Chants, Shir HaShirim

God-Window Practice: Dodi Tzafanti Lach

Dodi Tzafanti Lach
Hebrew text for God-Window practice
My hidden (treasure) is Yours, My Beloved. (Song of Songs 7:14)

This is a practice of release. Whatever is hidden inside us, we give over to God, The Beloved, who lovingly relieves us of our burden of shame, pride or secret, transforming that encumbrance, leaving us lighter, and more open to receive the gift of this moment.

I call this a God-Window practice, because every time I chant the word, Lach (It’s Yours) I send my hidden material through a soul window to God. A powerful way to do this practice is with a partner who can be that God-Window, who can get out of the way yet still remain present and open. As I chant through the eyes of my partner, their strong presence becomes a God-Window, allowing my hiddenness to flow through their transparent presence to the great Divine beyond.

Every time I say Lach, I add a physical gesture (moving my hand from my heart outwards to God) to amplify the force of release. In the silence after the chant, I open to receive God’s mysterious presence into the place that has been emptied.

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 God-Window Practice PDF.

Chants

For the Good: Gam zeh l’tovah

Gam zeh l’tovah
This is also for the good. (Talmud, Taanit 21a)

Nachum, a great sage who was Rabbi Akiva’s teacher was nicknamed Ish Gamzu, the Gamzu man, because no matter what happened, he would say about it, “This is also for the good.” He experienced a lot of what looked to other as very bad things- illness, misfortune, suffering.

I don’t think that he was saying that even those terrible things were good. Nachum Ish Gamzu was doing a very advanced practice of dedication to the larger Good. This larger Good holds inside of it everything we think of as good and bad. And he was stepping inside a vast and radical place of Not-Knowing.

My version of his practice lets me point to all the countless events, situations, fates, adventures and misadventures of my life, as I vow to use everything, yes everything in service to the greater good of awakening through it all.

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 For the Good PDF. For the musical notation, click For the Good Music.

Chants, Liturgy, Psalms

Surrendering: B’yad’cha afkid ruchi

B’yad’cha afkid ruchi padita oti Yah Ayl Emet
Surrendering Hebrew text
Into Your Hand I entrust my spirit; You redeem me Yah, God of Truth. (Psalm 31:6) (Bedtime liturgy)

In the Talmud (Brachot 4a-5b) Rav Abaye suggests that we chant these words from Psalm 31, to amplify the power of the Bedtime Sh’ma. They help us surrender into God’s loving embrace at the moment when we are about to give ourselves to sleep. Trusting in that embrace, freeing ourselves from the worries of the day, and committing our lives to the Truth of a wider perspective.

I created this practice for a young man who was dying. The chant gave everyone who loved this courageous soul an opportunity to pour that love into a vehicle of transformation as he made the journey through the portal of Death into Greater Life. At the moment of his Death, I felt his soul expand and be taken into the wide embrace.

We can experience that expansion and that embrace each night, as we surrender the illusion of control and give ourselves over to the greater Truth that has been holding us all along.

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 Surrendering PDF. For the musical notation, click Surrendering Music.

Chants, Scripture

Choose Life: Uvacharta Bachayyim

Uvacharta Bachayyim
Choose Life Hebrew Text
I have set before you Life and Death, blessing and curse. Choose Life! (Deuteronomy 30:19)

Not just every year, week or day, but every single moment we can choose Life. This means choosing to let go of a negative thought or judgment; it means choosing to live with uncertainty; choosing the kind word or generous attitude; choosing to let go of tension and relax. In every moment we can choose to “be chosen” by God for the best possible Life, for the life we were meant to live fully. In each moment, we can choose to accept the gifts, challenges, opportunities and responsibilities that we are being given.

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 Choose Life PDF. For the musical notation, click Choose Life Music.

Chants, Psalms

Heart Meditation: Im l’vavi

Im l’vavi asicha, va’yichapais ruchi
Heart Meditation Hebrew text
With my heart, I meditate (converse) and my spirit searches. (Psalm 77:7)

There are three phases of this Heart meditation, all meant to awaken the heart as a vehicle of exploration and perception.

1st Phase (with sound and concentration)

  1. Chant Im l’vavi asicha 3X with complete focused gentle attention to the “back door of the heart.”
  2. As you chant va’yichapais ruchi, release and send the inner power that has accumulated in the heart out into the Universe. Let that spirit fly out and explore.
  3. The 2nd time you chant va’yichapais ruchi, allow that spirit to return and find its home within your heart.

2nd phase (with sound and movement)

  1. Turn head to the left, and as you chant Im l’vavi, circle down and around to the right. As you chant asicha circle down and around back to the left. Repeat 3X.
  2. As you chant, va’yichapais ruchi, bow to the center, finding your depths.
  3. The second time you chant, va’yichapais ruchi, lift yourself up into the fullness of your heart.

3rd Phase (silent chanting with breath concentration)

  1. Im l’vavi, on the exhale, asicha in the inhale, spiraling in to the heart. Repeat 3X
  2. On the exhale, va’yichapais ruchi, sending the breath out to search, taste and explore.
  3. On the inhale, va’yichapais ruchi, letting the breath return with information, subtleties and richness.

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 Heart Meditation PDF. For the musical notation, click Heart Meditation Music.