so i want to try and
step into a a beautifully important
wildly gorgeous topic right which is
prayer
but i want to add a dimension to prayer
that we've never talked about
okay everyone with us ready to go we're
ready to go and i want to when i add
something that's going to bring us
into prayer it's going to bring us into
prayer
and it's going to it's going to explain
and i'm going to ask
krista or kirsten if we can find all of
the words for the leonard cohen
hallelujah
so we can kind of see the whole because
there's there's a couple of pieces that
are
are really important right are really
important
we're going to try and explain now and
that is prayer
as protest okay prayer is protest
right prayer is protest then we get that
prayer as
protest right it's like ah
right not prayer as right we talked
about
seven movements of prayer last week i'm
going to talk about prayer as protests
and protest happens in
in many ways process happens through
humor through laughter
and protest happens through demand but
there's there's a revolution in prayer
and protest right when we're protesting
there's a protest
that challenges divinity
don't only come to prayer as supplicants
asking pleading but in the interior
sciences
prayer itself is a form of protest
and in the hidden lineages
of the great traditions not the
superficial stuff that's
caricatured as the great traditions my
colleague sam harris wrote a book called
the end of faith
in which essentially he accurately but
it's a character of the
exterior superficial dimensions
the shadows of the great traditions but
actually misses
right the depth of the interior sciences
that the
great traditions held and in the great
traditions
there were two forms of protest
when i actually challenged god i
challenged god as part of my revolution
i both partner with the divine i'm
divinity's evolutionary partner
and i'm protesting so i'm partner and
protest at the same time
so one form of protest and these are
deeply related
is laughter so i'll tell you a joke
anyone up for a joke
but this is a this is a it's a deep joke
okay we ready we're ready okay so here
we go
so this righteous man dies
and he's this super righteous like wild
deep guy
right and he's so righteous he's so good
he's such a great master
that he literally goes right to the
highest heaven
goes to the highest heaven and the area
is before god
and so god says well so what can i do
for you he says well
you know can i tell you a joke and god
says a joke like no one had ever
said that to god so god says sure i
guess tell me a joke
so this righteous man tells god
a holocaust joke like it's a joke about
the holocaust like
right so it's got a holocaust joke and
god says huh and
i don't i don't get it i just i just
don't get it and the guy says to god you
had to be there
you had to be there wow
who got that who got that who got that
right oh my god who got that who got
that who got that
if you got that if you got it right yes
do you get it like wow and then you get
how many layers there is to this
do you get how many layers right god
doesn't get the holocaust joke and so
the master says to god you have to be
there
wow you have to be there
now get the paradox in this this is
deep and we we're deep in this together
here right we're in this revolution
we're going to add a piece
so the caricature of religion that sam
harris or
you know his whole gang chris hitchens
and
and and evil harare and richard dawkins
you know the whole
right they caricature religion religion
has many shadows but spirit is much more
subtle and the great traditions right at
their best
an enormous amount of subtlety that we
need to actually
transcend and include we need to create
a new language of spirit we need to
create new subversive
vocabularies that are first principles
and we need to weave together pre-modern
modern and post-modern
into a new larger whole but we can't
just throw out pre-modernity
they didn't just get it wrong the great
traditions had and still have
something wildly important right which
is
this this notion of paradox and whenever
you've had a mystical experience
which means you've had a genuine direct
access and experience
of the absolute truth and goodness of
spirit
and the self-evident goodness of reality
itself
right and the truth of love and the
truth of the
value of goodness truth and beauty
whenever you have a mystical experience
one of the characteristics of a mystical
experience
is anybody paradox
it's paradox right it's paradox do
everyone get paradox
everyone get the word paradox okay so
it's paradoxical how could use the word
fuck
in the middle of a holy red conversation
and how could fuck be holy paradoxical
we're not going to talk about it it's
not our topic but it's paradox
what's the difference between a paradox
and a contradiction
anybody what's the difference between a
paradox and a contradiction in a
contradiction
a is the opposite of b and you can't
resolve them
it's either one's right or the other's
right in a paradox
we hold both of them together does that
make sense everybody can
can we hold that and in a paradox we
hold both of them together right does
that make sense
we got that right there's no split right
we're holding it together
so in this joke we just told right both
are true
at a higher level of consciousness right
so that's a paradox so i'll just give
you an example
i'll give an example so how many people
are here
it's a great example right if it works
for you okay we good we good everybody
so let's do this so here's paradox how
many people who are
here decided made a decision i could
have done 10 things this morning
but i made a decision to be here how
many people feel like wow i made that
decision
i made a decision right i could have
done a lot of different things and made
a decision to be right
right i didn't have to be here but i
decided i decided to be here
and that's true that's obviously there's
a great truth to that
but here here's another truth another
truth is you didn't decide at all
right you were being lived it's deeper
than that david right
you were being lived by reality this is
yours to do it it's the place where you
need to be
and all of your life and all of my life
brought us
to be together in this revolution this
morning right
right and it's it's what i like to call
choicelessness right
it decided me so in the morning i
decided right obviously i decided right
right i mean obviously i had many
choices i'm an autonomous being i'm a
separate self with free will and i made
a decision
but at some deeper level the reason we
know each other the reason we're
together the reason we're in this
revolution
the reason we're the ones making this
commitment the reason why
we're taking responsibility is because
something larger than us
is living us and it's beyond choice
we actually have no choice we have to do
this we can't walk away
and even when we're exhausted and we
feel like oh my god let's just write
right
right but there's this larger mystery in
which we're beyond choice can you feel
that how many people can feel that now
is this a crowd how many people just
checking who can feel it that's
that's a first person moment of
enlightenment right on the one hand
there's a contradiction what's the
contradiction
well either i chose to beer or i didn't
choose to be here one way or the other
you can't have both
that's a that's the level of
contradiction but then in a mystical
experience
i reach a deeper level of consciousness
where i'm actually holding right
contradiction
right i chose and i didn't choose and if
you find
the most important movements in your
life beloved orianna you actually begin
right friend
right mosta you begin to realize every
place i've been
i needed to be you get that and it
couldn't have been any different
okay that's paradox so in this joke what
is this joke holding
and that's what laughter does laughter
holds
paradox and this is big
at this big it's deep it's a deep
principle right we generally think of
their being okay we together we think of
there being
five senses in reality five senses but
actually in the first principles of the
interior sciences there are 12 senses
and what is a sense what's a sense a
sense gives you
access to a dimension of reality that
the the other sense doesn't give you
so fragrant smell tells me something
about reality
right touch tells me something out
something else about reality
right auditory i can hear tells me
something else it gives me access to a
different
layer of reality seeing gives me access
to a different layer of reality tasting
right the five senses but there are more
than five senses
we actually have other ways of accessing
reality
so the twelfth sense it's called the
twelfth cents
in a mystical book about a hundred years
before the common era
called the book of creation it's got
about 450
words it's one of the most important
texts ever written talks about these 12
senses and the highest of the 12 is
laughter wow right
so laughter right is a faculty
that allows me to access reality in a
way that nothing else does
we together so far we good okay so we
just told the joke
now what's the paradox in this joke i
never ever get the pad the
jerk has so many levels and it's so
subtle it's so good
what's the paradox in the joke anybody
right he's there he's this righteous man
he's a master
right he ascends to the highest heaven
right he's talking to god right
and then he tells him a joke a holocaust
joke which is
you know ultimately not cool
holocaust jokes are not called they're
not funny i have one friend who i'm very
close to i won't say his name he's a
well-known person who once told me a
holocaust joke and i said if you ever do
that again
i'm never talking to you again some
things you don't joke about
right but he's there before the divine
and he decides okay
there's nothing else i can do i to tell
a joke and god doesn't get it
he says to god you have to be there
right so what
what's the joke about the joke is about
evil it's about how can there be
infinitely good god and a boy hanging on
the gallows
right in auschwitz every day right and
12 000 people
gassed today in 1944 how can those hold
together
but yet on the inside
we don't explain suffering we never do
we can never explain suffering we can't
anyone who tells you they can explain
suffering new age right new age thousand
explanations in the new age to suffering
anyone who tells you they're going to
explain to you suffering they're going
to work out the contradiction
between infinite goodness and human
suffering and walk away
don't trust them walk away you can't
explain suffering
but you can actually when you're in the
relationship
when you're in when you're on the inside
of the inside your heart's ripped open
you can actually be speaking to god
directly and say you have to be there
now that makes no sense right it makes
no sense it's a paradox
that's mystical realization can you hear
that everybody and it's gorgeous
i mean it's gorgeous right did i just
lose everyone that's super
subtle that's like a super advanced
right mystical understanding how many
people got it
i have just if you got it just say yes
if you didn't if you don't ask a
question about it okay but it's gorgeous
i mean it's subtle it's everything it's
this joke about a master
right who goes to god and said right you
had to be there
wow wow
right so there's a dimension of
prayer which is protest
protest right protest right
god where are you where are you
where are you right one of my my
fa you know my favorite prayers it's
this very
subtle prayer right is me
god from your place appear
with tim lohaleno right and and
and and be the king
because we're waiting for you
when will you come already can you feel
that
but there's a protest and that we're
waiting for you
where are you all right wow
wow i'll give you another prayer it's a
famous prayer that
many people have written major essays
about you may have heard about it you
may not have it's called the kaddish
prayer k-a-d-d-i-s-h
can everyone write down the chat box is
that okay kaddish
all right how many people have never
heard of cottage give me a no if you've
never heard of it i'm sure most people
have it
but if you've never heard of it right no
no no no fantastic
great so that's awesome thank you no it
says so kadish
is a prayer it's a it's a
prayer in aramaic which is
said when a person has died so when a
person dies
we say the kaddish prayer and it's
aramaic it's all aramaic
and it's a mystical prayer the only
thing is
the kaddish prayer doesn't say anything
about death
and in raquel there's look up kaddish
and you'll see some gorgeous essays
leon wiesteler i can never pronounce his
name wrote a couple of gorgeous essays
on kaddish
all right it's an incredible but but
kaddish is this prayer you say when a
person dies
but it doesn't talk about death and the
words of the prayer are yitka delaved
magnified and exalted will
be your name in the future oh isn't
god's name magnified and exalted and
perfect right now and why is it in the
future
because death death isn't some sense of
violation
of divinity death is painful
death rips our hearts out and yes
there's life beyond death and yes
there's
continuity of consciousness but death
itself in some profound way
contradicts divinity right and i've got
to hold the contradiction
and turn it into paradox that's what
prayer does
can you feel that all right i hold the
contradiction
i turn it into paradox and so the prayer
is it's in aramaic
and it's in the future god
in the future right your name is going
to be magnified
but now in the face of death there's
something empty about your name
so god right god show up show up be here
right turn your silence of presence
into a full presence of speech right we
demand
we demand your partnership so prayers
are audacious
and prayers audacious can everyone feel
this right there's this new dimension of
prayer let's take it deeper
we take it deeper can we take it one
step deeper we okay can we okay
okay let's go deeper let's go even
deeper in i want to get this dimension
of prayer
so
once a year in the lineage tradition
let's say of hebrew
wisdom out of which christianity emerged
and islam emerged
right and and it had enormous impact on
reality
there's a a day of the year which is
called yom kippur
it was the day of atonement and that's
the day where everyone comes and prays
right and people pray for hours and
hours and hours
25 hour kind of prayer fest
right it's this ecstatic prayer fest for
25 hours
of complete joy okay complete joy
so again this this is nothing to do this
doesn't need to be your tradition
i'm borrowing this from the hebrew
linear tradition to model something okay
so that doesn't matter whether this is
your
tradition or not your tradition that's
not the point this is a universal
principle okay so everyone's with us
okay
so people will come and they're they're
completely broken-hearted
but they know that actually they can
meet the infinite love of reality
and literally and this is a such a among
the most profound ideas in the world
the reason it's complete joy because you
know that you're already forgiven
you come to yom kippur and you can
actually get an yom kippur
underneath the space-time continuum and
recommit your life to your unique self
and
simply by recommitting your life and
regretting
any past right orianna right i just i
regret any past mistake that any of us
have made
with true regret and true commitment
into the future
that there's a mystical formula that
literally underneath the space-time
continuum
actually obliterates the past it doesn't
exist anymore
you've actually reconfigured the past
and that's the joy
right the joy is the ability to
reconfigure the past and that's a
different conversation
it's a very deep idea what does it mean
to get underneath the space-time
continuum
but it's not just a woo-woo idea it's a
very profound idea in physics now
we're actually realizing the space-time
continuum is is a dimension of reality
but we can actually go deeper
and consciousness is underneath the
space-time continuum that's what young
kipper's about
okay everyone with me so far that's just
that's just the context
with that context let's dive in okay and
then we're going to pray
this is our context for prayer today so
with that context i'll just tell you a
short story here's the story
so it's yom kippur eve and everyone's
gathered
at the prayer hall of the great hasidic
master
named levy isaac of berdychev and if you
know about foucault and derrida
derrida particularly the great
postmodern deconstructive thinker he
loved lady isaac of berdychev and
actually
writes about him so lady isaac of
berdych of virginia is the name of his
town
and he's gathering right to pray and
it's packed everyone's there and they're
in full joy
and they're there ready to offer up
their their prayers
and then now stay with me in the middle
in walks this man who everyone knows
never comes to the prayer hall and he
pushes his way through
and he goes to the front and he stands
by the holy ark
and he grabs the curtain and he he
mumbles like a few sentences
then he says i'm done let me know if we
have a deal
and walks out and and everyone wants to
grab
them they're furious with them i mean
they're utterly
crazy furious with them does everyone
get this they're completely furious with
them
okay all right and i say stay close okay
stay close
stay close stay close peter stand with
us ultimately death doesn't contradict
divinity but you got to hold the
contradiction for a moment and move it
into paradox
but stay inside everyone okay let's
stand out and stand the story together
okay so so this man's now walked out and
everyone's trying to grab him to stop
him and he's kind of violated the
sanctity of the day and they can't
understand
you know the word chutzpah anyone's got
the word hutzpa put in the chat box
c-h-u-t-z-p-a chutzpah meaning arrogance
right and what kind of arrogance is this
and how can he walk in on the holiest
day of the year and
and pray these few sentences and then
say do we have a deal
whatever that meant and walk out and so
people are furious with them
and 25 hours later at the end of the
holy day
right the master the great master lady
isaac of british of says
get me that man i desperately need to
talk to him
and everyone's like why does he want to
talk to this arrogant man
who came in and violated the sanctity of
the day and so they go and find them
and they bring him before lady isaac and
friends open your hearts
let's open our hearts together lady
isaac says to this man he says
you've got to be my teacher i've never
seen anyone
pray with the confidence that you prayed
you must tell me your prayer
you must tell me your prayer wow
the man says to levy isaac he says i'll
tell you my prayer it's very simple
i said to god god you know i've made
some mistakes this year
you know there were a couple of weights
and measures i didn't do exactly right
and
there were times i got angry that i
should have and i i got a little
contracted and i i'm sorry for that and
i
didn't always get to fulfill all of the
rituals and
there's times i should have been just a
tad sweeter and
god i really i want your forgiveness but
god
you've had a terrible year the woman who
lives two doors down from me her husband
right died in the middle of the night
and she's left with four children
right in two blocks over right there's
the woman who lives by herself
right with three children and one of
them is sick and she can
barely put food on the table and she's
racked with anxiety every day
and and this man went through the list
of people suffering
intensely in brigitte he says god you've
had a bad year
but you know what i'm willing to work
with you let's make a deal
you forgive me and i'll forgive you
do we have a deal and he walked out
wow wow wow
wow can you hear that and levi isaac
looks in his eyes and he says
never has a more holy prayer
ever been prayed but my friend he says
with tears in his eyes
you made only one mistake you prayed
only for yourself and not for the whole
world
had you prayed for the whole world the
whole world would have been
instantly liberated in one moment
can you hear that friends that's prayer
as protest that's demanding
something from god wow prayer as protest
it's a complete paradox but if you
listen deeply
to the holy and the broken hallelujah
you'll actually
feel the protest hallelujah is a joke
the word
hallelujah means as we've shared here
before
but now you'll get the paradox in it
hallelujah means on the one hand
pristine
praise of the perfect god but hallelujah
also means
right drunken wild laughter
revelry and the great joke
right so i come to god in the laughter
and and in my broken hallelujah and even
though it all went wrong
i stand before the lord of song
with nothing on my lips but hallelujah
so hallelujah is on the one hand right
we fall into the arms of the divinity
who holds us in every second the second
person of cosmos
the first principle is the personhood of
cosmos
god is third person the laws of physics
first person the god who lives in me
but the personhood of cosmo is the
infinity of intimacy
but in that intimacy there's protest in
a genuine intimacy
there's protest right no no god it can't
be this way
and god we're so intimate god i love you
so madly
i can't allow for this pandemic and god
you've got to heal it and god you've got
to fix it
and yes god we're going to be
revolutionaries and yes we're going to
be activists
and yes we're going to evolve the source
code and yes we're going to articulate
the new first principles
but you've got to be there with us and
we demand your presence
we demand that you hold our hands we
demand
that you heal the world we demand that
you partner with
us and we can't do it without you and
you can't do without us
and we are protesting right every tear
and we're protesting
every person who can't breathe and god
we are with you one breath
and let your name be magnified
and exalted because in this moment right
now you are absent god you didn't get
the joke because you weren't there
be there god and of course in that
moment of the void
we know that that that the silence the
silence of presence
we know that as we scream those words
right divinity is speaking through us
and in god is more present in the
apparent absence
and then than he or she it the infinity
of intimacy ever was
right it's not a silence of absence
but it's a silence of presence and the
voice of protest
is the voice of the divine speaking
through
us right and evil is a failure of
intimacy
and it's only when we restore the
intimacy in the act of protest
that we can actually be revolutionaries
so we're not
revolutionaries in the marxist sense
which we're stepping away from the
divine
we're revolutionaries in this new sense
in which actually our lives are protest
we offer our lives as protests prayer as
protest
prayer as holy audacity prayer as god
let's make a deal and god this is a deal
you can't refuse
because we need you and you need us and
the time is now an
admit until when until when
until when atma tai until when but it's
got to end now
right we protest and you know what you
know what divinity does when we protest
smiles god laughs god gets the joke
and we get the joke together and in that
power
of our laughter together we move to
transform reality
so let's step inside right to the holy
and the broken hallelujah
and then we're going to come together
we're going to pray for just a couple
minutes we're going to offer up prayers
but we're going to we're going to find
this new
cord in this symphony of the first
principle of prayer
prayer is protest let's go all the way
inside
right the holy right and the broken
hallelujah protest itself leonardtown
that david played
together all of us all over the world
it goes like this
come hallelujah
hallelujah
huh
but if i did well really
it doesn't matter which
hallelujah
oh
i did my best it wasn't much
i couldn't feel so i had tried to touch
i've told the truth that it didn't come
and even though it all
went wrong i'll stand before the lord of
song with nothing on my
phone but hallelujah
oh
you
