i know this place. i've been there. sabbath

it's truly my great good fortune that my rabbi would open his house for sabbath service, not to mention torah studies. studying in the teacher's house is an ancient tradition in china. i love it.

on the threshold of entering sabbath rabbi lerner asks each of us, what do you want to let go as go you into sabbath? i say, i can't think of any for myself but i would like hwubby to let go of the suffering and pain as a result of having two teeth pulled unexpectedly.

a fun and thoughtful congregant says, i already let go of what i need to let go and my intention going into sabbath is to be the person that i am now, not the person i was in the past, not the person i wish to be in the future.

i say, rabbi, can i have an intention going into sabbath too? he says, yes. i say, may i always remember two things, remember god and remember my own death.

we have a ball with the service. as i sing at the top of my lungs all those wonderful and marvelous songs i am in awe of the spectacular sunset unfolding through the wall-to-wall window. god is not far away. god is so close. in fact when i look at the images of deep outer space from the hubbel telescope i say to myself, i know this place, i've been there. indeed. everyday when i close my eyes i go a little deeper and a little higher into the inner world, the mystical world, that has no outer edges and has infinite wonders and marvels.

anyhow, i must have been a hebrew, maybe even a cantor, dare i say, in some lifetime. my top fave tune is the finale that have the lyrics, all names, all names, all names are one. ushemo echad.

inner hubbel telescope

since i've been meditating two hours a day i notice a difference in the inner world which i dub 'the world of closed eyes.' i have been trying to find the right words for it. nothing seems right until i hear the story of the hubbel telescope and see some of what it sees. that's it. it's like i now have an inner hubbel telescope and, little by little, it's sharpening its focus. one by one, it's looking at the infinite corners of the inner universe. gazing into these spectacular images from deep outer space i feel like i've been there.

indeed the ancient sages have been telling us, and it's my own experience, there's nothing you can find on the outside that doesn't exist within. but to see these wonders i need to keep all the parts of the inner hubbel in proper alignment. and that's what meditation does to awareness.