Omer Day 3 - Beautiful limits
Today is the third day of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days of these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar. For more on the Jewish mystical sources of these ideas, join us for today’s Jewish “Lunch” and Learn on Zoom here.
Today is the day of balanced beauty (“tiferet”) in the week of loving-kindness (“chesed”).
In my mind, this is the kind of beauty that one finds in the balance between two things, in symmetry, in good “feng shui” - the kind of beauty that communicates wholeness without blowing our minds.
In this it embodies this middle path that the Taoist reading below advises for generals, asking us to see our efforts as successful when limited.
When looking at this balanced beauty in the context of loving-kindness, the theme for this third day of the Counting of the Omer, I am reminded of the sense that no one attribute is enough. We need to be kind, to one another and to ourselves, but not to the extent that we no longer aim at a bigger purpose. All of these attributes are in service of our constantly shifting encounters with the world, which need kindness and strictness, at different times and in different ways.
Finding that beautiful balance means finding limits, means reflecting and stopping on the project, and asking whether or not we have done enough, or done enough in one way, before proceeding.
Both the Tao and Jewish mysticism are asking us to reflect - to think, feel, and seek inspiration - as part of our process of doing in the world.
Wishing all of you a good day, a Happy middle of Passover, and meaningful counting.
Before and after meditating today I read this:
[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 154-155, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]
30.
One who assists the ruler with Tao does not dominate the world with force.
The use of force usually brings requital.
Wherever armies are stationed, briers and thorns grow,
Great wars are always followed by famines,
A good (general) achieves their purpose and stops,
But dares not seek to dominate the world.
They achieve their purpose but do not brag about it.
They achieve their purpose but do not boast about it.
They achieve their purpose but are not proud of it.
They achieve their purpose but only as an unavoidable step.
They achieve their purpose but do not aim to dominate.
(For) after things reach their prime, they begin to grow old,
Which means being contrary to Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will soon perish.
Everything is good building material
Before meditating today I read this:
[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 153, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]
27.
A good traveler leaves no track or trace.
A good speech leaves no flaws.
A good reckoner uses no counters.
A well-shut door needs no bolts, and yet it cannot be opened.
A well-tied knot needs no rope and yet none can untie it.
Therefore the sage is always good in saving people and consequently no one is rejected.
They are always good in saving things and consequently nothing is rejected.
This is called following the light of Nature
Therefore the good person is the teacher of the bad,
And the bad is the material from which the good may learn.
One who does not value the teacher,
Or greatly care for the material,
Is greatly deluded although they may be learned.
Such is the essential mystery.
Some thoughts:
Originally, I felt resistance to this reading. It seemed to be about perfectionism. I took to heart the idea that “a good speech leaves no flaws”.
And yet, the piece concludes with a discussion of “the bad is the material from which the good may learn”.
The goal: arrive at a place where “nothing is rejected”.
My personal resistance is often in the those inner places where I am most judgmental, most willing to self-criticize, especially in personal practices: “my posture is wrong”, “I am not training right”, “this is not the way it’s supposed to be done”.
That which isn’t yet good enough, in this reading, “the bad”, is what we have to work with in order to make it better. In Jewish thinking since everything originates with the Divine, everything is potentially good.
I am working on forgiveness and mercy to myself. Smiling at my own tendencies to chastise myself. “Yes, I just saw myself as not fulfilling some abstract ideal, isn’t it funny that I do that? I get to have mercy on myself for wanting to be perfect and not achieving it.”
Wishing all of you self-forgiveness and joy on this First Day of Passover - may you all of a good holy day and a good week.
Balancing “no” and “yes”
Before meditating today I read this:
[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 153, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]
26.
The heavy is the root of the light.
The tranquil is the ruler of the hasty.
Therefore the sage travels all day
Without leaving their burden.
Even at the sight of magnificent scenes,
They remain leisurely and indifferent.
How is it that a ruler with ten thousand chariots
Should behave lightheartedly in their empire?
If they are lighthearted, the minister will be destroyed.
If they are hasty, the ruler is lost.
Some thoughts:
Saying no is really difficult. I want to help and I want to be useful. When someone asks for my help it is a validation of my own value in the world.
Or is it?
To be valued and to feel valued are different, and we all know it. So much of what goes on around me, if I give into it, can be characterized as “empty calories”, superficial validation.
Whether it is an app on a device that incentivizes me with a point system or a person we’ve never met asking for advice, I need to stop and wonder, what is this for? Am I getting something real out of this and am I the right person to help?
To follow the middle path implied in the reading above is also to follow the balanced position that a Jewish mystical system describes through the “sefirot” or “spheres”, and that we will explore in the coming weeks as we begin to count the Omer starting on the Second Day of Passover.
To follow a path of balance means saying no as often as we say yes.
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a very Happy and Healthy Passover starting tonight.
Overcoming “should”
The meditation text is below - only somewhat related is the insight I discovered today.
In attempting to figure out how to be in the world, I have often been led by the responsibilities that I perceived. For example, in order to be a spiritual person as a rabbi I should be a particular type of Jewish spiritual person.
I believe “should” and “spiritual” may have taken up a difficult place in my thinking.
I have a part of me that seeks and reacts to deeper meaning in the world. My first experiences of this were varied: in nature while on a lake or a mountain, while exercising, in a youth group service celebrating the end of the Sabbath on Saturday evenings, gathered around singing.
Since starting on the path to become a rabbi I took the “should be” of being a rabbi to guide me so that I could be a better facilitator of meaningful experiences for Jewish people and people interested in Judaism.
The thing is, what led me to think that a Jewish path could be a good one was the amazing way in which I found a Jewish echo and teaching in all of those experiences that weren’t stereotypically Jewish. My Judaism was the conversation about what was meaningful regardless of where I found it. My Judaism doesn’t only start in Judaism, it starts in my experiences everywhere and then helps me to reflect on them.
And so this is how Taoist texts help connect me to meaningful thinking and feeling and Jewish reflections on the world too.
Wishing everyone a Shabbat Shalom and a Happy Passover,
Before meditating today I read this:
[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 151, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]
25.
There was something undifferentiated and yet complete,
Which existed before heaven and earth.
Soundless and formless, it depends on nothing and does not change.
It operates everywhere and is free from danger.
It may be considered the mother of the universe.
I do not know its name; I call it Tao.
If forced to give it a name, I shall call it Great.
Now being great means functioning everywhere.
Functioning everywhere means far-reaching.
Being far-reaching means returning to the original point.
Therefore Tao is great.
Heaven is great.
Earth is great.
And the sovereign is also great.
There are four great things in the universe, and the sovereign is one of them.
Humans model ourselves after Earth.
Earth models itself after Heaven.
Heaven models itself after Tao.
And Tao models itself after Nature.
Yielding is preserving
A good Tuesday to all.
Before meditating today I read this:
[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 151, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]
22.
To yield is to be preserved whole.
To be bent is to become straight.
To be empty is to be full.
To be worn out is to be renewed.
To have little is to possess.
To have plenty is to be perplexed.
Therefore the sage embraces the One
And becomes the model of the world.
They do not show themselves; therefore they are luminous.
They do not justify themselves; therefore they become prominent.
They do not boast of themselves; therefore they are given credit.
They do not brag, therefore they can endure for long.
It is precisely because they do not compete that the world cannot compete with them.
Is the ancient saying, “To yield is to be preserved whole,” empty words?
Truly the sage will be preserved and (prominence, etc.) will come to them.
Some thoughts:
The most profound act of creation in the Zohar, one of the central texts of Jewish mysticism, is the act of tzimtzum or self-reduction - it is through this that the Infinite shrinks in order to create the Universe.
And so the Tao also reminds us that in a counter-intuitive counter-cultural way the greatest acts may in fact be those that self-diminish.
This path is difficult. There are things that we need that are attained through possessing and feeling renewed when we are all so worn out is not so easy.
And yet, I will continue to try and remember that yielding is the key to preserving.
Wishing everyone a good day.