Day 26 - Days of Awe

For the past three days, we looked at practices to help foster mindfulness morning, evening, and night. Let's continue this trend and expand the practice of mindfulness from the present moment to the hours of the day to the days and weeks of the year.

In that spirit, I turn to the traditions of the Jewish faith. Yesterday evening was the beginning of the Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah) and 10 days later Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is celebrated. The time in between the two high holy days is called the Days of Awe. How cool is that. This is a time for self-reflection and a time for reconciliation. Sounds like a time for mindfulness to me.

Practice Options

• Casting Away of Sin (tashlich) "On the day of Rosh Hashanah, at about 5 or 6, between the afternoon and evening prayers, worshippers emerge from the synagogue together to stand beside a flowing body of water to do tashlich, a casting away of sins, as described by the prophet Micah. As a symbol, some people toss bread into the water, probably a custom from medieval Germany, where the pious were very mystically oriented and may have borrowed the ritual from Christians. The water can be a river, a lake, or an ocean. Sometimes it’s very funny, you see people standing by the tiniest stream. In New York you see people doing the ritual along the Hudson River. The idea of water purification is very old. When you enter a synagogue, you wash hands, when you go to pray at a mosque, you wash hands and feet." from In Days of Awe, Rituals Sweet and Somber. When I was in Peru, we took a walk on the shore of a sacred lake. We began by picking up a stone. As we walked in silence, we reflected on the events, things, and people that weighed us down and the areas in which we needed more light. We symbolically breathed this heavy energy into the stone. After a period of reflection, we released the stone to the water. Create your own releasing ritual.
  

• Sweet Fruit "On the evening meal on the second day, after Kiddush—the blessing of the wine—we add a new fruit, to celebrate this occasion, this rebirth. It should be a fruit we haven’t eaten all year, so it’s usually an exotic fruit, like an ugli fruit. Fruit stores know about the ritual and stock exotic offerings for the occasion. Some families have their own customary fruit, but we travel a lot, so we’ve gotten all kinds of fruits, from whatever the local fare is." from In Days of Awe, Rituals Sweet and Somber. Celebrate the bounty of the season and the gifts of nature. Make an apple pie, share it with loved ones, and tell stories together.
  

• Repentance "The 10 days are all about repentance. It’s a time when you ask forgiveness of your friends you’ve wronged. Of course you can go to the temple and say, “God forgive me,” but if I hurt you in some way, why should God be the one to forgive? You must ask the people you’ve hurt for their forgiveness. The days of awe are an effort of self-examination. You apologize: “I gossiped about you. I let my dog poo on your lawn.” And you—the one I’ve apologized to—are supposed to think about this; now the responsibility falls on you. If you and I don’t get along, there’s an effect on the community. All of these themes are meant to be both individual and collective." from In Days of Awe, Rituals Sweet and Somber. Practice lovingkindness for a difficult person in your life. Maybe write a letter or make a phone call. I don't think the goal of mindfulness is for our individual happiness. We wake up to the present moment in order to experience the fullness of life. Inevitably, we change in that process. Hopefully, we find freedom for ourselves and for others.