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Silent Retreat | Spring 2008 Readings from Rabbi David A. Cooper From God is a Verb: Kabbalah and the Practice of Mystical Judaism, by Rabbi David A. Cooper (New York: Riverhead Books, 1997). “While on a retreat, it is not unusual for a student to sit in meditation for nine or ten hours a day, in forty-five- to sixty-minute segments. During the periods between sitting, walking meditation is performed, which adds up to another six to seven hours of meditation each day. The goal of the practice is for the student to maintain a meditative state throughout all of the waking hours, including during mealtimes.” (p. 4) “I had not fully appreciated the difference between learning Kabbalah as an intellectual exercise and experiencing Kabbalah through mystical insight. Some of the writings of Jewish mystics clearly indicate that much of their Kabbalah came through contemplative experience. For example, in the sixteenth century, Eleazar Azikri, a member of the kabbalistic circle of Moses Cordovero in Safed, stated that hitbodedut (isolation) was ‘helpful to the soul seven times more than study, and according to one’s strength and ability, he or she should concentrate and meditate one [entire] day a week.’ “Concerning one's practice, Azikri gave the following advice: ‘At every moment one should try to unite names [of God] with joy and trembling. One should flee from society as much as is possible and be completely silent, in a brilliant flame, alone, fearful and trembling. The light which is above your head make always into your teacher.’” (p. 5) “Though it sounds simple, this is not easy to do. The mind is quite active. Each time we notice that we are thinking, we gently try to bring our awareness back to the body. It is self-defeating to become frustrated and angry with our own minds, because the fact is that mind activity rarely ceases. Anger is just the opposite of what we are trying to accomplish. Our goal is to notice thoughts rather than be caught by them. We simply draw our attention back to the body each time we are aware that thoughts have carried us away, and we focus on the breath or whatever physical sensation is happening in that moment. Indeed, the very noticing of the thought is a moment of awareness, which, if anything, should have us satisfied with our success rather than frustrated.” (pp. 213–214) |
