Meditations

Close your eyes and breathe out.

There is a book in front of you. Notice all the details of the book. Reach out to the book.
Feel the power within it. Open it.
When you open the book,
you find a door.
Pass through the door.
You discover a pathway. Follow the path.
At the end of the path,
a teacher awaits you.
The teacher has a gift for you. Receive the gift.
This gift connects you
to all space, all time, and all beings. Offer thanks to the teacher. Return along the path, through the door,
and out of the book.
Close the book.
As you do so,
feel the power within it.
Feel the blessing
of the gift you have received that connects you to all things.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a stone.
Notice all the details of the stone: size, shape, color, texture.
Reach out to the stone.
As you touch it,
a hollow channel appears in the stone. Look up from the stone.
See what the channel carved in the stone has created in the world.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

1:2

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are facing a cosmic void.
As you observe the void,
you see that a world begins to arise: first large structures,
then smaller ones.
Observe all of the aspects of this world. See that behind the world,
the void is still present:
a foundation for everything.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Become aware of your body.
Now, feel that a web of pathways extends from your body
into the earth beneath.
These pathways are like roots, drawing up energy from the ground.

Feel the nourishing energy that comes through the roots into your body.
Send energy
from your body
back into the earth.
Feel what this is like.
Now, feel that pathways extend from your body
into the sky above.
Feel the enlivening energy that comes through the pathways into your body.
Send energy
from your body
back into the sky.
Feel what this is like.
How does your body
feel different now?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See before you the Creator however you understand the Creator.

The Creator’s mouth
is speaking Creation.
See what comes forth from the mouth of the Creator.

The Creator’s hands
are shaping creation.
See what comes forth from the hands of the Creator.

The Creator’s genitals
are birthing creation.
See what comes forth from the genitals of the Creator.

See that these three creations are one. Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Your palms face one another.

The five fingers of one hand touch the five fingers of the other hand. See that each hand
is full of a primordial power.

See that these two powers are opposite.

See that each hand is equally strong.

The ten fingers,
the two forces,
push against one another.

As these two irresistible forces, these two immovable objects, meet,
find the balance between them.

Feel the balance reverberate throughout your body.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are standing on a clear surface, like a frozen lake, or a sheet of glass.

Beneath you,
you perceive
an upside-down reflection of you.

Look down into your reflection.

See that within it is a void, a nothingness.

Feel into this hollowness beneath you. Feel into the place where you are no-thing.

How does this feel?
Now, as you look down into your reflection, feel into your hereness,
your body’s substance
casting this reflection.

How does this feel?
See if you can hold both feelings— substance and void—
at the same time.
See what happens now.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Focus on a central place in your body: mind, heart or belly.

See that a creative power dwells in this place.

Feel this creative power radiating outward through all the limbs of your body.

As creative power fills you, observe what happens
in your body, heart, mind, and spirit.

What will you do with this creative power? Breathe out and open your eyes.

Before beginning, set a timer for 10 minutes. Choose a focus. It can be an image (like a circle or Hebrew letter) or a repetitive sound (like a word, phrase, or song that you repeat) or the sensation of your breath. It could even be the sound of the ocean.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Bring your attention to the focus.

Try to keep your attention there.

When you find that you have other thoughts, gently return to the focus.

You don’t need to chase the thoughts away: just try not to pay attention to them.

If feelings come up, allow the feelings. Return to the focus.

When the timer goes off, breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are on a journey
toward a place that is sacred for you: a mountain, cave, river, garden,
a place of prayer, a shrine,
or anywhere you imagine.

Move closer and closer to your destination.

When you arrive at the place, someone comes out to greet you— someone known or unknown to you.

They say to you: Welcome back. How wonderful that you have returned.

Notice what you feel
as you receive this welcome. Know that you were always meant to come back to this place.

Look down at yourself
and notice how you are transformed by your return to this sacred place.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See that a burning coal is before you. A flame rises out of the coal.
See its brightness and feel its heat.

Perceive that the flame and the coal are inseparable.

See within this fiery coal the mystery of oneness.

If you feel able, reach out to take the coal. Feel its heat, without being burned. Bring it to your mouth.

Hear the truth
that comes out of your mouth when the coal touches it.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Count backward slowly from ten to one.

As you do so, perceive the world shifting from multiplicity
to unity.

When you get to one, count backward one last time, to whatever is before one.

What do you see, hear, or feel when you encounter what is before one?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are looking down into a well. This well contains all space and time and all beings that have ever been.

Look into the well
and see the past that shaped you.
Look into the well and see the future you are shaping.

Look into the well and see what is above you. Look into the well and see what is below you.

Look into the well and see the good in your life.
Look into the well and see what is harmful in your life. Look into the well and see your life as an integrated whole.

Look into the well and see the sacred center. Look into the well and see yourself at the center.

What do you feel and know at the center of all things?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are in a tunnel.
The tunnel is infinite
and goes on forever in both directions.

Look down the tunnel in one direction. What do you see or feel?

Now, look down the tunnel in the opposite direction. What do you see or feel?

Now, bring your attention to the center of the tunnel, the midpoint. What do you find here
at the center of the tunnel?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Lightning flashes before you. As you observe, the lightning becomes ten creatures: the sefirot.

The lightning creatures move in a circle. They bow toward its center.

As the lightning flashes again, it reveals what is at the center of the circle.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are a hollow reed among other reeds. A strong wind blows. You bend in the wind.

Feel the power of the wind as it moves you
and all the other reeds.

Let yourself surrender as you bow in the wind.

What do you feel
as you let the wind bend you?

When the wind stops, return to your place among the other reeds.

See what the wind has left in the hollow within you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

As you breathe out, your breath becomes a being.

As you breathe again,
the being becomes clearer in form. You can fully perceive him/her/them/it.

The being breathes in what you breathe out. You breathe out what the being breathes in.

Feel the love and trust
that arises between you
as you share one another’s breath.

If you wish,
you can ask this being a question and receive an answer.

Or, you can simply breathe in silence, feeling the connection between you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

A wind begins all around you. It starts as a gentle breeze and builds to a strong gust.

Let the wind enter your body and move through you.

Within you and all around you, the wind whispers.

Accept what the wind whispers as a truth,
a gift of the holy wind.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

This practice can be undertaken outside on a windy day.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See, hear, and feel before you the ruach hakodesh,
the divine wind, the holy breath.

This divine wind divides
and becomes four winds.

Each of the four winds has a face.
Let each face
greet you
and make itself known to you. What do you meet
in the faces of the four winds?

Now, the four winds become one divine wind again.

The divine wind now also has a face. Encounter this face
that unifies the four winds.
The face breathes into yours, filling you with its unity.

Feel what happens
as you breathe the divine breath that holds the four winds of the world.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See that the four winds carry your breath
to all living beings on earth.

Mammals, insects, birds, fish, trees
all breathe your breath.
The four winds bring their breath back to you.

You are breathing the breath of all life on earth. When they breathe out, you breathe in.
When you breathe out, they breathe in.

Breathe out.
Breathe in.
Feel how the four winds join you to all living things.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you, a drop of water condenses and hangs in the air. The inside
of this drop of water
is visible to you
in all of its minute detail.

Inside the drop of water,
a world appears.
Earth spreads out. Plants grow. Creatures emerge.
All forms of life appear.

Each time you breathe on the drop, the image clarifies.
The world is contained within this drop of water.

Reach out and take this drop, this infinite blessing,
in your hand.

What do you feel and understand as you hold this garden of life in your hand?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Your breath becomes a mist. The mist surrounds you.

The mist becomes a stream of water. The stream flows around you, cleansing and renewing, washing away any detritus
or impediment that clings to you.

When all has been cleansed, the stream becomes a mist again. The mist dissolves.

You feel clear and new
after your immersion in these waters.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a fire. Out of the fire
a throne arises. Heavenly hosts surround it.

The Creator arrives to sit upon the throne. The Creator invites you
to sit on the heavenly throne.
What do you see from this vantage point? What do you learn
from the perspective of the divine throne?

Step down off the throne. Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Find in your body
a place where your life-force is strong.

See and feel within this place a bright and powerful flame. Feel the warmth of this flame as it spreads through your body.

What feeling arises
as you sense the flame within? What action or intention does the flame invite in you?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are plunging your hands into a pool. From the pool, you draw out a handful of water. In your cupped hands, the water becomes a jewel. The jewel bursts into flame.

The flame does not burn you.

You hold it up
and it lights up everything around you.

This flame reignites all the light in the world that has gone out.

See and feel the hope that has been reignited
by this fire drawn from water.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Before you engage this meditation, you will need to learn the six combinations of letters for the six directions in 1:13 or, alternatively, decide on a single letter or symbol you will use to seal each of the directions.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

There is a cube around you.
It may be visible or invisible.
It has walls, a ceiling, and a floor.
Reach out to the walls, ceiling, and floor of the cube. What do they look and/or feel like?

A writing implement appears in your hand. Reach up to the ceiling.
Feel the vastness of what is above. Inscribe the seal of the Above.

Reach down to the floor. Feel the depths of what is below. Inscribe the seal for the Below.

Reach ahead of you to the eastern wall. Feel the brightness of the east. Inscribe the seal for the East.

Reach behind you to the western wall. Feel the glow of the west. Inscribe the seal for the West.

Reach left to the northern wall. Feel the power of the north. Inscribe the seal for the North.

Reach right to the southern wall. Feel the power of the south. Inscribe the seal for the South.

Return to the center. Look around at the cube. Look down at yourself.

What is different?
How have the walls, floor, and ceiling of the cube changed? How have you changed?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are a channel between heaven and earth.

If you reach upward, you touch the Above and feel its vibration.

If you reach downward you touch the Below and feel its vibration.

Let the two vibrations mingle inside you and become one.

What happens within
as the two vibrations merge?

What happens in the world around you as the two vibrations merge?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See that you are surrounded by four walls: one of wind, one of water,
one of fire, and one of holy divine breath.

Turn to each wall.
See that inscribed on each wall is an image, word, or phrase: a message for you.

Receive the messages that the elements offer.

Now, inspired by these messages, call wind, water, and holy breath to fill the space within the walls. Wind, water, breath and fire meet one another

and begin to create.

What do the elements create as they join with one another? Observe how this creation enriches you and the world.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a page.
You write a letter on it.
It becomes a creation
and flies off the page to its proper place.

You write another letter. It becomes a creation and flies to its proper place.

Perceive with wonder
the beauty and uniqueness
of each creation
that arises out of the letters you form.

When you are finished forming letters, look up and see the world that you have made.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a tapestry.
As you observe its colors and textures, you become aware that this tapestry is a vast network of many forces.

Reach out to one of the threads and let it vibrate between your fingers. What is the power of this thread? Let its power enter you.

Reach out to another thread. Let it vibrate between your fingers. What is the power of this thread? Let its power enter you.

Reach out to another thread. Let it vibrate between your fingers. What is the power of this thread? Let its power enter you.

Now feel within.
What is different?
What have the three threads woven in you?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are at the mouth of a cave. You hear a voice within the cave: a song, or hum, or words,
or simply breath.

Descend into the cave.
The voice calls you deeper and deeper into the cave.

You come to the innermost chamber. Here, the voice surrounds you, penetrates your being.
You respond to the voice
with your own voice.

You find
that the source of the voice is within you.

Still singing or sounding, you climb out of the cave into the light.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

A hollow ball spins before you, engraved with shapes and designs.

The ball makes a sound. This single sound emerges from all the openings
and the engravings.

Allow the sound to fill you, awaken you,
and heal you.

As you heal and awaken,
the meaning of the shapes and designs becomes clear.

Know in this moment what the ball’s design communicates to you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out slowly.

You are standing at the center
of a ring of standing stones. There is a letter carved into each stone.

The ring of stones
lifts, and whirls around you. When the ring stops whirling, two of the stones
have formed a gateway.

Look through the gateway. See the world’s greatest good, and the world’s greatest injury.

See that the good reaches out to heal the harm.

See your own greatest good, your own greatest injury. See that the good reaches out to heal the harm.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Three glowing globes hang in the air, just within reach.
The globes radiate joy, vitality, and serenity.

Now the globes rearrange themselves. In this configuration,
the globes radiate sorrow, fear, and anger.

Reach out and rearrange the globes into a third configuration
that holds all of these feelings together.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are transported to a realm where angels are singing.

You hear the angels pronounce the Divine Name.

However you hear this Name is the right way.

As the angels sing or speak or dance the Name, a universe comes into being.

You are a witness to this new universe, this moment of beginning.

See your own life beginning anew as you hear the Divine Name.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are at the center of a double circle of stones
carved with Hebrew letters.
One by one, the letters are shining and sounding their sounds.

Two stones begin to shine, sounding their letters together. As they do so,
a ray of light enters the circle.

Now two other letters glow and sound, then two others.
Each time a pair of letters glows and sounds, a ray of light appears within the circle until there are many, many rays of light.

What do you hear, see, or feel
as the lights interweave with one another?

The lights dim
and the circle of stones falls silent. In the silence, know
that you have heard and seen
a name of God.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out slowly.

A fire is before you.
A fire-keeper is tending it.
This fire is your life-force.
See how carefully the fire-keeper tends it, and breathes on it to keep the flame alive.

As the fire burns,
a pillar of smoke arises from within it. Within this pillar
is a new creation.
What new thing
arises from the fire
that is your life?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Each breath you take
is forming a pillar between sky and earth. Soon you are surrounded
by many great pillars.

Reach out to one of these pillars.
Try to grasp it.
What happens
when you try to grasp the pillar of breath?

As you breathe, the pillars multiply. Observe the structure they form.

This form, whatever it is,
is the holy temple.
Rest within the temple. Notice how it feels to be here.

Know that you yourself are the Holy Temple, connecting sky and earth.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are holding all of your merits in one hand. Look at them and feel their weight. Notice their size, texture, color.

You are holding all of your guilts in the other hand. Look at them and feel their weight.
Notice their size, texture, color.

Breathe.
Bring your hands together.

Allow merit and guilt
to integrate and come into balance.

Open your cupped hands.

What do you see
in your cupped-open hands?

What has become
of your guilt and innocence?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

This is a version of a meditation created by Dr. Catherine Shainberg, used by permission.

Close your eyes and breathe out. You see two of yourself.

One of you is completely constrained:
by others, by your situation, by the universe.

One of you is completely free,
and completely unconstrained by anyone or anything. See these two versions of you clearly.

As you observe,
the two of you
step together and become one.

What is the nature of this self/that is both free and unfree? Know this as your true nature.

Let this self step into you and become you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are holding a many-petaled rose of any color you imagine.

A petal falls off, then another, until six layers of the rose fall away.

At the center of the rose is the secret
of the three mothers: air, water, and fire.

Perceive and know the secret as it manifests to you within the rose
at this moment.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Woven in a cloak of light around you are the energies of male and female.

Feel the power
of the two energies
as they manifest to you right now.

Feel how they are similar and different.

Feel their profound and equal power.

The energies
of female and male
now gift you their power
in the form most appropriate to you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are at a point
between heaven and earth:
maybe on a mountaintop
or an immense ladder.
You can see a long way in all directions. You can feel the wind.
Take a breath of this good clean air
to draw strength for your journey. Ascend from this place
(by climbing, flying, or in any other way) and enter the realm of fire.
What does this realm look and feel like? Whom or what do you find here?
What is the wisdom
of the realm of fire?
When you leave,
take some of the fire
in a form you can bring with you. Return to the point where you started. Now, descend and enter the realm of water. What does this realm look and feel like? Whom or what do you meet here?
What is the wisdom
of the realm of water?
When you leave,
take some of the water
in a form you can bring with you. Return to the point where you started. Take out the water and fire you have gathered. Mix them together.
What happens when you do this? Breathe this mixture into yourself.
Feel the transformation
as air, water, and fire mix within you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

The Shin, Mem, and Aleph arise before you
as three beings:
a fire-being,
a water-being,
a wind-being.
The fire-being
offers you a secret doorway to the world of fire.
See what you find there, what you see, hear, and feel. This world
is your world. Return to where you started. The water-being offers you a secret doorway to the world of water. See what you find there, what you see, hear, and feel. This world
is your world. Return to where you started. The wind-being
offers you a secret doorway to the world of air.
See what you find there, what you see, hear, and feel. This world
is your world. Return to where you started. Thank the three beings. Come to awareness
that each one of them
is part of you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. It is night.

You are standing on a beach with your feet in the ocean.

You breathe in the cool air.

Above you are the stars. You hear and feel the waves.

You are standing in all three worlds at once, touching the sky,
the earth,
the sea.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Sound the Mem
מ
a deep mmm sound.
Feel the resonance of Mem through your whole body. Notice where Mem resonates most.

Sound the Shin
ש
a hissing shhh sound.
Feel the resonance of Shin through your whole body. Notice where Shin resonates most.

Sound the Aleph
א
a breathy ahh sound.
Feel the resonance of Aleph through your whole body. Notice where Aleph resonates most.

Now, come to silence.

What happens
in your heart, mind, and body in the silence after the sound?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

As you sound the Mem,
a deep mmm sound in the belly waters flow in you.
Let the waters cleanse you.

As you sound the Shin,
a soft shh sound in the head fires stir in you.
Let the fire enliven you.

As you sound the Aleph,
an open ahh sound in the chest, breath moves in you.
Let the breath heal you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Air, water, and fire, the three mothers, are before you.

Perceive them fully
in whatever way they appear to you.

As you observe,
each of the three mothers gives birth: air, then water, then fire.

Take note of the three entities born to the three mothers.

How do you envision them?

Observe as these three newly born entities find their right place in the world.

Breathe out and open your eyes. ‘

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Breathe into your chest.

This is the Aleph breath.
Imagine the branching shape of the aleph
א
in your chest,
or simply breathe “Aah.”
Feel the air, the aleph,
moving in your chest
and through your body.
Now, breathe into your belly.
This is the Mem breath.
Imagine the rounded shape of the mem
מ
in your belly,
or simply breathe “Mmm.”
Feel the water, the mem,
moving in your belly
and through your body.
Now, breathe into the crown of your head. This is the Shin breath.
Imagine the flaming shape of the Shin
ש
at the crown of your head,
or simply breathe “Shhh.”
Feel the fire, the Shin,
moving in your head
and through your body.
Cycle through these three breaths again: chest: air, Aleph, Aah.
belly: water, Mem, Mmm.
head: fire, Shin, Shhh.
Cycle through them a third time.
As you breathe,
feel the three parts of the body,
the three elements come together into a whole.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Two wind-beings face you,
male and female or of non-binary gender. How are they the same and different? What are their gifts for you?

Two water-beings face you,
male and female or of non-binary gender. How are they the same and different? What are their gifts for you?

Two fire-beings face you,
male and female or of non-binary gender. How are they the same and different? What are their gifts for you?

Envision the six beings in a circle around you, offering you their blessing.

Notice which being among these six draws you,
and invite that being to be your guide throughout this day.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See the Aleph before you:
א
Breathe in the gift of Aleph: wind, breath, spirit.
Feel Aleph spreading in your chest.

As you breathe,
let the shape of Aleph extend through your body.

Sound the sound of Aleph:
Aah.
Let the sound vibrate and resonate through you, cleansing and expanding.

Let this sound hold a blessing:
a blessing for movement, balance, unfurling. Envision the impact of this blessing inside your body.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are sitting in a high windy place, wearing the Aleph as a ring.
This ring appears exactly as you imagine it.

The ring allows you to summon the power of wind.

Ask the wind to rise all around you. Use the wind to shape your world. How does your world transform as you release the wind?

Let the wind die down.

Look all around you. Discover what is new and different in the world
and in yourself.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See the Mem before you: מ
Breathe in the gift of Mem: water, earth, depth. Feel Mem in your belly.

As you breathe,
let the shape of Mem—
the shape of a cave or a womb— move through your body.

Sound the sound of Mem:
Mmm.
Let the sound vibrate and resonate through you, enlivening, nourishing, healing.

Let this sound hold a blessing:
of flowing, deepening, life-giving. Envision the impact of this blessing inside your body.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are sitting by the edge of a body of water, wearing the Mem as a ring.
This ring appears exactly as you imagine it.

The ring allows you to summon the power of water.

Ask the water to flow all around you. Use the water to shape your world. How does your world transform as you release the water?

Let the water return to its place.

Look all around you. Discover what is new and different in the world
and in yourself.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

The Shin is before you:
ש
Breathe in the Shin:
fire, flame, light.
Feel the Shin
as a flame at the crown of your head.

As you breathe,
let the flame of Shin
radiate through your body.
Sound the sound of Shin:
Shhh.
Let the sound vibrate and resonate through you, igniting, awakening, invigorating.

Let this sound hold a blessing:
of inspiration, energy, illumination. Envision the impact of this blessing inside your body.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are sitting in the sunlight or under a bright moon, wearing the Shin as a ring.
This ring appears exactly as you imagine it.

The ring allows you to summon the power of fire.

Ask the fire to flow all around you. Use the fire to shape your world. How does your world transform as you release the fire?

Let the fire subside.

Look all around you. Discover what is new and different in the world
and in yourself.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. Before you is a tree.

Approach the tree
and observe that it has a branch with seven blossoms. Each blossom contains a gift.

The seven gifts are: life
peace wisdom wealth
grace
seed
and sovereignty.

Observe the seven blossoms.

As you do so,
one of the blossoms falls into your hand and reveals to you its gift. Welcome this gift into your life.
See how your life is transformed
by the presence of this gift.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. Before you are seven archways.

Each archway leads to two opposing truths: life and death
peace and evil
wisdom and foolishness
wealth and poverty
grace and ugliness
seed and desolation
sovereignty and slavery.

Look through one of the archways.

See one half of the truth it reveals. Then see the other half of that truth.

Now, look through the archway and see that truth integrated into a whole.

What happens in your heart as you witness the whole truth?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are in a cube-shaped chamber. Each wall has a window.
as does the ceiling and floor. Look through the windows
to north, south, east, west,
up, and down.

What do you see, hear, and feel as you look through the windows?

Now come to stillness at the center of the room.

At this moment,
you are in the Holy Temple at the center of the universe. Feel the harmony and blessing that this place offers.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

From a place outside yourself, see yourself.
Zoom out.

See your town,
your region,
your country,
your continent.
Now see the Earth,
the solar system,
the Milky Way galaxy,
the Andromeda cluster of galaxies, the universe.

Now see the holy temple,
set in the center of the universe, holding up all of being.
See the nature of this holy temple. It is holding up
the universe
your galaxy
your solar system
your planet
your continent
your town
you
at this very moment.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. Think back to a week ago. Recall the past seven days,

one at a time.

See if you can summon a memory from each of the seven days.

When you get to the present moment, notice how these seven memories have led you to this time and place.

Notice also
how this time and place are a fresh start.

Rest in this moment without attachment to the past or concern about the future.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Bring your attention to your eyes.
Think of moments of joyful experience
they have given you.
Offer gratitude.
If they don’t work perfectly or at all,
offer them your blessing anyway.
Now bring your attention to your ears.
Think of moments of joyful experience
they have given you.
Offer gratitude.
If they don’t work perfectly or at all,
offer them your blessing anyway.
Now bring your attention to your nose.
Think of moments of joyful experience
your nose has given you.
Offer gratitude.
If your nose doesn’t work perfectly or at all,
offer it your blessing anyway.
Now bring your attention to your mouth.
Think of moments of joyful experience
your mouth has given you.
Offer gratitude.
If your mouth doesn’t work perfectly or at all, offer it your blessing anyway.
When you have brought attention to all seven apertures, come to stillness.
Notice what you are sensing
through those apertures
right now.
Offer gratitude
for this moment.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are holding a stone in your hand. See and/or feel the stone:
its form, color, texture.
Place the stone in front of you. The stone becomes two stones. The two stones multiply, becoming many stones.
As they multiply and multiply, observe what unity emerges. This unity is at the core of being, at the core of your life,
at the core of this moment.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Envision a shining circle
like a sun or moon.
The circle divides into two circles.
It divides and divides
until there is no more circle,
only light.
Bathe in this light.
Know that you are healed and transformed by means of this infinite light.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a pond.
There are seven steppingstones in the pond. They lead across the water.
Their destination is veiled in mist. Move from stone to stone.
As you reach each stone,
observe what is different,
how your perspective shifts,
how the mist lifts or thickens,
how sound and light change.
When you come to the final stone,
the veils are lifted,
the temple appears.
The mystery is revealed.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. See the letter Bet ב before you.

See Bet as a mouth.
What does Bet say to you about the mysteries of creation?

See Bet as a womb.
What emerges from the womb of Bet?

See Bet as Shabbat.
What does Bet teach
about the power of rest and stillness?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See the letter Dalet ד  before you.
See Dalet as an elder, a wise person, pointing the way. What is the wisdom to which Dalet points? Look to where Dalet points
and see the wisdom you are growing into.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See the letter Reish ר  before you.
Reish is seed. Reish is a head, a beginning:
a sprout bursting from the ground, a child being born. What is the beginning Reish shows you?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See Tav ת  before you.
Walk through the gate in the Tav.
The full moon is before you.
In the light of the full moon,
you see a vision of yourself in your full sovereignty. Taking this vision of your sovereignty with you, step back through the door.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Call to mind where you are in space: in your house or under a tree,
at work or school,
on a certain continent or island. Let the layers of where you are unfold in your perception.

Call to mind where you are in time: morning or night, summer or winter, a workday or a moment of leisure, in youth or old age or in the middle. Let the layers of when you are unfold in your perception.

Call to mind the sensations of your body: ease or discomfort, excitement or calm, energy or fatigue, fullness or hunger. Let the layers of your body experience unfold in your perception.

Now, try to hold these three dimensions in your consciousness at the same time.

You exist
at the nexus of space, time, and body-soul.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

This practice offers gratitude for the twelve faculties. If any of these faculties are absent for you, or impaired, you can skip them, or contemplate any ways in which they have mattered to you. Or, you can substitute a sense; for example, touch instead of sight, or vibration instead of hearing.

Close your eyes and breathe out. Remember a moment when…

the gift of sight has mattered to you.
the gift of hearing has mattered to you.
the gift of smell has mattered to you.
the gift of speech has mattered to you.
the gift of taste has mattered to you.
the gift of sexuality has mattered to you.
the gift of action has mattered to you.
the gift of walking or locomotion has mattered to you.
the gift of strong feelings—tears, anger, grief, joy—has mattered to you. the gift of laughter has mattered to you.
the gift of thought has mattered to you.
the gift of sleep has mattered to you.

Offer gratitude for all these moments.
Now, choose a sense-gift that is inspiring to you in this moment. Commit to use this gift in a special way today.
Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out. Visualize a circle.

Within this shape,
place whatever feeling or sensation you are experiencing right now:

contentment or anger, grief or joy, pain, discomfort, pleasure, sleepiness, love, excitement, or terror.

Watch the feeling you’ve summoned move within the circle.
Does it have a color or texture or shape?

Observe whether the feeling strengthens or dissipates or stays the same.

What do you learn
by observing this feeling? When you are ready, release the circle.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are holding a rod or twig or feather—
any kind of implement for sketching lines in the air.

Form an intention
to protect or bless someone or something within a sacred space.

With your implement, draw a vertical line.
This is the first line
of the cube of energy you are making.
Put your intention into this line as you draw it. Sketch another three lines
so that you complete a square, a face of a cube. Continue to hold your intention.
Now, turning to your left, sketch another three lines so that you have a second face of the cube. Continue to hold your intention.
Turn to your left again and sketch another three lines to make a third face of the cube.
Continue to hold your intention.
Turn to your left.
You will need to draw only two more lines
to make a fourth face of the cube
and connect all the cube’s sides together.
When the cube is complete,
feel its lines glow with your intention.
Now, bring into the cube,
simply by intending to do so,
anyone or anything
you want this intention to reach.

Visualize the impact of your intention on this person or entity.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are holding a rod or twig or feather—
any kind of implement for sketching lines in the air. Form an intention to protect or bless someone or something within a sacred space.

You are about to sketch a cube of energy (an illustration appears on the following page).

Facing east, draw a letter heh ה at eye level to your left. This creates a vertical line, like a column.
Put your intention into this line as you draw it.

Sketch vav ו at eye level to your right.
This forms another vertical line, parallel to the first.

Write a zayin ז above you
and a chet ח near the ground.
These create horizontal lines that join with the vertical ones to complete one face of a cube that faces east.

Continue to hold your intention.

Now, turning to your left (north), sketch yud י to your left. This forms a new vertical line.

Sketch a lamed ל  above you
and a tet ט  near the ground.
These create horizontal lines that join with the vertical ones so that you now have a second north-facing side of the cube.

Continue to hold your intention.

Turn left once again so you are facing west. Draw a samech ס to your left.
This creates a vertical line, like a column.

Sketch a nun נ near the ground
and an ayin ע higher up.
These create horizontal lines that join with the vertical ones so that you now have a third west-facing side of the cube.

Continue to hold your intention.

Turn left once more to face south.
Draw a tzadi צ close to the ground
and a kuf ק higher up.
These create horizontal lines that join with the vertical ones so that you now have the southern face,
finishing the entire cube.

When the cube is complete,
see that its lines glow with your intention.

From your place within the cube,
feel the intention you have drawn into its lines. How do you feel or appear different within this space?

Now, bring into the cube,
simply by intending to do so, anyone or anything
you want this intention to reach.
Feel the impact of the cube you have drawn on this person or entity.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are sitting on a beach.
A wave comes toward you.
Reach out and draw a line around you in the sand. Draw the line with the intention
to hold your space.
See that this line holds.
The wave breaks around you
but does not touch you.

No matter how many waves come, they do not cross the line.

Feel the open space

that surrounds you.
Feel the freedom of this open space.

Now release the line,
and let the waves touch you once more.

Feel the surrender
of opening to the waves.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out slowly.

You are lying beneath a night sky.
Stars shine above you.
One particular star catches your attention. Its light falls on you
and permeates your body.
Healing and cleansing
from the light of this star
reaches all the limbs and organs of your body.

Perhaps one particular part
needs healing
and receives it from the light of this star.

The star recedes
but its light now shines within you, illuminating all your cells, organs, and limbs, all of your body and soul.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Around you are twelve figures. Perhaps they are the twelve simple letters, the signs of the Zodiac,
or the months of the year.
Turn in a circle
and see all twelve figures.

One of the figures comes to life
and comes to stand with you.
This being has come to share with you wisdom you need for healing and growth. Listen to what this being has to tell you. The being steps back into place.

Turn in a circle
and again see all twelve beings. Notice what, if anything, is different now.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Before you begin, you can choose a letter from among the twelve simple letters, corresponding to a body part that wants healing. The example below will use the letter nun, but you can use any of the simple letters.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

The nun appears before you.
נ
See, hear, and touch the nun.
Notice any feelings or associations you have. The nun now becomes transparent
and able to pass through any substance. Allow the nun to enter your body
and go to your stomach,
which is its natural space within the body. Feel the healing power of nun
as it rests in your stomach.
Notice what happens in your stomach. Does it become less sore or tight?

Allow the nun to dissolve and become part of you.

Breathe out and open your eyes. Repeat with as many letters as you wish.

Before you begin, note the Hebrew month and the letter of that month, according to 5:4. The examples below will use the month of Nisan, the spring month of Passover, and Tishrei, the fall month of Rosh haShanah, but you can use any month and letter.

Nisan

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Allow Nisan,
month of spring
to arise in your thoughts. What feelings arise
as you contemplate this month? Notice what is good or hard for you about this moment in time.

Visualize heh, the letter
connected to this month.
ה
The quality of heh is “sight.”
Allow your sight or perception to deepen and expand as you contemplate this month.
What can you see or perceive now
that you could not before?
See how the month is filled with this blessing of sight.

Keep this blessing with you in the days ahead.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Before you begin, note the Hebrew month and the letter of that month, according to 5:4. The examples below will use the month of Nisan, the spring month of Passover, and Tishrei, the fall month of Rosh haShanah, but you can use any month and letter.

Tishrei

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Allow Tishrei,
month of autumn and the new year, to arise in your thoughts. What feelings arise
as you contemplate this month? Notice what is good or hard for you about this moment in time.

Visualize lamed, the letter
connected to this month.
ל
The quality of lamed is “action.”
Seek within yourself
for the knowledge that you can act
to improve the world and your life.
See that the lamed,
tall like a shepherd’s crook,
strengthens this place.
Allow your capacity for action
to deepen and expand.
To what action
will you commit this month?
See how the month is filled with this blessing of action.

Keep this blessing with you in the days ahead.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.
You are watching one who engraves letters into stone.

Maybe this is God, or another creator-being, or maybe it is you or someone you know. It is not easy to see what is being engraved. Go closer until you are able to see
the engraved stone.

Engraved into the stone
is the primary wisdom of creation. Take in this wisdom.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Rays of light extend from the universe into your body: twenty-two rays of light.

Through these lines, you feel a potent energy— the power of eternity— come into your body.

Allow yourself to fill with the energy of the rays.

Allow yourself to know what you must do with the energy that fills you.

Let the answer come
in whatever form it comes.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are in a place of treasures:
a king’s counting room,
a dragon’s hoard,
or a museum of priceless antiquities.

All around you are precious things.

Among the treasures,
you discover the twenty-two Hebrew letters.

Pick up one of the letters.

This letter has been given to you
so you may carry out your mission in the world.

Promise it that you will do your best to use the letter well.

Now, with the letter’s help, see the beginning of your task.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Three angels appear before you: the angel of space,
the angel of time,
the angel of the body-soul. You may ask one question
of each of these angels:
the angel of space
the angel of time
the angel of the body-soul. Ask your three questions and receive the answers. Each of the angels
now has a gift for you.
As the gifts pass to you,
the angels vanish.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Facing you are three ancestors. Behind them are the generations. Where is your place
among the ancestors and their generations? Facing you are seven conquerors. Behind them are their hosts.
Where is your place
among the conquerors and their hosts? Facing you are twelve boundaries. Within them are twelve lands, twelve tribal territories.
Where is your place
in these twelve lands?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are gazing up at a vast sky of stars. Above you,
a throne appears.
On the throne is a dragon.
The dragon guides and knows all space. Ask the dragon to show you
the precise space in the universe assigned to you.
Find and occupy your space in the universe fully, without reservation.
From your place,
look up and thank the dragon
on its throne among the stars.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a revolving wheel. As the wheel revolves,
see that everything changes with the passage of time. Perceive that a change is unfolding at this very moment.
See that this change
is a loss and a gain.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Listen carefully to your heart. Perceive the war that your heart is fighting.

Let your heart know
that you hear the pain of this war, that you feel its suffering.

As you listen,
become aware of what must happen for the heart to be at peace.

Let the transformation happen.

Let peace unfold. Sit in the peace of your heart.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

On one side of you is good.
On the other side is evil.
Perceive them both clearly:
how they look, sound, feel, smell.
How does each one look and feel? Which one is more approachable? Which one is scarier?
Which one is tempting,
which one off-putting?
What does each one say to you?
Now, good and evil approach one another. What happens?
What happens when they touch one another? Now, breathe out
and perceive that evil is no longer present. See the good that has been stored up for you.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are in a place where good is hidden. You know where it is hidden
and can find it.
Seek out the good
and release it
so that it is now visible and available to all. See what happens in the world
and in you
when the good that is hidden
enters the world.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

See before you a conflict in your life.
See the sides of the conflict.
Perceive that the opposing sides of the conflict are joined together.
What new perspective on this conflict arises from what you see?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Become aware of the conflicts in yourself, your immediate circle,
your community,
your society,
your world.
See how you contribute
to those conflicts.
Now, see the unity in yourself,
your immediate circle,
your community,
your society,
your world.
See how you contribute
to the unity.
Commit within yourself
to strengthening the unity.
Notice what changes
in the images before you
as you make this commitment.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

Before you is a teacher,
however you imagine that teacher.
The teacher places a sacred and immense power in your hand. What is this power?
What is its nature?
Now, feel that the power you hold in your hand
has been within you all along.
What will you do
with this sacred power?

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breath out.

You are journeying along a path.
As you walk, you encounter the Book of Creation, however it appears to you.

Open the Book of Creation to the page meant for you.

On that page, you see yourself becoming God’s friend.

Allow this truth to arise from the page and weave itself into your life.

Breathe out and open your eyes.

Close your eyes and breathe out.

You are journeying on a path. You come to a crossroad
where many paths meet.
At the crossroad, you find three gates.

Pass through the first gate: the gate of space.

Pass through the second gate: the gate of time.

Pass through the third gate: the gate of the body and soul.

As you pass through the third gate, you find the path
that is right for you at this moment.

Look back through the three gates and see that the same inscription is carved above each one.

What is the inscription?
A word, an image? Both?
What is the final seal
on your journey through the Book of Creation?

Breathe out and open your eyes.