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Connecting with the “deep soul” Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook Isaac Kook was one of the greatest figures in 20th century Judaism. Considered a prodigy as a child, Kook (pronounced cook) became a rabbi at the age of 23, serving first in small communities in Latvia and Lithuania. In 1904, when he was 39, he moved to Palestine (prior to the formation of Israel) and established a Jewish academy (yeshiva) in the seaport town of Jaffa. During World War I, while visiting Germany, he was taken prisoner as an alien but escaped to England. There he became rabbi of a congregation in London, where he helped win popular support for establishing a home for the Jewish people in Palestine. In 1921 he was elected Palestine’s first chief rabbi, a position he held the rest of his life. He was a renowned Torah scholar, an expert in Jewish law, and a student of the Kabbalah. He was esteemed for his intellectual prowess and admired by the common people, whom he loved in return. He was noted not only for his philosophical writings but for his poetry. His combined a dedication to traditional Jewish values with an openness to new ideas. He had an expansive personality that embraced and sought to unify divergent political and religious viewpoints. He did not belong to any political party; he insisted that all Jews needed to work together. Drawing from the Kabbalah, Rabbi Kook valued its concept of Ein Sof, the underlying, infinite, divine source of everything in the universe. In his philosophy of “repentance,” human separation from God results from our losing our connection with this divine source, which lies within. As he wrote:
Rabbi Kook repeatedly emphasizes the value of reconnecting with what he calls the “deep soul,” which is normally hidden from us. He describes the “deep soul” as a realm of bliss, equanimity, peace, truth, and liberation. It lies beyond all activity, even beyond our sense of individual self. When we experience it, he says, we discover who we really are — and when we emerge, our thoughts and actions are bold and joyful. This is the experience that the Transcendental Meditation technique leads us to twice each day. With this simple, natural, effortless technique, the waves of mental activity settle down like waves settling on an ocean. Then we experience consciousness in its pure state, an infinite reservoir of creativity and intelligence and bliss. At the same time, the body settles into state of deep physical rest, dissolving deep-rooted stress and fatigue. Brain functioning becomes highly integrated and coherent. Simple and effortless
Making any effort to experience “the depths of our own being,” Rabbi Kook observes, will be counterproductive. The experience should come naturally, he says, because this field of inner tranquility is a source of delight. The Transcendental Meditation technique is founded on this exact principle. Maharishi points out that because the innermost depth of the mind is an ocean of creativity, intelligence, and bliss, the mind will be spontaneously be drawn to it because it is inherently more charming. We simply need to create the proper initial conditions. This is what the TM technique does. Without involving any effort, it creates the initial conditions for the mind to dive within. The rest is automatic. Over the past 45 years, an enormous body of scientific research has documented the benefits of twice-daily transcending through the Transcendental Meditation technique. Stress is dissolved with exceptional efficiency. Brain functioning becomes increasingly integrated. Intelligence and creativity increase (a remarkable finding, because growth of intelligence normally levels off in the mid-teens). The personality develops in a balanced way. Anxiety falls away. Health improves, particularly cardiovascular health. Personal relationships improve. Bodies of research have shown the immense benefit of the Transcendental Meditation technique in schools,workplaces, and prisons, as well as addressing such challenging problems as post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse. Benefits for the whole world
The unity we experience within us in the state of transcendence, Rabbi Kook observes, radiates outward and brings nourishment and peace to those around us. This is because pure consciousness is identical with what modern quantum physics calls the unified field—the field of intelligence underlying all the diversity in the universe. Every time we experience it during Transcendental Meditation practice, we enliven it. And because this field is all pervading, when we enliven it, we enliven it for everyone and everything. Rabbi Kook anticipates the scientific research on what scientists call the Maharishi Effect—the finding that even a small portion of a population practicing the Transcendental Meditation technique creates an effect of orderliness for the whole population. A number of studies have found, for example, that when 1% of a city’s population has learned the Transcendental Meditation technique, crime rates and accident rates goes down for the whole city, in comparison with matched control cities that have not reached the 1% threshold. These findings indicate the stress is being reduced and coherence quality of life is increasing for the entire population. (For a group of articles on this topic, click here.) Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook was a powerful leader, a profound thinker, a force for progress and peace and unity. He possessed a personality that appealed to a wide diversity of people. He recognized where his strength and vitality came from through connecting with the “deep soul” within, the wellspring of bliss, peace, and freedom. Through his writings he repeatedly urged people to find this interior treasure for themselves. Now, thanks to Maharishi’s life work, we have a simple, effortless technique by which everyone can do this, twice each day. REFERENCES
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