Practical Tips for Hisbodedus
Overcoming Pitfalls in Pursuit of Authentic Hisbodedus Practice
In this video, the speaker shares personal experiences and challenges faced while practicing Hisbodedus, a form of personal prayer in the Breslov tradition. The video discusses two major pitfalls: the first is the pressure to prove one's identity as a Breslov follower by adhering strictly to practices, which can lead to burnout. The second pitfall is the struggle to be genuine and authentic during prayer, which hampers the ability to connect deeply with Hashem. The speaker emphasizes the importance of inward authenticity and self-worth to foster a meaningful and honest relationship with Hashem.
00:00 Introduction and Personal Journey
00:17 The Pitfall of Proving Self-Worth
02:47 Authenticity and Genuine Connection
06:05 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Transcript
===
[:You have this idea. I want to be a Breslov or Chassid. I want to follow the Rebbe's advice. And there's a certain barrier for entry as Rabbeinu Zal explains in the lesson that we're learning together, Lesson Chav Hei in Tenyana in Likutey Maran, that everyone should sit an hour every day. And after all, I want to be Breslov.
that I began trying to prove [:And when I fell into this cycle of This is the barrier for entry, and I need to prove myself, to myself, largely, that I'm Breslov. So, we fall into the idea of proving my own self worth to myself. Because if I want to be worthy, I'll be successful when I can do all these things, and then, Call myself the breast lo.
g to work towards a label of [:To prove to ourselves that I'm worthy, and I really am good, and I'm Breslov, and I'm doing the checklist worth, checklist of things. So, in general, when we're trying to prove to ourselves things, right, that's when we begin to burn out, and that's when we begin to, uh, fade away, and it just, just doesn't work.
do the same thing for us. So coming from more of a place of authenticity, coming from a place of genuinity, coming from a place of wanting to fulfill the Rebbe's Eitzahs and have this close, meaningful, vibrant relation with Hashem, and just going from outside in to inside out. Not working to try to have some sort of label put upon yourself for whatever that would do for you, right?
enuine with myself And if we [: is almost a precursor to his [:Really be honest. A truthful look at ourselves. A truthful inventory at ourselves. When we can do that with ourselves and people around us, doing with Hashem often becomes so much easier. But when we're not really being authentic and we're not really being honest with ourselves, we show up to Hashem and we say, What am I doing here exactly?
Right? What am I saying? Right? What am I? Why am I here? Right? I don't even know what to say. And then I just fizzle out. And I don't know. what to, I don't even know what to say, so I'm just wind up silent. And even though Rabbeinu says being silent itself, he writes in this lesson, is a milah, when we're honest and truthful with ourselves, that presupposes that we believe in our ability that we're actually worthy to be honest, we're actually worthy to face ourselves, and we're actually worthy to have a relationship with Hashem.
't feel that our prayers are [:Means, we don't really believe in ourselves. We don't really believe in our worth. We don't really believe in that Hashem listens to our tefillahs because ultimately I'm unworthy. Certainly, we're not going to daven for shoelaces because I'm a burden. And deep down, I believe I'm a burden. And deep down, I believe I'm full of shame and ugliness.
a certain way, feeling stuck [:
