathe in and out of any part that's still drawing your awareness.
It could be your jaw that's holding tension or your shoulders.
Just breathe in,
Be aware of that part of your body.
Breathe out and relax that part of your body.
Let's now move on to the world of Yotsira,
The world of your emotions.
I invite you as you breathe in and out to just become aware of your emotions.
Sometimes it helps to put your hand on your heart and ask yourself,
What emotions are present for me right now?
It could be joy,
It could be boredom,
Could be stress or anxiety,
Could be anger,
Yearning,
Could be a deep struggling with the current events in the world.
Whatever arises,
I invite you to just name it.
If it's anger,
You can just say,
There is anger.
You can also use your breath to bring awareness.
So you can say,
Breathing in,
I'm aware of my anger.
Breathing out,
I offer love and compassion to my anger.
Our emotions are not meant to be suppressed or pushed away.
They're also meant not to be grasped to either.
So whatever arises,
Just become aware of it.
Breathe into it.
Send it compassionate,
Loving awareness.
Allow it to go.
I'll give you a few minutes to embrace your feelings and to hold them in compassion.
Breathing in,
I embrace my feelings.
Breathing out,
I hold them in compassion.
I invite you now to transition to the world of Bhriya,
The world of your intellect,
Your mind.
Breathing in,
I invite you to become aware of your thoughts.
Breathing out,
I invite you to name your thoughts,
And then send compassion to them.
So if you're planning,
You can say,
Breathing in,
I'm aware I'm planning.
Breathing out,
I send compassion and love to my planning,
And then let it go.
Just be aware of your thoughts as they arise and fall.
It could be thoughts of struggling with what's happening in the world right now.
It could be making a laundry list or a shopping list,
To-do list.
It could be a thought of something that you have to deal with at work or at home.
Just name it.
Become aware of it.
Let it go and return to your breath.
Breathing in,
I'm aware I'm breathing in.
Breathing out,
I aware.
I'm aware of breathing out.
In this space of the intellect,
You can allow your thoughts to discern,
To question,
To seek understanding amidst the confusion.
Just breathe in and out of those thoughts and be aware of them.
Gently focus on this space of wisdom.
You can even ask for clarity and insight.
If a thought arises that gives you a particular clarity or wisdom or insight,
Just become aware of it and then let it go.
Thoughts come and go like waves in the ocean or clouds in the sky.
Each thought is like a cloud and you are the pure awareness that is the sky behind the clouds.
The clouds float by.
Become aware of them and let them go.
Breathing in,
I seek understanding.
Breathing out,
I find wisdom in the stillness.
I invite you now to move to the next world,
The world of atsilut,
The world of emanation,
The world of the spirit.
Here is where we connect to our divine essence.
As you breathe in and out,
Become aware of your connection to that which is beyond language,
Beyond emotions,
Beyond physical sensations.
You are pure,
Loving awareness,
That sky that is behind the clouds.
Pure consciousness,
Pure being.
Breathing in,
You are aware of your consciousness,
Your awareness,
Your feeling of I am.
When God tells Moses God's name at the burning bush,
God says,
I am that I am.
I am.
God says to Moses to tell the people,
I am sent me.
That sensation,
That feeling of I am,
That is the God spark that is the God essence inside of you.
That spark of creativity,
That spark of consciousness,
That spark of awareness connects you to Keter,
The third I,
That spark of will of being.
And that in turn connects you to the infinite,
To the boundless,
To the endless,
The einsulf,
The boundless energy of life,
Of consciousness,
Of love,
Of being pure being,
The infinite,
The boundless,
The endless.
As you breathe in and out,
I invite you to be present to the cycles of being.
In and out,
Expansion and contraction.
Yud He and Vav He.
Give and take.
Yin and yang.
Connecting to pure being,
To the spark of the divine,
Pure consciousness.
Breathing in,
I am a spark of the divine,
Of the endless,
The boundless.
Breathing out,
I am one with all creation.
I am a spark of the boundless.
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
One with all creation.
In boundless,
Out one.
In boundless,
Out one with all creation.
I invite you now to slowly return your awareness to the rhythm of your breath.
Perhaps you're aware of your heartbeat.
I invite you to move around your limbs wherever you are and be aware of your body again.
Be aware that all four of these worlds are in you at all times.
May you always find strength in each of these four worlds,
The ability to be aware of these four realms that exist within you at all times.
The world of the physical,
The world of the emotion,
The world of the intellect,
And the world of pure spirit.
As you move about your day and you continue to move through this world,
You can always access these four worlds.
They are always inside of you.
They are always with you.
Becoming aware of them brings you strength,
Understanding,
And connection amidst the back and forth,
The up and down of your human experience.
May your practice uplift,
Heal,
And bring compassion to you,
And thereby uplift,
Heal,
And bring compassion to all beings.
May your practice bring an end to your suffering and the causes of your suffering,
And thereby bring an end to the suffering and the causes of suffering of all beings.
L'shem yechud kudshabrichu u'shkhinate For the sake of the unification of the Holy Blessed One,
That One which is beyond time,
Beyond space,
With the Shekhinah,
That part of the Divine that is within us and around us and suffers with us.
B'chud shlim b'shem kol Yisrael With complete unification in the name of all who struggle,
All Yisrael.
B'chilu u'rchimu With judgment and compassion,
With justice and compassion.
L'yachad To unify Shem,
Yud-Heh,
B'vav-Heh The name of Yud-Heh,
The in-breath.
The name of B'vav-Heh,
The out-breath.
Baruch atah Hashem,
Blessed are you Hashem.
Oseh Hashalom The One who makes peace,
Wholeness,
And understanding.
May this meditation touch your heart and in turn help you to touch the hearts of others,
Providing them solace and insight during these challenging times.
This has been the Neshama Project Podcast.
I'm Rabbi Ben Newman.
Until next time,
Take care.
