Tag Archive for "spirit" | To Bend Light

Posts Tagged ‘spirit’

Yom Kippur Meditation II

Posted on: August 31st, 2011 by tobendlight

Here’s a meditation to be recited after the Yom Kippur confessional prayer. It can also be used during the Hebrew month of Elul as preparation for the High Holy Days, the Yamim Noraim. It is the companion piece to “Meditation Before the Yom Kippur Vidui.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Meditation After the Yom Kippur Vidui
For the sins I’ve committed against myself,
And for the sins I’ve committed against others,
I offer a new heart.

For the sins I’ve committed against my family,
And for the sins I’ve committed against my friends,
I offer new understanding.

For the sins I’ve committed against children,
And for the sins I’ve committed against adults,
I offer new restraint.

For the sins I’ve committed against men,
And for the sins I’ve committed against women,
I offer new vision.

For the sins I’ve committed against neighbors,
And for the sins I’ve committed against strangers,
I offer new insight.

For the sins I’ve committed against the powerful,
And for the sins I’ve committed against the weak,
I offer new wisdom.

For the sins I’ve committed against nations,
And for the sins I’ve committed against peoples,
I offer a new voice.

G-d of generations,
Source of forgiveness and grace,
For the sins that I remember,
And for the sins that I’ve forgotten,
I offer myself, in humble service,
To You, Your Word and Your Holy Name.

Postscript: Click here for the full list of prayers for the Yamim Noraim. Here’s a focused list of prayers for Elul, another one of prayers for Rosh Hashana, a list of prayers for Yom Kippur and one more for Sukkot. And here’s a link to yizkor and memorial prayers.

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Photo Source: Va-yehi Or

Yom Kippur Meditation I

Posted on: August 30th, 2011 by tobendlight

Confession – vidui – is not a major theme of Jewish daily prayer, but it becomes central on Yom Kippur when a communal confession is traditionally recited five times. Here’s a new meditation to prepare for a thorough and honest self-assessment. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Meditation Before the Yom Kippur Vidui
G-d of Old,
Judge and Sovereign,
Healer and Guide:

Today I recount my deeds,
The sins I’ve committed,
The blessings I’ve bestowed.

Today I recall my year,
The challenges I’ve faced,
The decisions I’ve made.

Today I reach into my heart,
The moments of anger,
The moments of love.

By Your command
G-d of Mercy,
I lay bare the secrets within me,
Light and darkness,
My gentle hand and my clenched fist,
My strength and conceit,
Anger and fear.

By Your command
G-d of Wisdom,
I open myself to see truth,
Beauty and degradation,
The holy and the profane,
The victorious and the guilty.

By Your command
G-d of Salvation,
I reclaim all that I am
And all that I’ve done,
My pride and my shame,
Returning to You
So that I may redeem my days
With awe and righteousness.

Photo Source: The Eden Center

Strong: Yoga Meditation II

Posted on: August 20th, 2011 by tobendlight

This meditation is for use at the end of yoga practice to set the intention of taking a strong, loving, peaceful heart into the world. As an alternatively to reciting the meditation, try repeating each line or stanza to build on the meditative state created in practice. “Breath: Yoga Meditation I” is for use at the beginning of practice. See also “Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Strong: Yoga Meditation II
Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Vital. Vibrant. Alive.
Loving heart.
Graceful mind.

Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Radiant. Luminous. Wonder.
Merciful heart.
Hopeful mind.

Calm and strong.
Peace and strong.
Grounded. Grateful. Healing.
Faithful heart.
Joyous mind.

Postscript: Here are two more pieces with the same rhythm and feel: “River” and “Ethics.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. If you use or like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: Alden Solovy

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Posted on: August 5th, 2011 by tobendlight

This is a lovely prayer for healing the soul directed toward a specific individual. It did not, however, come off as planned. I intended to write a prayer/poem in praise of the soul. Instead, I wrote this prayer for healing the soul. It prayer appears in Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing. Optional language is shown in [brackets] and word choices are identified with a slash (/). To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

R’fuat HaNefesh
G-d of the spirit,
G-d of the soul, the breath and the wind,
Look with kindness and favor on __________________, (name)
My [father /mother / sister / brother / son / daughter / friend / husband / wife / partner]
Whose heart aches,
Crushed and fallow,
Whose heart yearns,
Empty and broken.
G-d of the nefesh, ruach and neshama,
Guide his / her soul
Back to wonder and mystery,
Sacred moments and glorious days,
So that he /she knows the power of Your love
And the wisdom of Your word.
May his / her soul shine,
A light and blessing
For our people Israel.

Postscript: Other prayers for healing include: “For Surgery,” “Upon Recover from Surgery,” “For a Critically Ill Mother,” “For a Critically Ill Child,” “For a Critically Ill Father” and “For Healing the Spirit.” All of them appear in my new book, Jewish Prayers of Hope and Healing.

Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing. For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. If you like this prayer, please post a link to Facebook, your blog or mention it in a tweet.

Photo Source: ifDawn.com

Small Moments

Posted on: July 28th, 2011 by tobendlight

This prayer is about seeking the smallest moments of beauty and compassion. When we seek compassion, our souls bonds with the idea that it is an essential human quality. The prayer was written, in part, as an antidote to another of my prayers, a challenging piece called “Witnessing: A Meditation.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Small Moments
Have you seen the secret nod of understanding between old friends?
Or the first wobbly steps of a child?
Have you heard an old man sigh as he sits down in a chair?
Have you captured, from the corner of your eye,
An act of gentle sweetness,
A fleeting gesture nearly missed as you rushed by?

Listen and hear.
Look and see.
Touch and feel.
Breath and smell.
Taste and remember.

Do you recall the radiance of sunrise?
Or the brilliance of the full moon?
Do you savor the small moments
Of joy and wonder bursting forth around you?
Do you notice the gifts of friendship, kindness and love?
If you do, bless you.
If you don’t, these blessings await you.

Blessed are You, Adonai our G-d,
Source of daily splendor,
You gave us vision and understanding
So that we can witness and celebrate
Acts of generous spirit,
Expressions of compassion and healing,
The tiniest gestures of holiness and love.
Open our hearts to the precious glories of our days.

Blessed are You, Holy One of Old,
Beauty abounds.

Postscript: I use this prayer for the 20th day of counting the Omer: “Bonding in Compassion.”

Please check out my ELItalk video, “Falling in Love with Prayer,” and This Grateful Heart: Psalms and Prayers for a New Day. For reprint permissions and usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” To receive my latest prayers via email, please subscribe (on the home page). You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter.

Photo Credit: Good Life Zen

Breath: Yoga Meditation I

Posted on: July 22nd, 2011 by tobendlight

A friend asked if I had a prayer to set the mood for yoga practice. I didn’t, but the idea took hold. I wrote two: this meditation is for use at the beginning of practice. Each line can be said once or may be repeated to build a meditative state. The second meditation, “Strong: Yoga Meditation II,” is for use after practice. Later on, I wrote this: “Pray and…: Yoga Meditation III.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below. The text follows.

Breath: Yoga Meditation I
Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Ready. Silent. Waiting.
Easing into warmth.
Gliding toward surrender.

Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Patient. Open. Willing.
Easing into calm.
Gliding toward release.

Quiet and breath.
Stillness and breath.
Present. Here. Now.
Easing into body.
Gliding toward soul.

Postscript: Here are two more pieces with the same rhythm and feel: “River” and “Ethics.” If you like this meditation, you may also like “Come Walk,” “Bird is Bird” and “Leaving.”

Photo Source: Yoganonymous.com

From R’ Akiva’s Tomb

Posted on: June 21st, 2011 by tobendlight

Today I walked to the tombs of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato (the Ramchal). It was a pleasant uphill walk of about 25 minutes, with a brief detour to the Chabad House of Tiberias to check directions. This is what came to me as I walked, with a remarkably different tone than my first prayer completed in Israel, “To Find Home.” It’s the second piece that I’ve finished on this trip.

Sages
Blessed are the sages who came before.
Blessed are the sages who’ll come later.
Blessed are the sages of our day.
Blessed is your heart.

For you
Dear sisters and brothers,
You too are sages.
The wisdom of the ages
Is in your eyes and on your lips,
In your flesh and in your bone,
In your laughter and in your tears,
Holy music that sings around you,
Radiance that dances before you,
Prayers that echo through you.

Blessed is the sage within you.
Blessed are your studies and your deeds.
Blessed is your heart.

Postscript: Here are links to two other prayers about wisdom, “For the Gift of Torah Scholarship” and “For the Joy of Learning.” Here’s a link to first prayer I completed during my 2011 trip to Israel, “To Find Home.”

For usage guidelines and reprint permissions, see “Share the Prayer!” For notices of new prayers, please subscribe. You can also connect on Facebook and Twitter. Please consider making a contribution to support this site and my writing.

Photo Credit: Alden Solovy

A Heart That Hears

Posted on: June 19th, 2011 by tobendlight

Combine the vision of the spiritual traveler with the voice of admonishing prophet and the result is a stark warning about the dangers of the mystical journey. This prayer ends with the seed of hope that even in despair G-d is available to us. This is part of a series, including “A Heart of Vision” and “A Heart of Love.” To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

A Heart That Hears
I cannot hear Your Voice with my ears.
I cannot touch Your Glory with my hands.
Only my heart can know,
Your justice and mercy,
Your law and command,
The deafening blast of Your Shofar,
And the hushed whispers within.

Listen dear sisters,
Dear brothers!
Do not be quick to pray
To hear from the center of your being,
To perceive from the inside out.
When your heart beats with the music of the ages
You will dance in the heavens.
But when silence empties your grieving heart
You will lie vacant and hollow before the tent of G-d.

Postscript: Other prayers incorporating the voice of the prophet include: “Let Love,” “Let Joy,” “Let Truth” and “Let Holiness.”

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Each Day

Posted on: June 13th, 2011 by tobendlight

A simple meditation on days of sweetness and joy, courage and valor, pledging a life of service to G-d. To listen along, click on the triangle in the bar below (website only). The text follows.

Each Day
To start this day with joy.
To end this day with peace.
To start this day with longing.
To end this day released.

Live each day with wonder,
With kindness, awe and grace.
Live each day with courage,
With trust, with hope, with faith.

Hold fast to sacred moments.
Hold fast to precious love.
Hold fast to one another.
Hold fast to G-d above.

Hold courage through the hours,
And humor through the tears.
Hold G-d above your sorrows.
Hold G-d above your fears.

To You I must surrender,
Oh G-d of hidden spheres.
You are Source and Shelter.
To You I pledge my years.

Postscript: Here are two prayers about the gifts of life – “These Blessings” and “Morning Blessings” – and one with the same sing-song cadence of this prayer, “Come Walk.” This prayer was written prior to my current trip to Israel.

Bird is Bird

Posted on: June 1st, 2011 by tobendlight

Mid-afternoon, late September, on a long forest climb. The mountain trail took a sharp right giving way to a steep exposed slope and an unseen ridge line. At the top, nothing but shimmering blue sky and a lone bird. Sometimes the spiritual traveler will say a prayer with his eyes, with her heart, with his breath, with her being. And it doesn’t sound like a prayer at all.

Bird is Bird
Bird is bird.
Sky is sky.
You are You.
I am I.

Sun in East.
Sun in West.
Morning glory.
Evening rest.

Moon by day.
Moon at night.
Heaven’s mirror.
Earth’s delight.

Bird in air.
Bird in flight.
Holy motion.
Sacred sight.

Blue the sky.
Blue the sea.
Who will listen?
Who will be?

Postscript: Other prayers of the spiritual traveler include: “Come Walk,” “Leaving,” “Remember” and “About the Rainbow.”

Photo by: Alden Solovy

Posts Tagged ‘spirit’

Yom Kippur Meditation II

Yom Kippur Meditation I

Strong: Yoga Meditation II

R’fuat HaNefesh: Healing the Soul

Small Moments

Breath: Yoga Meditation I

From R’ Akiva’s Tomb

A Heart That Hears

Each Day

Bird is Bird

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