We are invited by our tradition to recite 100 blessings a day. How are blessings a form of mindfulness practice?
Let’s look at the Morning Blessings as a model for how to render the recitation of a traditional blessing into an occasion to focus our attention.
Imagine bringing awareness to the content of each blessing. What would that look like?
The invocation invites our attention, and the content of each blessing provides the direction of that attention.
The invocation Barukh Ata Adonai Eloheinu Melekh Ha’olam is traditionally translated as: “Blessed are You, O Lord, My God, King of the Universe.”
Here is an alternative mindfulness-based translation of the beginning of each berakhah:
I ground myself in non-separation from all that is. I soften my sense of self and embrace experience, sensation, awareness and gratitude flowing through my mind, body and spirit.
The invocation is the same for every blessing. It awakens the part of my brain, my consciousness that is open to gratitude, to freedom, to the release of suffering.
Let’s look at each of the Morning Blessings. We might begin each one with this translation: I ground myself in non-separation from all that is. I soften my sense of self and embrace experience, sensation, awareness and gratitude flowing through my mind, body and spirit.
Then, we might continue with the second part of each blessing.
Who enables the bird to distinguish between day and night
Another day has dawned. This day is a gift. It emerges from the dark of night and invites me to praise, to presence, to community.
Who made me in the Divine image
I touch the divinity in me. It is luminous. It is expansive. It is loving. It is embracing of all the complexities of my temporary existence. It is eternal. It is right here. Right now.
Who made me free
With awareness wisdom grows. Wisdom enables discernment. I am free to choose between the wholesome and the unwholesome. I can recognize the causes of suffering, the roots of delusion, the confusion that proliferates in the mind. In this moment, I can choose. I can choose who I will be in this moment.
Who made me a Jew
I embrace being part of a people, a history, a lineage that has glory and grief, triumph and tragedy. It is part of me, and I am part of it. It combines the universal and the particular. It captivates my imagination and deepens my desire to connect to the other. It is a pathway to the One. Judaism is not the only pathway.
Who gives sight to the blind
Sight is a gift and a miracle. I am grateful. I can see beauty and brokenness; I can see words and images. I can see faces and hands, babies and old people, puppies and pussycats, mountains and oceans. Seeing is my gateway to awe and recognizing the miraculous.
Who clothes the naked
In this moment, I feel that I am covered and protected. I am not naked and vulnerable. I breathe in this blessing, touching the cloth that shields me from harm. In this moment, I recognize that not all people are clothed. Some shiver in the cold. To be naked is not their choice. How can I share my good fortune with them?
Who releases the bound
There are the bonds of external slavery, and there are the internal bonds. May I see what ties me to greed and fear, to anger and envy. May the Source of all love, the boundless light of pure nonjudging awareness, soften my bonds and the bonds of all beings trapped in their inner and outer prisons.
Who straightens those who are bent
Suffering is pressure on our shoulders, our backs and our necks. It diminishes us as we contract. May we bring compassion to our suffering and the suffering of all who dwell on this earth. May this compassion heal us all and restore our ability to stand erect, reaching toward the heavens.
Who stretches out the earth over the waters
We are land creatures. Land is our home. Yet we are aware that beneath the land lies fluidity, instability, unknown. May we appreciate this moment when we can stand firmly. It is a gift.
Who steadies our steps
May we take the next right step. May it partake of Divine love and support. May it lead us without stress or fear to the step that follows. May we trust the path, one step at a time.
Who has provided for all my needs
I did not create my heart, my lungs, my capacity to eat and digest nourishment. So many systems operate within this body that I did not create. The source of wisdom and love provides for the moment-to-moment aliveness that keeps me going. I open to this truth.
Who strengthens the people Israel with courage
I pray for my people Israel. May we know that strength flows from courage and from the heart. Not from fear. Courage is expansive. Courage is embracing of difference. Courage is self-affirming. Courage loves the stranger, the other.
Who crowns the people Israel with beauty
May we and all people feel our own beauty. May we rest in deep self-acceptance. Not because we are perfect. But because we are a creation of the Divine. We are who we are. May we all find our true purpose on s earth.
Who gives strength to the weary
Being human is not easy. It is tiring. There is so much to balance. We are all weary. Only a power greater than our small selves can grant us the strength to continue. May we continue to grow in awareness, in love, in wisdom and in truth.
