Transcription
[Music] Keter means crown, hinting that the intention of presence is above the rest of our experience. It kind of hovers above our sensory awareness, our feelings, our emotions, our thoughts, our memories, our narratives, our opinions. Presence is above all of that.
Just as a crown rests above the head, the intention to be aware is allencompassing, beyond different points of view and opinion because it is simply the awareness of what is and therefore includes everything in our experience moment to moment. For this reason, keter also represents oneness because from the perspective of pure awareness, there is always only one experience happening right now within the one reality that we call God.
In this sense, returning to presence is really a return to God and constitutes the inner dimension of tshoua. So there are really two different levels of tshoua in a sense, inner and outer. Outer tshuva, which is returning to intentional action, is rooted in the inner tshoua of bringing our awareness out from its compulsive preoccupation with thought, which ordinarily reinforces our habitual patterns, and into our actual present moment experience, into our senses, into our bodies.
In doing so, acceptance and forgiveness of the past is natural and spontaneous, as the pain we cause ourselves by holding on to the past becomes obvious to ourselves. And not only that, but the more we bring our attention to this moment, the more we can see that we are the awareness of this moment. We are the open field, the open space within which all experience arises.
[Music] In being this openness, we are free. We are in no way trapped by the past or by habit. In presence, the power to choose reveals itself.
[Music] Whenever I prepare to travel, I'm always amazed that I can draw together the clothing, the toiletries, the books, the computer equipment, all of it, and pack them all into a single suitcase. It actually seems miraculous to me that all of these disperate items can come together into a single hole. But miraculous as that is, it is nothing compared to the miracle of presence that through the simple shift of opening to the immediacy of actual experience, all the desperate chaos comes together into the suitcase of the present moment.
In presence, there is no longer me and that. There is only the fullness of what is and all its richness arising and falling away in the one field of awareness that we are. As it says in the ha reading in the book of Isaiah, "Katan, for a tiny moment I forsook you, but with a vast compassion I will gather you together." When we gather together our awareness into the fullness of the present, there is paradoxically a vastness and a benevolence. A raim goline that is our own nature revealing all past misdeeds for what they really are, tiny moments of forgetfulness arising and disappearing into the vastness of being.
And so let's chant together the kavana, the affirmation for the sphira of keter, on long out breaths. "I am intending. I am intentional. I am presence." A long out breath. Deep breath in. "I am intending. I am intentional. I am present."
[Music] And our chant, "Who who elohu," who is a divine name in its own right. The letters hey of who, indicating the breath of life.
[Music] The letter vav, hinting at the practice of saying yes, moment to moment, to whatever arises. And the letter alf, which is the number one, hinting at the oneness of being. "Who elohhanu," that which is the divine, what we call the divine oneness, is not separate from our own inner being, our own divinity. "A ode," there is nothing else. There is nothing else. It is all that is. It is all that there ever is, present now, underlying all experience as the awareness that we are.
[Music] Elohu. [Music] [Music] Elo. [Music] Ooh, eloh. [Music] [Music] Oh, [Music] eloh. [Music] One more time, singing in our spaces, letting the words vibrate in your body as we sing. Elohu eloh. [Music] [Music] [Music] And preparing for meditation. Checking your body. Letting yourself be in a comfortable, alert, and unencumbered position. Letting your hands be free. Letting go of the momentum of doing in order to come into the world of being.
[Music] Taking an attitude of offering your attention. Bringing that intentionality into the heart and offering your awareness from the heart to the fullness of this moment, however it appears on all levels, with the word lea and a long out breath. Deep breath in.
[Music] And bringing your left hand to your belly. Drawing awareness down into your belly. Light of awareness permeating your organs, bringing healing and gratitude to your body. Awareness flowing down, down, down through your legs, connecting with your feet, extending down into the earth, feeling the gravity and the support of the earth below. Rising up as well, chest, upper back, shoulders, and neck.
[Music] Can tense your shoulders a little bit, and then release them to make sure you're releasing any excess tension there. Awareness flowing down your arms, hands, and fingers, connecting back with your heart and belly. Bringing your attention more deeply into the sensation of the flow of breathing.
[Music] Rising up, face, facial muscles, brain, and nervous system. Bringing a little smile to your lips. Being the loving, benevolent, indwelling presence. Life in the body. Affirming with na and a long out breath. Deep breath in.
[Music] And bringing your right hand to lightly touch your forehead as awareness opens up to the space around you. Awareness like light shining forth from the body out into space, resting on whatever it finds, the vibrations in the air, the feel of the space, the light, all of it. And recognizing that all of this outer world and all of the inner world of thoughts and feelings are part of one experience, part of the texture of this moment arising in the one field of awareness that you are. And affirming venishma. Deep breath in.
[Music] Kissing your fingers, relaxing your hands. Ribono shalo lum. You who are not separate from anything, anyone we encounter. You who are not separate from this awareness we are. You who are reality being itself, help us to meditate deeply in this time, to be aware and remember moment to moment what we're doing. And what we're doing is really letting go of doing and being the open presence. Thoughts come, thoughts go. Let them come. Not to worry about them. Just returning the mind into shuva again and again to the tila. At yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo. Oh yahoo. [Music] At yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo, at yahoo. At yahoo. [Music] Resting the mind in the simple repetition. Atyahoo, at. [Music] Come into silent meditation. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Amen. [Music] Coming back from stillness into some movement, giving your body a nice stretch.
[Music] May this intention of presence, this underlying quality that we can bring to every moment, potentially grow more and more to encompass more and more of our lives, to bring consciousness, beauty, awareness, and presence to everything that we touch. Oh, say shalom. Who say shalomu? Amen. I hope you've enjoyed this meditation and that it helps deepen your presence in life and your connection to the tree of life. If you have, I'd be so grateful if you would give it a like, subscribe or follow, leave a comment, and click the bell to get notified when we go live on YouTube. And when you're ready to go deeper, head on over to Torahofawwakening.com to become a member. And join the community live on Zoom for learning, chanting, and meditation 5 days a week, as well as programs for both children and adults, all at toraofawwakening.com. Until next time, all blessings.