Ten Minutes

With palms together,
Good Morning Everyone,

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at Temple Beth El. I teach three classes in a row: Jewish Spirituality, Jewish History, and Advanced Jewish Spirituality. By the end of the day I am swimming in Judaism. Not a bad thing, really. but cause for a period of rest. I was reading a book by Rabbi Zalman M. Schachter-Shalomi the other day and he presented me with a wonderful tool. He calls it "making a ten minute Shabbot (Sabbath)".

The Sabbath is a break from ordinary time, as Rabbi Zalman points out, there is "doing" time and "being" time. (Master Dogen of the 13th century pointed out the same from a Zen point of view.) Being time is full, natural time, not clock time, not calendar time, but time in the present moment, in sync with your natural, human rhythm.

We can each "make" a ten minute sabbath by taking leave of the clock and joining the natural universe, either when we need it or during a break time in our busy day. We do this by stopping what we are doing, perhaps changing our environment by walking outside, or even, as Jon Kabat-Zinn pointed out, lying down on the floor (to get a different perspective), and then paying attention.

During our ten minute Shabbot, we release ourselves from work. We smell the air, breath deeply, relax our muscles, let the tension in our bodies drift away. This is a time for rest and renewal. In Zen we call it Zazen.

At the conclusion of our ten minutes, we return to our day knowing that our day, and the work it involves, is our connection with the world and through this, a blessing to the Infinite.

Perhaps we don't have ten minutes? OK, five. Not even five? OK, one.

Enjoy your minute.

Be well.

references:

Rabbi Schachter-Shalomi, First Steps to a New Jewish Spirit
Master Dogen, Uji, in the Shobogenzo
Jon Kabot-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are