Category Archives: Chants

Chants, Scripture

Surrendering the Small Self: Kach-na

Kach-na et-nafshi mimeni
Surrendering the Small Self Hebrew text
Take my soul (nefesh) from me. (Jonah 4:3)

On the afternoon of Yom Kippur, we read the story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet who ran from his calling because he didn’t want the people of Nineva to repent and be forgiven. When, after a tumultuous storm and a forced retreat inside the belly of a whale, he finally prophesied to the people of Nineva; they did indeed repent and God forgave them. Jonah was quite unhappy about all this and his suffering that was caused by attachment to small mind/small self, was unbearable. Jonah says “take my soul from me because I would rather die than live.”

The word for “soul” that he uses is “nefesh,” which, in our tradition refers to the lowest level of soul, the part of us that is completely attached to our separate identity, and immersed in the dualism of materiality.

This is a powerful and potentially dangerous practice of surrender of the small self. When we say to God, “Take my soul from me,” we want to be very clear just what we are surrendering. Before you begin chanting, identify your pettiness, the small-minded habits, the old un-conscious reactive and repetitive patterns that you are ready to release. Lay them on the altar of the chant. Offer up the small self. Open to the Big Self.

(Don’t chant this while driving or using heavy machinery or spacing out. It is powerful!)

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Surrendering the Small Self PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Whole-Hearted: Odeh Yah

Odeh Yah b’chol libi
Whole-Hearted Hebrew text
I thank God with my whole heart. (Psalm 9:2)

To be whole-hearted is to step all the way in to the life I am given. It means I must let go of my resistance, and surrender to “what is.” The practice of gratefulness can take me to this place of whole-heartedness.

On the inhale I am breathing in the gift of my life exactly as it is.
On the exhale I am saying “thank you!”… for this breath, this very moment.

Each breath takes me deeper. Each breath allows me to include more of my voice and presence as I respond to the gift. I give the fullness of my heart. I stop withholding. And I open wider to receive the heart of God.

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download a chant, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Whole-Hearted PDF.

Chants, Scripture

Turn, Return, and Be Turned: Hashiveynu

Hashiveynu Yah elecha v’nashuva
Turn_Hebrew
Now let us turn, return and be turned (3X)
To the One! (Lamentations 5:21)

With this practice, we explore three aspects of T’shuvah. How do we turn away from that which is draining us of Life-force, and turn towards that which Life-giving? How do we return to a sense of belonging, authenticity and connection to the whole of Creation? How do we surrender to the Great Mystery that is holding us, transforming us and loving us unconditionally?

To hear the chant, use the audio player. To download the chant, right-click the note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Turn, Return, and BeTurned PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Taste and See!: Ta’amu

Ta’amu u’r’u ki tov Havayah
Taste and See in Hebrew
Taste and see that God is Good! (Psalm 34:9)

When I enter into the sensibility of reverence and assume an ultimate meaning to the flow of my life, I am rewarded with this Divine Goodness. When I follow my intuitions that a great beauty is hidden just beneath the surface, and I dive into that Mystery, I am gifted with a direct experience of the Oneness. But I must enter; I must dive; I must take the risk. This Psalm invites me to take that leap of Faith. It says, “Don’t believe me; see for yourself!” I am invited to go for it, to fully taste this moment of Life, and then to trust my own experience.

In this chant I pronounce the YHVH unpronounceable name of God with the Hasidic term HaVaYaH, a term that incorporates the 4 letters of God’s name and also suggests BEING itself.

To hear the chant, use the audio players. To download the chant or the chant as a round, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Taste and See! PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Resilience: Im aylech

Im aylech b’kerev tzarah, t’chayayni
Resilience text in Hebrew
Even when I walk in the midst of trouble,
you are giving me Life. (Psalm 138:7)

As I cultivate resilience, I meet the obstacles of reactivity, overwhelm, alienation, despair and feeling cut off from my Source. With this practice, I first acknowledge, with compassion, the difficulties of Life. Then I open to the help that is available in each moment — the unseen possibilities of renewal. When I activate my imagination, the possibilities of joy, curiosity, insight, and a wider perspective are revealed moment by moment and then I simply open to them. In that moment of opening, I let go of my story; I become curious; I connect with inner and outer resources that were always there; I reignite my enthusiasm for the journey.

To hear the various parts of the chant, use the audio players. To download a part, right-click a note and save (or download) the linked MP3 file.

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Resilience PDF.