Quote of the Week 151 - The World to Come

Jesus’ followers said to him, “When will the rest for the dead take place, and when will the new world come?” He said to them, “What you look for has come, but you do not know it.”

--From one of the Gnostic Gospels, but I can’t remember which one

Quote of the Week 150 - The Palace of Love

Happy [are] those to whom the love of their Master cleaves; there is no limit to their portion in the other world. Many are the abodes of the righteous in the other world, one above another, and highest of all that of those to whom was attached the love of their Master, for their abode is linked with the palace that surpasses all, the Holy One, blessed be He, being crowned in this one. This Palace is called Love, and it is established for the sake of love. So it is too with the Holy Name, the forms of the letters of which are linked together, so that the whole is called “love”; wherefore he who loves his Master is linked to that Love. Hence it is written, “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God”.

Zohar, Chelek Gimmel 267b, Soncino Translation

Quote of the Week 149 - A Vision of Oneness

I’m here at the intersection of flesh and spirit: a six-foot-tall biped with my feet on the ground and my head in the clouds; 165 pounds of muscle and fat and memories and opinions walking upright on an oxygen-rich planet, breathing in and breathing out, which has been my habit – one of my better habits – for sixty-five years. This morning I’m feeling particularly buoyant because I dreamt that beings from an advanced civilization gave me a mind-expanding drug. Well, their civilization was certainly advanced when it came to hallucinogens. Or maybe it had just been too long since I’d had the blinders removed and glimpsed the radiant mystery at the heart of existence. I experienced oneness not as a mere abstraction but as an undeniable reality, as plain as the nose on God’s face. I knew in my bones, in my cells, in the very atoms of “me” that everyone is part of the same living intelligence, as are the trees, the rocks, the sky; that separateness is an illusion; that death is nothing to fear. One look at my benevolent companions told me that they knew it too. It was hard to say whether they’d also taken the drug or had evolved this way after innumerable virtuous lifetimes. In my dream, it didn’t matter; I’d woken up.

--From Sy Safransky’s Notebook, The Sun magazine, October 2010, Issue 418

Quote of the Week 148 - Eitz Hayim, The Tree of Life; In Honor of Simchat Torah

For I give you good doctrine; forsake ye not my Law. It is a tree of life to them that grasp it, and of them that uphold it every one is rendered happy. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.

--Eitz Hayim/Tree of Life; Adapted from Proverbs 3:17

New Class For This Fall - Jewish Yoga Meditation and Mysticism

Dates and Time: Five consecutive two-hour sessions on Tuesday evenings from October 12 through November 9; 7 PM to 9 PM. This series is cumulative in nature, and it is important to commit to all five sessions. However, missing one session will not be fatal. For those with prior meditation experience or who cannot commit to all five sessions, but would like to attend the last session specifically on Jewish Yoga Meditation, that is available as a stand-alone session.

Location: Temple Sinai, 5645 Dupree Drive, Atlanta, GA 30327. Please call or email to pre-register: Judy Thomas, 404-252-3073 x 330; jthomas@templesinaiatlanta.org.

Cost: $50.00 for the series of five sessions, or $15.00 for the last session alone.

Description: The great spiritual traditions of both East and West have throughout the ages promoted various forms of meditation as important practices to foster spiritual awakening and development. As an independent practice, to supplement other spiritual or religious practices, for stress management and relaxation, or all of the above, this course will provide the theoretical framework and practical technique for a traditional yoga-based practice derived from an ancient and time-honored Himalayan tradition. Included will be basic breathing and stress reduction techniques. They lay the foundation for access to avenues leading to the stillness within. Connections will also be made throughout to similar principles found in Jewish mysticism. The final session will cover Jewish meditation utilizing Hebrew phrases in place of yoga mantras and a Jewish healing meditation practice called Ruach El Shaddai/Breath of Balance, employing the practical application of Hebrew Kabalistic concepts in an advanced healing meditation. The class consists of 5 two-hour sessions meeting once a week for 5 consecutive weeks.

Teacher: Steven J. Gold, BA Antioch College, Philosophy and Religion; JD Emory Law School, is the founder/director of the Yoga and Judaism Center in Atlanta, GA and the author of Yoga and Judaism (2007) and Ivri: The Essence of Hebrew Spirituality (2010). He has been an initiate, student, practitioner and teacher in a Himalayan meditation tradition for over 30 years and a student of Kabala and Jewish Spirituality for several years. He developed a hybrid Jewish Yoga Meditation and Healing Meditation which is covered in the culmination of these sessions.

Quote of the Week 147 - Jewish Meditation

A good number of the most influential classical Judaic philosophers and Kabbalists clearly stated that meditation was the most important of all disciplines required to attain enlightenment and prophecy.

--from Meditation and the Bible, by Aryeh Kaplan

Quote of the Week 146 - Chashmal, The Speaking Silence

“When the prophet reaches this level, his ego is totally nullified and all sensation is hushed. He then reaches the level of the Chashmal, which is identical with the ‘small still voice’ of Elijah. The Talmud states that the word Chashmal is made up of two words, Chash, meaning silence, and Mal, indicating speech. At this level, the prophet experiences the ‘speaking silence.’ This is the level of silence through which he can hear the word of God or see a true divine vision.”

--from Meditation and the Bible, by Aryeh Kaplan, p. 41

Quote of the Week 145 - The Light and the Vessels

Although we cannot improve on the divine that flows into our vessels, we can and must take responsibility for keeping these vessels clean and transparent and not at all as essential as the light they contain.

--Source forgotten

Quote of the Week 144 - The Acquisition of Wisdom

"The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is silence, the second listening, the third memory, the fourth practice, the fifth teaching others."

--Source Forgotten

Quote of the Week 143 - Faith and Tomorrow

Whoever has a piece of bread in his basket and says, ‘What shall I eat tomorrow?’ belongs only to them who are little in faith.

--Babylonian Talmud, Mishnah Nashim, Tractate Sotah 48b