Introduction
This book is the fruit of years of practice and exploration at the Shakio Institute, a research and study center established in the spirit of Eugene Gendlin, philosopher, psychologist, and the father of Focusing.
The Institute aims to create a new syntax out of three “languages” – Jewish mysticism, Gendlin’s philosophical inquiry, and the practice of creativity – which share the goal of seeking “that which is more” in a human being.
The book is a direct transcription of The Prayers Skills course in our School of the Art of Prayer. It is one among a network of classes we offer whose purpose is to teach prayer as a model for living. We propose that prayer offers a unique opportunity to open to the inner depths of our lives and listen for what we are really seeking. In a prayer state, the “I” is aware of the wonder of its very being — not wonder at being such a sophisticated creature, but rather wonder at the very fact of being a creation. When we are aware and understand the miracle of our being a nascent eternity, connections, bonds and new abilities open up. In this manner, prayer is not an act that takes place outside of everyday existence. To the contrary, prayer is what creates existence. It expands the humanity of the person praying and touches on the question of the full human stature.
There are different ways of relating to prayer. In exploring prayer as a life model, we study and develop a new, and at the same time ancient, type of prayer consciousness. This is a pristine state that lacks any theology and allows for personal transformation.
A prayer revolution is unfolding in our generation. Historically, prayer has been perceived as a religious duty learned by practitioners during its very performance. Now it is being discovered as a model for growth. In religious language, it can be said that prayer is a form of perception and practice that seeks to develop one’s image of God, thus revealing one’s life and reality in a new light.
To achieve this, we need to relearn the art of prayer. We need to distinguish between the act of prayer – pure movement – and the tools of prayer, such as prayer books and houses of worship. We need to understand anew how those tools can strengthen the act of praying.
In its essence prayer is not a religious duty or a community event. It does not belong to tradition, but is a radical, living action that can change the face of society and humanity.
Prayer requires study, practice, and training. It demands a time of maturation, during which we grow until we transform our life into that of a praying person.
The School for the Art of Prayer profoundly addresses and seeks answers to fundamental questions such as:
- What is prayer consciousness?
- How do we enter the field of prayer, and what happens there?
- What process does the act of prayer enable?
- What is the relationship between consciousness, body, imagination, and language in the field of prayer?
- How can prayer be a model for life?
About this Course
The Prayer Skills course is the fruit of many years of working with states of consciousness and exploring prayer processes. Its purpose is to impart primary tools for understanding and working with the wisdom of the inner experience of prayer. It includes a practice we call “Gates of Prayer,” which enables shifts in states of consciousness, and ”Experiential Inquiries,” a method of first-person exploration inspired by the writings of Eugene Gendlin.
All the practices were developed with an awareness that prayer, in the broadest sense, is a unique model of life, which not only creates spaces of quiet within a person, but also enables an experiential understanding of how life comes into being. Through this work, one can experience life as a “creation-ing,” and become a partner to the act of creation.
The Book’s Structure
The book transcribes seven meetings, which make up the course. Each chapter includes five sections, each of which introduces aspects of the practice from different entry points. They are as follows
- Introduction: A wide ranging exploration of the underlying concepts, learnings and practices that inform our teachings.
- Experiential Inquiries: A first-person practice, which enables the reader to contemplate and experience the language of prayer newly, from a place that is entirely their own.
- Gates of Prayer: A guided exploration of each of seven Gates through which the reader may explore the inner work of prayer.
- Vantage Point: A summary of key concepts from the chapter and questions for further reflection.
- Writing the Soul: Guidance to help you continue the internal process through a writing practice, which you may take at your own pace.
How to Use the Book
This book asks us to slow down. It is not meant to be read in one sitting, cover-to-cover, but rather to be experienced as a deep dive into a space of practice and contemplation.
As noted above, each chapter contains five sections. The first of those, the Introduction, we suggest you read slowly aloud, and simply let the ideas settle within you.
The following three sections – Experiential Inquiry, Gates of Prayer, Vantage Points – include active exercises. For these sections, if you are working in a group of two or more, you can elect to have one person read aloud, pausing to participate as you go. If you are working alone, read through each section first (aloud if you like) and then close your eyes and practice. It may also help to record yourself reading the instructions and listen to them as you undertake the exercises.
The final section, Writing the Soul, can be used as a thread to continue your exploration in the days between work through the chapters. Generally, we recommend exploring one chapter at a time, with a week or so between sessions.
But each reader and participant will find a rhythm that is right for them. Again, the goal is not to read with the aim of finishing quickly, but rather to absorb the material over whatever period of time feels right to you. Allow yourself to read and practice the exercises in a state of meaningful attentiveness, one in which you can attend to the subtle changes that take place during prayer, as well as throughout your days.
Finally, while the course describes a particular pathway, no one way is right for every person. You are invited to take whatever guidelines are right for you and integrate them into your regular prayer or contemplative routine. That is the essence of this practice.
To know prayer means to know the unknown that is revealed. To practice prayer is to practice one’s very existence in the world, to practice participating in the world.
The book was created out of a prayer that it will be a gateway for everyone into the unique art that we call prayer.
– Baruch and Dana
In the words of the participants:
“Focusing is the art of paying attention to what there is and to what may manifest, and prayer is opening the heart to the infinite. In a subtle and amazing manner, and by facilitating a sensitive process of partnership, Dana and Baruch take us on a journey of service in which we remember the mysteries of all things…”
Rabbi Dovi Zinger, Dean of the Mekor Hayim Yeshiva Academy
“To stand before the gates of prayer, to pause, to breathe, to contemplate, to listen. To do this together with others…with words and with silence, accompanied by Dana and Baruch’s precise and alert guidance…this is an encounter with familiar and new depths, both general and personal, temporal and eternal…”
Professor Sara Sviri, author of the anthology “The Sufis”
“For me, the Prayer Skills course with Baruch and Dana was a great source of inspiration. It touched the inner language of primal prayer, the language of the secrets whispered between God and humanity, and it initiated contact with the deeper dimensions of the human experience. Baruch and Dana’s knowledge and extensive and original experience transported me from the stage of idea and conceptualization to a state in which I was provided with tools for spiritual work…”
Yair Harel, founder and artistic director of the Piyyut and Prayer website
“For me, the Prayer Skills course opened up gates for love of people, the world, the future…and to an understanding of commonly shared happenings along with participating in processes of coming into being and creation.”
Sigal Golan, therapist, Kibbutz Ayelet Hashachar
“The course opened practical gates for entering into myself, and from there, in very subtle steps, to the inner sanctuary…this is an encounter with diamonds of awareness that were polished by precise and attentive spiritual work.”
Zuriel Meir, senior lecturer at Metivta and Matat Carmiel
“Thank you so much for creating a rare space and for enabling an encounter where the heart could open up in the presence of such different people. For the privilege of feeling the commonality between the very personal point of prayer and its being integrated and weaved into one. Thank you for the gates that make it possible to take life as it is and to encounter what is deepest within it and what is beyond it…”
Rabbi Avi Luria, senior lecturer at the Zefat Yeshivat Hesder
“Dana and Baruch’s course on prayer skills opened up for me a new and meaningful space for all of my encounters with words, moments, feelings and of course for making prayer a very accessible possibility. At these meetings you really learn about the human within the experience, and on the qualitative nature that is enfolded in layers within the words, emotions and images.”
Natanel Yechieli, group facilitator
First Meeting
Part One: Introduction
Baruch: I would like to begin by sharing with you that we are very happy about these meetings. Actually, my feeling right now is that this isn’t really a course. Maybe it would be more accurate to refer to it as an encounter that expresses “love of the Shechinah,” the divine feminine that is present in everything. At this time, the heart of human existence asks for more. The heart is capable of more, it desires to open up, to know its capabilities and possibilities, to be more sensitive. Sometimes in life, all that a person can do is to share something of their lives with friends, who can then discover how this can affect, enrich and deepen their own lives.
In this sense, all we can really do is to share with you some internal movements or different aspects of the precious work we have created. Based on your own life experience – which is always complex, personal and unique – you can sense what this work creates within and what it can offer you. One can notice awareness awakening, what one is paying attention to, as a result of what we study. Everyone can see for themselves if this knowledge will become a gateway for them. The goal of these meetings is that each and every participant writes their journey in their own personal language, understanding how the practices lead them to an inner depth, through their own personal prayer.
Prayer, by its very essence, is a journey in which a person moves on the continuum between themselves and their deepest personal depths. During prayer, a person learns to listen, to formulate, to ask, and to thereby propel their unformulated depths in the direction of their daily life. This is why it is important for everyone to understand that this is their own journey and they have to discover the individual ways through which they can open up to their innermost depths.
During this journey, you are invited to have a notebook in which you write the insights and illuminations that come up, the specific things you pay attention to. Every internal movement in this investigation, no matter how small, is important and precious.
In this course, we will learn and practice steps that you can take to enter within, to discover internal subtle movements. We will devote most of our time to being within, to the practice itself, rather than to speaking about things. Each meeting will include time for silence, for practicing, and for inner contemplation. Our goal is that each of you will understand prayer as a pure internal movement, unfettered by anything excessive, and that you will become familiar with the internal movement of prayer that is beyond all theologies and beyond all words.
Through experiencing and learning, we wish to clarify the meaning of the internal human movement we call “the act of prayer.” Human activities are not limited to thinking, speaking or acting in the world. Prayer is a unique act that expands the human scope. It touches on the very question of what it means to be human in the broadest sense. Not only how we function in the world, but our entire stature as human beings.
Only after clearly understanding the nature of this internal movement does it become possible to assign prayer to all sorts of cultural or Torah-related contexts. In the course we offer called The Riverbanks, we address structured and formulated Jewish prayer, which was established primarily by the Men of the Great Assembly – an institution of scholars and prophets. This type of prayer is a treasure unto itself and, indeed, deserves a separate course. In this course, our goal is first of all to know and learn the act of prayer as an inner movement that stands on its own.
The course is built around seven Gates. For our purposes, a Gate is a specific, structured awareness, which enables processes to occur. Through the Gates practices, we find ourselves entering into an unfamiliar world in the most wondrous of ways.
In the Jewish world (in fact, this is true in every culture), alongside the Torah scholars there have always been scholars called “the wise of heart,” whose expertise is the inner experience, and who know how to work with the experiential layer of knowledge. They often do not speak much, but rather transmit their teachings directly from teacher to student, by allusion or by the language of secrets. A unique kind of initiation. The wisdom of experience is related to practice, to unique states of consciousness, to the secret of the body, to the ability to observe subtle feelings and to work with them. It includes knowledge of how to work with states such as fatigue or a lack of clarity, the ability to linger in places where there is a sense of something becoming or in process of occurring, to know how to enter the great darkness where God is.
We devoted many years to carefully building the structured awareness that we share with you in this course. It is both systematic and dynamic.
We begin with a short description of the Gates, which will each be opened more extensively throughout the course.
The Gates of Prayer
The First Gate: Doing Nothing With Open Eyes
Synchronizing with life
Prayer should not be entered with closed eyes, rather with open eyes
The Second Gate: Dimension Shift
Practicing “towardness.”
What happens the moment a person closes their eyes? This is a most subtle and intricate passageway between dimensions.
