Sunday, January 14, 2007

Lazer Beams: Hitbodedut - An Introduction to Personal Prayer

posted by A Simple Jew @ 6:49 PM   10 comments

10 Comments:

At January 14, 2007 at 11:01:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It always confuses me, when hisboydedus is called a "personal prayer". I think there is something pretty wrong with such equation, because it greatly narrows the concept of hisboydedus.

 
At January 15, 2007 at 4:48:00 AM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Sure, it narrows down the concept, but what other English term or phrase would you suggest in its place? I am not sure if there is any other term that could convey hisbodedus in all its complexity. The use of the term "personal prayer" is attempt to simply explain what it is all about.

 
At January 15, 2007 at 11:21:00 AM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Reb Arye Kaplan za"l suggested "meditation". I saw nothing so far that fits better.

 
At January 15, 2007 at 12:55:00 PM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

This is good, however I imagine this word could be interpreted to someone sitting quietly without actually speaking.

 
At January 15, 2007 at 3:26:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A Yid: as you mentioned a few times, what hisbodedus really is and how to really do it still remains unknown to most. Could you give us any hints as to where/how we could get the right guidance?

 
At January 15, 2007 at 7:00:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

ASJ: Correct. Silience can also a part of hisboydedus. Don't forget about it. Rebe speaks about shtiko in Likutey Moharan as well.

Mo: I'll answer something just a bit later.

 
At January 16, 2007 at 8:34:00 AM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

looking forward...

 
At January 16, 2007 at 5:59:00 PM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Mo: What I meant is, that really hisboydedus is a deep issue, in general as well as in Chasidus and Breslov in particular. I always found oversimplification of it to be incorrect. But I understand, that Breslov itself gives an easy possibility to oversimplify it, because very often Rebbe's words (and Reb Noson's) might look very simple. And many tend to do exactly like this, i.e. not to look at anything further than a seemingly simple meaning. However my teachers warned me about it, saying that this outward simplicity can be misleading, and Rebbe's words as well as Reb Noson's are profound.

If you look at hisboydedus just as a form of tfilo, it might be fine, if you don't forget what tfilo itself is (i.e. that one has to reach dveykus in his tfilo) however it narrows the concept of hisboydedud itself. Hisboydedus can be performed in thought and in speach. Speach can involve tfilo (formal and informal), as well as learning of Toyro. All these can be part of hisboydedus. It is true, that most often the Rebbe focuses on hisboydedus that involves informal tfilo, but it doesn't mean that this is a definition of hisboydedus. And tfilo is not an aim in itself. As the Tcheriner Rov says, that tachles of hisboydedus is dveykus. I feel that this profoundity is somehow missed by many. Profoundity of the concept of hisboydedus itself, as well as of its practice.

And now about where/how we could get the right guidance? This is an ancient question. And there is no simple answer. One has to look for his teacher in Chasidus, because as I see there is a Toyro shebiskasv of it. These are sforim that are available for anyone who wants to learn them. But there is Toyro shebeal pe as well. And this involves a Rebe - talmid relationship. Some things are only possible to get like this. So one has too look, and not to despair.

 
At January 17, 2007 at 7:12:00 AM EST, Anonymous Anonymous said...

A Yid: thank you for lifting a bit of the weil!)

 
At January 17, 2007 at 8:05:00 AM EST, Blogger A Simple Jew said...

Mo: You might also be interested to read A Yid's thoughts on this here

 

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