“Meditation, Judaism, and Self-Mastery”
Let’s reclaim our spiritual heritage!
Upcoming schedule:
Sunday, August 15: 8pm EST
Sunday, August 22: 8pm EST
Sunday, August 29: 8pm EST
Sunday, September 5: No class – Labor Day / Rosh Hashanah
Sunday, September 12: 8pm EST
Sunday, September 19: 8pm EST
Sunday, September 26: No class – Chol Hamoed
No official class. But if people want to learn, let me know. We will study a special topic.
Today’s Class Agenda:
We will continue our study of using meditation to achieve Ruach Hakodesh, or enlightenment. We will focus some more on conversing with God.
We will also continue to discuss how understanding mental states can help improve our personal meditation.
Jewish meditation techniques we have covered so far:
Amidah: achieving consciousness of God through prayer.
Hitbodedut: becoming mindful through internal and external isolation.
Ruach Hakodesh (Enlightenment:) transcending the physical, through work on yourself.
Upcoming:
Unification: experiencing Oneness with God by reciting the Shema.
Blessing power: meditations to bring you closer to God through mundane acts.
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The Traditions: Enlightenment
Rabbi Kaplan – “Meditation and the Bible”
Review:
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What sins are evil?
How does the pursuit of Ruach Hakodesh help us avoid them?
Ruach Hakodesh (Enlightenment:) transcending the physical, through work on yourself.
These are the steps leading to Ruach Hakodesh outlined in the Talmud: Study; Carefulness; Diligence; Cleanliness; Abstention; Purity; Piety; Humility; Fear of Sin; Holiness.
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The Musar movement and how it promotes work on yourself.
The first part of the Musar program was to make a daily habit of reading a lesson from a classical Musar work. After reading the lesson, one was to spend a short period of time contemplating it and relating it to one’s own life.
As the individual began to advance, this contemplation became a meditation. One would read from a classical Musar text on how to improve the ethical, moral, and religious quality of one’s life, then meditate on this lesson for twenty to thirty minutes. This is a simple type of meditation, similar to the one described in Chapter 3, where I discussed meditating on how to rearrange your life.
Meditation Techniques: Rearranging your life
Rabbi Kaplan – “Jewish Meditation,” pp 15 – 24
Abraham
Emotions, p. 23
Self-control
Direct control of thoughts
New:
Conversing with God
Rabbi Kaplan – “Jewish Meditation,” pp 92 – 98
Simple and safe
Speak TO, not ABOUT, God
Natural for children
Spontaneous prayer
Rebbi Nachman
Prayer from the heart
How to speak to God?
Like being away from a close one
How to justify?
Use this book
Feel inadequate?
Basic awe
Extremely difficult
Not prayer – meditation
Daily commitment
How to begin?
Start with a phrase
Talk about the problem – p 95
Talk about your feelings
Regular habit
An awesome experience
Inner-directed
Banish ego
Partners with God
Maintain a balance
Find direction in life
Judge oneself
Like therapy
Spiritual dimension
Need a guide
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Next class:
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Best practices for meditation
Bhante Gunaratana, “Mindfulness in Plain English,”
Dealing with Distractions Part II, pp 115 – 130
Understanding mental states, pp 123 – 130
General pattern
Craving and desire
Tricky positive states
Similar to breathing
Extend awareness – p 125
See them rising
Precision
Conceptualization
The “I”
See it as it is
Multiple sensations
Developing mindfulness
Meditation as mental acid
Check out our new website!
njn
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