Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

Sources of Avot and Mystical Encounters

Abraham-Tanach - Genesis Chapter 181. And the Lord appeared to him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door in the heat ofthe day;2. And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him; and when hesaw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the ground,

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Isaac Genesis Chapter 2462. And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahairoi; for he lived in the Negev. 63.And Isaacwent out to meditate in the field at the evening time; and he lifted up his eyes, and saw,

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Jacob Chapter 2810. And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. 11. And he lighted upon acertain place, and remained there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones ofthat place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.12. And he dreamed,and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and behold theangels of God ascending and descending on it.

Israel Chapter 3225. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.26. And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; andthe hollow of Jacob‘s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. 27. And he said, Let mego, for the day breaks. And he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. 28. And he said tohim, What is your name? And he said, Jacob. 29. And he said, Your name shall be called nomore Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince you have wrestled with angels and with men, and haveprevailed. 30. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I beg you, your name. And he said, Whyis it that you ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 31. And Jacob called the name of theplace Peniel; for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 32. And as he passedover Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he limped upon his thigh.

Moses, Exodus Chapter 31. And Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian; and he led the flockfar away into the desert, and came to the mountain of God, to Horeb. 2. And the angel of theLord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush; and he looked, and, behold,the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3. And Moses said, I will now turnaside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4. And when the Lord saw that heturned aside to see, God called to him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. Andhe said, Here am I.

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

Various Sources on Hitbodedut

Lamentations 3:28.Let him sit alone and in silence, because he has taken it upon him.

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Devarim, Chapter 5The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. 3. The Lord made not this covenant withour fathers, but with us, who are all of us here alive this day. 4. The Lord talked with you face toface in the mount out of the midst of the fire, 5. *I stand between Adonai and you at that time, totell you the word of the Lord; for you were afraid because of the fire, and went not up into themount, saying,

...`e ¦d ©d z¥rA m¤ki¥pi ¥aE dFd§i-oi ¥A c ¥nŸr i ¦kŸp ¨ *

Ba’al Shem TovThus, on the one hand, our sense of separateness acts as a divide between God and ourselves, (asthe Besht explains in his comment on Devarim 5:5) “And I (i ¦kŸp ¨ ) stand between Adonai andyou”-the sense of I-ness (zeikep`) is what is in the way. However, on the other hand, ourseparate and individual uniquness is also the only pathway through which we can perceive Godas seen in the verse “For I know that God is great”(Psalms 135:5; Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom, #1)

Rebbie Nachman(commenting on Besht’s commentary on Devarim 5:5)However, we see here from our author that knowing oneself does not just mean knowing thetendencies of one’s lower self, but also transcending the separateness of the ego-self andknowing one’s true self. These are indeed two sides of the same coin. An experience of one is byits very nature an experience of the other. Thus, when the Divine will was conveyed to Abrahamthat he travel to the Promised Land, the message was “Lekh Lekha L§l-K¤l(Go To Yourself!) [Get away] from your country, from your birthplace and from your family.” Self-identificationwith parents, family friends and nationality creates our sense of separateness in the world.Self-knowledge, in contrast, entails moving beyond self-identification and is the only way toreach the spiritual promised land-one’s true self(Likutei Halakhot, Shabbat7:75, found in Visions of a Compassionate World, ft. chp. 1 note 3)

Source Unknown.ip` dn .invrl ip`yke .il in .il ip` oi`

If I am not for myself, who is for me, but if I am for my own self [only],what am I, and if notnow, when? (Avot 1:14)

If I possess the level of Ein, of nothingness, yet I also possess the level of Ani, of knowing thegreatness of my soul, and can maintain the consciousness of both levels simultaneously, then Iwill possess the level of Mi, which is the highest level of holiness. every person should strive forthis level, although it cannot be conceptually grasped by someone who has not personallyexperienced it.

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

This idea is also succinctly captured in the following teaching of the famous Reb Zusya(d.1800): Every person must always keep a little reminder in each of his pockets. In one it mustsay, “I come from dust and earth” (Genesis 18:27),, and in the other, “The world was created forme” (Sanhedrin 37a).

BeshtWhen a person knows his negative tendencies-his spiritual ailments-that very knowledge is thekey to healing himself. But when that knowledge is hidden from him...when the person isunaware that he is spiritually ill-then there is no way that he can be healed

(Keter Shem Tov; Sefer Ba’al Shem Tov, VaYelekh, #4)

Reishit ChochmahThis material world is transient, but there is another, spiritual world which is eternal and

always-present. So you should separate yourself altogether from the things of this world, from itspleasures, from its hatred and its fierce competitivness, ans even from speking about worldlymatters. And when you think that you no longer belong to this [lower] world, you will not speakabout it; rather, all your conversation will be about Torah and mitzvot, for they are of the upper,spiritual world. So, too, will all your thoughts be in the Upper World, for it is what is importantto the soul. Why should you trouble your mind aobut things that not only are of no value orbenefit to your soul, but will cause it harm? So it is good for a person [to practice being in thisstate, and] when he is involved in prayer or Torah to think that he is not [standing] in thismaterial world, but in the spiritual world, in the Garden of Eden, before the Divine Presence-andthrough this he will purify his mind [until that is his actual experience always].(Sha’ar haKedusha, chapter 4, #23)

The holiness we are to have vis-a-vis this world is that we are to separate from it andfrom the things of this world, and be sanctifed to spirituality-as if we were not part of this worldat all. But the higher level of holiness depends on the sanctification [not only of our action, but]of our mind, that it be totally involved in spiritual things and clinging in d’vekut to the upper,spiritual world... Those who attain this higher state are not on the same level as the rest of thepeople who just do Torah and mitzvot without the inner elevation and are on the level of theLower Garden of Eden; for these other tzaddikim ascend [to the Upper Garden of Eden].(Sha’ar haKedusha, chapter 4, #21)

Rebbie Nachman of BratzlavThe d’vekut of a person with the Infinite One must be according to the way of “running andreturning: [you “run to unite with God in mystical experience, through prayer, meditation, etc.,where you lose consciousness of self, and then you “return” to this world, to do God’s will], sothat you do not completely lose yourself and died before your time from the mystic nullificationof self. Then, afterward, when you are on the level of “returning”, when you have returned toyour this-world self-consciousness and self-existence, an impression of the wonderful Light ofthat higher d’vekut yet remains with you, and that impression allows you to see and to know theunity of the Infinite One in this world and His goodness, so that you know that everything isgood and that everything is one. And this level is like that of the World to Come. (Likutei

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

Aytzot-Hasagot, #2)

Ba’al Shem Tov (Besht)(The Besht tells of his closeness to his father when he was a child (his father passed away whenhe was five years old), and says:)Before his death he called me to him and said to me, “My child, always remember God is withyou. Never let this thought out of your mind. Go deeper adn deeper into it every hour and everyminute, and in every place”. These words of his are still fixed in my heart and engraved in mymind. And after my father’s death I always went off alone in seclusion, in forests and fields, tostrengthen this holy thought in my mind-that the glory of the Holy One, blessed be He, fills allthe earth, and that He is actually with me (Ikarei Emunah p.11).

The Piazezcena RebbieMany times during the day, at home and outside on the street, think with a broken heart: “All theworld is Godliness, even the particles of earth beneath my feet, as well as the air I breathe withinme-and the reality of all taht exists is Godliness. Why then have I alone separated myself fromall his great camp of the Shekinah, to be independent unto myself? - Master of the World! Drawme close to You, surounded with all Your blessings, and in complete repentance!” (B’naiMachshava Tovah, Seder Hadracha vKlalim, #7).

All the world is included in the holiness of His Godliness in total nullification; everything thatexists does His will. Just I alone, in my own willfulness, have removed myself as a separatething, far from Him, blessed be He, to wander outside this great camp of the Shekinah.

When you meditate on this continually, and fix it in your mind, then you force this thought onyourself...and it is impossible that through this the holy vision not be revealed in your soul. Forby itself this is what your soul always sees-it is just the body that obscures its holy vision. Andwhen you force this thought on your body, meditating on it continuously, your soul emerges andsees. If not always, at least there will be exalted moments and hours when you will see(B’nai Machshava Tovah, Seder Emtzai v’Yesod haHevrah, #14).

Or HaGanuz L’TzaddikimThere is service of God that involves movement, such as all the mitzvot which involve actionadn doing, and also Torah study adn prayer [which involve speech, movement of the lips, etc.]...But there is also service of God through stillness and complete absence of movement, when aperson sits alone and in silence, and meditates on God’s exaltedness, blessed be He. For heenters the world of thought, which is the world of absolute rest and stillness, and he draws thison himself. And so should you, when you want to cleave to God through God-consciousness., sitin absolute stillness with holy thoughts and awe and d’vekut.

Shulkan Arukh 98:1 (quoting the Tur)It is necessary that when one is praying he must have kavanah.One who is praying mustconcentrate his heart, this means that one must focus on the words that are expressed with hislips and must pray as if the Shekinah is constantly before him. He must remove all impedingthoughts until he gets to pure thought and intention worthy of his prayer...This was the practiceof the hasidim who would meditate (hitboded) and concentrate in their prayers until they reached

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

a level where they divested themselves from the physical. The transcendental spirit would bestrengthened in them until they would reach a level close to prophecy.

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

SourceTexts For the O’lam Visualization

Tanach - Genesis Chapter 151. After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; Iam your shield, and your reward will be great.2. And Abram said, Lord God, what will you giveme, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?3. And Abram said, Behold, to me you have given no seed; and, lo, one born in my house is myheir. 4. And, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This shall not be your heir; buthe who shall come forth from your own bowels shall be your heir. 5. And he brought himoutside, and said, Look now toward heaven, and count the stars, if you are able to count them;and he said to him, So shall your seed be. 6. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it tohim for righteousness.

Rabbi Yehosuha Starrett commenting on Visions of a Compassionate WorldFor as long as Abraham saw himself as only “dust” (Genesis 18:27), he was trapped within thelaws of the Earth, as dictated by the influence of the stars and would forever remain “infertile”.But when he could transcend the world and see it from “above”, he would also be able totranscend his inborn nature, and could now become “fertile”. For as the author says in thefollowing chapter, these visualizations can bring about a complete transformation of self, andsuch spiritual transformations have far-reaching effects on the physical level as well. God wouldnot change Abrahams’ lot externally until Abraham first changed himself internally.

Psalms 8: 4When I contemplate Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the sun and the stars You set inplace, [I ask] what is a human being that You think of him, a mortal man that you shouldconsider him?

Tanach - Psalms Chapter 1481. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights.2. Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his host.3. Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you stars of light.4. Praise him, heavens of heavens, and you waters that are above the heavens.5. Let them praise the name of the Lord; for he commanded, and they were created.6. And he established them for ever and ever; he has made a decree which shall not pass.7. Praise the Lord from the earth, you crocodiles, and all deeps;8. Fire, and hail; snow, and vapors; stormy wind fulfilling his word;9. Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars;10. Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and winged birds;11. Kings of the earth, and all peoples; princes, and all judges of the earth;12. Young men and also virgins; old men, and children;13. Let them praise the name of the Lord; for his name alone is exalted; his glory is above theearth and heaven.14. He also exalts the horn of his people, a praise for all his pious ones, for the children of Israel,a people near to him. Praise the Lord!

Hitbodedut - Jewish MeditationRabbi Baruch HaLevi (www.RabbiB.com)

Sources to Look Up

-See Kaplan’s Sefer Yetzirah p.133 (visualizations I think)

-To Heal the Soul, p.149 (know thyself); p.xxix

-Rabbi Nachman’s Wisdom #232

-Nachman, Likutei Moharan I:133 quoting Besht: The world is full of awesome and wondorousspiritual lights and secrets, but a small hand stands before our eyes and blocks our vision

-Psalm 148 Visualization on Earth