How to Craft Your Sacred Text: A Workbook for Writing Your Life as an Inspirational Story

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How to Craft Your Sacred Text

A Workbook for Writing Your Life as an Inspirational Story

Nina Amir

How to Craft Your Sacred Text Copyright © 2013 by Nina Amir. All rights reserved. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by an information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author.

Published by: Pure Spirit Creations 15383 Stetson Road Los Gatos, CA 95033 408-353-1943 www.purespiritcreations.com

Dedication I dedicate this to all the storytellers — maggidim — who have touched my life and inspired me to change in some small or large way and to every rabbi or lay leader who has every offered a drash that touched my heart, moved me or reminded me of who I really am — a spiritual being having a human experience.

Table of Contents

Introduction: What is a Torah? 1 What’s Your Sacred Text?

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Telling Your Story in the Sacred Garden

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Pshat: The Intended or Simple Meaning 12 Remez: The Allegorical or Hinted Meaning

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Drash: The Metaphorical or Interpreted Meaning

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Sod: The Secret or Mystical Meaning

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How to Give Your Torah

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What is a Torah?

One day I heard a rabbi say, “I have a Torah!” He went on to offer a particular teaching — his own understanding — about the text we were studying, which happened to be a story told by another rabbi. That same day I listened to someone explain why she felt upset about a particular incident. As she told her story, underneath her words I heard a second tale. With both her stories she offered her Torah as well. From both these experiences I realized each time we communicate with each other — whether we set out to teach or simply to share our personal experiences, we write and read Torah. We offer our own sacred text to others and we — and our audience — interpret it. How can that be? The Torah, or Old Testament (Five Books of Moses), typically is understood as the scrolls containing the Old Testament or a book containing the same text. But what are those sacred texts? They are stories — stories about people just like us. When we read and interpret the stories, we learn and feel inspired and uplifted. Each time we reread the stories and reinterpret them looking for new meaning, new understanding, and then apply that to our own lives we find ourselves with a new wisdom about our lives or about life in general. As we do so, we read the sacred text of our lives. We “have a Torah.” Each time we tell the story of that epiphany in written or spoken words, we offer our Torah to others to read or to hear. In the process, we allow them to comprehend their lives in a different manner; thus they read the sacred text of their own lives and gain new understanding, insight, and inspiration. My teacher found the story he shared that day in the life of a Hassidic rabbi long ago dead. The wisdom he offered came from his understanding of this rabbi’s teaching. The woman who shared her story simply told of a struggle she had experienced her whole life and how she dealt with it. You may find your story in a religious text. You also may find stories in the lives of family or of people in the news. Whatever stories you tell become relevant by finding parallels in them to your own life and to what is going on in the world around you. When you interpret your stories with your own perceptions, adding in the deep meaning and lessons you have learned, people will look up from reading your words or walk away after hearing you speak feeling transformed in some way. They will know they read or heard something sacred. They will sense the story was meant just for them — as if God had reached down and tapped them on their shoulders or whispered in their ears. For quite some time I’ve thought of myself as a maggid, the Hebrew word for “storyteller,” but not in the traditional sense. In today’s world the ancient storyteller’s role — at least as Judaism sees it—has changed. A maggid no longer simply tells stories to draw people into Judaism or Jewish 1

study per se. A maggid has become an inspirational speaker and wisdom teacher carrying out the holy task of inspiring people into spirituality or onto a spiritual path. It’s our job to remind human beings they actually are spiritual beings just having human experiences. However, Judaism is not the only religious or spiritual tradition to use storytellers to inspire and motivate. Almost every wisdom tradition and religion uses stories to heal, motivate, transform, inspire, enlighten, and educate. Additionally, many of us also feel compelled to tell our own personal stories; we want to touch and change other people’s lives with our life experiences and the lessons we’ve learned from them. If you have this “calling,” follow it. Become a modern-day maggid. The world needs change agents now more than ever. Although I write and speak about practical spirituality, I also cover the topics of human potential, personal growth, and writing and publishing. Sometimes I also write and speak about boys in the dance world. In all of these areas I relate personal stories and draw on my own life experiences as well as those of people I know or have encountered, interviewed or read about. In this manner I inspire people to become their best self, to reach their potential, to achieve their goals, to live fully, to manifest their dreams, and to fulfill their purpose. I help them combine their purpose with their passion. When they do this, they feel inspired and can take inspired action. In this way, I function as a maggid, in all the role’s many facets even if I am not always inspiring people to a spiritual path per se. I inspire them to hear the calling of their spirit and to fulfill their soul purpose. By discovering your personal story — the one you feel is worth telling, you, too, can become a maggid. If your life experience has given you knowledge that you can share, you have a Torah. If there are stories you feel called to tell, you have a Torah, possibly even more than one. And as Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught, it is our duty to share our Torah — to teach. By so doing, we elevate ourselves to the next spiritual level and we make a space for someone to move up to the level we vacate in the process. Everyone has a Torah. I know you have one. This workbook will help you discover it and learn how to give it to others.

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What’s Your Sacred Text?

Indigenous people say we each have an “original medicine” — unique gifts and talents that heal or help others. Like a shaman, an Indian medicine man, we dispense that medicine by telling our individual stories and offering the insight gained from our life experiences. Jews say each person has a Torah—a personal teaching. By offering the sacred text — the story — of our lives along with our “commentary” about it we teach others to connect with their own Torah and to reach their highest potential both physically and spiritually. Indeed, we are taught that we each have the responsibility to teach what we know — whether we know a little or a lot. We all love stories — and we remember them. That’s why every tradition and religion throughout the ages has used stories to heal, motivate, transform, inspire, enlighten, and educate. Many of us also feel compelled to tell our own personal stories; we want to touch and change other people’s lives. Another Jewish teaching says each story has a purpose beyond the storyteller’s intention. When the words fall upon your ears, it was meant for your ears alone. Everyone in the room may be hearing the story, too, but a reason exists why you need to hear that particular story. As a storyteller, therefore, you never know what impact your words might have on someone. You might suddenly think, I should write down or speak this story — and you won’t know why. Don’t question. Just do it. Someone somewhere — probably more than one person — is meant to read or hear it. It’s your Torah. Like Moses coming down from the mountain, give it to the people. Allow it to transform those who receive it, to create change, to make a difference in the world.

How to Discover Your Torah To discover your Torah, or sacred text, take a few moment to review your life. Start from the time you were born until the present time, and jot down on the next page the most significant events in your life. These might be deaths in your immediate family, major injuries or illnesses you had, big successes or accomplishments you achieved, life cycle events, transitions, disappointments, peak moments, etc. Write down the event, your age at the time, the basic details, and why this event is important to or left an impression upon you.

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EVENT

AGE

BASIC DETAILS

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IMPORTANCE

Now choose one event that resonates with you the most with which you’d like to work. When choosing, consider: • Which event do you relate to (tell) people most often or feel has changed you or impacted you the most? Why?

• Which event has taught you the most? Why?

• Which event has the most dramatic story? Why?

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• Which event do you feel has the “hand of God” in it — you see or sense that the results of that event or experience led you to something else important in your life or to your mission or soul purpose? If it had not been for that even, would your life be very different?

Look for these types of elements when choosing the event that will form the crux of your story, your Torah. If the previous questions don’t help you choose a story, ask yourself: • Do I have a sense of soul purpose or mission? If so, what is it?

• What story do I have to go with that mission or purpose?

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If you still don’t feel you’ve found your Torah, answer this question: • Do you have a unique gift of talent? If so, what is it?

• What story can you tell about this gift or talent that will help, inspire, uplift, or change the lives of those who read or hear it?

Using one of these methods, by now you should have a story — a Torah — of your own. Let’s move on to see how you can begin working with it and interpreting it, delving deeply into it so you can tell it in a moving and inspiring way.

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Telling Your Story in the Garden (PaRDeS)

There’s a precautionary story that’s often told to those who want to study Kabbalah, the Jewish mystical tradition. It’s referred to as “Pardes,” a Persian word that means “orchard” or “garden.” It tells of four men who go into the garden and meet God. Rabbi Akiva, a famous Jewish figure, and three of his disciples enter, but only Rabbi Akiva leaves unscathed. One dies, one goes insane and the other loses his faith. The story is told to teach us that to come close to God, which serves as the purpose of studying Kabbalah, you must be prepared. This story warns those who seek spiritual heights to first become well grounded and knowledgeable — or suffer consequences. This scares some people away from studying Kabbalah. The same could be true of looking deeply into our own lives and studying why things happen to us. When we look at the events of our lives and the experiences we have, we begin to gain understanding on a variety of levels, and it may be a good idea to have the necessary preparation for such exploration. This fact can be quite scary to some. For this reason, some of us may never bother to enter our own inner “garden.” We may never delve into therapy or self-exploration to discover why we do what we do, why our actions have created certain situations in our lives or continue to create similar situations, or what we can learn from what happens to us. We are too afraid to explore the possibility that by seeking out the patterns in our lives, by trying to find the good in the bad things that occur, or by understanding our own behavior and improving or changing it, we can, in fact, change our lives. If this sort of self-exploration seems frightening to us, we likely will not ponder whether a greater plan exists that directs our life. We will not ask the so-called Big Questions, such as, “Does God have a hand in my life?” “Is there such a thing as destiny or Divine Providence?” and “If there is a God, why do bad things happen to good people — and why did this happen to me?” For those of us who do ask these questions and who look deeply at our selves and try to understand, learn and improve, we actually enter the orchard. We walk the path inward to seek the answers our minds, hearts and souls hold. There, inside, we stand close to God for, indeed, our souls are Divine sparks. When we explore the Big Questions we also walk into the garden as we ask the Divine for the answers we seek. We want to understand how the universe works. We are studying Kabbalah or any

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mystical tradition, for all of them have one goal: to understand and draw closer to the Source, the One. Why? So we can understand ourselves and the world in which we live, feel more peaceful and at one with everything around us, and have a sense of being able create our lives to some extent — or at least to co-create them.

How a Walk in the Orchard Can Help You “Read and Write” Your Torah Sometimes we understand why an event occurred or we had a particular experience right after it happened. For example, my husband kept complaining how much he hated his job. He talked about this for several months while feeling stress, depressed and angry. He came home one day and told me he and his boss had discussed the situation in the company and decided it was best for everyone if he began looking for a new position. He wasn’t fired, but he was “released” from his job and allowed to go find a new one. At the time he was the vice president of finance for a start-up company, and he had been working for start-up companies for quite a number of years. He’d gone through several job hunts in about a five-years period. He said, “I can’t understand why I’ve lost another job.” I responded, “Well, despite the obvious — you work for start up companies and that makes your job situation unstable — you were unhappy in your job and wanted out. Whether you created it, God handed it to you or it just happened, you have been given the opportunity to get out of a job you hate, which is what you wanted, and to find a job situation that will make you happier.” Other times, the meaning in the experiences we have seems hidden from view. Often it takes the passage of time for us to realize why something has happened to us. For instance, a writing client of mine, Allison, has a daughter who suffered a horrific accident that tore her hand off. The doctors at the hospital reattached it in a miraculous surgery. Although her daughter seems to have handled the trauma without much issue, Allison now suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). Her life has totally changed because of this disorder. Plus, she struggles with all the Big Questions about why this happened to her daughter, to her and to her family. About two years after the accident she received a call from someone she knew. They wanted to know if Allison could help someone in a hospital who needed a life-saving surgery that couldn’t be done in the small hospital in their town. Allison made some calls to the doctors at her daughter’s hospital. Within hours the patient was airlifted to the new hospital, operated on and saved. Had it not been for her daughter’s accident, Allison would not have been able to help save that life. She now wonders if that is just one reason she had this experience. Allison also realizes she can help other people in other ways. She often speaks as a representative of the hospital to large groups about her daughter’s surgery. She struggled to find resources to help with her PTSD; all the information she found was geared toward veterans. She now plans to write a book that offers resources for non-veterans who have PTSD — people just like herself. In that book she will tell her story — her Torah.

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I once purchased an ex-race horse so I could save him from slaughter. In the end, he got sick and I had to put him down. I struggled with that tremendously. It took me a long time to realize why that happened to me and to that three-year old gelding. Later I realized that I used that horse as way to justify owning a horse; I thought I would retrain him and sell him as a way of affording the pleasure of owning a horse, subsequently buying and saving another ex-racehorse to resell. However, I just wanted to own a horse and to be able to afford to do so. Additionally, I gave up my soul purpose — my writing — while I pursued a career as a horse trainer. Losing the horse caused me to throw myself back into my writing career and taught me that I don’t want horses ever to be a business again, only a source of pleasure. We all have experiences we want to understand and to share. Understanding why we have had these experiences can make a huge difference, however, in how we share them. So, how do we begin to understand them? Let’s go back to the orchard. In fact, the word “Pardes” is an acronym formed by the following Hebrew words: • • • •

Pshat, the intended or simple meaning Remez, the allegorical or hinted meaning Drash, the metaphorical or interpreted meaning Sod, the secret or mystical meaning

These four words also represent four levels or ways of reading the Torah. For centuries, Jews have used this four-level way of reading to understand the Torah. Each week they read a portion of the Torah and study it on the Pshat, Remez, Drash and Sod levels. Now what does Torah study have to do with you personal story? Think about the sacred text for a moment. It consists of stories about people — our ancestors. Not only that, it relates the events that happen to them. It tells us of the experiences they had and how they dealt with them. It doesn’t tell us what those experiences and events meant, though. We study and interpret them to discover the meaning. And we can do that using this four-level method. A variety of religions study this sacred text, and no one really knows what it is supposed to mean. No one knows what wisdom lies within its covers. We don’t know the meaning of the stories. So, we study them over and over again. We read them on many levels — four levels — to try to understand. What are we trying to understand? The lesson we are supposed to learn from them. What do the stories mean? Additionally, we want to know how those stories and those lessons relate to our own lives. How are we supposed to apply those lessons to our lives? What do those people, those events, those experiences, those lessons mean to each one of us individually? I love the story of Joseph not because of his multi-colored coat but because he comes out on top despite all the seemingly terrible things that happen to him. On the Pshat level, this is a story about brothers who do wrong by their sibling and how that sibling forgives them and takes care of them and his family anyway. On the Remez level, I could say the story hints at the need for forgiveness or at the fact that God’s hand is in all events. On the Drash level, I always interpret the story to mean things happen for a reason. I say, “It’s like hindsight being 20-20.” On the Sod level, I come 10

back to the fact that God’s hand is in all events, even those that seem horrific. Joseph’s brothers do a terrible thing by selling him into slavery and lying about this to his father. Yet, because of this event Joseph later he ends up with enough power in Egypt to save his people from starving during the drought years. I then can apply that story to my own life. I ask myself, “How can I see how my life has been unfolding in ways that seem Divinely guided or with some sort of synchronicity? Have there been times when I’ve simply been in the right place at the right time? Looking back over my life can I see that one event has led me to another in a meaningful manner? What is going on in my life now that I can better accept knowing that maybe it will turn out okay later, that God’s hand is in it and I will later understand how it is taking me where I need to go? In much the same way, we want to read and understand our own lives. We want to apply the four levels of Torah reading or study to the events that happen and to the experiences we have. Then we can “read” our lives and understand them in a way that can help us not only transform them but share them with others in a transformative manner. That’s the point. Then you can write and speak about your story — you can give your Torah to others. To enter into the garden of your Torah, let’s now apply these four levels, Pshat, Remez, Drash, and Sod, to the story you chose — your Torah. Then you can read and write your Torah.

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Pshat: The Intended or Simple Meaning

Write your story (Torah) in its intended or simple form. Some people interpret Pshat as the “literal” form. Remember how the stories in the Torah itself, or in any other book, are written. Simply write your story with the basic details. Let your description flow naturally as if you were telling someone about it. Don’t analyze. Use this page and the next.

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Remez: The Allegorical or Hinted Meaning

Now begin looking more carefully at your story. Go more deeply into the garden. Is there a way you can tell you story that hints at a deeper meaning? Can you begin to mold your description of the events so it offers allegory, in other words a representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning or a symbolical narrative? Can you allude at your meaning or utilize symbols? Remember that you will not only tell your story but also interpret it for your readers and listeners. You will discuss it as you would any Torah portion during a Torah service, offering your interpretation of your Torah portion, your life experience or your chosen story. At this stage you begin to read between the lines for your readers or listeners as well as adding some hinted touches to your story. This is the time to start analyzing and interpreting your story, discovering your Torah. Do that on this page and the next.

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Drash: The Metaphorical or Interpreted Meaning

At this point you can begin to interpret your story in more detail. As you discuss what you have learned or make parallels, write about what it is “like,” applying metaphor if you choose, and beginning to truly tell your audience what you think it means to you and to them. It’s great if you can take the meaning from personal (you), to impersonal (them), to universal (everyone). Write a few paragraphs detailing the Drash level of your story. This is not unlike the “drash” written or offered during a Torah service. The rabbi or lay leader interprets the Torah portion and offers it to the congregation. A good drash does this on all four levels, Pshat, Remez, Drash, and Sod. You can do the same by the time you’ve completed this workbook.

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Sod: The Secret or Mystical Meaning

Now you have to put on your special mystical glasses. You have to become a Kabbalist with special vision and try to see the secret or hidden meaning in the story you have chosen. Why did this event happen? Why did you have this experience? What unseen forces were working underneath the surface events? What messages did you miss or hear or see? When you put the puzzle pieces together, was there a different picture than you thought would be there? When you stood back and looked from a different angle, was the picture a different one? What is the story underneath the story? What will your audience not see, read or hear if you don’t reveal it to them? Tell your audience about that here and on the next page.

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How to Give Your Torah

Now that you’ve walked through the garden and looked at your story on all four levels, Pshat, Remez, Drash, and Sod, it’s time to put all the pieces together and get ready to “give” your Torah. Just like any good story, you need a good lead, a paragraph or beginning sentence that “hooks” your audience, that catches their attention. Your story may do that anyway without help, but its all in the telling. It will then follow with the “meat” of your story. This will be followed with your interpretation, your chance to offer your wisdom and insight to inspire, touch, move, transform, change those who hear your Torah. Take the time now to rewrite below and on the next pages the final version of your story in such a form that it becomes your Torah. Begin by rewriting the Pshat version of your story with some extra flourish, polish and creativity, including any Remez additions. Include hints of meaning, symbolism, spiritual language, or other types of allegory. Follow this with the Drash and Sod interpretations you created earlier. Weave these together as well as you can so they become a coherent message. (If you can only come up with a Drash or a Sod interpretation but not both, that’s fine.) Once again, try to take the story from personal (you), to impersonal (them) to universal (everyone), so you can make it pertinent to all and create a story that offers a message bigger than you, bigger than each of the people who hear it. At the same time, it must be personal enough that those who hear it feel it was meant for each of them individually. In this way you will create a Torah you can give to one and all. Do so below and on the next three pages.

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When you have written out your story in full and on as many levels as possible, it’s time to go out and give your Torah. Polish up your story by editing it well and consider publishing it somewhere. Learn to speak it and go out and tell it to all who will listen. Give your Torah often. Become the great maggid, inspirational teacher and speaker, you were meant to be. Make a difference in the world in a small or large way, but make a difference. Be a change agent. Fulfill your purpose. Everyone has a Torah. Now you have yours.

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Books by Nina Amir From Empty Practice to Meaning-Full and Spirit-Full Prayers and Rituals ...in Seven Simple Steps! The Kabbalah of Conscious Creation How to Mystically Manifest Your Physical and Spiritual Desires Navigating the Narrow Bridge 7 Steps to Moving Forward Courageously Even When Life Seems Most Precarious 10 Days and 10 Ways to Return to Your Best Self A T’Shuvah Tool Get Ready, Aim Shoot: Hit Your Target This Year A Spiritual Guide to Using the Secular or Jewish New Year to Reset Your Personal, Professional and Spiritual Targets The Priestess Practice 4 Steps to Creating Sacred Space and Inviting the Divine to Dwell Within It

Most books can be purchased at Amazon by visiting amazon.com/author/ninaamir Books not available on Amazon can be found at www.purespiritcreations.com

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For more information on Nina Amir or her products and services, please visit:

www.purespiritcreations.com This is Nina Amir’s website devoted to human potential, self-improvement, personal growth, conscious creation, practical spirituality, and Jewish spirituality. From pure spirit, creations flow forth in abundance.

or

www.writenonfictionnow.com This is Nina Amir’s website devoted to nonfiction writing and publishing. From your purpose and passion, inspired creations flow forth in abundance.

or

www.ninaamir.com This is Nina Amir’s “home base” where you can find out about everything Nina does and how she inspires you to combine your purpose and your passion so you...

Achieve More Inspired Results Or contact Nina Amir at: Pure Spirit Creations 15383 Stetson Road Los Gatos, CA 95033 408-353-1943 [email protected]

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Each person has a sacred text— a personal teaching or story. By offering our individual sacred texts, the stories of our lives and our life experiences, along with our “commentaries” about them, we inspire others to reach their highest potential both physically and spiritually. Indeed, we each possess the responsibility to teach what we know, to “give” our “Torah” to others. You have a unique sacred text all your own — a story waiting to be told that will inspire, uplift, move, and change peoples lives in a positive way. Are you ready to give your Torah?

Nina Amir, Your Inspiration-to-Creation Coach, inspires people to create the results they desire. When working with writers, she inspires them to create publishable and published products and careers as writers and authors. She inspires non-writers to create fully-lived lives; their cherished dreams, desires and goals; and meaning-full and spirit-full rituals and practices. In all cases, she challenges them to find and fulfill their purpose and potential Through her writing and speaking, Nina offers human potential, personal growth, self-improvement, and practical spiritual tools. Although she often speaks and writes from a Jewish perspective, her work spans religious lines and is pertinent to people of all faiths and spiritual traditions. She also is a popular writer, blogger and speaker on topics related to publishing and writing. In all she does, Nina focuses on helping people live their lives fully and manifest their desires — whether those desires look like written products or something entirely different. Nina sees herself as an “Everywoman” whose struggles and successes are not unlike anyone else’s. Therefore, she writes, speaks and teaches from a place of knowing that what has worked for her will at least provide others with a starting place from which to find what works best for them.

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