Does the word “meditation” have anything to do with Jewish observance? Do you experience responses from God in any way? It is puzzling sometimes to hear such a response to this last question as “what do you mean“? As if the question is complicated… the sign of our times is such that people don’t even expect or anticipate to get a response from God …yet this notion is wrong. People do anticipate and actually experience very powerful 2-way communication with God where the response comes in a variety of ways (or to say more correctly: the individual becomes capable to perceive the response).
This article is for those who know that it is their destiny to have a personal connection to God but so far have not accomplished this through formal worship.
First there is something you must understand about your mind.
If you have children, you know how hard it is to make them heed your request no matter how obvious and understandable it is and no matter how many times you repeat it. If your child is suffering from attention deficit (and most do nowadays to some degree) you were frustrated many times when trying to get their attention, and repeating the same request talking face to face (for ex. clean your room or do your homework, etc), only later finding out that … they do not remember even hearing this request… ? Sounds familiar? But you know that you were talking to them repeatedly many times.
The irony is that we, adults, are in the same situation with God. He talks to us all the time but we do not hear (well, the word “talking” might have a wider meaning involving more ways of sensory or intuitive perception, but it could be also the usual meaning of the word).
So, the problem is with us, of course, not with God. We have attention deficit. All of us. Why? Answers also will come from observing our children. Why don’t they hear us? Because of the mental noise. They are busy with computer game or watching TV or something which fills completely the mind with mental noise not concentrated specifically on solving any particular problem, just that – noise. They (children) and we, adults, suffer from mental noise. Our mind is constantly involved in “very important activities”, as we think, thinking over the on-going experience or “digesting” past memories. Sure enough, our adult activity or idle thinking over memory patterns, are no more important when compared to the relations with Creator, than the activity of the child compared to the parent’s request to him. Our relation with God is no different from the relation between a child and a parent (which we all experienced on the parent’s side). But when it comes to talking to God, we suddenly find ourselves on the child’s side, plunge ourselves in our own mundane idle thoughts, detaching completely from seeking the Divine connection, from eager anticipation for His Response and then we wonder – Why doesn’t God respond to my prayers? The key is through ultimate concentration–meditation.
Before we proceed let’s get advice from King David (see more on another page: http://www.torahtruth.org/2009/02/meditation-quotes-from-king-david/):
Psalms 5:3 My voice will come to you in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I send my prayer to you, and keep watching (!) – Be sincere in your prayer/meditation. Eagerly watch for responses, for it may come any time after you made a request and it may come in many ways…
Psalms 6:6 The voice of my sorrow is a weariness to me; all the night I make my bed wet with weeping. The extent of sincerity required to receive a response should be obvious from this description.
Psalms 16:7 I will give praise to the Lord who has been my guide; knowledge comes to me from my thoughts in the night. – The reminder for all those who don’t understand how real is the help from God, Not only David acknowledges God as his personal guide but even lets us know details of the way he gets his guidance (through his thoughts)!
Psalms 31:12 I have gone from men’s minds and memory like a dead man; I am like a broken vessel. This is a one line rendition of the human mind theory as it was discovered 9 centuries later by Buddha.
Psalms 34:4 I was searching for the Lord, and he gave ear to my voice, and made me free from all my fears. David gets a very sensual response. In which way? We don’t know but does it really matter? When it comes you know it! You just have to look for it!
Psalms 34:5 Let your eyes be turned to him and you will have light. The core of meditative practice…
Now, let’s put wisdom of King David to practice. Relax and concentrate on the following.
Quiet your mind. You are in search for the Universal Mind where your ego mind is only a negligible spark of …
Breath deeply and observe from inside your own body functioning on His Command.
Try to feel the Source of your life as it enters your body – the Divine Energy which sustains everything in the Universe. You are a part of it…
Now, if you are ready, if you detached yourself from your egotistic idle thought-noises, try to feel His presence. Seek Him … experience Him … who can be closer to you than He … who pumps your heart? … who pumps your lungs? … do you hear the workings inside you ? Is it real enough for you? If it is, then experience the Doer …
Once you feel Him, first just enjoy this feeling as it is in itself the presence of the beginning of Bliss. Dive deeper into this feeling, enjoy it as this feeling is much more than you intended to bargain for … This is what your prayer is meant to be: “V’ahavta et Adonai Eloheiha b’hol levavha u’vhol nafsheha u’vhol meodeha…”
Now, as you are still a child before Him and your mundane requests will not go away, talk to Him about your problem and ask for advice… simply pray. He surely knows all your problems but he should hear from you how you understand your own problems … through your request you make make this clear to yourself… Ask for a meaningful New Year without many tests and trials. Ask for His help to keep you close to Him and His assistance in quieting your mind. If you ask for the right things, He will give them to you. If you ask something childish, as a good parent, He will probably ignore it. Here is a smart request to ensure fulfillment – a request to be close to Him, to have a 2-way communication with Him. Think about it – if this is fulfilled, what else do you need?
Have a true Ruach Hakodesh, at whatever level you can accomplish, this Rosh Hashana. May you succeed in detaching yourself from your ego and attaching yourself to the Ultimate Source of Life and enjoy it.
Shana Tova.
