“Meditation, Judaism, and Self-Mastery”
Let’s reclaim our spiritual heritage!
Today’s Class Agenda:
We will continue our Deep-dive on meditation and self-mastery. The works we will review include: “Meditation and remolding the self” by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in Jewish Meditation; Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramchal)’s Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Just); and “How to Awaken the Automatic Success Mechanism Within You”by Dr. Maxwell Maltz in Pyscho-Cybernetics.
We will also continue learning about meditation in everyday life, focusing on “Concentration on all Activities” by Bhante Gunaratana, Mindfulness in Plain English.
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.
Mantra Meditation – Hagah – quiet the mind for spiritual growth.
Contemplation: concentrating on a visual object.
Visualization: holding an image in the mind’s eye.
Unification: experiencing Oneness with God by reciting the Shema.
Blessing power: meditations to bring you closer to God through mundane acts.
Getting closer to God through commandments and rituals.
Meditation and intimacy between a man and woman.
Visualization Deep-Dive: The Biblical idea of the mind.
Current:
Deep-dive on meditation and self-mastery.
“Meditation and remolding the self.”
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, “Jewish Meditation,” pp 161 – 165.
Rabbi Moshe Hayyim Luzzatto (Ramchal,) “Mesilat Yesharim (Path of the Just),” chapters 2 and 3.
“How to Awaken the Automatic Success mechanism Within You.”
Dr. Maxwell Maltz, “Pyscho-Cybernetics,” pp 25 – 42.
Review:
“Meditation and remolding the self.”
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, “Jewish Meditation,” pp 161 – 165.
Musar movement.
Everyone can be a saint.
Opposition to guides being more important than the mountain.
A program for self-perfection.
Ref: Ramchal.
Daily habit of reading a musar lesson.
Daily contemplation becomes a meditation.
What to do with extraneous thoughts.
Become a more effective human being.
Mantralike repetition.
Use a Biblical verse.
Speak to the body.
Not too many changes at once.
Success breeds success.
Example: giving up smoking.
Strengthen your will.
Use 30-day periods.
Work over years – no limits!
** Path of the Just/Mesilat Yesharim **
by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato zt’l
with select commentaries
https://dafyomi.co.il/general/info/ref/mesilat.php
Mesilat Yesharim / Path of the Just
by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato zt’l
Author’s Introduction
with select commentaries
copyright 2018 dafyomireview.com
https://dafyomi.co.il/general/info/ref/mesilat.php?d=2
Additional:
Mesilat Yesharim
“Path of the Just”
Sefaria.org
New:
Mesilat Yesharim / Path of the Just
by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato zt’l
Chapter 2 – The Trait of Watchfulness
with select commentaries
copyright 2018 dafyomireview.com
https://dafyomi.co.il/general/info/ref/mesilat.php?d=4
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Best practices for meditation
How to deal with reluctance to be mindful?
Very common – we all do it.
“I just want to react.”
That itself is mindfulness 🙂
Not the same thing as conscience.
We are focussed only on awareness.
Mindfulness will grow organically as you focus on other areas.
Can also focus on the “trouble spot” indirectly.
Moving meditation
Bhante Gunaratana, “Mindfulness in Plain English,”
Meditation in Everyday Life, pp 151 – 162
Concentration on all activities, pp 160 – 162
Try to maintain mindfulness of every activity and perception.
Divide your day into chunks.
Let seated meditation slide into the rest of your experience.
Everyday life is your laboratory.
A universal practice.
Meditate on your emotions and states of mind.
Mental flexibility.
Open readiness.
From Matt Furey: mind / matter
Fear is nothing but a mental image that is projected onto the screen of our mind.
Some fear is good for us as it prevents falling into a complacent state of over-confidence. Excessive fear, however, paralyzes us or makes us act irrationally, even ignoring our natural instincts.
When we encounter a fearful mental image, we have an opportunity to examine it. We can look at it objectively, then ask ourselves what the opposite of this image would be.
As soon as you become aware of what you are picturing when you feel a sense of fear, change the mental picture playing in the theatre of your mind to something that generates courage and confidence. In so doing, you feel a shift for the better and immediately begin to realize that your mental images govern your feelings.
You can interrupt the onslaught of fear and other negative emotions with deep breathing exercises – but ONLY if the deep breathing exercises are combined with mental imagery that shift your mind away from disruptive emotions.
To breathe deeply without a change in mental imagery might help you a tiny bit – but this microscopic change is negligible when compared to the MACROSCOPIC changes that instantaneously occur when you project “positive outcome” images on your mental movie screen.
Fear is only something when we make believe it is something.
Once we realize that we make ourselves afraid, that is when we can see that fear is nothing.
Here endeth today’s lesson.
Matt Furey
Steve Siebold, “177 Mental Toughness Secrets of the World Class”
The World Class is Determined to Win, p 76
A word about Visualization from Matt Furey
Hello Mr Matt Furey.
I am Siva from India. I have been reading Psycho-Cybernetics book for the past 6 months and I am experiencing a dramatic change in my life. I have one doubt. What should be the time interval between visualization practice and relaxation practice? I mean after visualizing, when we have to do relaxation practice?
Please let me know. Thank you
Hello Siva. I appreciate your question. I will give you an uncommon answer. Whenever you practice relaxation techniques of any kind, you are simultaneously visualizing. Suppose, for example, that I tell you to breathe deeply. I ask you to inhale and imagine it going all the way to your feet. Is this not a visualization? Yes, it is. You cannot follow my suggestion to breathe deeply without picturing yourself doing so. And if I suggest you inhale all the way to your feet, this is also a mental image.
When we do something physically, we may think that we “just do it,” but it is always preceded by a mental picture. If I ask you to make a fist, you must picture a fist before you make one. If I ask you to stand, or sit, or lie down, you picture it first.
This means that ALL the relaxation exercises in Psycho-Cybernetics are training you in the art of visualization. This means you don’t need to think so much about it. Whenever you are relaxing you are also using mental imagery.
Before you picture a goal, it is wise to take some time to imagine and feel yourself relaxing before doing so. The relaxation visualization sets you up for the goal visualization.
At any time of the day you can work on relaxing your body; same goes for visualization.
Matt Furey
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The “Refresher:” a simple yet effective move to regain emotional equilibrium.
Posture: structured and relaxed
Hands: forget ‘em
Feet: shoulder width
Shoes: okay, but better barefoot or socks
Pace: sssssssslllllllllloooooooowwwwww
Direction: backwards
Eyes: closed if possible
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