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Yoga-Like Techniques in the Jewish Tradition – Lost and
Found?
I recently received the below questions via email. I am
sharing here my slightly revised response:
“I am
investigating the ways in which certain elements of Judaism seem to have been
stripped out of or fallen away from our practice over time. Most notably,
traditions like Yoga have preserved physical techniques and practices for
sublimation of energy or for entering higher states of consciousness.
Do you know of any Jewish literature (preferably
from the Tanach or Gemara) that discusses actual practices and techniques a Jew
can use in order sublimate sexual energy? What about other techniques/practices
like integral breathing that are described by our sages?
Why have
these techniques been lost to the Jewish tradition?”
It is difficult to answer
the question about why certain techniques of spiritual development have been
lost to Jewish tradition. I can offer some observations and speculations (Jews
have a long history of engaging in speculation!). For whatever reason,
traditional Jewish practice that has evolved over the centuries has focused
mostly on a few spiritual approaches that parallel certain yogic approaches.
The primary traditional Jewish approaches are threefold: 1) devotional, comparable
to bhakti yoga, which engages the emotions, found in our prayer practices both
in shul and at home; 2) intellectual, comparable to jnana/gyana yoga, which
engages the intellect, found in our study practices both in yeshiva and
solitary; 3) through action, comparable to karma yoga, as contained in the
directive to observe the mitzvot. What is lacking in these traditional Jewish
approaches are techniques related to training and coordinating the body,
breath, and mind leading to meditation. This is the system of ashtanga/raja
yoga. My intuitive suspicion/hunch, based upon some hints and evidence I have
found in my studies, is that these kind of techniques probably have existed and
continue to exist in Jewish practice, but have been and remain traditionally
reserved for secret circles of kabalists, and have not been committed to
writing the way that other elements of our “oral” tradition have been
eventually written down, or in the manner found in yogic literature. I believe
that mystical Judaism, even more so than many other mystical traditions, maintains
that such practices are rightly preserved for direct transmission from master
to disciple through demonstration and unspoken revelation, more than any kind
of traditional verbal or written teachings. So in some sense, these techniques
have not been “lost” or “stripped out of or fallen away from our practices over
time”, but rather sustained, but through small secretive circles, even to this
day. If you are meant to be exposed to such teachings, then you will be
invited/happen upon them when you are ready. I am a great believer in the idea
that the guidance you need will come to you (often times in unexpected ways),
but you need to be open and receptive to it (without expectations or
pre-conceived notions), or you may miss it.
Concerning Jewish
techniques for sublimating sexual energy, breathing, meditation, for entering
higher states of consciousness, I am not aware of very much in Tanach or
Talmud. You generally have to go to what I call “secondary” sources. One
reference is made to what has become known as the “prophetic position” in the
Tanach at I Kings 18:42 concerning Elijah bending down to the ground and
putting his face between his knees. I imagine this as similar to the child’s
pose in yoga. There are other references to raising up from this kneeling
position and spreading the hands upward (II Chronicles 6:13 and Ezra 9:5). An
oft-cited quote in support of Jewish meditation comes from I Kings 19:11-12,
Elijah perceiving the “still, thin sound/still, small voice”.
A secondary source
relating specific Jewish breathing techniques quite similar to yoga-type of
breathing techniques is a Chasidic site: www.inner.org/meditate/default.htm
Concerning sublimation of
sexual energy, I refer you to an article on my website under the “Articles”
section, “Spiritual Sexuality: Kundalini, Tantra, Taoism and Judaism”. It
refers to an article on a Jewish website which I viewed critically.
I am happy you discovered
my website and found it inspiring. I encourage you to look over my articles on
Jewish meditation. These are not just inventions that I concocted from my
imagination, they are based in traditional yogic and Jewish practices (as
confirmed by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan in his books). Try them, you might like them!
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