We tend to think of spiritual awakening as a kind of self-mastery, which is true, but that master image can create a sense of disappointment and resignation when comparing oneself to that ideal. But this is just another way for the ego to keep us trapped. The remedy? Forgive yourself for not being enlightened. In fact, this inner act of forgiveness is itself a direct path to enlightenment. This is not just a feel good cliché or a letting of yourself off the hook – it’s a deep surrender the truth of what is, and in that surrender to the truth of imperfection, that deeper Perfection we call the Divine can shine through.

How do we do that?

Learn more with this teaching on Parshat Matot, followed by a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter Nun, with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as lessons and courses on meditation, Judaism, Hebrew and more:

Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation by Brian Yosef. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

We tend to see things that are painful, stressful, or even sensual and desirable all as obstacles to spiritual awakening. But this way of thinking is actually what keeps you stuck; whatever “obstacle” is in front of you is the portal to the Eternal, if you know how to unlock it. Learn more as we examine Parshat Pinkhas, followed by a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter Koof.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as lessons and courses on meditation, Judaism, Hebrew and more:

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.  Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian Yosef. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

There’s a kind of guidance that speaks to us through the reality of our situation, if we know how to listen. How to do we attune ourselves to these messages that we might call, Divine guidance? Teaching and guided meditation on Parshat Balak and the letter shin.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as lessons and courses on meditation, Judaism, Hebrew and more:

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.  Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian Yosef. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

Chant: Tatzileini

תַּצִּילֵֽנִי הַיּוֹם וּבְכָל־יוֹם מֵעַזֵּי פָנִים וּמֵעַזּוּת פָּנִים

Tatzileini HaYom, Uv’khol Yom (2x)

Rescue me today and every day

- Morning Blessing Liturgy (Scale b3)

When our sense of identity is dependent on external forms defined by our thoughts, we tend to grasp at an imagined future, barely conscious of the miracle of the present. But there is a deeper level to who we are, and to the degree that we can make contact with this deeper level, there is a Wholeness and a Rootedness that’s far greater than anything we can get from external changes of gratification, wealth, status, power or anything else. How we can get beyond that feeling of insufficiency on the level of ego and awaken to an authentic inner experience of Wholeness is what we explore in this episode on Parshat Korakh, followed by a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter gimel. Gimel is the letter that represents that inner reality of Wholeness beyond ego.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as lessons and courses on meditation, Judaism, Hebrew and more:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.  Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian Yosef. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

The fruit of meditation could be described as a homecoming into the place you already are: the Holy Land of Presence. But there are obstacles. In Parshat Sh’lakh L’kha, the Children of Israel send out spies to check out the Holy Land. They bring back delicious fruits, but they’re too afraid of the giants they encountered there to give a good report. And just as the spies are fearful of the giants, for us fear and anxiety ARE the giants. How do we overcome these obstacles so that we can partake of the spiritual fruits? Learn how as we explore Parshat Shelach, and then put into practice with a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter Lamed, which actually contains the secret.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.  Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

00:00 Opening Excerpt

00:54 Intro

02:35 Teaching

16:35 Guiding into Presence

22:00 Lamed Kavanah (Affirmation) and Chant – Eizeihu Hakham? HaLomed Mikol Adam – Who is wise? One who learns from every person. (Pirkei Avot 4:1)

25:18 Guided Meditation: Three Portals of Presence

32:05 Silent Meditation: Atah Hu

36:25 Closing: Three Portals

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #torah

Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks guides Hebrew chanting and meditation on the Hebrew letter ג gimel, awakening the sense of Wholeness and Completeness in the still field of awareness beneath your thoughts and feelings. This inner Stillness is sometimes called the Nefesh Elokit, your Divine Nature.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #hebrewletters

Psychologically speaking, most of our lives are spent oriented toward the future, even if we’re not aware of it. As we go through our days, nearly all our activities are aimed at producing some result in the future, and whether were aiming at the next moment, the next week or ten years from now, the psychology is the same: we’re motivated to act for the sake of some future fulfillment. And of course that’s fine and necessary.

But there’s also something we can do which is its own fulfillment. In other words the fulfillment that we’re aiming for, is not in the future, but is in the act itself. And not only is this something you can do at practically any moment, but the fulfillment that you’ll feel is at a much deeper level than anything we seek to accomplish in time, and by deeper I mean that it relates directly to our sense of purpose and reason for being. And it’s incredibly simple. What is this incredibly simple thing? Learn the answer in this teaching on Parshat Beha’alotkha and a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter Gimel, which represents that sense of Wholeness we can find not in some imagined future, but in the present moment.

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.  Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #torah

Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks guides Hebrew chanting and meditation on the Hebrew letter ס samech, pointing you toward the foundational support of your inner silence to set you free from inner noise and emotional reactivity.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #hebrewletters

Learn how meditation frees us from negative reactivity, especially when you’re feeling attacked or accused by others. True spiritual strength is not the force of an ego defending itself, but rather, the capacity to rest in the silence and be aware of reactive feelings without needing to become them. Followed by a guided meditation on the Hebrew letter ס samech, which represents the foundational support of this inner silence to set you free from emotional reactivity.

Teaching and guided meditation with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks. Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults: https://www.torahofawakening.com

00:00 Intro

01:26 Torah Teaching: Parshat Nasso

15:26 Guided Presence

17:59 Kavanah/Affirmation

19:04 Chant

23:08 Guided Meditation: Three Portals

30:20 Silent Meditation with Piano Improvisation

35:25 Closing #jewishmeditation

Chant: Somekh

סוֹמֵךְ לְכָל־הַנֹּפְ֒לִים רוֹקַע הָאָֽרֶץ עַל הַמָּֽיִם

Somekh L’khol HaNof’lim (4x)

The One Who supports the fallen Who spreads out the earth on the waters! - Ashrei and Morning Blessings Liturgy (Scale b2, #4, b6, b7)

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #torah 

Explore a gorgeous teaching from the Tanya on the connection between the messianic prophesies in Isaiah and the festival of Shavuot, and how they hint at the inner dimension of spirituality: perceiving the Divine in whatever is before us in the moment. And even deeper: recognizing our innermost selves as the boundless field of Divine consciousness that perceives. Followed by an experiential guided meditation of the sephirah of Binah from the Tree of life with Rabbi Brian Yosef Schachter-Brooks.

Opening song Hashkiveinu and piano improvisation also by Brian Yosef. Hashkiveinu is from the album Ayn Od by BRIAH, and features the vocals of Jeannette Ferber and Bon Singer, along with Sam “Shmully” Markewich on drums, Joshua Miele on bass, and Lior Tzarfaty on guitar.  

Join the community for meditation 5 days a week, as well as classes for both children and adults:

https://www.torahofawakening.com

#jewishmeditation #kabbalah #torah