Is Your Meditation Working? Parshat Va'etchanan & ע AYIN
Ayin ע | Jewish Kabbalah Meditation Witnessing Presence
Parshah Summary – P’shat
This second parshah of Sefer Devarim continues with Moses’ monologue to the Children of Israel on the banks of the Jordan. He opens with how he prayed to enter the Promised Land along with them, but instead he was told he must climb a mountain and view the Land from afar before he dies. He then continues telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt and their receiving of the Torah at Sinai, followed by the prophesy that future generations will abandon the Path for “false gods,” leading to the exile and their being scattered among the nations. But, from their exile they will once again seek the Divine and return.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יְהֹ–וָ֑ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ ...אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹ–וִ֗ה אַתָּ֤ה הַֽחִלּ֙וֹתָ֙ לְהַרְא֣וֹת אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶ֨ת־גׇּדְלְךָ֔ “I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying, ‘My Lord, Hashem, You have begun to show Your servant Your Greatness…’” - Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23, 24 Parshat Va’Etkhanan
A disciple of Rabbi Yitzhak Meir of Ger came to the rebbe with a complaint: “I’ve been trying for twenty years, and still I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere! If a craftsman practiced their craft for twenty years, they would either be much better at their craft, or at the very least they would be able to do it much more quickly. But with me, I’ve been praying and praying, and I don’t feel any closer than when I began.”
“It is taught in Elijah’s name,” replied the rebbe, “that a person should take Torah upon themselves as an ox takes the yoke. You see, the ox leaves its stall in the morning, goes to the field, plows, and his led back home. This happens day after day. Nothing changes with regard to the ox, but the ploughed field bears the harvest.” What does this story mean? Obviously, the ox is a metaphor for the disciple – and therefore for us. But, the field is also a metaphor for the disciple, otherwise it would be irrelevant. What is this “field” aspect of our being that “bears the harvest” in response to our practice, and yet we may not necessarily be aware of it? There is a hint in the parshah: וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יְה–וָ֑ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ – I pleaded with the Divine at that time, speaking… Moses is pleading with Hashem to let him enter the “land.” Like the hasid who complained to his rebbe, Moses is saying, “I’ve been leading this people toward the land for forty years – please let me at least enter along with them!” The “land” is a metaphor – in relation to our spiritual path, it represents the fruit of the practice – that sense of coming home to Oneness, of finally “arriving.” This verse, then, is actually an instruction – when we feel the angst of life, when we feel like an ox that goes on day after day with the same old routine, we too must not hold back and cry out in prayer. But then, listen for the Divine response: רַב־לָ֔ךְ אַל־תּ֗וֹסֶף דַּבֵּ֥ר אֵלַ֛י ע֖וֹד בַּדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃ “Too much of you! Do not increase your words to me about this thing!” That separate self-sense, the “me” that thinks and speaks and acts, is the “ox.” The truth is, the ox will always be an ox. At some point, we need to give up on all this “me” – רַב־לָךְ Rav lakh! Too much of you! – and discover the aspect of our being that is silence – אַל־תּוֹסֶף דַּבֵּר Al tosef daber! Do not increase your words! In that silence we can discover the other aspect of our being – the deep, vast, boundless “field.” This is not to deny or devalue the “ox” in any way; we need the ox. We need to do things, to organize our lives. We even need the ox just to set aside the time for meditation. But just as the ox cannot become the field, just as Moses cannot enter the land but must die outside the land, so too we must let go of this self-ness and recognize the aspect of ourselves that is beyond the ox. The truth is, on the deepest level, we already are the field… ...עֲלֵ֣ה רֹ֣אשׁ הַפִּסְגָּ֗ה וְשָׂ֥א עֵינֶ֛יךָ “Ascend to the top of the cliff and raise up your eyes…” Moses climbs up the cliff and sees the “land” from afar, and there he dies. Similarly, we can understand the spiritual goal with our minds, we can understand the concept of enlightenment, but that is only a “seeing from afar.” To truly enter the “land,” we must discover what is beyond the ox-self. Alei rosh – “elevate the head” – recognize that beneath all the content, you are simple awareness, totally transcendent of your thoughts, feelings, and experiences. How do you do that? V’sa einekha – “raise up your eyes” – see whatever is arising in your awareness, right now; be the transcendent space within which this moment unfolds. In this way, prayer leads to silence, and you can make that shift from being the “ox” to being the “field” – the vast field of silent Presence, beneath the thoughts, beneath the words. A rabbi once asked Menachem Mendel of Vorki, “Where did you learn the art of silence?” Menachem Mendel was about to respond, but then he changed his mind and said nothing. This practice of silent seeing is represented by the letter ע ayin. The word “ayin” means “eye”—like the physical eye that sees the world, but on a deeper level, it is awareness itself – the awareness that sees, that hears, that feels; the space of consciousness within which all experience arises. The Zohar teaches that, while God is hidden, God longs to be sought. Just as a child plays hide-and-seek for the sake of being found, the Sacred waits patiently for our seeking. The tricky part is that we don’t find God by seeking outwardly, but by our awareness becoming aware of itself – aware of its own Divinity…
Read past teachings on Va’Etkhanan HERE
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