Chants

Love and Truth: Chesed ve’Emet

Chesed ve’Emet nifgashu,
Tzedek v’Shalom nashaku
Hebrew for Love And Truth
When Love and Truth meet,
then Justice and Peace will kiss. (Psalm 85:11)

Psalm 85 teaches us that the intimate encounter between Love and Truth will engender a world where Justice and Peace prevail. When we listen carefully to the ground of Being, the Earth itself will sprout the Truth, and the wide expanse of Heaven will open to show us the way to Justice. We aim for that place of “the Kiss” where our inner wholeness is expressed as love through everything that we do.

To hear the chant, use the audio player. 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 Love And Truth PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Sitting in the Secret of the Highest: Yoshayv

Yoshayv b’sayter Elyon,
b’tzayl Shadai yitlonan
Sitting in the Secret: Hebrew
Whoever sits in the secret of the Highest
will abide in the shade of Shaddai (Psalm 91:1)

This line from Psalm 91 is such a vivid and precise description of my meditation practice. I created this practice to illuminate my intention as I sit. I am sitting in the secret of the Highest. I am releasing all the content of mind, so that in that spaciousness that is created, I can receive the secret, the still small voice that has been whispering to me all along. The secret of the Highest is most often conveyed to me beyond words or concepts. It comes to me as a sense of Presence, and as a glimpse of a larger unknown Reality in which my “known” world is embedded.

This practice reminds me to keep at it, even if that spacious secret High place lasts for just a moment… those moments will guide me onto a path of living in the Presence. To abide in the shade of Shaddai is to know the truth of our ultimate safety. Shade represents nearness and shelter. Shaddai is an ancient name of God (usually translated as Almighty) rooted in the word for Breasts (Shaddayim). To call on God as the Breasted One is to rest into Her nurturance and protection. My practice reminds me that I am sourced in the Oneness.

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 Sitting in the Secret PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Yoshayvb’sayter notation PDF.

Chants, Psalms

Sing Your Joy: V’ran’nu

V’ran’nu v’zamayru,
Zamru l’Yah b’kinor, B’kinor v’kol zimra
Sing Your Joy in Hebrew
Sing your joy, and chant, connect with joy to God,
With the harp and the sound of chanted praise!(Psalm 98:4-5)

Our heartfelt expression is what connects us to God, the Great Mystery. Melody can unlock the portals of connection. Yet we each have to find the God-spark deep within and send it forth with force and intention and curiosity and chutzpa, connecting that spark to its source. The joy that we sing is not a superficial passing emotion, but rather the authentic yet buried Divine essence that makes us who we are.

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 Sing Your Joy PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Sing Your Joy notation PDF.

Chants, Liturgy

Sealed: N’zachayr

N’zachayr v’ naychataym l’fanecha
Sealed Hebrew text
May we be remembered and sealed in Your Presence. (HHD Liturgy)

These words from our High Holy Day liturgy are said just once, during the pivotal moments of Ne’ila, when the gates are about to close. This the moment when all of our highest intentions are sealed, which means they enter deeply into our core where they will be available for us when we need them. The neuro-scientist, Rick Hanson asks the question, “How do passing mental states become lasting neural traits?” That’s my question too as I walk the path of spiritual practice, having experiences of wonder, flashes of Unity-consciousness, moments of deep connection. How will those experiences be planted in me and grow to become my strength, resilience, compassion and abiding love?

These words can be used any time of year when our intention is to seal in the truth of an experience that we want to have access to and remember and integrate.

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

To download the PDF file for this chant, click Sealed PDF. To download the chant’s notation, click Sealed notation PDF.

Chants

Nature Blessing

Baruch atah Yah, Eloheinu ruach haolam, oseh maasei v’reishit.
Nature Blessing in Hebrew
We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe,
who makes the works of Creation.

This is the blessing we say upon seeing the large-scale wonders of Nature, such as mountains, hills, deserts, seas, long rivers, lightning, and the sky in its purity. It’s usually translated: We praise You, Eternal God, Sovereign of the universe, who makes the works of Creation. But I believe there is a secret hidden in these words. B’reshit is often translated as “Creation,” but it is much more of a mystery and points us towards an encounter that has the potential to be life-changing. B’reshit means “in the Beginning.”

When we see something of Nature that is wondrous and majestic, it is possible for the veil that covers our eyes and the eyes of our hearts to drop away, so that we might see for the first time that a miracle is emerging, that something is arising out of nothing before our very eyes. That mountain looms above me in all its majesty, opening my eyes to its being that is just now revealing itself to me. I witness that river flowing down from the heights, taking on its new form, emerging as a fresh beginning. That wide sky, with clouds swirling is becoming itself and initiating me into its mystery in this moment of wonder.

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 Nature Blessing PDF.
To download the chant’s notation, click Nature Blessing notation PDF.