Meditation from the Heart of Judaism: Today'S Teachers Share Their Practices, Techniques and Faith

Brief Description: Inspiring yet practical, introduces meditation from a Jewish perspective and as it is personally practiced by today s most experienced Jewish meditators from around the world. Will encourage you to start meditating or help enhance your current practice."Table of Contents: Introduction: The Heart of Jewish Meditation AVRAM DAVIS The Teaching and Practice of Reb Yerachmiel ben Yisrael RABBI RAMI M SHAPIRO Silencing the Inner Voice(s) RABBI LAWRENCE KUSHNER It Doesn't Matter What You Call It: If It Works, It Works RABBI ALAN LEW Study as Meditation SUSIE SCHNEIDER Keeping God Before Me Always MINDY RIBNER Noble Boredom: How to View Meditation RABBI JONATHAN OMER-MAN Jewish Meditation Today and Its Obstacles AVRAM DAVIS The Hierarchy of Jewish Meditation RABBI ALAN BRILL Opening the Inner Gates EDWARD HOFFMAN A Splendid Way to Live RABBI DAVID ZELLER On Mindfulness SYLVIA BOORSTEIN Meditation as Our Own Jacob's Ladder RABBI STEVE FISDEL MEDITATION FROM THE HEART OF JUDAISM That This Song May Be a Witness: The Power of Chant RABBI SHEFA GOLD Meditating as a Practicing Jew RABBI SHEILA PELTZ WEINBERG Meditation and the Art of Growing Your Neshamah RABBI LAIBL WOLF Healing and Meditation RABBI SHOHAMA WIENER Why Meditate? DANIEL C MATT The Promise of Jewish Meditation RABBI DAVID COOPER Go to Your Self ANDREA COHEN-KIENER Meditation and Women s Kabbalah RABBI LYNN GOTTLEIB Piety Before Ecstasy SHAUL MAGID Notes from a Beginning Meditation Teacher NAN FINK Best Practices: A Distillation of Techniques and Outlook AVRAM DAVIS Notes Glossary Suggested Readings and Materials About the Editor About Jewish Lights Publishing"Publisher Marketing: Techniques explained by the masters for today s spiritual seeker Meditation is designed to give you direct access to the spiritual. Whether it s through deep breathing during a busy day, listening to the quiet after turning off the car radio, chanting in prayer, or ten minutes of visualization exercises each morning, meditation takes many forms. But it is always a personal method of centering our spiritual self. Meditation has long been practiced in the Jewish community as a powerful tool to transcend words, personality, and ego and to directly experience the divine. Inspiring yet practical, this introduction to meditation from a Jewish perspective approaches it in a new and illuminating way: As it is personally practiced by today s most experienced Jewish meditators from around the world. A how to guide for both beginning and experienced meditators, Meditation from the Heart of Judaism will help you start meditating or help you enhance your practice. Meditation is a Jewish spiritual resource for today that can benefit people of all faiths and backgrounds and help us add spiritual energy to our lives. Contributors include: Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 11/10/1997 pg. 70 (EAN 9781879045774, Hardcover)

Library Journal 03/01/1998 pg. 93 (EAN 9781879045774, Hardcover)

Booklist 02/01/1998 pg. 880 (EAN 9781879045774, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Davis, Avram Davis is the founder and co-director of an independent renewal center for Jewish learning and meditation, Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley, CA. Contributor Bio:  Boorstein, Sylvia Sylvia Boorstein is cofounding teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, and a senior teacher at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. She lectures nationally on Buddhism and mindfulness, and teaches Vipassana and Metta meditation. Contributor Bio:  Brill, Alan Alan Brill is assistant professor of Jewish Philosophy at Yeshiva University. Contributor Bio:  Cooper, David David Cooper works in plant genetic resources at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Contributor Bio:  Gold, Shefa Rabbi Shefa Gold, is director of C-DEEP: The Center for Devotional, Energy and Ecstatic Practice in Jemez Springs, New Mexico. Shefa composes and performs spiritual music, has produced several recordings, and her liturgies have been published in many prayer books. She teaches workshops and retreats on the theory and art of chanting, devotional healing, spiritual community building and meditation around the world. She also trains chant leaders in Kol Zimra, a two-year program for rabbis, cantors and lay leaders. Shefa, who is on the faculty of the Institute for Jewish Spirituality, combines her grounding in Judaism with a background in Buddhist, Christian, Islamic and Native American spiritual traditions to make her uniquely qualified as a spiritual bridge celebrating the shared path of devotion. She is author of "Torah Journeys: The Inner Path to the Promised Land and In the Fever of Love: An Illumination of the Song of Songs". For more information about Rabbi Shefa Gold, please visit her website at www. RabbiShefaGold.com. Rabbi Shefa Gold is available to speak on the following topics: The Magic of Hebrew ChantEcstatic MeditationThe Path of LoveGratefulness as the Foundation of our Spiritual PracticeThe Power of IntentionClick here to contact the author. Contributor Bio:  Hoffman, Edward Edward Hoffman, Ph. D., is the critically acclaimed author of "The Right to Be Human: A Biography of Abraham Maslow "(McGraw-Hill), "The Drive for Self, " and "Future Visions: The Unpublished Papers of Abraham Maslow." A licensed clinical psychologist based in New York City, he has over 20 years of professional experience with an emphasis on psychological evaluation, and lectures widely throughout the United States, Europe, South America, and Asia. Contributor Bio:  Kushner, Lawrence Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is one of the most widely read authors by people of all faiths on Jewish spiritual life. He is the best-selling author of such books as Invisible Lines of Connection: Sacred Stories of the Ordinary; God Was in This Place & I, i Did Not Know: Finding Self, Spirituality and Ultimate Meaning; Honey from the Rock: An Introduction to Jewish Mysticism; The Book of Letters: A Mystical Hebrew Alphabet; The Book of Miracles: A Young Person's Guide to Jewish Spiritual Awareness; The Book of Words: Talking Spiritual Life, Living Spiritual Talk; Eyes Remade for Wonder: A Lawrence Kushner Reader; I'm God, You're Not: Observations on Organized Religion and other Disguises of the Ego; Jewish Spirituality: A Brief Introduction for Christians; The River of Light: Jewish Mystical Awareness; The Way Into Jewish Mystical Tradition and coauthor of Because Nothing Looks Like God; How Does God Make Things Happen?; Where Is God?; What Does God Look Like? and In God's Hands (all Jewish Lights). He is the Emanu-El Scholar at San Francisco's Congregation Emanu-El and an adjunct professor of Jewish mysticism and spirituality at Hebrew Union College Jewish Institute of Religion. Rabbi Lawrence Kushner is available to speak on the following topics: Jewish Mystical Imagination Rymanover's Silent Aleph: What Really Happened on Sinai Zohar on Romance and Revelation What Makes Kabbalah Kabbalah Sacred Stories of the Ordinary: When God Makes a Surprise Appearance in Everyday LifeContributor Bio:  Lew, Alan Alan Lew is the rabbi of Congregation Beth Sholom in San Francisco and is at the forefront of the movement to develop new forms of Jewish spiritual expression. His work in the area of using Zen meditation to enhance Jewish spirituality has been highlighted on programs such as ABC News, The MacNeil-Lehrer Report, the PBS news magazine Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and National Public Radio's All Things Considered. He also serves as moderator of Mosaic, CBS's weekly religious talk show. Lew explores meditation in Jewish contexts, and has conducted workshops and retreats on Jewish meditation throughout the United States and Canada. Contributor Bio:  Magid, Shaul Shaul Magid, PhD, is the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Professor of Modern Judaism and professor of religious studies at Indiana University Bloomington. He is the author of Hasidism on the Margin: Reconciliation, Antinomianism, and Messianism in Izbica/Radzin Hasidism and From Metaphysics to Midrash: Myth, History, and the Interpretation of Scripture in Lurianic Kabbala, which won theAmerican Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Textual Studies category. Contributor Bio:  Shapiro, Rami Rami Shapiro, a renowned teacher of spirituality across faith traditions and a noted theologian, is a popular speaker on the topics of religion, theology and spirituality. He is author of the award-winning The Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Preparing to Practice; Recovery The Sacred Art: The Twelve Steps as Spiritual Practice and Hasidic Tales: Annotated and Explained; among other books. Rami Shapiro is available to speak on the following topics: Writing The Sacred Art: Beyond the Page to Spiritual PracticeStop Playing God: 12 Steps as Spiritual PracticeBiblical Wisdom for Post-biblical Times: An Exploration of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and JobThe Sacred Art of Lovingkindness: Cultivating Compassion in Daily LifeHasidic Wisdom: An Exploration of Hasidic Storytelling, Theology and Contemplative PracticeSaints and Sages: Biblical Prophets, Ancient Rabbis and the Building of a Just WorldContributor Bio:  Wolf, Laibl Wolf is an orthodox rabbi who was a discipline of the leading contemporary Hassidic Master, the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Schneerson, and was ordained by the Chief Rabbi of Isarel, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu. Contributor Bio:  Zeller, David Rabbi David Zeller, storyteller, teacher and musician, is a pioneer in Jewish spirituality and transpersonal psychology. He helped establish the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology; the Network of Conscious Judaism; Yakar: Center for Tradition and Creativity; and Shevet: Center for Jewish Spirituality and Meditation. He has produced five recordings of meditative and healing music. He travels extensively throughout the United States and Europe several times each year to teach and perform. Learn more about David Zeller, his stories and his music at www.davidzeller.org.