Rabbi David A. Cooper. With The Ecstatic Kabbalah, Rabbi David Cooper—author of bestseller God Is a Verb (Riverhead, ) and a renowned leader of the Jewish meditation movement—provides practical exercises on the path toward "mending the soul," the fundamental Jewish.
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Kabbalah—the secret is out! From Madonna's controversial conversion to the Dalai Lama's acknowledgment and support, this mystical tradition is gaining unprecedented recognition.
But how do we put this powerful and esoteric worldview into practice? With The Ecstatic Kabbalah, Rabbi David Cooper—author of bestseller God Is a Verb Riverhead, and a renowned leader of the Jewish meditation movement—provides practical exercises on the path toward "mending the soul," the fundamental Jewish experience that brings union with the Divine. With meditation techniques for both beginning and advanced practitioners, The Ecstatic Kabbalah guides listeners into awareness of the presence of light with experiential practices for touching the four worlds of mystical Judaism:.
Finally, the long-sequestered doors of Kabbalah are open to all listeners, as they are invited to dwell in the embrace of the Divine with The Ecstatic Kabbalah's practices of daily renewal.
Delightful-I am finding so much that connects with my sense of reality. The book is beautifully written and the CD is most helpful. Elite scholars felt distant from the masses, as traditional Judaism saw Talmudic learning as the main spiritual activity, while preachers could offer little popular solace with ethical admonishment. The Baal Shem Tov began a new articulation of Jewish mysticism, by relating its structures to direct psychological experience. In the presence of the Tzaddik, the followers could gain inspiration and attachment to God.
The Baal Shem Tov and the Hasidic Masters left aside the previous Kabbalistic meditative focus on Divine Names and their visualisation, in favour of a more personal, inner mysticism, expressed innately in mystical joy, devotional prayer and melody , or studied conceptually in the systemised classic works of Hasidic philosophy. In his works, he explains that the Hebrew word for meditation is hisbonenus alternatively transliterated as hitbonenut.
The word "hisbonenut" derives from the Hebrew word Binah lit. While the word hisbonenus can be applied to analytical study of any topic, it is generally used to refer to study of the Torah , and particularly in this context, the explanations of Kabbalah in Chabad Hasidic philosophy , in order to achieve a greater understanding and appreciation of God.
In the Chabad presentation, every intellectual process must incorporate three faculties: Chochma , Binah , and Daat.
The term hisbonenus represents an important point of the Chabad method: Chabad Hasidic philosophy rejects the notion that any new insight can come from mere concentration. Chabad philosophy explains that while "Daat" is a necessary component of cognition, it is like an empty vessel without the learning and analysis and study that comes through the faculty of Binah. Just as a scientist's new insight or discovery Chochma always results from prior in-depth study and analysis of his topic Binah , likewise, to gain any insight in Godliness can only come through in-depth study of the explanations of Kabbalah and Chassidic philosophy.
Chassidic masters say that enlightenment is commensurate with one's understanding of the Torah and specifically the explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. They warn that prolonged concentration devoid of intellectual content can lead to sensory deprivation, hallucinations, and even insanity which all can be tragically mistaken for "spiritual enlightenment".
However, a contemporary translation of the word hisbonenus into popular English would not be "meditation". Hisbonenut , which, as explained above, refers to the process of analysis Binah is more properly translated as "in-depth analytical study". Chabad accepts and endorses the writings of Kabbalists such as Moshe Cordevero and Haim Vital and their works are quoted at length in the Hasidic texts. However, the Hasidic masters say that their methods are easily misunderstood without a proper foundation in Hasidic philosophy.
The Mitler Rebbe emphasizes that hallucinations that come from a mind devoid of intellectual content are the product of the brain's Koach HaDimyon lit. Even a child is capable of higher forms of thought than the Koach HaDimyon. So such hallucinations should never be confused with the flash intuitive insight known as Chochma which can only be achieved through in-depth study of logical explanations of Kabbalah and Hasidic philosophy. Hisbodedus alternatively transliterated as "hitbodedut", from the root "boded" meaning "self-seclusion" refers to an unstructured, spontaneous and individualized form of prayer and meditation taught by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov.
The goal of hitbodedut is to establish a close, personal relationship with God and a clearer understanding of one's personal motives and goals. See Hisbodedus for the words of Rabbi Nachman on this method. The Musar Ethics Movement, founded by Rabbi Israel Salanter in the middle of the 19th-century, encouraged meditative practices of introspection and visualization that could help to improve moral character. Its truthful psychological self-evaluation of one's spiritual worship, institutionalised the preceding classic ethical tradition within Rabbinic literature as a spiritual movement within the Lithuanian Yeshiva academies.
Many of these techniques were described in the writings of Salanter's closest disciple, Rabbi Simcha Zissel Ziv. Two paths within Musar developed in the Slabodka and Novardok schools. It is said that Rabbi Salanter would often stay up all night pacing in his room, focusing on a verse or quotation, trying to extract all the knowledge he could from the words.
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