Nefesh Haya
On Meditation – Rav Gedalyah Koenig z”l
On Meditation
Gedalyah Koenig z”l
(from a handwritten document discussing Hitbodedut, Song, and Prophecy)
Along with our teaching on the subject of hitbodedut [personal speaking to G-d] we will talk about neginah and shira [types of song]. And before that we will give a fundamental introduction which is indisputable in regards to meditation which touches to them in songs of zimra [type of song], the only and eternal King. It is known that there is an important secret chapter in hitbodedut, [concerning] actions to empty the thought from bothersome things and sometimes from things which are not bothersome, whose purpose is to give the practitioner release and rest, to create in him a very wide [mental] space which is capable of receiving light to come [or lehaba]. It is important to know that the allowance of the practice of emptying is not directed but towards all of the created details and the creation, but in no way, absolutely, toward the Creator of everything, the Only, the leader that watches everything. Because the thought never stops from thinking. It is possible to bring the thought to a silence, but there is no possible way to cancel it completely. And therefore the thought is active also when it is silent, and it is obligatory that then it would think of the Creator, the one and only creator of all. Because if the thought would be emptied even of that, automatically the thought is given to the desolation [sh'mama] which is a place of trouble[puranut], a dwelling to all sorts of evil spirits [mazikim], which embitter the life of a person. The constant attachment of the thought in G-d, the only creator, saves the person from all sin and damage. Therefore it is completely forbidden to empty the thought, even for one instant from thinking about Hashem, may he be blessed….
The practices of the true Jewish meditation in all its explained terms, regularly, show a person the path to reach prophecy [nevua] and holy inspiration [ruach hakodesh].
Gedalyah Koenig z”l
(from a handwritten document discussing Hitbodedut, Song, and Prophecy)
Along with our teaching on the subject of hitbodedut [personal speaking to G-d] we will talk about neginah and shira [types of song]. And before that we will give a fundamental introduction which is indisputable in regards to meditation which touches to them in songs of zimra [type of song], the only and eternal King. It is known that there is an important secret chapter in hitbodedut, [concerning] actions to empty the thought from bothersome things and sometimes from things which are not bothersome, whose purpose is to give the practitioner release and rest, to create in him a very wide [mental] space which is capable of receiving light to come [or lehaba]. It is important to know that the allowance of the practice of emptying is not directed but towards all of the created details and the creation, but in no way, absolutely, toward the Creator of everything, the Only, the leader that watches everything. Because the thought never stops from thinking. It is possible to bring the thought to a silence, but there is no possible way to cancel it completely. And therefore the thought is active also when it is silent, and it is obligatory that then it would think of the Creator, the one and only creator of all. Because if the thought would be emptied even of that, automatically the thought is given to the desolation [sh'mama] which is a place of trouble[puranut], a dwelling to all sorts of evil spirits [mazikim], which embitter the life of a person. The constant attachment of the thought in G-d, the only creator, saves the person from all sin and damage. Therefore it is completely forbidden to empty the thought, even for one instant from thinking about Hashem, may he be blessed….
The practices of the true Jewish meditation in all its explained terms, regularly, show a person the path to reach prophecy [nevua] and holy inspiration [ruach hakodesh].
