Floods and Towers

THE BIG IDEA

According to the Torah Omens this is a favorable time to take yourself and your immediate family for a weekend of quiet contemplation. 

Hug a tree, stand at the water’s edge, go for a walk outdoors, sit on a patch of grass. Feel the watery world swishing around you, and allow any harmful and distracting thoughts to wash away, as if you were Noah inside his arc, witnessing the hateful, evil, taunting, self defeating people and distorted desires drown into a permanent silence. 

Wherever you are, try to take a few moments to sense into the profound gift of this planet, and the Source of Energy that sustains us all.

Welcome the new moon of Cheshvan, blanketing the world with her quiet softness after Tishrai’s soul searching lights. 

After a season of spiritual elevation, it is important not to confuse the increase in spiritual energy with self elevation.

SOMATIC MEDITATION OF THE WEEK

Find a quiet space.

Get comfortable.

Follow your breath.

Gently, when you are ready, allow yourself to hear any voices, and see any people that taunt, tease, bully or disturb your peace. Visualize them around you as you begin to build a wooden arc large enough to hold everything essential to you inside of it. Make sure to include a window. When your arc is ready, climb inside. Notice as the water comes from both above and below. Feel your vessel lifted off the ground as the watery world swishes around you. Take note of any feelings that arise as you walk over to your window and see all the toxic voices that caused you pain washed away.

Be inside this meditation for 15 minutes.  (15 minutes for the first 150 years Noah floated in the arc)

At the sound of the meditation bell imagine the waters slowly receding uncovering all the former land and spaces of your world, now totally cleared from any toxic thoughts or people. Feel the strong wind blowing around you, clearing you of any lingering memory of painful interactions with people or the planet. Allow yourself to be curious about what might be waiting for you outside your arc.

Be inside this meditation for an additional 15 minutes. (15 minutes for the second 150 years it took for the water to recede)

At the sound of the second bell,

You might look out the window of your arc.
You might send out a raven and then a dove.

Be sure to wait until it feels safe to emerge before stepping out of your personal arc and walking on the earth after 300 days at sea.

When you are ready, slowly open your eyes, and come to a standing position, as you begin taking a few slow steps feel the gratitude for the dry land, and your ability to move freely. Throughout the day, imagine each person you encounter to have, like you, survived a devastating flood, like you, and all the toxicity of the world washed away.

THOUGHT MEDITATION

Consider the following: 

In the story of Noah, God himself, or whatever you call the creator of the universe, destroyed his own creation (except Noah and all that was with him on the arc). According to the story it takes 150 days before God remembers Noah.

Now, imagine you are the creator of the universe. For a moment. And you decided, the only thing to do, given how awful humanity chose to act, was to flood the planet and wash it away.

Do you imagine it was hard for God to flood his creation?

What if you left a tiny representative of that creation floating in a wooden womb— how long would it take you to want to engage again?

Perhaps 150 days is the amount of time needed to process destruction — or for Noah, his family and the animals to completely surrender to the unknown. And perhaps it takes an additional 150 days to re-engage and come into harmonious alignment so that life’s creative cycle can begin again. 

Does this 300 day cycle apply to your personal life?

Does it feel like 150 days to wash away a toxic reality and another 150 days before coming back to the world of relationships feel like divinely instructive timing?

A MOMENT OF BABEL

Now that we are back on land, consider the buildings in which we live, and the structures that populate our cities and world.

Note all the bricks, building materials, and human labor out of which the buildings and houses are made.  

What are the inherent risks in our ability to build and actively participate in creation?

Do you think the separation of our cultures by language keeps us in greater awareness of a Source of the Universe bigger then our selves?

That’s all!

Big love!

Shabbat Shalom