Rabbi Ben meditating as he looks out over the Pacific Ocean
Meditation is a major part of most of the world’s religions. Hindus and Buddhists believe their meditations can change the spiritual vibrations of the world. But in Judaism, we almost never hear meditation mentioned. Why not? Does Jewish meditation exist? And if so, what is Jewish meditation?
To answer this question, you must first determine what meditation is. There are many types of meditation. Some meditation is simply quiet contemplation and some mediation is an attempt to reach spiritual realms. These are totally different activities and are viewed differently by Judaism.
One of the most well-known types of meditation is transcendental meditation. This is when people try to use meditation to reach a higher spiritual plane. The Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke out strongly against this practice. In Judaism we do believe in high spiritual worlds, but transcendental meditation is not the appropriate way to access them. Transcendental meditation is used for avodah zarah (idol worship) and does not take G-d into account in the way that prayer does. In Judaism, rather than engage in transcendental meditation, Jews should instead work on their prayer and study of Torah. In this way anybody is able to reach a higher spiritual level and those who work on themselves enough to become tzaddikim may even be able to access the higher spiritual worlds in a kosher manner.
But transcendental meditation is not the only kind of meditation. Just because Jews should not engage in transcendental meditation does not mean they should not engage in any kind of meditation at all. In fact, prayer can be a form of meditation. Many of the traditional forms of meditation involve chanting a mantra or reciting a text. There is nothing wrong with choosing a Jewish text to recite as part of a meditation or mantra. For example, reciting the Shema or saying over and over again “gam zu le tova” (everything is for the good) could be positive and fulfilling mantras and would aid in appropriate meditation. In fact, someone who is very spiritually connected should view each of the daily prayers as an opportunity to connect to G-d directly and the text of the prayers should be like a meditation. As with a meditation, they should help clear the person’s mind and raise them to a higher level of spirituality and spiritual awareness.
There is another type of meditation we use in Judaism, which is called by the Breslov Hasidim “hibodedut.” Rebbe Nachman of Breslov explains that this is a personal prayer in which you can say anything you want to G-d. He advocates going alone to the fields and forests to pray like this for an hour every day. If this is not a type of meditation, I don’t know what is! This is your chance to talk directly to G-d using whatever words and spiritual energy you have.
Furthermore, simply sitting quietly and clearing one’s mind is a type of meditation. This is certainly not a problem in Judaism, although perhaps prayer is preferable.
But one must remember not to get too caught up in meditation, or even in prayer. Judaism is a religion of action. Even someone who is praying the shmona esrei (the most holy prayer) must stop what he is doing and run to help in certain situations. And there are many situations where it is preferable to stop one’s prayers to go do an active mitzvah helping another person. In Judaism, of the 10 commandments, 5 are between G-d and man, and 5 are between man and man. This indicates that we should find a balance between these two relationships in our lives. Meditation is good because it can connect us to G-d, if done in the right way. But our relationship with G-d is only half of what we must accomplish as Jews. We must be sure to also work on our relationships with our fellow men, too.
Hopefully, this has given you all something to… well… meditate on!
10 Responses to “Do Jews meditate, and what is Jewish meditation?”
Please see my article:
Dr. Natan Ophir, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Call for a Scientific Non-Hasidic Meditation,” B’or Ha’torah, vol. 22, 2013, 109-123.
ABSTRACT
In February 1978 Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe) sent out a confidential memorandum asking for “doctors specializing in neurology and psychiatry” to develop a meditation program that could serve as an alternative for the popular meditative imports from the Far East such as Transcendental Meditation (TM). Dr. Yehuda Landes, a psychologist in Palo Alto, California, responded positively and soon launched a pilot project. Then in July 1979, the Rebbe issued a public announcement asking for more people to help in developing and disseminating a Jewishly acceptable form of meditation.
Meanwhile, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, together with a group of Jewish psychiatrists and psychologists, was exploring meditative techniques from kabbalistic and hasidic sources. However, the Rebbe directed Landes not to utilize Kaplan’s meditations but rather to develop a non-hasidic scientifically based meditation.
In this article we examine the context of the Rebbe’s correspondence and analyze his request by comparing it to the scientific meditative techniques being developed in the 1970′s. We conclude by noting the implications for modern Jewish meditation.
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing!
Meditation is a word often thrown around to which many people have a different understanding of. Prayer and walking can both either be a mindless activity or forms of meditation. Prayer ultimately should be practiced as a form of meditation though to the vast majority unfortunately it is a mindless activity.
There are various Zen practices that use walking as meditation and other schools of thought that teach that all our activities we do should be done with mindfulness; a form of meditation.
The key perhaps to determining what would be kosher Jewish meditation would be to focus on the purpose and outcome. Many would then say they are meditating for relaxation. This is fine though traditionalist will tell you that relaxation is a result of meditation not the purpose of it.
This can be likened to yoga. People who practice yoga in a gym may see its purpose to achieve better balance and flexibility. The purpose of physical yoga however is to quiet the body so the mind can then be quieted.
Whatever purpose or meaning one chooses to ascribe to their practice is probably fine if it makes them happy.
When I was in India I researched over 30 styles of meditation, many of which differ greatly one from another. Some of the techniques I’ve managed to incorporate into my Jewish prayer and practices, which this brings me back to what I said before: The technique is not so much as important as the result. It’s like shooting a gun, what are you shooting at?
Its a big topic and Im getting hungry for breakfast to answer in depth, First there is the meditation of Rabbi Akiba and his cohorts in the Garden try to open the door to Heaven. (please no debate).Most meditation has a goal, to open the do to reach higher consciousness. In the East it goes under different names : Samadi, Satori, Wu Wei, the Awakening. It is a particular state of higher consciousness It is the realization of the Schma.The Oneness and until experienced, there is nothing to talk about. And after the experience there is nothing to talk about.
Areyeh Kaplan’s book on Jewish Meditation is excellent. There are other fine works on the subject.A lot had to do with moving the Hebrew Letters around in your mind. Yes, meditation reduces stress but that is not its main goal. They don’t meditate in a Zen or Thai monastary many times a day, to reduce stress. Its more about liberation
Hi Levi, Thank you for your comment. True, meditation is a vast area that is expressed in many forms. I feel that ultimately it is about what result the meditator is trying to achieve. As with everything in life we act based on a result we are looking for. If you are trying to grow muscle and someone tells you eat lots of carrots and celery, you can do this but will never get the results you are after becasue your body needs protein. If on the other hand you need more fiber in your diet than eating carrots and celery will work very well.
So what the practitioner wants out of their meditation is what is most important. It can be for relaxation, to feel more peaceful, feel more connected to G-d, cultivate more love, live with awareness, being present in the moment, or liberate the mind.
Like with exercise, depending on the results you can adjust the exercise form. It depends if you are trying to build or tone the muscles. Loose fat, lower blood pressure or keep arthritis from developing. The exercise may be the same but how it is performed is what will make the difference.
I put on Tefillin every allowable day that God commanded of Jewish men. When I first put on Tefillin and said the Shma prayer I felt electricity run through my body. I wear the tzit tzit that God commanded . One woman (a minister) touched them and got healed from a 20 year illness. She went to her doctor to confirm the healing. It is amazing how GOD instructs us through the Torah and Talmud.
As a non Jew with many Jewish friends and acquaintances I wondered if TM Transcendental Meditation was practised ? I was surprised to learn that it is discouraged ? I returned recently back to practising, having lapsed after learning it in 1989. It has nothing to do with religion and eeveryone can benefit from it. It is a very simple technique of simple mind relaxation. If a Jew, Arab, Catholic, gay, black, Chinese who had learned the technique sat together and did it, they would find it so powerful ! They could even work towards world peace. This is one of the main objectives of the philosophy of TM ?
People coming together for any common good will bring harmony.
With regards to TM and any meditation, it’s as I mentioned earlier in this tread, What exactly is meditation? And for this matter, what is TM? Just because some thing is called by a name, does not necessarily define it.
For example, there are numerous Kabalah centers worldwide, but the kab\balah they practice is very different from what I know.
So what exactly is TM?