Compassionate Justice and Parshat Devarim This week's Torah portion,
Deuteronomy,
Or Devarim,
Means words.
Moses gives a speech to the people of Israel before they enter the land of Israel without him.
He talks about justice and appointing impartial judges to help him decide cases between the people.
Hear the causes between your brothers and judge righteously.
Listen to small and great alike,
For judgment belongs to God.
Judge righteously.
What does that mean?
Judgment – mishpat – goes together with righteousness – tzedek.
Tzedek is difficult to translate.
Some say it's charity,
Or righteousness,
Integrity,
Fairness.
But it's more than just strictly justice.
The Rambam,
Or Maimonides,
Says justice is giving everyone their due.
It's not charity,
It's just the decent thing to do.
Tzedek or justice must be reinforced with compassion.
Justice combined with compassion can create a more fair and humane society.
We are commemorating Tisha B'av,
A national day of mourning,
For the destruction of the first and second temples on Sunday.
The reason for the destruction of the second temple was due to senseless hatred.
In other words,
Compassion was lacking,
And people ignored those in need and judged people unfairly.
Have we learned our lesson?
Are we still to blame for this today?
How can we cultivate a more compassionate society?
How can we treat people more kindly?
What about mindful self-compassion?
We're often pretty good at demonstrating compassion for others,
But not so much for ourselves.
According to Christian Neff,
Author and expert on self-compassion,
Self-compassion is kindness towards the self,
Which entails being gentle,
Supportive,
And understanding.
Rather than harshly judging oneself for personal shortcomings,
The self is offered warmth and unconditional acceptance.
In other words,
Being kind to ourselves in good times and bad,
In sickness and in health,
And even when we make mistakes.
Self-compassion is learned in part by connecting with our innate compassion for people around us,
And it helps us to grow and sustain our compassion for others.
It's also important for healthy self-esteem and resilience.
To build a solid practice of mindful self-compassion takes time,
And it requires,
As you might guess,
A lot of compassion.
Most of us feel compassion when a close friend is struggling.
What would it be like to receive the same caring attention whenever you needed it?
Try shifting the direction of your attention,
Recognizing that as a human being you too are worthy recipient of compassion.
If you notice your inner critic or negative thoughts about yourself,
Try bringing awareness to the critical inner voice without trying to change anything.
Maybe this voice is from your past.
Can you soften it a little now?
Let's try this practice by Kristin Neff called Affectionate Breathing.
So settling into a comfortable position where your body is supported and closing your eyes if that's right for you.
Getting in touch with your body and noticing any sensations in this moment and doing a quick scan of areas in your body.
What sensations are you noticing?
Pleasant,
Unpleasant,
Neutral.
And taking a few breaths to let any tension out from your day.
And now observing where you feel the breath most obviously or strongly.
It might be your nose with the air going in and out or your chest or your stomach as it rises and falls.
Your body knows how to breathe itself so you don't need to control it in any way.
Now adopting a little half smile,
Nothing strained or forced,
Just allowing the corners of your mouth to turn up a little bit and noticing how that makes you feel.
Maybe happiness with the present moment.
Getting in and out and noticing how each in breath and out breath feels.
Seeing how your body is nourished and maybe energized with each breath.
Try to let your breath be touched with tenderness or care for yourself and others,
Even if you don't really feel it.
And allowing each breath to breathe in kindness for yourself and for others.
So let's take a few moments now to imagine each breath taking in kindness for us or for people around us and each out breath letting go of tension or any negative feelings that we might not need right now.
Your mind will naturally wander as you do this.
So just notice it.
No need to judge yourself.
Everyone's mind wanders.
The moment you notice,
Bring your attention back to the breath.
That's a moment of mindfulness.
And feeling some appreciation for your breath right now.
It helps us stay alive.
And if it feels right for you,
Try putting your hand over your heart to get in touch with any feelings that might be there.
Feeling in some kindness and affection for yourself and for others.
And remembering your little half smile.
When your mind wanders,
Gently bringing your attention back to noticing your breath,
Letting your breath comfort and soothe your body.
And release any tension there.
Realizing the flow of your breath.
The breath isn't focused on improving style or rushing to reach the end of some daily to-do list in order to take a break.
We can learn a lot from the breath.
From its natural rhythm,
Pace,
And the way the breath continues its work without making a big deal about it.
So letting go of all efforts to change anything right now.
Nowhere to go.
Nowhere to be.
Giving yourself permission to be comforted by your own breathing.
Like an internal caress.
Kindness being breathed in and out.
Taking a moment to focus on your intention of kindness to yourself and to others.
And imagining your heart opening to receive these feelings of kindness.
And resting in the feelings of kindness that you're generating.
How does your body feel?
What emotions are you feeling?
And taking another moment to allow yourself to rest in all of your experience and let yourself feel whatever you're feeling.
And if you need to take a little more time.
Stay here a little longer.
Feel free to do so.
Knowing that whenever you need it,
You can come back to this anchor,
This gentle rhythm of your breathing.
Like an internal caress to be held and cared for whenever you need it.
Giving ourselves room to be human or flawed allows us to kindly reflect and improve on ourselves.
And that can impact how we treat ourselves,
Others,
And help in building a more compassionate and just society.
Thank you for joining me and I hope you'll listen next week.
