Fred Tropp

Meditation can produce relaxation, a sense of inner peace and can deepen spiritual awareness. Usually these effects take time: relaxation may be experienced after a few weeks of practice; inner peace after a few months or years; and deeper spiritual awareness after a few years or decades. But things can happen more quickly for some.

2) What is Jewish Meditation and how does it differ from other meditations?

Jewish meditation may be the same as, similar to, or different from non-Jewish meditation. Both use breath-awareness and mantras. (Jewish meditation will usually use Hebrew mantras). Both use guided meditations. (Jewish guided meditation will be usually on Jewish themes). Jewish meditation is usually in a Jewish context (of words, symbols and ideas). Jewish meditation tries to make us aware of the Jewish approach to life: that the everyday world is real, is worth living in fully, and can become and be experienced as spiritual and related to God.

3) Do you have to learn non-Jewish meditation before you learn Jewish meditation?

Whilst a number of us learnt non-Jewish meditation techniques and practised them for many years before coming to Jewish Meditation, you can start immediately with Jewish Meditation. See the Meditation Manual for details.

4) Do you have to be Jewish to learn Jewish meditation?

No. So long as you are interested in learning Jewish meditation, and are comfortable with using Hebrew mantras and chants and guided meditations with Jewish themes, you can learn and practise Jewish Meditation. It should not affect your others beliefs or other meditation practices you may follow.

5) Is Jewish Meditation spiritual?

This depends on what you mean by spiritual. We regard things as spiritual if they bring about a change in our consciousness, away from every-day, matter-of-fact, rational-judgmental consciousness. On this definition, even knitting can be a spiritual experience, as it may allow your mind to go to “other places” and experience calm.

6) Is Jewish Meditation religious?

A number of our chants and guided meditations refer to God or the Divine.

We see Jewish Meditation as being spiritual, but not necessarily religious. It depends on your definition of religious. By religious we mean pertaining to or containing aspects of religious services. According to this definition, Jewish Meditation is not per se religious, although we include Jewish Meditations in our Jewish Renewal Shabbat services.

7) Is there a difference between Jewish Meditation and Jewish Renewal meditation?

By definition, Jewish Renewal meditation is part of Jewish Meditation. But not all Jewish Meditations come under the banner of Jewish Renewal meditations. Eg. a guided Jewish Meditation may involve concepts which are not used in Jewish Renewal. Eg. reference to an exclusive male gender for God; references to God as a ruler or punisher; references involving sexist language; references to women that suggest their roles and abilities are inferior to men’s; and so on.

8) What is Tantric meditation?

Tantric meditation has at least two meanings. One is an advanced method of meditation involving certain positions, visualising energy flows through the body, controlling the breath and using certain mantras. The other meaning refers to using those advanced meditation techniques during or prior to sexual intercourse. We do not teach any form of Tantric meditation in our workshops.

9) Can meditation replace counselling or psychotherapy?

Whilst meditation can help give you the clarity of mind to become more clearly aware of, and possibly deal better with, your emotional and psychological problems, we do not recommend meditation for this purpose.

Meditation is not a replacement for counselling or psychotherapy, although it does have a role as an adjunct to those things (provided that you do not have a mental illness – see above).

A purpose of meditation is to strengthen your inner core of Self.

A purpose of counselling or psychotherapy is to give you awareness of your problems, and the ability to be able to deal with them.

We need both approaches. They are complementary.

MEDITATION PRACTICE

10) How do I learn to meditate?

You may pick up techniques from our Jewish Meditation workshops. We are developing a 3 month Do It Yourself web based Meditation Manual, which should be ready by 1/4/04, and will be available on this website.

You may wish to attend a course (eg. weekly over several months) at the Council of Adult Education or one of many other centres.

Learning meditation requires regular practice - at least 2 to 3 times per week for at least 10 to 20 minutes. You need to do this over at least 6 to 12 weeks, to get you started.

You need access to a teacher, to help with questions and problems. We will provide an email service, with limited telephone advice. Refer to the Meditation Manual (when it is ready – about 1/4/04). You can of course always bring questions to our Meditation workshops.

11) How much do I have to practise meditation?

Learning meditation requires regular practice. At least 2 to 3 times per week for at least 10 to 20 minutes. For at least 6 to 12 weeks, to get you started.

The ideal would be daily practice for 20 minutes for 3 to 6 months. It’s OK to miss a day here or there though.

12) When and where should I meditate?

Pick a time that is convenient for you, in terms of being able to regularly set aside 20 minutes, or however long you meditate for. It may be 5:30am after you have got up from bed. It may be 6:30pm when you get home from work. It may be 9pm at night.

Meditation immediately before going to bed is OK, and will probably help you sleep, but it is not, in our opinion, the best time to meditate. Although meditation can refresh you when you are tired, we think it works best when you are not tired, when you have slept adequately.

You should meditate in a quiet place. Take the phone off the hook. Put a sign on the door “meditation – please do not disturb”. Wear ear-plugs if you prefer. Use a non-ticking timer of some sort, so you do not need to be concerned about whether your meditation period is over.

Some people do not advocate meditating in your bedroom. We think it is OK. If it doesn’t work for you, try a different room.

Some people think you should not meditate whilst touching another person. We think it is OK to do this. But try different approaches.

13) Should my eyes be open or closed during meditation?

We recommend closed eye meditation. Some techniques prefer the eyes be slightly open, looking about 2 metres ahead at the ground, so you are aware of the world around you, but not taking it in fully. This open-eye meditation can sometimes bring you more into the present than closed-eye meditation. Perhaps try open-eye meditation at some stage.

14) Should I breathe through my nose or mouth?

You should breath through your nose. Only breath through your mouth if you have a bad cold.

You should not control or force your breath. Ideally “let your breath breathe you”. I.e. breathe naturally.

15) Can you meditate to achieve wealth and similar things?

Some techniques allow this. We don’t. We think the purpose of meditation is inner peace and spiritual development, not acquisition of things of a material or social nature. We think meditating on material advancement will distract your mind from the other goals of meditation.

16) What do I do if I experience phenomena during meditation?

Phenomena may include:

- seeing coloured lights or patterns

- experiencing your body disappear

- experiencing the world contained within your mind or Self

- feeling a Divine presence

- feeling yourself expand

There are differing attitudes towards phenomena. For some, they are part of the meditation. For others they are a distraction. You will probably have to decide this for yourself. But we think it undesirable that you meditate in order to produce phenomena. If they happen, let them happen and then go back to your meditation practice.

17) To what extent should I control and direct my meditation?

To us, meditation is not about control or direction. All you need is the desire or willingness to apply the technique. The rest should follow from that. Expecting results, trying to push yourself to achieve certain goals, generally contributes to unsuccessful meditation.

18) Do I need to do hatha yoga before going into meditation?

Our answer is no. Yoga, in many of its forms, can relax your body and mind, and help you with meditation. But it is not a precondition for meditation.

19) Do I need a guru?

A guru is a enlightened meditation master. (There is a meditation insight associated with the word G.U.R.U.: “Gee You Are You”). We believe you can learn meditation successfully by yourself (although it is preferably to have access to someone to answer your questions), or from an experienced or trained teacher. Being involved with a guru (Jewish or otherwise) can distract you from your own path as there is a risk you may give up your own autonomy to the guru.

20) Do I need to join a meditation group?

Our view is that a group can be helpful for learning meditation, but is not necessary for practising it. On the other hand, there can be “stronger meditation forces” at work in a group and the group can give you more sense of direction and intention. So you may at times have more powerful experiences in a group. But in our view meditation is a skill that you must be able to practise by yourself, regularly, so being comfortable and able to meditate alone is essential.

21) Can I sit in a chair?

Our answer is: definitely yes. On the other hand it should not be a chair that is too comfortable. Meditation can work best when you have a slight degree of discomfort in your arrangements. Also you may fall asleep if you are too comfortable, or lying down.

You may of course meditate cross legged, if you can sustain that during your meditation time. Some techniques (not followed by us) require that you sit cross legged and experience moderate or high discomfort, and work through the discomfort with the meditation.

22) Can I meditate lying down.

Generally this is not advisable. On the other hand, if you have had your normal meditation that day, it is OK to meditate lying down in bed immediately before going to sleep. But this should not replace your normal meditation.

23) Can I meditate more than once a day?

Certainly. On some retreats you may meditate around 9 times a day. There is no problem with meditating 2 to 4 times a day. You should monitor yourself though to check you are not feeling vague, or unconnected with what is around you, such as your work or your partner.

24) Can I meditate whilst driving?

We advise definitely not. Driving requires full attention.

25) What is the shortest period I can meditate for?

We have had some success with 2 minute meditations, say, hourly, totalling 5 or 6 meditations a day. You may be able to practise this technique discreetly at work.

MEDITATION PROBLEMS

26) My mind is too busy. Is meditation for me?

We think if your mind is busy, you should try one of the more involved meditations listed in the Meditation Manual (on this website by about 1/4/04). They are in the section entitled “Meditation for people with busy minds”. The more complex meditations involve doing several things at once: breath awareness, use of a mantra, visualisation and even movement.

Also sometimes a long chant (for say 10 minutes) before meditation can calm and focus the mind. Chanting is normally done in groups, but you could chant alone using a suitable CD, eg. Rabbi Cooper’s “Songs of Prayer and Silence”.

Another method is to meditate with your eyes slightly open, looking about 2 metres ahead at the ground, so you are aware of the world around you, but not taking it in fully. This open-eye meditation can sometimes bring you more into the present.

It may also help you to practise yoga for about ½ an hour before you meditate, to relax your body and mind.

27) Who can help me with my meditation technique?

You need access to a teacher, to help with questions and problems. When our Meditation Manual is ready (by about 1/4/04), we will provide an email advice service, with limited telephone advice. You can of course always bring questions to our Meditation workshops.

28) Can meditation be harmful?

People whose minds are reasonably balanced and who do not have a history of mental illness are extremely unlikely to experience any harm or negative effects from the meditations we carry out. There is a slight risk for such people if meditation is carried on for an extended period, eg. several hours per day for several consecutive days. The risk is that you may feel emotionally uncomfortable, as though your personality or ego is being attacked. The simple solution is to stop meditating for a day or so.

If you are emotionally disturbed eg. because of some unfortunate event, you probably won’t be able to meditate anyway. But we do not recommend meditation if you are in such a condition. It could exaggerate your condition.

If you have a history of mental illness, we do not recommend meditation, unless you have your doctor’s approval, and the meditation is carried out under your doctor’s or therapist’s supervision.

29) Can you make mistakes in meditation that could affect your results?

Yes, you could make mistakes, but the effects are reversible. Eg. you may change your meditation technique too frequently. This may impede your progress. See below for a list of common problems.

30) How will I know if I am making a mistake in my meditation technique?

One way is that you may not feel you are making much progress. You should discuss this with your meditation teacher. Some common problems are:

- changing your meditation technique too frequently

- meditating only immediately before bed

- meditating in a noisy environment

- meditating whilst emotionally upset or trying to handle major personal problems

- meditating lying down

- meditating with your eyes open (although sometimes this can be beneficial)

- meditating whilst breathing through your mouth (although this may be necessary if you have a cold, it is not the best way.)

- not persisting in your practice for long enough (eg. stopping after 3 days).

- having expectations of success in meditation

- trying to experience phenomena during meditation

- trying to force yourself to meditate deeply.

31) My mind wanders. How do I stop this?

It is natural for your mind to wander during meditation. Very few people can stop their minds wandering. Be gentle on yourself. Be aware that your mind has wandered, then gently bring yourself back to the technique you are practising and continue with it. You may have to repeat this process many times during your meditation session.

If this doesn’t work sufficiently for you, see above under “My mind is too busy for meditation”.

32) Should I stay with one meditation technique, or is it OK to change techniques? If I change techniques, how long should I wait till I do so?

We think it best to stick to the same technique for a few weeks, particularly when learning meditation, before you change to a different technique. On the other hand, once you are more advanced, you may change techniques sometimes even in the course of one meditation session. It is probably good to judge the situation by the results you get. But in any case, you must give any particular technique you use time to work. This is normally about a week or more.

33) Will meditation make me passive and accept my lot in life or accept an unsatisfactory state of society?

This is a very interesting issue. It is sometimes said that in India, people put up with their lot because they meditate. In our opinion, not changing an unfortunate situation is more a result of the values held by the society, rather than the meditation practices themselves.

In the West because of our different values, meditation will work differently on people compared with in the East. It may help you concentrate so you can work better. It may help you have a “place” in your psyche from which you can go out and change things. Or it may give you the capacity to slow yourself down, if you feel you are living a life that is too “fast”.

The values of Judaism encourage social action. These values will be supported by the sorts of Jewish Meditations that we carry out.

34) Sometimes I fall asleep. What should I do?

Falling asleep is OK. It usually means you are tired. Sleeping in meditation can be very refreshing, and more effective than normal sleep, although it can’t replace normal sleep.

So if you fall asleep just allow that to happen. Then when you awake continue with your meditation practice.

You should try to get enough sleep so this does not happen too often.

35) I have another question.

Good. Please send an email to ftropp@vtown.com.au

If you think it is important that you speak to someone about your problem, say so in the email, give details of the nature of the problem, how and when you can be contacted, and we will do our best to accommodate you.

Last Updated by Webmaster Fred Tropp v.5 11/4/04 \faq on meditation