Go to Yourself: A Meditation

Chana Bracha

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 Avraham’s journey parallels each of our personal journeys. When G-d told Avraham, לֶךְ לְךָ – “Lech lecha,” – “go to yourself” – to your source, He also told each of us at every moment. Our self image which we project into the world may not be true reflections of the inner core of our being. We have built upon ourselves layers and layers of external self-identifications….. Think about the things that weigh you down – that are not really part of true self that you want to let go of, in your journey to find your true inner self – Hashem’s Divine spark within you.

Sit comfortably in your chair, close your eyes and take deep breaths several times. Breathe deeply and feel completely relaxed in all of the limbs of the body. Imagine Hashem’s light filling you from Above. In your mind see the letters that form the words lech lecha. They extend as far down and as far up as they can go. Claim all of yourself – your entire range of being.
Go. Grow. Recall the lowest depths to which you’ve sunk…in pain or sorrow.
Remember the greatest heights to which you’ve climbed…in love and labor.

Breathe in as you imagine the word לְךָ – lecha – to yourself, breathe out as you imagine the word לֶךְ – lech – go. Continue breathing in and out while visualizing לֶךְ לְךָ – lech lecha and going deeper into yourself on the in-breath with the word לְךָ – lecha, while letting go on the out-breath as you imagine the word לֶךְ – lech. Repeat this ten times.

לֶךְ לְךָ מֵאַרְצְךָ וּמִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ – “Go from your country, your birthplace & your father’s house”
Are you ready to abandon everything that establishes and confirms your selfhood? – Your country, your birthplace and your father’s house? Are you ready to let go of the vital ground for self-confirmation, citizenship, property rights and inheritance? Your essential sources of security?

אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ – “To the Land that I will show you”
With each in-breath, seek a new and higher self-identity independent of land, nationality and family. Seek your relationship with Hashem. Are you ready to base your self identity on your eternal connection with the source of the present and the future?

With each in-breath, go deeper into your I which includes Hashem. It embodies the eternal Divine “You” into the very definition of your human “I”.

With each out-breath try to let go of every un-essential layers of your self- image

מֵאַרְצְךָ – From your country, from the language and culture that you grew up in, from its national values such as democratic freedom, from the manners and body language of your country.

מִמּוֹלַדְתְּךָ – From the customs of your neighborhood, the foods, traditions and unspoken expectations of your extended family.

וּמִבֵּית אָבִיךָ – from all the things your encountered in your childhood home that you promised yourself you would not repeat when you became a parent, but found yourself in the exact same behavior patterns. From those neuroses, judgments and criticism? From those petty expectations and snobbiness?

Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha from all that weighs you down
Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha go to your crown!

From jealousy and anger
Hatred and obsession
From judgment and slander
Sadness and depression

Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha from all that weighs you down
Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha go to your crown! 

From humiliation and dissolution

Pursuit of temptations that deceive
From and uncertainty and confusion
to your inner Divine spark believe!

Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha from all that weighs you down
Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha go to your crown!

From Holding on to the past, 

Childhood wounds and hurt feelings
To release and feel peace at last
With yourself in all your dealings!

Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha from all that weighs you down
Lech Lecha – Lech Lecha go to your crown!

Imagine being 100 % connected with your crown, – imagine it sparkle on top of your head with all its glory containing only the purest Divine Light. With each in-breath, the shape of your crown gets clearer and more defined, and it sparkles more and more.

Now that you are releasing the layers from your past that weighs you down. As you let go of any trace of fear of the unfamiliar, open yourself completely to הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אַרְאֶךָּ – “the Land that G-d will show you” – Open yourself to new possibilities in an unknown future.
Open yourself to the unknown change, hope and miracles.
Allow yourself to see the possibility for new beginnings, living a life of hope.

Notes
The name Lech Lecha, literally: “Go to yourself,” refers to our constant ascent from lower to higher spiritual levels as we fulfill our purpose in the world. The numerical value of the two words is one hundred, the age of Avraham when he performed the near-sacrifice of Yitzchak. This number encompasses all the ten sefirot with each of their ten sub-sefirot. One hundred is the number of completion.

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