Ask Noah - Chassidic Meditation

By the Grace of G-d

~ To Understand Kabbalistic/Chassidic Meditation ~

based on the explanation by Rabbi Hillel of Paritch (?-1864) of Chapter One of

"Shaar HaYichud" - The Gate of Divine Unity

by the second Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi DovBer (1773-1827)

This page is based on a translation/explanation by Betzalel Malamud of the above work, which can be found in his book "The Key to Chassidus."

Part 1

Chassidic meditation ("Hisboninos") is the use of the mind through the study of Chassidic teachings ("Chassidus") to serve G-d and bring Him into revelation in the world through unifying Him with His Holy Name(s), knowing Him through His works, and loving Him through an intellectual understanding of His greatness. We will explain the nature of this type of meditation, how it works, and what it is that we will meditate upon. Hisboninos in general is the process of understanding a thing, an idea, an insight, etc. But in particular, it is the process of understanding the subject [thoroughly and truthfully]. The subject in our case is G-d's attribute of Wisdom ("Chachma" - the flash of Divine insight).

[To achieve this goal, we first have to understand the various levels within the human mind, and how they function.]

At first glance it's not really understood why the way to bring a true love and fear of G-d into our heart is through hisboninos, which is more precisely the process of analytical understanding and intellectualization. At first glance, we might think that detailed understanding and intellectualization is much lower level than the flash of G-dly wisdom, which will proceed after its initial revelation to descend into our intellect, to be understood in its details by the power of Understanding ("Bina"). Bina is the faculty which grasps the flash of Chachma in order to examine and analyze it from every angle until it is understood [thoroughly and truthfully].

To summarize this question: why is the exercise of Chassidic meditation called "Hisboninos," whose root word is Bina? Why is the "lower" level of Bina (the "dry" understanding of particular details) considered the main thing? Remember, the details of Bina are first emanated by the original Divine revelation, which is the higher level of Chachma (the flash of G-dly wisdom).

The thing which flashes into the faculty of Chachma is called a Pure Intellect ("Sechel") - the idea that lights up in the brain, before it takes on letters of explanation. This is the actual flash of insight which arouses the power of Understanding (Bina) to understand the Sechel. In other words, the Sechel is the thing that is understood by the power of Understanding (Bina). The understanding of a concept is obviously on a lower level than the pure concept itself.

So why then is it the G-dly objective to unify G-d's Name(s) in terms of Bina (Understanding)? For example, this was given as a commandment to the Jewish People in the verse, "Hear Israel, the L-rd our G-d, the L-rd is One." (Deut. 6:4) Now "hearing" connotes understanding, because just as the ear has the ability to separate sounds in order to understand a spoken message, so too does the "ear" of the mind, which is the faculty of Understanding (Bina). Bina has the ability to understand a flash of insight by separating the interlocked and condensed concepts that the flash contains, and projecting its message into many particular explanations.

To answer this question we first have to explain in more depth the three levels of the mind: Chachma (Wisdom), Bina (Understanding) and Daas (Knowledge). These three levels are referred to in Chassidic philosophy by the acronym Cha'Ba'D, or "Chabad." (Hence, Chabad Chassidus is the branch of Chassidus whose objective is to accomplish this spiritual goal.)

1. CHACHMA

The first revelation of Divine Intellect to human intellect is Chachma (Wisdom) - the flash of realization, the "seeing" of the idea, etc. Our created intellect receives this as a general principle, without its being clothed in letters of thought at all. Thus, Chachma is called the level of the "seeing" of the mind, in that it flashes into the mind without letters of explanation. (We might think of this as the "light bulb" which suddenly lights up above the head of the person.)

For example, consider a person who sees a beautiful building. He "feels" immediately in his mind that the building is beautiful, but the reason for its beauty (which is the way that the many colors and shapes are combined to delight the eye) is not grasped yet by the faculty of the mind which understands reasons. So even though he feels the building's essential beauty in his mind, he hasn't yet brought it down to the level of putting it into letters of explanation. Therefore he is not yet able to explain to another person (or himself) why the building is beautiful.

2. BINA

Continuing the above example, the person may then proceed to use the second power of his mind, called Understanding, or Bina, to understand the quality of the building's beauty with all of its details: the perfect color combinations, the exquisite materials, etc. So now that his original realization of the building's beauty is grasped in his mind through these letters of explanation, he will be able to explain his feeling to another, because the letters produced in the faculty of Bina can be drawn down to become the revealed through speech.

On the other hand, Chachma is "higher" (more abstract) than the level of letters, so it can't be revealed through speech. Now this example of Chachma and Bina within a person who sees a beautiful building teaches us how these powers work in the created realm of physicality. Chachma and Bina also exist in the realms of "Yes and No", "Love and Fear", "Kindness and Strictness", etc. These are examples of the realm of Emotions ("Middos," which also means "measurements"). (Note: according to Kabalah, Chachma leans towards the emotion of Kindness, or "Chesed", and Bina leans toward the emotion Strictness, or "Gevurah.")

An example can be taken from the case of the great talmudic sage Rav. Once in a dispute with his colleagues, he could not be moved from his opinion, even though his opponents refuted him with their logical contradictions. He did not answer them, yet he didn't change his opinion. He couldn't answer them, because his correct concept was still at the level of Chachma - a flash of lofty insight which he could not bring down into the lower level of letters of explanation (Bina). However, the sage Rabba was subsequently able to dress the concept into letters of understanding, so he was able to explain the reason for the original ruling of Rav.

Thus far we have explained the faculties of Chachma and Bina in the realm of physicality (the example of the beautiful building), and in the realm of "Measurement" (for example, as in the "measurement" of what is allowable according to the Divine commandments - do we relate to a particular thing or action with restriction or lenience?). Now in general we refer to these two faculties as the Intellect, as it is for its own sake. In the realm of worldly science this could be likened to pure disciplines such as science, math, psychology, philosophy, etc. But now we are focusing on G-d's Divine Wisdom and an understanding of it (its conceptually measured characteristics), so it can be understood in letters to the extent that one can explain it to another person.

3. DAAS

The third power of the intellect is Daas, which is translated as Knowledge. This is not a detached intellectual knowledge, but a knowledge that comes about through an attachment or bonding to the thing that is being considered. (Hebrew uses the same verb to refer to the ultimate physical attachment, as in "Adam knew Eve"). Daas is only the connecting and bonding with the object of the understanding, through focusing on the explanation in the letters of thought. Or it can be the connecting and bonding of the mind with the Sechel itself, which is at a higher (more abstract) level, as will be explained.

To understand the power of Daas, consider two students of equal intellectual ability. One attaches his mind and bonds with the Sechel he heard from his teacher. He therefore reaches a thorough understanding of it, so he can speak on the topic at length and in detail. The second student heard the same teaching, and he also understood it, but he does not tie his mind to the Sechel. No matter how well he understands it for himself, he doesn't concentrate his thoughts on the matter, so he can only give over a superficial explanation to someone else. This is because he hasn't engaged the power of Daas in his mind. This can only be done with a strong concentration of the mind on the Sechel or the explanation of it.

However, the spiritual source of Daas (which has the power to connect the mind to the emotions) is much, much higher than Chachma and Bina. There are actually two levels of Daas: (a) the Higher Daas, and (b) the Lower Daas.

The Lower Daas is lower than Chachma and Bina. It is the dynamic of bonding one's mind to an explanation of a thing that is already understood in detail. For example, one binds his mind to the letters of explanation of the beauty of a thing in order to ingest and absorb its beauty for his own use (betterment, refinement, etc.). Through this dynamic will be produced the Boundaries of the Understanding (the Middos of Bina), which in turn produce the resulting feelings (e.g., love or fear) as they are revealed in the heart.

The Higher Daas has many levels, one higher than the other. The first (lowest level) of the Higher Daas is the level at which it is able to unify Chachma to Bina, so this is intermediate between those two powers (higher than Bina and lower than Chachma). The idea already has flashed into one's mind, but it's not settled in the mind yet because it hasn't been explained in letters of thought. So one binds the mind with a strong bond to the Sechel, focusing and concentrating on it. Since the desire is to clothe the sechel in letters of thought, the mind will be aroused to produce the explanation(s) at the level of Bina.

Send your questions or comments to:

Home page: www.AskNoah.org