Kosher Meditation - 3 questions to ask before beginning any meditation program

Hi Ask-the-Rabbi Rabbi,

Many of my friends are pushing me to take up meditation. They say it will help me overcome my fears, make me more relaxed and calm, and enhance my life spiritually. Some of them are practicing some form of Buddhist meditation. Others are doing Transcendental Meditation. But I’m Jewish. I don’t do much that’s Jewish, and I’m not really looking for that at this point in life. I just want to make sure—is there anything really not kosher about these things?

—Judy

Hi Judy,

Transcendental Meditation—okay, I know what that is. When you say “Buddhist meditation”—there’s such a vast number of Buddhist sects, each with their own approach to meditation. And yes, many of these were adapted to the Western mind and lifestyle, and blended with techniques of hypnosis and other therapies, to soothe the mind and put you back in the driver’s seat.

So that sounds like a good deal. I mean, it’s my mind, right? And it’s a pretty powerful device. I can let it drive me nuts, or I can take control and use it for powerful self-transformation. Why not?

But like anything good, it’s never indiscriminately all good. And like anything very good, it could also end up real bad. So let me just give you three questions you should ask before committing to any program of meditation:

1. What is this meant to do to me?

2. Who’s teaching this to me and why?

3. What’s mixed in the bag?

Now let’s take those one by one:

1. What’s it meant to do to me?

You can meditate for 20 hours a day for 20 years and remain a creep. In fact, you can become a bigger creep than when you started. As in, “Who are you? I’ve been meditating 20 hours a day for 20 years!”

To paraphrase one long-time meditator, “Meditation alone doesn’t make you a moral person. You can meditate 22 hours a day, but in those two hours you have left, you’re a human being living in a body in a material world.” If you don’t do anything to connect those two worlds,Meditation works only when it’s part of a larger scheme. nothing changes, and all that meditation time would have been better spent playing Frisbee.

That’s why meditation has to be part of a larger, all-encompassing scheme to gradually lose bad habits, gain new good ones and change your perspective and attitude to life. Only then is it worth the investment.

In fact, look at the research and you’ll find there’s still nothing really conclusive demonstrating that meditation is any more useful a practice than, say, taking a hot shower. And that’s because the studies almost always look at meditation as a standalone. But as one who has practiced deep relaxation meditation fairly consistently since the age of fourteen, I can say this: It’s a useful tool. A wrench is also a useful tool. But only if you wrap it around a bolt and turn it in the right direction.

How do you connect your meditation to the hard, material stuff of daily reality and turn it the right way?

For one thing, before you even enter into that meditative state, you have in mind what you’re planning to take out of it. It’s not an escape. It’s the crouch down into yourself before you leap out into the world.

There’s a Jewish teaching along those lines. The Talmud tells of four great sages who “entered paradise.” That’s code language that means they meditated deeply until they entered an expanded state of consciousness.

One died. One went insane. One became a heretic. But one—Rabbi Akiva—“entered in peace and left in peace.”1

Meaning that he left in peace because he entered in peace.2

What does it mean to enter in peace? It means that your goal is not to abandon this reality for another reality, or abandon the body for the soul, or abandon the ego for total selflessness. It means your goal is to make peace between this reality and a higher one, between the body and the soul, between the ego and the purpose and meaning of that ego.

So, two things:Before you set flight into serene bliss, have in mind where you want to land. Before you set flight into serene bliss, have in mind where you want to land and what you’re going to do when you get there. How will you deal with stressful situations that’s any different from how you handle them now? How will you treat other people? Will you be more caring and sensitive? More prepared to put your own needs aside for the sake of others? Will you be more cheerful? Will you take greater enjoyment in all the little things of life?

And when you actually have landed on terra firma, find practices, activities and rituals that bring that higher state into action down here. Give more charity. Give someone a helping hand. Take out more time for the things in life that really matter—like family, friends, learning wisdom and celebrating life.

Those are all ways of applying this tool called a brain in such a way that it’s going to turn your life in the right direction. But really, there’s a step before that:

2. Who’s teaching this and why?

Hold on to your seat, because this might come as a shock: Like I said, harnessing your brain is a really good idea. But it’s not without itsHarnessing your brain is a really good idea. But it’s not without its hazards. hazards.

Albert Ellis was once rated as the second most influential psychotherapist in history, especially for having laid the groundwork for CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy).3 In the 1970s, he was already experimenting with meditation as a form of therapy. But in 1984 he wrote that “like tranquilizers, it may have both good and bad effects—especially, the harmful result of encouraging people to look away from some of their central problems, and to refrain from actually disputing and surrendering their disturbance-creating beliefs.”4

Arnold Lazarus was a prominent psychotherapist who wrote the first textbook on CBT. He was also an early adopter of meditative techniques. In a report in 1976, Lazarus reported that a few of his patients experienced serious disturbances after meditating. “One man’s meat,” he wrote, “is another man’s poison.”5

One of the most controversial studies was published in 1992 by David Shapiro, a professor at UC Irvine. Shapiro studied the effects of meditation retreats. After examining 27 people with different levels of meditation experience, he found 63 per cent of them had suffered at least one negative effect and seven per cent profoundly adverse effects.6

Shapiro’s study has been challenged—as has just about everything in the world of psychotherapy. But looking through the meditation blogs, reports of “the dark night” abound—”misery, despair, panic attacks . . . loneliness, auditory hallucinations, mild paranoia, treating my friends and family badly, long episodes of nostalgia and regret, obsessive thoughts (usually about death).”7 Some last only a few hours, others for months, while some persevere for years or a lifetime. There are even documented cases of severe psychosis brought on by meditation in persons with no previous history to account for such.

Good mentors who are experienced in these issues are sensitive to these dangers. The Mayo Clinic, for example, has a relaxation video on its website that audibly warns you: “If you begin to experience anxiety or nervousness at any point, click the pause button on this video.” So do many of the better relaxation meditation videos online.

But very few gurus will do the same.If you begin to experience anxiety or nervousness at any point, click the pause button. After all, they have an investment in their teachings. They consider them to be truth, and truth must work for everyone. Sadly, the classic response when a disciple reports experiencing anxiety, fright, hallucinations or the like has been, “That’s the cleansing process working. Continue, and you’ll pass this important stage.”

And that response makes sense. The guru’s agenda, after all, is not your relaxation. Buddhism is about obliteration of your sense of self. Meditation is meant to achieve the stillness, detachment, emptying and cleansing of the mind that gets you there. If there’s a dark tunnel along the way, hey, that goes with the territory.

But is that your agenda? And even if it is, are you ready to surrender your own sense of judgment and psychological safety to someone promising this to you?

That’s a good reason to find a mentor who will take a purely secular and balanced approach, someone who can say, “This is not for you. Let’s try something else.”8

What’s that “something else”? For some, it means going for a regular walk. Or exercise. Or maybe, like many people, you don’t need to empty your mind. Maybe it’s okay as is, and you’re better off filling it and challenging it instead.

3. What’s mixed in the bag?

There’s another reason to avoid the guru route, especially if you’re Jewish: There often are hidden ingredients that aren’t on the label. This is from the writings of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the founder of Transcendental Meditation:

For training the mind through sound we can take any word. Even the word “mike” can be taken. . . . For our practice, we select only the suitable mantras of personal gods. Such mantras fetch to us the grace of personal gods and make us happier in every walk of life.9

In practical terms, this means that when you walk into a typical TM ashram, you’re payingYou can pay $1500 for a mantra that’s actually praise of a Hindu deity, or you can get the same benefits with any word for free. $1500 to be given a “personal mantra” that is actually praise of a Hindu deity. And you can get all the same benefits just repeating the word “mike”—or any other word you choose.

The same goes with many initiation rites found in both Hindu and Buddhist practices. The same goes with any meditation or yoga studio that insists on placing buddhas and other figurines in every corner of its premises. A mentor may assure you that “there’s absolutely nothing religious about this practice.” And they may sincerely believe that. But when you look deeper, there’s usually an agenda someone is not telling you about.

You might say, “Well, I don’t really care whether it’s ‘mike’ or some Hindu god.” So consider the advice of Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama of Tibetan Buddhism. “In the West,” he said, “I do not think it advisable to follow Buddhism. Changing religions is not like changing professions. Excitement lessens over the years, and soon you are not excited, and then where are you? Homeless inside yourself.”10

For a Jew, praising Hindu deities means traveling far from home. And it’s not necessary. There are many great tools out there for relieving anxiety and learning to deal with stress. Just find someone who teaches how to use those tools without an agenda. Stay home. Just make it more comfortable inside yourself.

But what about my spirituality?

Talking about home, I can’t help but mention that there are many forms of meditation that have been taught by Jewish sages over our long and varied journey.

Today, the most actively practiced forms in the Jewish world are to be found in Chabad and Breslov. Breslov meditation is called hitbodedut, which means “aloneness.” The focus is to be alone with G‑d and speak with G‑d directly, from the heart.

Chabad meditation is called hitbonenut, which might translate as “re-understanding.” The focus is to ponder deeply the mysteries of the Creator, the creation and the soul until these ideas become real to you—real enough to affect your personality and behavior. More on that in Chabad Meditation.

Neither of these focus on relaxation—those are best achieved with the deep breathing, incremental relaxation, gazing, chanting, and mindfulness techniques that we were talking about above. Jewish forms of meditation take over where those leave off: Now that your mind is clear and still, let’s find some good stuff to fill it with.

Think of the Think of stillness as a way to open a door.stillness techniques as a way to open a door and leave the busy street. But there’s something beyond that door. There’s a quiet place where you can sit and contemplate. For example, you might contemplate how this entire world is generated out of the void at every moment by a Creator who cares for each of His creatures, and therefore, as long as you stay connected to your Creator, there is no reason for worry or anxiety.

That’s a meditation that can really make a difference in your attitude to life. It just needs to be expanded and developed. And it is, in many Jewish writings. You study those teachings, learn to visualize and experience them in your mind, and allow your mind time to dwell on them until they become real to you, engraved upon your heart.

You can also meditate on:

The great love your Creator has for you.
The preciousness of the soul that breathes within you, and its journey.
The many miracles that have happened in your own life.
The faces of all those you love and who love you.
The good qualities of the people you live with and work with.
A story of a tzaddik, or something deep and wondrous.
The times of Moshiach, when everyone will see this world as a divine masterpiece, when G‑dliness will be apparent within each thing—and how you are going to start living as though it already is that way.

There are many such meditations. The best times for them are upon rising in the morning, before retiring at night, or anytime you can make to have some solitude in a conducive setting. But, like everything that’s worthwhile, they require study and practice. You might want to start by reading the material I’ve linked above, and watching some of the videos in our Jewish Meditation Series.

With these sort of meditations, you’ll never be “homeless inside yourself.” On the contrary, you’ll be coming home.

And thank you, Judy, for asking the question. It’s motivated me to create more of those videos with guided meditations for people such as you. Keep visiting the site, and I hope you’ll be seeing more of these soon.

Footnotes

Talmud, Chagigah 14b, according to the reading in Ein Yaakov and the Jerusalem Talmud.

Likkutei Sichot, vol. 3, p. 990.

Darrell Smith, (1982), “Trends in counseling and psychotherapy,” American Psychologist 37, no. 7 (1982): 802–809 (doi:10.1037/0003-066X.37.7.802. PMID 7137698).

Albert Ellis, “The place of meditation in cognitive-behavior therapy and rational-emotive therapy,” in D.H. Shapiro & R. Walsh (eds.), Meditation: Classic and Contemporary Perspectives (New York: Aldine, 1984), pp. 671–673.

Arnold Lazarus, “Psychiatric problems precipitated by Transcendental Meditation,” Psychological Reports 39 (1976): 601–602.

David Shapiro, “Adverse Effects of Meditation,” International Journal of Psychosomatics 39 (1992), 62–67. (One of the explanations given for this somewhat paradoxical effect is that meditation increases serotonin. For some, that could sharpen the brain; for others, it could cause anxiety.)

“Testimonies and advice for the Dark Night,” http://thehamiltonproject.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/testimonies-of-dark-night.html.

For more on this topic, see Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm. The Buddha Pill: Can Meditation Change You? (London: Watkins, 2015).

Beacon of Light of the Himalayas (1955).

10.

Quoted in Patrick French, Tibet, Tibet: A Personal History of a Lost Land (New York: Knopf, 2003).

By Tzvi Freeman

Tzvi Freeman is the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth and, more recently, Wisdom to Heal the Earth. Subscribe to The Daily Dose of Wisdom and Freeman Files for regular updates.

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68 Comments

Genia New York January 30, 2022

Hi. I have been reading abs quoting your books. Excellent! Thank you. Question; I am a yoga teacher. My focus is on our body’s physical and metaphysical energy and spirituality on and off our mat experience. More like therapy abs healing yoga. I am extremely sensitive to non kosher ideas in the realm of yoga philosophy although the practice is not a religion but it does open channels to spirituality. My question: using the word satnum as a mantra which means ‘truth’ and gd is one is what we Jews believe in as well. It’s universal one. Please share your thoughts. Thank you! - Genia. Reply

Rina India December 3, 2021

Tzvi Freeman. I just adore the way you explain a topic. Great clarity. Baruch Hashem has blessed you. Reply

Dina In Maine now, not Albuquerque August 2, 2016

To Yehudit in Yerushalyim You make an interesting point. I have read that many of the great tzaddkim used to meditate to enhance their kavanah for prayer as well as for performing mitzvot. The Pesukei D'Zemira prayers are too create a meditative mood in order to be able to have the right kavanah for prayer of the Shmoneh Esrai.
Then, too, mitzvot are the things we do in this world to make it a better place. But, just doing them isn't really fulfilling them. The key is to have the right kavanah and intention to do the mitzvot with joy. And, small meditation on the kavanah & asking Hashem to help in performing the mitzvot would be bringing mediation into this world.
Our bodies, left to their own devices would want to just pursue physical pleasures, but the soul is fired up through meditation & prayer to lead the body to perform mitzvot. It's all part of being mindful of what you are doing such as eating with mindfulness & gratitude to Hashem. It's to keep us from just eating a pint of ice cream without thinking. Reply

Yehudit Jerusalem August 2, 2016

I recently heard a chabad rabbi state that Judaism is about serving not enlightenment. Experiencing enlightenment can be self-deceptive and destructive, as psychologists have pointed out, taking one further from true relationship with the Creator. This leaves me with more questions. Perhaps the prayers of our fore-fathers and mothers were transcendental in their power to come closer to hashem, making the service of heart-power, not detachment, (health benefits aside), the most sincere path in the long term. Reply

David S Chorley January 18, 2023

in response to Yehudit:

I would be interested in knowing which psychologists have said this? Spiritual enlightenment by definition can be neither self-deceptive nor destructive -- but perhaps these psychologists are defining enlightenment differently to me. I hope so. So, the age of the enlightenment, beginning in 1620, is certainly not how I would define spiritual enlightenment, but is more of a historical construct. Perhaps they are taking about this. Reply

Naomi NJ July 30, 2016

I initially responded to this post by arguing that despite many efforts, I had never found a meditation practice as effective as transcendental meditation . But having reread your post, I'm convinced that I simply have not tried enough. I don't know the secrets of the universe; I often forget my own. This much I do know: I have traveled enough paths to recognize the only one that ever led me home again. Thank you for providing the links. I am sometimes happy to find I was wrong. Reply

Charles Joseph Clifton July 26, 2016

Rabbi Freeman, You write 'yes' you can get the same results without the trappings.' I know this is true from my own experience and research. I think what you might be describing is the accepted and science-based practice of 'Mindfulness Meditation." I put that in initial caps because what I am referring to is more specific, nuanced and subtle than the words would otherwise imply. And there are a lot of insufficiently trained people offering a superficial and ultimately not beneficial instruction. It is a basic mental health intervention with measured benefits, in over 12,000 peer reviewed studies behind it. These include longitudinal studies, control group studies, and brain scans that show anatomical changes - thickening of the brain anatomy in the pre-frontal cortex, i.e., the area of executive control. In Britain, this is a regulated treatment modality paid for by the NHS. I won't post links unless approved by a Chabad rabbi. Reply

Robert J Sockloskie Sherman Oaks, CA July 26, 2016

Contemplation is the continual experience and fulfillment of the command to love God with all our soul, heart, mind and strength. This type of contemplation does wonders for our mental health. To be successful, we must quiet the mind completely, keeping the love of God as the only motivational force. Reply

Robert J Sockloskie Sherman Oaks January 12, 2023

in response to Robert J Sockloskie:

Whether we engage in meditation, contemplation, prayer, or indeed in any endeavor that we undertake, to succeed requires that we have first received the special, necessary grace from God, which is not always given to us. We are not truly autonomous beings capable of achieving through our own illusionary self-serving sense of willpower, but must realize that all we accomplish is entirely dependent on the grace received through the Divine that empowers us to procure any given end-state that is desired. To achieve in any of the above, we must become God-serving (as I outlined in my own above post)—growing closer to Him which is severely hindered by the ever-present evil forces that does not allow our escaping the false and loathsome "self" that lurks from within. Is it any coincidence that we often fail in our endeavors, such as effective meditation, although we have exhausted every bit of our impious willpower? Reply

Randy Place Greenwich CT USA July 25, 2016

Rabbi Freeman,

Can you share the kind of deep relaxing meditation that you do? Which of the many methods do you use?

Best,
Reply

Concealment/re Revealment Happy Summer! June 20, 2016

Other healthy options: Beyond lost lands and exiled princesses In my last comment, i discussed briefly why one may choose meditation. I realized i had some further notes on the neuro scientific proofs of the benefits of meditation. Shortlisted here by Loch Kelly, LCSW:

Sometimes we need to ask ourselves: does the method or the door not fit? How valuable is self-awareness, instead of just 'available to all', "outside" or 'off of the cushion', to use the lingo ...
Beyond awareness, to where awareness might hook you: neither hear nor heard, but just hearing ... A non-conceptual sense of knowing. Safe, alive, ordinary beingness.
What are the different obscurations? A pattern of the small sense of a contracted self taking over, maybe even shallow breathing patterns ...

So, invite yourself, (again) to 'discover' it (meditation). Allow for a background/foreground shift ...Allow for a re-wiring of your capable emotional heart energy to return ...And where are you now? In the mind of (greater) spaciousness... Speaking jewishly, there is still Reply

K. Toronto June 20, 2016

How about 20 minutes to start? We are all taught about the benefits of 'enduring'. Suffering .. even when we perhaps don't need to do so: what is nice; what is jewish, what is lady-like, etc. etc. Well v. late last night i was asking myself, "What happens to my world when meditation has become like a 'princess in exile'? Desired, maybe, but it appears i am not the one doing the desiring... Am i more or less with or without meditation? Is the evil eye, the ayin horoh trying to shift my healthy senses into a null zone, or what's going on? Here is a quick list of benefits of meditation:
Better health
heightened sense of purpose
Clarity
Connection to G-d - not outside of Shabbos but small glimpses of freedom, many times through the week...
Greater Joy
(more easily sustained) Awakening ...

So what's holding you back again? Set the timer in the kitchen, shut the office door for 20 minutes at lunch, meditate in the waiting room of a dr's office, there are a 1000 places/times/opportunities to draw closer to Him. Reply

Tzvi Freeman June 20, 2016

For yh in Israel The upshot is simple: Yes, meditation can be helpful. Yes, there are dangers. Yes, there are many forms that involve avoda zara and are forbidden by Jewish law. Yes, you can get the same results without any of those trappings. Reply

Yehudit Israel June 19, 2016

Yes, meditation and advanced practices can cause psycho-spiritual distress, and this is why it needs to be done with competent guidance, not alone. Reply

yh israel June 15, 2016

too much bla-bla-bla Many times I expect a clear-cut answer, but just get lost in the long pointless philosophical explanation. Reply

Aerist June 6, 2016

To say that meditation, prayer, or indeed any kind of concentrated and genuine religious practice will benefit the practitioner without causing distress is unrealistic. Even deciding to pray/meditate regularly can be met with disbelief, abuse and worry by those we care about. Part of the process involves coming to know ourselves as we really are, and that process invariably challenges us, as the parts of ourselves that we are not are sloughed away. Reply

Yehudit Israel June 4, 2016

Meditation and Shema I suggest that the first line of Shema is another way of saying we create our own reality, we are created to be partners with the Divine Intelligence, using our free will to either create ourselves in His image or not depending on what we put our attention on and how we refine ourselves. If 'Y-K-V-K' is transcendent Gd, the 'elokeinu' are the judgments of what we manifest through our thought, deed, action. Torah acknowledges the existence of many spiritual beings. If, psycho-spiritually we are unrefined in our desires, these spiritual beings (ie 'gods') become activated and attached to us, distancing us further from divine relationship.'Shema' reminds us of our tasks here in this world and explains, as bnei Yisrael, the descendents of Yakov, why we are not to distract ourselves like other nations do. Reply

Yehudit Israel June 4, 2016

Meditation and Shema First of all there are levels of meditation, like'gates'. The first level innocuously trains the mind to relax and detach from worldly thoughts, gaining perspective from a higher vantage point. I think this is healthy. There are other levels that may not be healthy for a particular individual at their level of psychological development. Following Torah trains us for a level of psych-spiritual purity in 'cleaving' to the highest reality, Hashem. When our Torah says not to 'worship' (ie place our attention)'gods'of other nations, it is a safeguard against becoming vulnerable to lower mental states,'Take care lest your heart be lured away...'etc. 'Elokeinu' is no less than what we conjure up in our minds, and these conjurings are the judgements returning to us, for ill or for good, they are One with the Transcendent Gd. So training our minds according to Torah allows us to transcend the lowliness and entrapments of this world, which unguided, gentile meditation alone can not do. Reply

Joanne Toronto June 1, 2016

Rabbi Freeman you write so beautufully and offer so many insights and thoughts worth contemplating. This comment applies to all your many writings and essays. Thank you Reply

Nava Illinois June 1, 2016

"Be Still and Know That I Am G-d" (Psalms) Reply

Robert Stillwater May 31, 2016

I too engaged in Transendental Meditation in my 20's. As I journeyed inward by chanting my mantra for 5 hours a day, I tried to die to self so I could find myself. Self-realization bliss was my goal. Looking back I see how silly it all was. Losing my self by focusing within myself? And when I came back to "earth" I felt pretty good about my self and assumed I must be more spiritually further along than others who weren't doing what I was doing - but I had no real peace. I finally had to conclude that after doing this for 5 years - I was spiritually arrogant, isolated and conflicted. I had to admit was following a dark light and was reaping the fruit of it. Today, my meditation is on the Word of G-d. Reciting G-d's Word and interacting with God on it, I discover great joy and fellowship with Him. Now Psalm 1 makes beautiful sense when David said, "In His law do I meditate day and night... and whatsoever i do will prosper' This is the meditation of G-d. Reply

Tzvi Freeman May 31, 2016

For Anonymous Re: Got it If you are looking for a rabbi, beware of agendas. He has to be someone who cares for you personal growth, not just out to "make you frum" like him.

If you are looking for a school for your kid, beware of agendas. You want a school that is sensitive to your child's needs, not simply to follow their chosen method of education.

And if you are posting a reader comment because you really care about what you are saying and feel the point must be made, then state your name and let the world know who you are. Otherwise, we might wonder, "What is your agenda?" Reply

1. What’s it meant to do to me?

2. Who’s teaching this and why?

3. What’s mixed in the bag?

But what about my spirituality?

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