Breathing and Quieting the Mind: Sample Chapter

Breathing and Quieting the Mind: Sample Chapter

Excerpted from Chapter 2 in Volume one of the Jewish Meditation Series: Breathing and Quieting the Mind

by Rav DovBer Pinson

 

Breathing and Quieting the Mind: by Rav DovBer Pinson

Breathing is the most natural thing we do, it is involuntary and innate. In the course of this work, authentic techniques for basic breathing exercises will be offered together with a very basic method of quieting the mind. These two practices, breath-work and quieting the mind, are being presented together due to the simple fact that quieting the mind is an essential foundation for any form of meditation or contemplative practice. Without a basic control of the mind, any method of more advanced meditation will be impossibly frustrating, and may end up doing more harm than good. The primary teachers of these two practices are the Baal Shem Tov and the Peasetzne Rebbe. Both of whom you will get acquainted with through their biographies and intellectual histories detailing and explaining their ideas and influence.

Breathing & Quieting the Mind

The value of improving the quality of one’s breath is an essential ingredient for beginning the path of meditation. In addition to its simplicity, conscious mindful breathing expands our humanness. We coalesce with the world surrounding us, thus feeling less alienated. We become more when our sense of distance from others lessens. We begin to view ourselves as an integral part of something infinitely greater than what we had perceived ourselves to be. We become more in touch with our deeper nature, a glimmer beyond the ego. Our sense of dependency on, or better yet, our interdependency with the world outside of us sharpens and becomes more real. We realize that we simply cannot be without the world around us. We become closer to other people, and hence, to life itself. Our capacity to love and our enthusiasm for life is tremendously enhanced.

Horse Thoughts

Quieting the mind is essential as a foundational practice of meditation.  The Russian and Polish Kabbalists, as well as other Jewish spiritual masters, speak about ‘horse thoughts.’ While monkeys were prevalent in the Orient, where the phrase ‘monkey mind’ came to life, horses were abundant in Eastern Europe, inspiring the phrase ‘horse thoughts.’ To the best of our estimation, a horse is always thinking about what is in front of him in this very moment. Whether it is a basin of water or a pile of hay, the horse is thinking of the basin of water or the pile of hay. As pathetic as it may sound, people often entertain ‘horse thoughts’ as well.

Imagine you decide to think over a particular chosen thought on your walk from home to work. As you step out of your house you bring the thought into your mind’s eye, but immediately the first thing you see, hear, smell or touch pops into your train of thought. Let us say you hear a siren going off in the distance and your mind instantly wonders about the siren. You notice the clouds, so you begin to wonder if it is going to rain. This sets off a whole chain of thoughts:  Do I have an umbrella? Umbrellas are so expensive. I should really make more money. I don’t like my boss — and so on and so forth. The horse thoughts unravel and take over the driver’s seat of your mind. In a short period of time, your mind has traveled on a wild ride of loosely connected destinations. The unifying point for them all is that not one of them was chosen and not one of them was the original thought you decided to think about on your way to work.

Most people think they choose their thoughts, when in truth — your thoughts choose you. “I think therefore I am,” is not as true as, “I am what I think.” Our minds are scattered and often without clear focus, they jump around like kernels of corn in a popcorn machine.

The scattered nature of the mind informs our words and deeds. How many times do we say something only a moment later to say, “I am so sorry! I said that, but didn’t really mean it”? It seems at times as if the mouth has a mind of its own. The same is true with actions. How many times have you done something only to regret it a second later? In the words of our sages, “The wicked [those not living an integrated life] are full with regret.”

Our prayers remind us: “Because of our sins we were exiled”. Exile is not merely external, but deeply existential. Ultimately, it is an alienation from ourselves, within ourselves. Our thoughts, words and actions seem to float about with very little participation or direction from our conscious mind. They are in exile from our inner reality.

Our minds are the funnels through which we appreciate and interpret reality. Being that the mind seems to be at the mercy of the never-ending external trappings and the horse thoughts they bring on, it is recommended that a primary objective of conscious life be to take back the reigns of control for this wonderful tool, the mind.

Integration of our inner thoughts and desires with our externalized words and actions is fundamental for effective living. This holistic integration is an alignment of will, purpose and goal.

The majority of us operate ineffectively because we are out of our integrity and therefore not capable of harmoniously orchestrating our physical, mental and spiritual energies. We are at odds with ourselves and lack a sense of alignment or center.

Centering

The word meditation is derived from the Latin word Medi, which means, “center”. To meditate is to discover and align our thoughts, words and actions with our center of being, thus empowering and expressing, from our deepest depths, who we truly are in life. To meditate is to get in touch with our true self and inner nature, moving away from, or taking the psychic power back from the false self who manifests as ego and derives its identity solely from the externalities of life such as material possessions, honorific titles, or popular public approval. Ostensibly, if one’s ground of being is outwardly dependent, it is logical to infer that the only interactive interface with the outer world is the carapace standing in place of self.

Through the wonderful practice of quieting the mind and observing one’s thoughts the road to self-awareness is patiently paved. The ego is tamed through meditation enabling us to become observers of our own lives. From this vantage point, the meditator clearly observes the internal world, thus deconstructing the patterns and traits that dominate his life, and receiving the opportunity to correct them.

The byproduct of self-observation is self-assurance and self-esteem. Through increasing inner awareness and inner-directedness we are less at the mercy of external forces and whims and become more sensitive to what we truly want, and to what makes us truly feel alive and connected with the bigger picture. Through self-knowledge we avoid becoming what we need not be, and instead become what we truly are.

Vertical & Horizontal Expansion

There are two spiritual movements: vertical and horizontal. A vertical trajectory of development is upward, horizontal is outward. Deepening a spiritual practice can either lead one up the vertical ladder or across the horizontal bridge. One who travels the vertical path learns to climb higher, soaring above and entering deeper within to activate their spiritual potential. With greater access to spiritually-heightened awareness there is the possibility of even attaining a measure of prophetic insight, beyond the normal range of natural psychic powers. One whose spirituality expands horizontally seeks to become more open, loving and sensitive to others, expanding their sphere to include more of life and all of creation.

The goal of Torah based practices is to expand in both directions, equipping the meditator with the tools and techniques to move upwards, inwards and outwards, to become higher, deeper and more expansive. In this manner, one’s understanding of the Divine deepens, as well as the recognition of the connection between self and cosmos.
The practices work on two levels at once: Tuning us in more to the Creator, as well as drawing us closer to our own soul and that of others sharing this space and time. Spiritual sensitivity is augmented and interpersonal character traits are developed simultaneously raising one upwards while expanding outwards.


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