An Abundance of Blessings: Mindfulness & Parshat Balak

A short summary of the blessings in the weekly Torah portion, Balak. King Balak asks the prophet Balaam to curse the people, and instead, he blesses them. With a short discussion of how we can cultivate our own blessings, leading into a guided loving-kindness meditation. Thank you for listening!

Transcript

An abundance of blessings,

Mindfulness and parashat Balak.

In this week's Torah portion,

Bilaam is approached by King Balak of Moab to curse Bnei Yisrael,

The people of Israel.

Bilaam was a pagan prophet whose fame reached far and wide.

Balak feels threatened by Bnei Yisrael,

This strange and vast people who are enslaved in Egypt and who cover the face of the earth.

I know that whoever you bless is blessed,

And whoever you curse is cursed,

Balak told Bilaam.

Balak promises riches to Bilaam in exchange for cursing Bnei Yisrael.

Bilaam explains that he can only say words that God approves of.

I cannot go beyond the word of God.

Three times Bilaam goes to curse the people of Israel,

And three times instead of cursing them he blesses them.

The third time he says,

Matovu o alecha ya'ko mishken o techa yisrael,

How goodly are your tents,

O Jacob,

Your dwellings in Israel.

Did Bilaam really believe what he said,

Or were these words put in his mouth by God that he merely articulated?

Rashi says that Bilaam did see good in Bnei Yisrael.

He took a deep look and noticed something small,

That there were spaces between the tents affording the people privacy and allowing them to conduct their lives modestly.

Whether or not Bilaam understood the blessings that God placed in his mouth,

What we can learn from this story is the idea of taking a deeper look at all the things around us.

Where can we rediscover the good in our homes,

Our neighborhoods,

And society?

What assumptions deserve a fresh look and deeper reflection?

Another lesson from this week's Torah portion is to cultivate our belief in the power of blessings and love.

Bilaam set out to give curses,

But in the end delivered blessings.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks comments that God is teaching us that love can turn curses into blessings.

It's the only force capable of defeating hate.

Love heals the wounds of the world.

We're often compelled in today's world to be consumed by our fears and to think in terms of us versus them.

So how can we develop our capacity to appreciate what we have around us?

And how can we turn our inclination to curse into a tendency to bless?

Wellness can help us to perceive things as they really are and notice and appreciate things that we might take for granted.

As a result,

We might be inclined to recite blessings such as how goodly are your tents.

Lovening kindness meditation is a practice which involves repeating a set of phrases sending out blessings for you,

People you care about,

And all beings such as be happy,

Be peaceful,

Be healthy.

Sharon Salzberg,

Author of Love and Kindness,

Explains,

The practice of loving kindness is about cultivating love as a strength,

A muscle,

A tool that challenges our tendency to see people,

Including ourselves,

As disconnected,

As isolated from one another.

Loving kindness is about opening ourselves up to others with compassion.

We'll now do a loving kindness meditation together.

Take a moment to settle in,

Getting comfortable in your chair or wherever you're sitting,

Checking your posture,

Sitting straight,

Shoulders relaxed.

Taking a moment to notice your breath,

Observing the rhythm of your breath,

Allowing your breath to flow naturally and reciting inwardly the following phrases directed to your own well-being.

Beginning with yourself is important because without loving yourself,

It's difficult to love others.

You can create your own phrases that you connect to and best open your heart.

Repeat these phrases over and over again,

Letting the feelings permeate your body and mind.

So sending yourself these blessings.

May I be safe and free from harm.

May I be healthy in mind and body.

May I be free from suffering and live with ease.

May I be happy.

May I treat myself kindly and compassionately.

As you repeat these phrases,

Picture yourself as you are now with compassion and loving kindness.

This meditation may at times feel awkward.

It might bring up mixed feelings or difficult feelings.

If this happens,

Be extra patient and kind towards yourself.

And now bringing into your mind someone that you care about very much,

A parent,

A partner,

A child,

A sibling,

A friend or a teacher,

Someone you love from the present or the past,

Someone who cares for you.

Thinking of them makes you smile.

You might have more than one,

So picking just one for now.

If a person doesn't come to mind,

Maybe someone who you know to be inspirational or you admire,

Someone it's easy to imagine sending good intentions or blessings to.

So forming an image of this person in your mind and imagining sitting next to them.

Imagine that they can feel your presence and feel you wishing them well as you send them these blessings.

Imagine these blessings flowing from you to them.

May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be healthy in mind and body.

May you be free from suffering and live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you treat yourself kindly and compassionately.

Taking a few moments to feel how it is to wish these things to this person,

Letting yourself have a sense of them and a sense of these wishes or blessings emanating from you to them,

Connecting you to them.

Let the image and feelings you have for this person arise and wash over you.

Some people find loving kindness for themselves difficult,

So they begin their practice with someone they care about and that's fine.

Follow the way that most easily opens your heart.

And now think of someone you would recognize if you saw them but you don't know them that well.

A familiar stranger such as the cashier at your grocery store or the person who cuts your hair.

You probably don't think about this person very much but maybe you appreciate them and would like to send them good wishes.

Imagine sending this person these blessings while they receive them.

May you be safe and free from harm.

May you be healthy in mind and body.

May you be free from suffering and live with ease.

May you be happy.

May you treat yourself kindly and compassionately.

Let any and all feelings arise within you.

And now think about people you know such as neighbors,

Co-workers,

Extended family and take a moment to picture yourself standing with these people.

You can invite as many people as you want.

When you have this image in your mind wish all of you these blessings.

May we all be safe and free from harm.

May we all be healthy in mind and body.

May we all be free from suffering and live with ease.

May we all be happy.

May we all treat ourselves kindly and compassionately.

Allow these blessings to flow from you to these people and also from them to you.

And take a moment to feel their present.

Feeling their presence and feeling the flow of blessings flowing between you.

And now returning to noticing your breath.

Focusing on the area of the heart and the lungs and imagine that area expanding and allowing all these blessings in.

May all of us everywhere feel safe and happy live with ease and treat ourselves kindly and compassionately.

And may we in our beautiful and challenging world lean into love trust our goodly perspectives listen to our hearts and offer blessings to all with whom we meet.

I invite you to practice this during the week and I hope you'll join me next week.

Thanks for listening.

Reviews

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