This poem is intended to support and inspire Jewish mindfullness and meditation practices by drawing on the commonality I see between Zen Buddhist and Jewish theologies. Inspired by the language of the Heart Sutra, it can be read silently to oneself or chanted as a group following or preceding meditation.
Oneness is Emptiness and Emptiness is oneness.
In Emptiness there are no feet, no sexes, no left hands, no right hands,
no hearts, no left shoulders, no right shoulders,
no voices, no eyes, no ears and no crowns.
All the sefirot(pl of sefirah) In Kabbalah, the 10 “attributes” – channels of Divine energy – via which God interacts with creation. are illuminated by emptiness.
There is no kingdom, no foundation, no splendour,
no eternity, no harmony, no severity,
no kindness, no knowledge, no understanding,
no wisdom and no transcendence.
Without any attributes for forming a self, the wise find a home in practicing their wisdom.
Seeing through inner shells, outer shells and divine sparks,
through the breath, the spirit and the soul,
through the positive and negative commandments,
beyond exile and indrawing,
beyond clean and unclean,
beyond ShabbatShabbat is the Sabbath day, the Day of Rest, and is observed from Friday night through Saturday night. Is set aside from the rest of the week both in honor of the fact that God rested on the seventh day after creating the world. On Shabbat, many Jews observe prohibitions from various activities designated as work. Shabbat is traditionally observed with festive meals, wine, challah, prayers, the reading and studying of Torah, conjugal relations, family time, and time with friends. and the workday,
without attributes of a self and so without any fear.
Without universal providence, divine providence,
without absence of universal providence and without absence of divine providence,
breaking free from the wheel of multiplicity and unity,
the wise take refuge in seeing exactly what is:
without end, without end, completely without any end, Amen.
