Tag: meditation

True Greatness Is Knowing Where We Are

We all have those days where we feel we will never amount to what we wish we would become. We feel small, distant, lost. We don’t know how to find our way forward along the path to find our “greatness.” Instead, we spend so much energy and time seeing all the ways we haven’t reached our life goals.

One area I want to focus on is spiritual growth. In working on our spiritual goals, our spiritual growth, this inability to focus on where we are versus where we aren’t can make it feel like we aren’t having success. We feel distant from our desires to be more connected to our faith, our religion, our trust in Gd. But are we really so far away? Perhaps we aren’t distant but how we perceive things is what is leading to think we are distant. So much of growing along the path of life comes down to the mindset we bring to the moment. I think this is illustrated in the following teaching:

Someone asked the Rebbe Shlit”a how they should deal with their feelings of lack of success. They hear so much from the Rebbe about the high and lofty spiritual levels one should reach, but they feel so far from reaching any of this! The Rebbe answered that the Zohar HaKadosh says that “he who is small is great,” therefore, by a person simply acknowledging where they are truly holding i.e. that they are “small” and not yet on these high levels they learned about, they are showing that they are truly great.

Sea of Wisdom, Parshas Bo 5784 – R. Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern

When we embrace the notion that we aren’t there yet, not in a negative way, but in a growth mindset way, we change the paradigm. It is no longer that our distance from our desired goals is a sign of what we are lacking. Rather, our place now is our “greatness” and through this current greatness, we are on the path to higher levels of spiritual growth. 

Today, and everyday, when we take stock of where we are, not where we haven’t gotten to, I hope that we can see we are in the place of today’s greatness, knowing full well we want to journey further to tomorrow’s greatness. May we embrace where we are now and find the inspiration from this spot to move along the road of becoming more and more.

Looking for help in recognizing the greatness that is you? If you or someone you know is looking to forge ahead and set new goals or trying to find a sense of meaning in life, we are here to help foster spiritual and emotional growth and change. Schedule your appointment today here. For more information, please contact New Beginnings Spiritual Coaching and Consulting LLC at 732-314-6758 ext. 100 or via email at newbeginningsspiritualcoach@gmail.com

Meditation for Rosh Hashanah

Rosh Hashanah is a new beginning, a new opportunity to reconnect with our most basic self. There are no barriers. The shofar blowing represents this barrierless experience, as the sounds come from our breath and breath alone. We listen to the depths of the soul and if we are attentive, will truly experience the cries and pains that emerge.

For those looking for a focus for this upcoming Rosh Hashanah, the following piece is very meaningful. Rav Yoel Glick shared the following reflection and practice for concentration during Shofar Blowing.

The shofar (ram’s horn) that we sound on Rosh Hashanah is intimately linked with this process. The shofar blast is a column of energy in the form of sound that aligns us with our soul and prepares us to receive the incoming new consciousness and energies. It creates the “birth canal” for the spiritual awakening that is to take place at this time. The stronger the alignment is with the column of energy, the greater will be the spiritual birth that takes place.

Rebbe Natan of Nemirov teaches that on Rosh Hashanah we bring the New Year from koach el hapoel, from potential into action, from the plane of the mind into the plane of physicality — from celestial energies into concrete activities in the world. The physical act of blowing the shofar is a symbolic representation of this movement. We take air from our lungs and send it through a physical vessel, the shofar, which then takes the breath and turns it into sound...

When we listen to the sound of the Shofar, we are hearing the depths of the shofar blower. Are we paying attention to the sound, the breath, the energy put out into the world? Here is Rav Yoel’s practice for being mindful and focused during and after the shofar blowing:

Begin by first emptying your mind of all thoughts. Search inward and find the center of your being. Now turn your mind towards the God of Israel and the Soul of Israel, and look in their direction with love and awe.

When the shofar is blown, use the sound to focus your mind and ascend upward on the energy. Keep reaching higher and higher as the shofar blasts continue. When the shofar stops — sit in the silence — still and ready to receive the Lord’s response.

This response may come as a feeling of God’s presence, or as a thought, word or image that drops into your mind; or it may simply come as the “livingness” within the silence. Whatever form God’s response takes, if you are open and sincere, then you will receive.

May this year be a year where we all find a new beginning, something that invigorates our hearts and minds. May we be open to receive blessing and goodness. May this year see us continue to emerge from the traumas of the past year and a half and may each of you find a sweetness and hope.