This episode of our podcast features a teaching and meditation by Rabbi Sam Feinsmith of the IJS Core Faculty. It's the last in a series of four meditations on the theme of "From Constriction to Expanse," a series intended to help us prepare inwardly for Passover. Rabbi Feinsmith reminds us that we are usually suffering from a case of mistaken identity. We erroneously understand our constructed self-identity, generated by our ego, as our true self. But the ingrained narrowness of our ego, which seeks to protect, cherish, and justify itself, inflicts suffering on ourselves and the world -- just like Pharaoh in the Exodus narrative. Whereas our deepest, truest self emerges from that which is timeless, ever-present, and infinitely spacious. On Pesach, we move from the constriction of the false self, and move towards the expansive freedom of our essential, true self -- which emerges, and is never separate from, Timeless Presence.
The meditation featured in this episode originally took place during the IJS Daily Online Meditation Sit on April 18, 2024. To join these FREE daily meditations live, sign up here.
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