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Yoga As A Way to Kavanna

Levi Kelman (Sh'ma, 4/74, May 17, 1974)

This past year, a respected friend and teacher severely (but lovingly) attacked my current interest in Eastern mysticism. I responded that there is a parallel between my past interest in the counter-culture and my current interest in Yoga. My involvement with soft drugs, for example, had been beneficial in my search for what was to be a "Jewish fife." Getting high on a niggun may have preceded the drug culture, but it took the drug culture to rescue it from oblivion. Similarly, we have been taught that the Rabbis would meditate for hours before their davening; perhaps the wisdom of Eastern mysticism can rescue meditation.

Indeed, the serious practice of the Yogic techniques for the mind and body can be of great spiritual value to the Jew. Davening, for the Jewish Yogi, becomes more than the daily recitation of sacred texts, even more than a "conversation" with God. Raja Yoga (the path of meditation) results in an encounter with the Shechinah, the Godhead. Five to thirty minutes on the ECHAD-ness of Ha-Shem changes the character (not the content) of tefillah (prayer). The ECHAD-ness becomes all; within and without. This kind of experience does not happen daily. It takes practice. But the practicing itself deepens the prayer.

Exploring parallel themes

Nor is prayer the only area of Jewish life which can benefit from Yoga. In the whole area of health Judaism has paid very little attention to the body on a spiritual level. Hatha Yoga, however, prescribes a series of asanas (postures) to maintain health. With regard to food, the laws of kashrut (which transforms the Jewish table into an altar) gain in meaning when one sees the abstinence from certain animals and the separation of milk and meat as pointing to the Yogic vegetarian diet - which is healthier, cleaner and seemingly more holy than is a carnivorous diet.

Actually, Yoga and Judaism are similar in approach in a number of ways. Neither offers easy solutions to life; trying to follow the "path" or "way" is the important thing. The two share the idea of doing as much as you can b'simchah (with joy); neither discipline is to be a burden. The most beautiful connection I found was between the Jewish idea of neshamah (soul) and the Yogic idea of "breath." As the Bible describes God breathing the breath of life into man's soul, Yoga also says that breath is the essence of life - and that the mind and body can be controlled by breathing exercises. Try doing some deep breathing before "Nishmat kol chai" on Shabbat!

A note of caution

At the same time, however, there are some important differences between Yoga and Judaism. Judaism does not view meditation as an end in itself, but only as the basis for actions. Yoga, on the other hand, sees all actions as extended meditations. Moreover, the concept of the Mashiach, and the whole Judaic view of time and history, forces one to reject the Yogic belief in cyclical time and reincarnation.

Consequently, there are dangers when Jews look to Yoga for wisdom. As drugs heightened our awareness, they also caused O.D.s and mindlessness. Similarly, the rush to religious mysticism has its share of Hare Krishnas and followers of Guru Mahara Ji [sic] who have ended up killing their Jewishness. Seriously committed Jews, therefore, must make a distinction between the religion of Eastern mysticism - which is often antithetical to Judaism; and the discipline of Eastern mysticism which can often be an enormous aid in developing Jewish sensitivities.

The serious Jew is not likely to find satisfaction in those "ashrams" (Yoga centers) which present an "all religions are one" line - where one can hear sanskrit chanting with Hebrew and Christian prayers (nothing I have encountered so far has ever approached the Siddur for prayer). Yet we Jews have been especially adept at incorporating the rituals and ideas of pagan and secular culture into our own, and thus making them kadosh. With some care, we can do the same to reawaken some spiritual concerns which have become latent in modern Judaism, by learning from the discipline of Eastern mysticism.