Entering the Hebrew month of Shevat we enter a time of inner renewal. The outward appearance is of dormancy and hibernation but the sap within us is still flowing, unseen, preparing for the new buds of spring still months away. Within the dormancy is the seed of the coming growth.
"There has to be an emptying
so inspiration can be received
and something new
can be brought into being."
Melinda Ribner
Jewish kabbalistic meditation teaches that the very name for the Divine, YHVH (yud-hay-vav-hay), is a Divine map of the individuated cycle of cosmic energy, the same energy that breathes life into us every moment. These Hebrew letters, yud-hay-vav-hay, are aspirate consonants which - since they are not paired with vowels - can only be 'pronounced' by breathing.
Imagine... the very name of the Divine Being is the sound of our breathing!
YUD - Empty of breath.
The smallest Hebrew letter, curled up and small like us as we expend our breath.
HAY - Inflow of breath.
The sound of inspiration and filling as the air rushes through our nostrils and into our lungs.
VAV - Full of breath.
At the point of fullness of breath our spine straightens and resembles the tall, straight letter VAV.
HAY - Out flow of breath.
The sound of exhaling and release as we relax our breath and let it flow out in a sigh.
In every breath we affirm the Name of God and the ultimate Cycle of Life: empty, inflow, full, outflow. Nothing is ever statically dormant. Nature may pause, but the sap of life, the breath of life is always waiting to flow back into that pause.
Shevat is a time of hidden spiritual newness. A time of private inward meditations and of letting go and releasing that which is not nurturing you, that which is tired and dried and brittle as old wood. This is the outflow and emptiness of the cycle. And as the Torah portions for this month from the Book of Exodus reflect, it's about leaving the Egypt, the "narrow places", of our lives empty-handed and stripped to the bare essentials. But open-handed, we walk into our lives ready to receive newness.
The winter forest looks empty of life compared to the bounty of spring but it is this emptying that creates the openness that allows us to be filled with fresh inspiration and miracles of transformation.
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Come welcome the energy of your inner renewal with us at our next Shabbat Chant Circle, Saturday, January 8, 2011 from 10:30 to noon. We meet at the Center for Spiritual Living, 390 Vernal Street, Eugene, Oregon.
Everyone is welcome!Lisa Kaye offers a metaphysically oriented, Jewish Renewal-style Shabbat meditation and chant circle once a month, usually on the second Saturday of the month. The dates for the next three months in 2011 are:
January 8, 2011
February 12, 2011
In March we will be meeting on the third Saturday, March 19, 2011For more information visit:
WWW.SPIRITPATHNOW.COM/SHABBAT
