Meditate daily

I had a lot to do on Sunday, and chanting was Just One More Thing.

I drove in the rain for half an hour to get to the office, and started setting up. It takes a while to put up the signs, take down the tables, get the lamps from upstairs, arrange the chairs in a circle, and light candles.

But spending 90 minutes alternating between chanting and meditation – it was exactly what I needed. It was like some sort of soothing balm drizzled down from heaven.

I’m pretty content with my practice at this time, so I’m marking this as completed.

The torah portion this week’s VaEra. In this portion, Moses hears that true liberation is possible. Then (Exodus 6:9m KJV) “And Moses spake so unto the children of Israel: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage.” In Hebrew, this is: “Vayedaber Moshe ken el-beney Yisra’el velo sham’u el-Moshe mikotser ruach ume’avodah kashah.” “Ruach” literally means breath. Another way to translate this could be, “they didn’t pay attention to Moses because they were breathing shallowly and were working too hard.”

Well, doesn’t this sound like a lot of us? A path of liberation is available to us, and our Higher Wisdom (in this passage, symbolized by Moses) wants our ordinary selves (as symbolized here by the Children of Israel) to know about it. But our ordinary selves are all caught up in our own compelling busy-ness, breathing shallowly, and we are not paying attention.

I read this passage, and I realize again, I am being called to breathe, breathe deeply and consciously. And listen.

As a part of participating in the mass group effort, it was suggested that we share a bit of dharma. I hope it’s OK with the group that the dharma I will be regularly sharing will probably be this week’s Torah portion.

This last Shabbat was for the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, and the portion was Deuteronomy 14:22 – 16:17. Here is one quote from the portion:

There shall be no needy among you — since the Eternal One your God will bless you in the land that the Eternal One your God is giving you as a hereditary portion — if only you heed the Eternal One your God and take care to keep all this Instruction that I enjoin upon you this day. (15:4 -5)

A few verses later, a different vision is presented:

For there will never cease to be needy ones in your land, which is why I command you: open your hand to the poor and needy kinsman in your land. (15:11)

There is a comforting notion that we could have a world in which none of us are needy, in which each person has a sufficiency for health and happiness. But the truth is that on this level of reality such an image can never manifest, since on this level we only know sufficiency in contrast to insufficiency. We require polarities in order to experience the qualities available to us here. Without “soft,” we would not know “hard,” without “warm,” we would not appreciate “cold.”

On a higher level of a more inclusive awareness, these polarities can be held as One, and it is probably in this sense that we can understand the first of the two statements quoted above. On the level of our usual living, the second statement more appropriately reflects the nature of our experience. There are always those in need. In fact, most of us have some needs even if we have a sufficiency in other areas.

The fact is, our needs stimulate us to grow. We humans can respond to true needs with the ingenuity required to participate in the Creation we share. From our needs come visions of the selves we wish to be, and the world in which we yearn to live. Our needs encourage our evolution, unless they become overwhelming, and lead to paralysis, or to upset, anger, and violence.

If our own needs ideally serve as motivators for self-creation, when those needs become too great they serve as invitations for help from others. We are here to grow ourselves, certainly; but we are also here to help each other. To perceive another’s need invites our caring and our action.

A world without need? Not on this level of reality. We need to “need” in order to remind us to participate more actively in the evolution of self, of other, and of our world.