Tomer's intelligence and knowledge are a real gift, not to mention his excellent taste in socks... a testament to his character... Thank you so much for delivering this wonderful conversation! I would say that another round is definitely relevant...
Thank you Dr. Persico ! I actually have been looking for Jewish Meditation . My Grandmother's Surname was Persico ! I am " digging" in my Jewish Ancestry, here in Italy ...many are Bnei Anusim
Ahh so excited to listen to this - as a Jewish meditation & yoga teacher I’ve been getting more Kabbalah and integrating it into my life and practice is such a gift. Thank you! 🙏
On the discussion of whether classical Qabbalists were referring to the inner world when they spoke of the Divine world, it seems to me the answer is yes, both! I'm reading D. Matt's translation of The Zohar presently, and there are frequent references to the "lower/inner" world & the "upper/Divine" world being equivocal. They speak of inner experience and then mention how it reflects in the Divine.
Thank you for introducing me to this scholar, Zevi, and for your beautiful conversation; I look forward to reading his books and I'm really looking forward to part 2!
This interview was so edifying. It provided such a clear overview of Jewish meditative traditions, over the entire historical arc. Brilliant! Thank you both 🙏 Would love a part 2!
He's right that we tend to personalize kaballah today and make it about ourselves. From R. Luria to the Baal Shem tov to R. Kook, it's always been primarily about rectifying the upper worlds.
The upper worlds are not an externalized location - there isn’t any such dualism. As above so below as below so above - as within so without as without so within. Distinction of “things” are perceptual and allegorical alone.
Interesting approaches to meditation. As a yoga/meditation instructor who is currently in the process of converting to Greek Orthodoxy, the practice of hesychasm is a form of contemplative prayer which bears significant resemblances to the system of meditation described in the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali - focusing on a repeated mantra/prayer that gradually becomes internalized within the heart, in the temple of the body, until the senses are temporarily withdrawn from the physical world and one rests in inner stillness. This inner stillness makes one more receptive to the uncreated light and grace of God, which may be experienced in ecstatic union. Spiritual illumination in meditation in turn leads to embodied sanctification, theosis. So from this perspective, the soul gets separated from the body during a process of spiritual or physical death, but is given a sanctified rebirth, psychologically speaking and at the final resurrection.
This is easily the best presentation on this topic I've ever heard. I'm a Jew who has gravitated towards mostly Hindu forms of meditation. The video explains a lot for me about what happened with this in Judaism and what's been more recent that I wasn't ever exposed to.
@@SeekersofUnityIt would be insightfull to compare the same or similar components of 4 Vedas and the Torah regarding relatinship to divine by rituals, prayers etc.
Wow, I learned so much from this talk ! Thank you both very much. As a progressive Christian universalist and someone who has studied and practiced Zen and Sufi traditions, I am greatly encouraged to discover these Hebrew traditions & practices. I see Unity coming on the horizon.
Tomer's intelligence, knowledge and honest wit is delightful, refreshing and inspiring. What he's characterized here as "Buddhist" meditation might better be called Santana dharma Meditation, given that its the same meditation at the root of Vedanta (both in Advaita & Dvaitia), Śaivism, Buddhism (both Theravada and Vrajayana), Jainism, etc., though I know all of these movements tend to put forth the notion that there are many different meditations, using a diverse array of revealed mantras, postures, yantras, and techniques, from ISKCON and their bliss evoking mantra songs of the name of Krishna (Hare Krishna), to the Tantrica and the Kundalini postures of prana manipulation, to the common varieties of meditation involving object annihilation, identification with the Ishta-devi, etc., BUT in a vary vary real way there is no variety of Meditation in the Santana dharma, it's all based on the foundational practice of Meditation on (what my branch of Advaita Sant Mat usually calls) the "Holy Name", which invariably is *one's own Breath*, a technique that in essence is the same as the Mindfulness Meditation that Sam Haris promotes; In the terms of Sant Mat, this meditation is on the awareness of the Atman (the perceptual-eye) as the core reality, which then brings on "Grace," by which one can sway the forces of Karma to build one's enlightenment. Despite the Buddha's emphasis on the middle-path, when it comes to meditation, the aim is the be in Grace, actively and profoundly meditation ALL the time, as deeply as one can (& ahead, there's always more to go). While those within Santana dharma (particularly in India) seem to prefer to emphasis Santana's diversity, there are foundational ways in which they are all the same, including all of them being essentially "about" practicing this same form of Meditation. I was under the impression that the closest thing to that in the Hebrew mystic tradition is a kind of hyper focused state that is first sought after and developed in the discipline of reading "Gematria" of first-person experienced life. Though some will call Santana meditation "Mindfulness" meditation, that's ironic given how Sant Mat vilifies the "Mind" and it's fractured, chattering fixations on the objects of thought as the embodiment of Maya, and primary adversary one faces when struggling to meditate. Attachment to the objects of perception (thoughts, sense perceptions, imaginings) distract from the focus on the Atman (perceptual-eye), and ultimately weaken the effort's effectiveness. But in studying the psycho-spiritual methodology of Hebrew mysticisms it seems that the efforts and attachments fo the mind is leashed on to the linguistic system in a constant-moving stream of mental-narrative that perhaps likewise forces the release of attachment to each object of mind fixation, and the perception of the stream becomes the center stage. This interview and discussion has been so illuminating for me. Particularly at 30:00 Tomer just laid out the enactment of the methodology at work in terms that rang so clearly to me. Thank you Dr. Persico, and Seeker of Unity (as usual).
enjoyed the talk. I have a similar feeling to tomer regarding us being different from people 200 years back. Though It seems like there is a continuum of sorts and that modern individualism is an intensification of the same שנאת חינם spoken about by the sages as the reason for the distraction of the temple. would love to hear more from both of you.
44:31 I sent you a comment regarding Hawk & I taking a voyage just beyond the horizon to find where the Messianic Age begins. The timing of my comment to you, and the first viewing of this video is very curious indeed. How did this synchronized message of both journeys to worlds beyond occur?
Spehroth one syllable I’ve been saying it wrong. Haha thank you 🙏 do you start at the bottom of the tree or the top? What would the reason be for each ? Thank you. Blessings
Yichud Ner (נר candle=250): Unify YHVH with EHYH YHVH with Elohim YHVH with ADNI י א ה ה ו י ה ה י א ה ל ו ה ה י ם י א ה ד ו נ ה י This (done in the mind) brings blessing and Unity to all the registers of Existence
Great talk- around 11:00 though it does seem that Elisha does become part of the Eliyahu's school/of bnei nevi'im fairly explicitly (though its not at all clear he is doing any sort of meditation)
To think that meditation isn’t central to Judaism, is 0verlooking the scope of what torah & the 613 practices are in essence. *Shabbat for one , which is the primary focal point of jewish life- is essentially a 25 hour Meditation* If you compare the definition of meditation with the practices of shabbat you will see they are synonymous with one another. *Instead of meditation being something you actively DO, it becomes a state of Being; just as on shabbat many actions are forbidden-- to the point one cannot cook, create anything of form, walk a far distance, carry, etc. and one is forced into a deeper state of BEING in which we become the experiencer and receiver. * A meditative state is a situation where a person is fully absorbed in the present moment. . Just as on shabbat one removes all mundane distractions, such as work and technology- as we just focus on what IS & become intimate with life’s raw essence. * Meditation is the process of redirecting your thoughts to calm your mind. where like on shabbat we are not even supposed to think sad thoughts or speak words that are not related to the day itself * Mediation is also characterized by a deep state of relaxation; in which shabbat is known to be a day of rest. A state in which you are always aware of your soul, or that unchanging, peaceful place within, coexisting with your thoughts, body and the world Whichever definition you go by, it is always interlinked with the qualities of Shabbat. Although some religions may make meditation central to their way of life, that doesn't mean judaism is any less meditative. Before there were any religions, all we really had was our own individual connection to G-d. Thus, meditation precedes all religion and is not attributed to any specific one, even though some traditions and cultures make it more of an emphasis. It might not be mentioned specifically in Torah, because the written text only brings awareness to things which are not already obvious to us. Just as the torah never tells us to BREATHE, which is most essential to life; yet we know we are allowed to breathe, even supposedddd to breath lol- because it supports much of what torah is telling us to preserve life and also it is common sense to our existence. Same with meditation, it is deeply embdedd into our tradition just as breath is embedded into us. Shema, Ana B'koach, Adon 0lam… all are guided meditations. People mistake these as “prayers” and spew the words without spending much time connecting to the meaning of the verses; but these passages were primarily constructed to be meditated upon Daily. Meditation in combination with these hebrew sounds, or mantras that these 'prayers' offer, help shift the vibration of a person in order to allow them to receive true divine connection (sounds produce energy). without these sounds, a person is merely experiencing themselves alone when they enter into a meditative state. But when one uses hebrew words in combination with meditation, they acts as a tool to help elevate a person to a state above themselves. Although I am not an expert in Buddhist meditation practice, from my own knowledge I would say that the only real differences between them is that buddhist meditation is mainly experienced in the mind: and thus when opens their eyes and engages with the outside world, their state of meditation ceases. While judaism in contrast, combines action with the meditation. where even during intercourse one can be in meditation with the Divine. The most powerful of meditation is when the body & mind are joined in One, which is what yoga & tantra are also pointing at. and why the holiest of men, Enoch, and Elijah, ascended to heaven with their bodies. because the body, when properly aligned with the soul, can accomplish extreme levels of divinity. That is the basis of Jacob's dream of seeing the angels ascending & descending:: the idea that the spiritual can be brought down to earth & that one doesn't have to necessarily ascend in meditation to experience deep levels of spirituality- Moses followed that vision through by bringing the torah down to earth ((as Zevi demonstrated so well at the beginning :P Thus when one practices with torah properly they are indeed in deep meditation; they are aligning higher worlds with their lower body. except when they lack the intention & meaning, then it becomes a regular act as anything else. And that’s where people get confused about Judaism. they just see a Text without the CONtTEXT. they see the body without the soul. they see practice without intention. but for those with deeper sight and open hearts, it offers a rich tradition rooted in higher delight. The amazing revelation that Judaism brings is that one doesn’t have to close their eyes and sit cross legged to connect to the deeper realm, , Judaism shows how one can live it in their full 3D reality & that daily life can in fact be a meditation and communion with the Divine. Not just on shabbat (which is certainly the high point) but even as we go about our day, to the point of leaving the bathroom we pause for a moment to recite a blessing of gratitude for our health and bodily processes. Or as we eat, we meditate first on the Source of our food and recite a blessing over it before we consume it. we bring consciousness to that otherwise unsciousness piece of pie.
Humans act as the MIND of creation, we are the space that connects the higher consciousness with unconscious matter (the Hebrew word for 'man' is spelled with an Aleph א - which is a letter that connects the higher Yud י (upper conscious) with the lower yud י . and that can only be done through actions alone. that is why man is put on earth: the Hebrew word for earth is Aretz, which is the root of Ratz meaning/running/action. The body is meant to be an extension of the spiritual, and when we don’t align our mind with physical action, the divine energy is not fully drawn down to this realm, leaving a lack. Thus, if meditation remains 0nly in the mind, it stays stuck in the astral realm. The best meditation is not one you can think with your mind, but when u can also feel it and live it with your body. That’s when it the full spiritual power is reached. Judaism teaches us is that meditation is not meant to be as an end to itself. It is a state where one is meant to connect the higher mind to the lower body, and that is where all the practice are meant to take us.
Wow!! I agree with this!! So much valuable information here. Thank you for caring to share. Do you have any further reading you can point me to? Shalom
@@chimsshan Props to you for getting through such a long comment 😜💗👏🏻 The truth is I dont do a lot of reading… much of these ideas are really just my own ramblings and understanding of judaism that have come from deep reflection. so the best place I can really point you to is to your own heart & mind; or to the torah itself, which will point you back again to your inner world 🔄  We see at the very beginning of the torah, it writes how G-d SPOKE this world into existence. (G-d said “let there be light” and there was light) And if you flip through the rest of the 5 books you will see Majority of the chapters begin with G-d speaking to Moses telling him to “SPEAK to the children of Israel” Thus, we see that the Universe is always Speaking to Us ✨ (Because much of those verses are written in Present tense) Reading books are great learning tools to help expand your mind, but they are also limited to the author's interpretation of life. If you want to really get acquainted with wisdom, it could be done by spending more time listening 🔈🔈 there is a well known Hebrew prayer that is recited daily, which begins: "Shema Yisrael" Hear O Israel" --- that is mainly what we are asked to do. to take head of the messages that is always being sent our way, through our daily encounters, our dreams, and even in those moments of silence. All we have to do is listen 👂🏻
Extremely interesting and even more useful for me. Grateful. I'm currently refinining a real bombshell of a unifying doctrine to share with Mystics without Borders, who are genuinely seeking for Unity. Ready in a few weeks time. I'm just waiting for a feedback from the greatest living Physicist who is also a believer and a spiritually aware person, a guy who wrote on a mystical scientific magazine issued in Israel called Ma'adat around 2010-2014, on which I wrote about Jung and Lurianic kabbalah. There is a new, state of the art, perfectly working general paradigm for Physics, which is the complete "entification" in laws and numbers, and as well in verified experiments, of the common metaphisical structure of the "Perennial Philosophy" (in the way Huxley meant it). In a nutshell, EVERYTHING comes from Ain Soph and returns to Ain Soph which is also present and active in every particule of matter in the form of QMV (Quantum- mechanical Void). 'Ibn Arabi and Rambam positions can be easily found, and even completed with proven experiences in the sub atomic matter, in the descriptions of the steps and stages of emanation and entification. It could be the dawning of a new world. Let me know if you're interested. Shalom Tzvi.
Depends on what you define as meditation. Certainly the Kabbalistic system of Kavanot is quite meditative, in an active sense. When engaging the Partzuf of Abba/Chochmah, there is a shift into self nullification.
When you are sleeping/unconscious G-d takes your soul for safe keeping. The soul takes the mystic to G- d while it’s vessel, the mystic, is awake/during consciousness 😮39:27
Fascinating discussion! I wonder if you could put a link in this video's description for a source to purchase Dr. Persico's book on this topic (The Jewish Meditative Tradition)? Google has ZERO idea that this book even exists, much less where one might acquire a copy... Is this book out of print? Any information would be much appreciated.
This was beautiful. Much love. Meant to ask, was abulafia at all non dual, pantheistic, panentheistic etc, because he seems to regard the material world with great disdain(according to the idel's me in AA). While unio mystica clearly plays a big role in his teaching, do you think the world is to be abandoned in this teaching? He of course identifies nature via gematria with haShem but did he see such(as zohar does) spreading radiances in every fraction of the atom and every drop of tears? As God being the totality of being itself as the zoharic kabbalists did(mostly) or did he seek to run and fly from the alone to the alone, escaping the material? Sorry this is long but this has puzzled me for quite some time, whether or not the material world is affirmed or not in his worldview. Thank you for your great work, it has had the most wonderful impact in my life.
Having read some of Abulafia’s treatises I feel he has a bit of a middle ground view. He advocated for solitary practice but also the fulfillment of Torah’s mitzvot. However his concepts are quite different than normative Judaism. He believed that Machiach (messiah) was not a political person but a stage of conscious evolution, first individually and subsequently collectively. He did teach to non-Jews but lamented that the gentile world was not spiritually minded. In Chaye Olam Haba he does attack the Jewish religious authority. He also teaches that viewing God as a person or as having any attributes of physicality or emotions was to commit idolatry. He was also opposed to the Sephirot of the theosophical Kabbalists. He believed many kabbalists were idolaters and that the correct view of the sephirot was that they were internal psychological states. The other kabbalists interpreted them as hypostases or attributes of god. Abulafia says this is wrong.
@GuildofKnightlyArts sounds a bit like idealism and an unreal world. I hope I'm not interpolating into his stuff but sounds like the intellect and that sort was the only real reality and getting back to that was the goal. That's really helpful and it means a lot to me that you replied.
@@dutchvanderlinde2516 He was a rationalist, a follower of Maimonides, and therefore Aristotelian. Although he had his own interpretations. I personally admire Abulafia's system and methodology. One thing that is overlooked is that he was a universalist, he espoused the belief that all souls were the same regardless of religion, ethnicity, languages, nationalities, etc. This is in marked difference to the theosophical Kabbalists who teach that there is a special Jewish soul as opposed to everyone else. Abulafia only made a distinction between the levels of a soul based on its own experience and level of learning it amassed through its incarnations. "Israel" itself was even a state of consciousness. Everything for Abulafia was internal and the externality of life and its illusion of dualism needed to be rectified and this was the tikkun olam of Abulafia. As much as his method relied upon gematria and the use of Hebrew as a means of meditation he blatantly states that you can do the same with "any" language on earth. I'm currently working my way through Sefer Chaye Olam Haba. The methodologies for meditation in this book are quite difficult so while it's not very user friendly in this regards it is a great sefer to understand the nuances of Abulafia's thought on the spiritual worlds.
Teshuvah - Repentance - Meditation which needs to be seen as remembering who you are in essence. Rabbi Steve Leder says that repentance is to take care of the quality of relationships to make peace with God. That's a quote from Rabten calendar: "Whatever one has learned in Dharma and proven to be reality, proven to be fact, that one finally applies to oneself, on one's own person, on one's own mind. When that begins, then meditation begins." In Sanskrit it would be Smaran, non stop rememberance. There is Smirti which is recollection and Shruti which is heard, revealed. Shruti would be like Chochmah, Smirti would be like Binah and Smaran would be like Daas. In Buddhism there Shamatha and Vipassana. Vipassana is insight ... it is analytical meditation ... in the most simple terms it would be inquiring into the question of Who am I ? or Neti-Neti ... I am not the body, I am not the mind ... Who am I ?
Ovo je moje osobno mišljenje nakon dosta promatranja realnog života i čitanja i gledanja svega i svašta. Zašto mislim,a navodim da sam nedovoljno učen,da u Svetoj Knjizi imamo ključ razuma. Bilo bi predugo ali napisati ću po meni kobnu rečenicu filozofije: Bog je mrtav,živio čovjek. Možda je filozof imao sasvim drugačiju poruku. Sad ću se osvrnuti na vrt Edena i zabranjenu voćku. Tu je prvi bračni par imao izbor. Izbor im je bio da odaberu Nemoguće a to je da ubiju Tvorca i da ga zaborave. I sada će mnogi reagirati i tvrditi da je bio okrutan,da se sve to moglo izbjeći? Ali gdje je onda sloboda izbora.? Dakle svoju slobodu izbora su prenijeli na potomstvo. I tek kada padnu u tešku nevolju sjete se Tvorca. A TVORAC je ionako neograničen bilo Vremenom,bilo Prostorom. I to je ona strašna rečenica: Budući ste izabrali što ste izabrali,prizvali ste Smrt. Ono što prvi Praroditelja nisu vidjeli,TVORAC Čovjeka je Znao jer je naprosto Svemoguć. Zato na početku Knjige nema direktnog imena nego sveopće ime BOG,koje se različito prevodi u drugim jezicima.
1:25:00 I think what SoU is getting at is the branch of Advaita Mat & Buddhists who not only are naturalists /a-"theists", but who've chosen to embrace the language and values of secular rationalism. Can someone like Dr.Sledge be a mystical practitioner of Kabbalah without being a religious-Theist, the way Swami Sarvapriyananda can and does? In Advaita Sufi, it seems to me that their practice of radical personalism becomes the equivalent of the Consciousness-centered /Impersonal cosmology seen in Advaita Vedanta; IE the "God" of Rumi, or Al-Ḥallāj. I think Spinosas God (so to speak) is perfectly compatible with both explicitly Naturalist Rationalism (even Secular Humanism), and the practice of mystic Kabbalah; I suppose Im asking Dr. Persico... don't you? Yeah, you go on to illuminate that vary poignantly further on in the interview Thank You. (Comments are good for the algorithm, and I like to engage in the Comments on Episodes I'd like to draw attention to, & engage the content and viewers, so I leave my first round viewing comments as I watch).
The Emerald Tablets don't have a certain origin nor date of composition. It's all speculative but scholars agree that it wasn't written when it claims to have been.
![[83] Guided Jewish Meditations - Hayah, Hoveh, Yihyeh: A Meditation of Time](/img/n.gif)
Binge the full series: ua-cam.com/play/PL_7jcKJs6iwX239Hsnl7hG3p9hPB6WQ_k.html
Please can we have a round 2, this was absolutely wonderful!!!
+1 ✋🏼
🙏🏼
Tomer's intelligence and knowledge are a real gift, not to mention his excellent taste in socks... a testament to his character... Thank you so much for delivering this wonderful conversation!
I would say that another round is definitely relevant...
He's superb. He's very knowledgeable.
what a great man with doing great work. incredible interview, zevi. id love to hear more about his other book as well.
Glad you enjoyed it :) I hope to have him back on.
very good
Thank you Dr. Persico ! I actually have been looking for Jewish Meditation . My Grandmother's Surname was Persico ! I am " digging" in my Jewish Ancestry, here in Italy ...many are Bnei Anusim
One of my favorite interviews to date ! Thank you zevi & tomer !
You’re most welcome. Thank you for joining us my friend 🙏🏼
I truly believe that it would be the right thing to start some guided meditations on this channel.
Ahh so excited to listen to this - as a Jewish meditation & yoga teacher I’ve been getting more Kabbalah and integrating it into my life and practice is such a gift. Thank you! 🙏
Hope you enjoy it :)
On the discussion of whether classical Qabbalists were referring to the inner world when they spoke of the Divine world, it seems to me the answer is yes, both! I'm reading D. Matt's translation of The Zohar presently, and there are frequent references to the "lower/inner" world & the "upper/Divine" world being equivocal. They speak of inner experience and then mention how it reflects in the Divine.
I hope this book is translated I would love to read it in English. Fascinating interview, I hope there is a second part soon.
We hope so too :)
Fascinating discussion
Glad you enjoyed it.
Thank you for introducing me to this scholar, Zevi, and for your beautiful conversation; I look forward to reading his books and I'm really looking forward to part 2!
You’re most welcome. Thank you very much for joining us :)
Great video 👏👏👏
Glad you enjoyed it :)
This interview was so edifying. It provided such a clear overview of Jewish meditative traditions, over the entire historical arc. Brilliant! Thank you both 🙏 Would love a part 2!
You’re most welcome. Thank you for joining us for it 🙏🏼
Oooh interesting, looking forward
Hope you enjoy :)
Really good. Now I gotta read the book on the piaseczna rebbes meditation techniques that sounds great
Thank you, that was great, please give us more, much more. Todah.
You’re most welcome. Lots more to come :)
This was an incredible conversation. A round 2 is very much needed!
Thank you friend :)
Would love to hear him talk about chabad .. one of his expertise
Such a wonderful video that inspire serenity. Great job Zeivi!!!
Thank you friend :)
One great series after another. Great channel!
Thank you friend ☺️
He's right that we tend to personalize kaballah today and make it about ourselves. From R. Luria to the Baal Shem tov to R. Kook, it's always been primarily about rectifying the upper worlds.
The upper worlds are not an externalized location - there isn’t any such dualism. As above so below as below so above - as within so without as without so within. Distinction of “things” are perceptual and allegorical alone.
Interesting approaches to meditation. As a yoga/meditation instructor who is currently in the process of converting to Greek Orthodoxy, the practice of hesychasm is a form of contemplative prayer which bears significant resemblances to the system of meditation described in the Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali - focusing on a repeated mantra/prayer that gradually becomes internalized within the heart, in the temple of the body, until the senses are temporarily withdrawn from the physical world and one rests in inner stillness. This inner stillness makes one more receptive to the uncreated light and grace of God, which may be experienced in ecstatic union. Spiritual illumination in meditation in turn leads to embodied sanctification, theosis. So from this perspective, the soul gets separated from the body during a process of spiritual or physical death, but is given a sanctified rebirth, psychologically speaking and at the final resurrection.
Wow, this is fantastic. This is exactly why I follow you. Hatzlacha Rabba!
Thank you. I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
Masterful conversation. Truly incredible material as usual. Thank you.
You’re most welcome. I’m glad you enjoyed it :)
Drop a comment for the algorithm and share the episode if you enjoyed it :)
This is easily the best presentation on this topic I've ever heard. I'm a Jew who has gravitated towards mostly Hindu forms of meditation. The video explains a lot for me about what happened with this in Judaism and what's been more recent that I wasn't ever exposed to.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thank you for joining us to learn and explore together.
@@SeekersofUnityIt would be insightfull to compare the same or similar components of 4 Vedas and the Torah regarding relatinship to divine by rituals, prayers etc.
Thanks!
Thank you Zachary. That’s very sweet of you :)
Wow, I learned so much from this talk ! Thank you both very much. As a progressive Christian universalist and someone who has studied and practiced Zen and Sufi traditions, I am greatly encouraged to discover these Hebrew traditions & practices. I see Unity coming on the horizon.
Thank you friend. Glad to be having and sharing them.
Thank you for another great interview!
You’re most welcome. Glad you enjoyed it.
Tomer's intelligence, knowledge and honest wit is delightful, refreshing and inspiring. What he's characterized here as "Buddhist" meditation might better be called Santana dharma Meditation, given that its the same meditation at the root of Vedanta (both in Advaita & Dvaitia), Śaivism, Buddhism (both Theravada and Vrajayana), Jainism, etc., though I know all of these movements tend to put forth the notion that there are many different meditations, using a diverse array of revealed mantras, postures, yantras, and techniques, from ISKCON and their bliss evoking mantra songs of the name of Krishna (Hare Krishna), to the Tantrica and the Kundalini postures of prana manipulation, to the common varieties of meditation involving object annihilation, identification with the Ishta-devi, etc., BUT in a vary vary real way there is no variety of Meditation in the Santana dharma, it's all based on the foundational practice of Meditation on (what my branch of Advaita Sant Mat usually calls) the "Holy Name", which invariably is *one's own Breath*, a technique that in essence is the same as the Mindfulness Meditation that Sam Haris promotes; In the terms of Sant Mat, this meditation is on the awareness of the Atman (the perceptual-eye) as the core reality, which then brings on "Grace," by which one can sway the forces of Karma to build one's enlightenment. Despite the Buddha's emphasis on the middle-path, when it comes to meditation, the aim is the be in Grace, actively and profoundly meditation ALL the time, as deeply as one can (& ahead, there's always more to go). While those within Santana dharma (particularly in India) seem to prefer to emphasis Santana's diversity, there are foundational ways in which they are all the same, including all of them being essentially "about" practicing this same form of Meditation.
I was under the impression that the closest thing to that in the Hebrew mystic tradition is a kind of hyper focused state that is first sought after and developed in the discipline of reading "Gematria" of first-person experienced life. Though some will call Santana meditation "Mindfulness" meditation, that's ironic given how Sant Mat vilifies the "Mind" and it's fractured, chattering fixations on the objects of thought as the embodiment of Maya, and primary adversary one faces when struggling to meditate. Attachment to the objects of perception (thoughts, sense perceptions, imaginings) distract from the focus on the Atman (perceptual-eye), and ultimately weaken the effort's effectiveness. But in studying the psycho-spiritual methodology of Hebrew mysticisms it seems that the efforts and attachments fo the mind is leashed on to the linguistic system in a constant-moving stream of mental-narrative that perhaps likewise forces the release of attachment to each object of mind fixation, and the perception of the stream becomes the center stage.
This interview and discussion has been so illuminating for me. Particularly at 30:00 Tomer just laid out the enactment of the methodology at work in terms that rang so clearly to me. Thank you Dr. Persico, and Seeker of Unity (as usual).
enjoyed the talk. I have a similar feeling to tomer regarding us being different from people 200 years back. Though It seems like there is a continuum of sorts and that modern individualism is an intensification of the same שנאת חינם spoken about by the sages as the reason for the distraction of the temple. would love to hear more from both of you.
Thank you my friend. I’m glad you enjoyed it. More to come.
Definitely need at least a round 2.
😉
44:31
I sent you a comment regarding Hawk & I taking a voyage just beyond the horizon to find where the Messianic Age begins. The timing of my comment to you, and the first viewing of this video is very curious indeed. How did this synchronized message of both journeys to worlds beyond occur?
In Sum: "The greatest distance one can see, is the very nearness Of G-d." ~ Shabdahbriah
Round 2 please! Also, did y’all find that citation from the Ramak where he understands the sefirot microcosmically too?
Thank you Nathan. Nope. I think Tomer was right on that one.
Spehroth one syllable I’ve been saying it wrong. Haha thank you 🙏 do you start at the bottom of the tree or the top? What would the reason be for each ? Thank you. Blessings
Round 2! Defenitly!
🙏🏼☺️
Yichud Ner (נר candle=250):
Unify YHVH with EHYH
YHVH with Elohim
YHVH with ADNI
י א ה ה ו י ה ה
י א ה ל ו ה ה י ם
י א ה ד ו נ ה י
This (done in the mind) brings blessing and Unity to all the registers of Existence
Great talk- around 11:00 though it does seem that Elisha does become part of the Eliyahu's school/of bnei nevi'im fairly explicitly (though its not at all clear he is doing any sort of meditation)
More.
☺️🙏🏼
To think that meditation isn’t central to Judaism, is 0verlooking the scope of what torah & the 613 practices are in essence.
*Shabbat for one , which is the primary focal point of jewish life- is essentially a 25 hour Meditation*
If you compare the definition of meditation with the practices of shabbat you will see they are synonymous with one another.
*Instead of meditation being something you actively DO, it becomes a state of Being;
just as on shabbat many actions are forbidden-- to the point one cannot cook, create anything of form, walk a far distance, carry, etc. and one is forced into a deeper state of BEING in which we become the experiencer and receiver.
* A meditative state is a situation where a person is fully absorbed in the present moment. . Just as on shabbat one removes all mundane distractions, such as work and technology- as we just focus on what IS & become intimate with life’s raw essence.
* Meditation is the process of redirecting your thoughts to calm your mind. where like on shabbat we are not even supposed to think sad thoughts or speak words that are not related to the day itself
* Mediation is also characterized by a deep state of relaxation; in which shabbat is known to be a day of rest.
A state in which you are always aware of your soul, or that unchanging, peaceful place within, coexisting with your thoughts, body and the world
Whichever definition you go by, it is always interlinked with the qualities of Shabbat.
Although some religions may make meditation central to their way of life, that doesn't mean judaism is any less meditative. Before there were any religions, all we really had was our own individual connection to G-d. Thus, meditation precedes all religion and is not attributed to any specific one, even though some traditions and cultures make it more of an emphasis.
It might not be mentioned specifically in Torah, because the written text only brings awareness to things which are not already obvious to us.
Just as the torah never tells us to BREATHE, which is most essential to life; yet we know we are allowed to breathe, even supposedddd to breath lol- because it supports much of what torah is telling us to preserve life and also it is common sense to our existence. Same with meditation, it is deeply embdedd into our tradition just as breath is embedded into us.
Shema, Ana B'koach, Adon 0lam… all are guided meditations. People mistake these as “prayers” and spew the words without spending much time connecting to the meaning of the verses; but these passages were primarily constructed to be meditated upon Daily. Meditation in combination with these hebrew sounds, or mantras that these 'prayers' offer, help shift the vibration of a person in order to allow them to receive true divine connection (sounds produce energy). without these sounds, a person is merely experiencing themselves alone when they enter into a meditative state. But when one uses hebrew words in combination with meditation, they acts as a tool to help elevate a person to a state above themselves.
Although I am not an expert in Buddhist meditation practice, from my own knowledge I would say that the only real differences between them is that buddhist meditation is mainly experienced in the mind: and thus when opens their eyes and engages with the outside world, their state of meditation ceases.
While judaism in contrast, combines action with the meditation. where even during intercourse one can be in meditation with the Divine. The most powerful of meditation is when the body & mind are joined in One, which is what yoga & tantra are also pointing at. and why the holiest of men, Enoch, and Elijah, ascended to heaven with their bodies. because the body, when properly aligned with the soul, can accomplish extreme levels of divinity.
That is the basis of Jacob's dream of seeing the angels ascending & descending:: the idea that the spiritual can be brought down to earth & that one doesn't have to necessarily ascend in meditation to experience deep levels of spirituality- Moses followed that vision through by bringing the torah down to earth ((as Zevi demonstrated so well at the beginning :P
Thus when one practices with torah properly they are indeed in deep meditation; they are aligning higher worlds with their lower body. except when they lack the intention & meaning, then it becomes a regular act as anything else.
And that’s where people get confused about Judaism. they just see a Text without the CONtTEXT. they see the body without the soul. they see practice without intention. but for those with deeper sight and open hearts, it offers a rich tradition rooted in higher delight.
The amazing revelation that Judaism brings is that one doesn’t have to close their eyes and sit cross legged to connect to the deeper realm, , Judaism shows how one can live it in their full 3D reality & that daily life can in fact be a meditation and communion with the Divine. Not just on shabbat (which is certainly the high point) but even as we go about our day, to the point of leaving the bathroom we pause for a moment to recite a blessing of gratitude for our health and bodily processes. Or as we eat, we meditate first on the Source of our food and recite a blessing over it before we consume it. we bring consciousness to that otherwise unsciousness piece of pie.
Humans act as the MIND of creation, we are the space that connects the higher consciousness with unconscious matter (the Hebrew word for 'man' is spelled with an Aleph א - which is a letter that connects the higher Yud י (upper conscious) with the lower yud י . and that can only be done through actions alone.
that is why man is put on earth: the Hebrew word for earth is Aretz, which is the root of Ratz meaning/running/action.
The body is meant to be an extension of the spiritual, and when we don’t align our mind with physical action, the divine energy is not fully drawn down to this realm, leaving a lack. Thus, if meditation remains 0nly in the mind, it stays stuck in the astral realm.
The best meditation is not one you can think with your mind, but when u can also feel it and live it with your body. That’s when it the full spiritual power is reached.
Judaism teaches us is that meditation is not meant to be as an end to itself. It is a state where one is meant to connect the higher mind to the lower body, and that is where all the practice are meant to take us.
Wow!! I agree with this!! So much valuable information here. Thank you for caring to share. Do you have any further reading you can point me to? Shalom
I agree with this too! Thanks for sharing
@@chimsshan Props to you for getting through such a long comment 😜💗👏🏻
The truth is I dont do a lot of reading… much of these ideas are really just my own ramblings and understanding of judaism that have come from deep reflection. so the best place I can really point you to is to your own heart & mind; or to the torah itself, which will point you back again to your inner world 🔄

We see at the very beginning of the torah, it writes how G-d SPOKE this world into existence. (G-d said “let there be light” and there was light) And if you flip through the rest of the 5 books you will see Majority of the chapters begin with G-d speaking to Moses telling him to “SPEAK to the children of Israel”
Thus, we see that the Universe is always Speaking to Us ✨
(Because much of those verses are written in Present tense)
Reading books are great learning tools to help expand your mind, but they are also limited to the author's interpretation of life.
If you want to really get acquainted with wisdom, it could be done by spending more time listening 🔈🔈
there is a well known Hebrew prayer that is recited daily, which begins: "Shema Yisrael" Hear O Israel" ---
that is mainly what we are asked to do. to take head of the messages that is always being sent our way, through our daily encounters, our dreams, and even in those moments of silence. All we have to do is listen 👂🏻
Extremely interesting and even more useful for me. Grateful. I'm currently refinining a real bombshell of a unifying doctrine to share with Mystics without Borders, who are genuinely seeking for Unity. Ready in a few weeks time. I'm just waiting for a feedback from the greatest living Physicist who is also a believer and a spiritually aware person, a guy who wrote on a mystical scientific magazine issued in Israel called Ma'adat around 2010-2014, on which I wrote about Jung and Lurianic kabbalah. There is a new, state of the art, perfectly working general paradigm for Physics, which is the complete "entification" in laws and numbers, and as well in verified experiments, of the common metaphisical structure of the "Perennial Philosophy" (in the way Huxley meant it). In a nutshell, EVERYTHING comes from Ain Soph and returns to Ain Soph which is also present and active in every particule of matter in the form of QMV (Quantum- mechanical Void). 'Ibn Arabi and Rambam positions can be easily found, and even completed with proven experiences in the sub atomic matter, in the descriptions of the steps and stages of emanation and entification. It could be the dawning of a new world. Let me know if you're interested. Shalom Tzvi.
Where should we begin with abulafia? What's his magnum opus? What's a good book that systemically explicates his system?
If you can read Hebrew then all of his available surviving texts are online.
Brilliant. I think he finished what Aryeh Kaplan started..
"embrace emptiness"
Can we donate to the translation??
You can reach out to Tomer at tomerpersico at gmail .com
So grateful for your work! I’m just wondering isn’t prayer meditation?
Depends on what you define as meditation. Certainly the Kabbalistic system of Kavanot is quite meditative, in an active sense. When engaging the Partzuf of Abba/Chochmah, there is a shift into self nullification.
Where could one find his first book?
When you are sleeping/unconscious G-d takes your soul for safe keeping. The soul takes the mystic to G- d while it’s vessel, the mystic, is awake/during consciousness 😮39:27
Fascinating discussion! I wonder if you could put a link in this video's description for a source to purchase Dr. Persico's book on this topic (The Jewish Meditative Tradition)? Google has ZERO idea that this book even exists, much less where one might acquire a copy... Is this book out of print? Any information would be much appreciated.
Thank you friend. Tomer’s book isn’t available in English just yet.
ENCORE! I insist ;) 1:02:29
This was beautiful. Much love. Meant to ask, was abulafia at all non dual, pantheistic, panentheistic etc, because he seems to regard the material world with great disdain(according to the idel's me in AA). While unio mystica clearly plays a big role in his teaching, do you think the world is to be abandoned in this teaching? He of course identifies nature via gematria with haShem but did he see such(as zohar does) spreading radiances in every fraction of the atom and every drop of tears? As God being the totality of being itself as the zoharic kabbalists did(mostly) or did he seek to run and fly from the alone to the alone, escaping the material? Sorry this is long but this has puzzled me for quite some time, whether or not the material world is affirmed or not in his worldview. Thank you for your great work, it has had the most wonderful impact in my life.
Having read some of Abulafia’s treatises I feel he has a bit of a middle ground view. He advocated for solitary practice but also the fulfillment of Torah’s mitzvot. However his concepts are quite different than normative Judaism. He believed that Machiach (messiah) was not a political person but a stage of conscious evolution, first individually and subsequently collectively. He did teach to non-Jews but lamented that the gentile world was not spiritually minded. In Chaye Olam Haba he does attack the Jewish religious authority. He also teaches that viewing God as a person or as having any attributes of physicality or emotions was to commit idolatry. He was also opposed to the Sephirot of the theosophical Kabbalists. He believed many kabbalists were idolaters and that the correct view of the sephirot was that they were internal psychological states. The other kabbalists interpreted them as hypostases or attributes of god. Abulafia says this is wrong.
@GuildofKnightlyArts sounds a bit like idealism and an unreal world. I hope I'm not interpolating into his stuff but sounds like the intellect and that sort was the only real reality and getting back to that was the goal. That's really helpful and it means a lot to me that you replied.
@@dutchvanderlinde2516 He was a rationalist, a follower of Maimonides, and therefore Aristotelian. Although he had his own interpretations. I personally admire Abulafia's system and methodology. One thing that is overlooked is that he was a universalist, he espoused the belief that all souls were the same regardless of religion, ethnicity, languages, nationalities, etc. This is in marked difference to the theosophical Kabbalists who teach that there is a special Jewish soul as opposed to everyone else. Abulafia only made a distinction between the levels of a soul based on its own experience and level of learning it amassed through its incarnations. "Israel" itself was even a state of consciousness. Everything for Abulafia was internal and the externality of life and its illusion of dualism needed to be rectified and this was the tikkun olam of Abulafia. As much as his method relied upon gematria and the use of Hebrew as a means of meditation he blatantly states that you can do the same with "any" language on earth.
I'm currently working my way through Sefer Chaye Olam Haba. The methodologies for meditation in this book are quite difficult so while it's not very user friendly in this regards it is a great sefer to understand the nuances of Abulafia's thought on the spiritual worlds.
That's beautiful
Zevi Sorry, what is that word you see- and he repeated back - at 14:46 - as a synonym for “soteriological”?
Self effixed?
Redemptiv, salvific
Is his book translated into English?
he mentioned is only in hebrew
I'm afraid not. hope it will be. A matter of funding of course.
Teshuvah - Repentance - Meditation which needs to be seen as remembering who you are in essence.
Rabbi Steve Leder says that repentance is to take care of the quality of relationships to make peace with God.
That's a quote from Rabten calendar:
"Whatever one has learned in Dharma and proven to be reality, proven to be fact, that one finally applies to oneself, on one's own person, on one's own mind. When that begins, then meditation begins."
In Sanskrit it would be Smaran, non stop rememberance.
There is Smirti which is recollection and Shruti which is heard, revealed.
Shruti would be like Chochmah, Smirti would be like Binah and Smaran would be like Daas.
In Buddhism there Shamatha and Vipassana. Vipassana is insight ... it is analytical meditation ... in the most simple terms it would be inquiring into the question of Who am I ? or Neti-Neti ... I am not the body, I am not the mind ... Who am I ?
Ovo je moje osobno mišljenje nakon dosta promatranja realnog života i čitanja i gledanja svega i svašta.
Zašto mislim,a navodim da sam nedovoljno učen,da u Svetoj Knjizi imamo ključ razuma.
Bilo bi predugo ali napisati ću po meni kobnu rečenicu filozofije:
Bog je mrtav,živio čovjek.
Možda je filozof imao sasvim drugačiju poruku.
Sad ću se osvrnuti na vrt Edena i zabranjenu voćku.
Tu je prvi bračni par imao izbor.
Izbor im je bio da odaberu Nemoguće a to je da ubiju Tvorca i da ga zaborave.
I sada će mnogi reagirati i tvrditi da je bio okrutan,da se sve to moglo izbjeći?
Ali gdje je onda sloboda izbora.?
Dakle svoju slobodu izbora su prenijeli na potomstvo.
I tek kada padnu u tešku nevolju sjete se Tvorca.
A TVORAC je ionako neograničen bilo Vremenom,bilo Prostorom.
I to je ona strašna rečenica:
Budući ste izabrali što ste izabrali,prizvali ste Smrt.
Ono što prvi Praroditelja nisu vidjeli,TVORAC Čovjeka je Znao jer je naprosto Svemoguć.
Zato na početku Knjige nema direktnog imena nego sveopće ime BOG,koje se različito prevodi u drugim jezicima.
Where can we find his book? Having trouble finding it online
1:25:00 I think what SoU is getting at is the branch of Advaita Mat & Buddhists who not only are naturalists /a-"theists", but who've chosen to embrace the language and values of secular rationalism. Can someone like Dr.Sledge be a mystical practitioner of Kabbalah without being a religious-Theist, the way Swami Sarvapriyananda can and does? In Advaita Sufi, it seems to me that their practice of radical personalism becomes the equivalent of the Consciousness-centered /Impersonal cosmology seen in Advaita Vedanta; IE the "God" of Rumi, or Al-Ḥallāj. I think Spinosas God (so to speak) is perfectly compatible with both explicitly Naturalist Rationalism (even Secular Humanism), and the practice of mystic Kabbalah; I suppose Im asking Dr. Persico... don't you?
Yeah, you go on to illuminate that vary poignantly further on in the interview Thank You.
(Comments are good for the algorithm, and I like to engage in the Comments on Episodes I'd like to draw attention to, & engage the content and viewers, so I leave my first round viewing comments as I watch).
Why not talk about the emerald tablets much older text that is source material?
The subject at hand was Jewish meditation :)
The Emerald Tablets don't have a certain origin nor date of composition. It's all speculative but scholars agree that it wasn't written when it claims to have been.
Re: Rebbe Nachman of Breslev, the Torah is number 52 of Likutei Mohoran, not 51 as was mentioned. Just a little correction ❤
Thank you 🙏🏼
Who bought who the shots?
Yours truly ✋🏻
👀 Promo sm
Add a comment… It would take at least an hour & a half and a ton of Comments’ space. ;) 59:49