KLM: The Kavanah Formula: 3 Steps to Combat Rote with Rabbi Asher Baruch Wegbreit

your Museum [Music] thank you parents and welcome also uh to ubene the listeners of Ibanez foreign has done years and years of counseling and he also he always told us one thing he said most people know what their problems are what they struggle with is what to do about their problems I struggled with the following for many years and that was throwing blessings out of my mouth and I worked on it I really I mean I tried I tried every yellow in particular I said okay it's time to step it up and um you know do the breakfast more properly I mean there are a hundred of them it's not an easy task and I did make some progress in fact one Lo we dedicated an entire VOD to working on this okay progress was made but I was still stuck I was stuck but this is a lesson that I I always want to repeat that when you care about something and you add some prayer to it when you have care and prayer um usually asham will come through and give you some see Adam and as many of you know this whole Foundation the cam Foundation came about because I found a book called Hashem Rabbi Daniel garfinkel it's now in English by the way I found this safer and and I realized something I realized that the reason I was stuck is because I was unaware of a halacha and that halaka is that Mitzvah Sharif is and once I real I accepted upon myself to work on that unbelievable thank God and I shared I try to spread it far and wide and I'm I'm touched and thrilled by the reactions everyone's like wow so I would love to just you know at this point say and then I lived happily ever after with Hashem that wasn't the case and that's what tonight's cheer is going to be about we're going to discuss uh what I often call new technology I want to introduce you to something called the kavana formula and then the TR the truth is it takes many of the principles be we've been learning over the past period and puts them into a step-by-step three steps for now three-step process but before I do that before I share this principle for you we have to understand why would you need a kavana formula isn't it enough to observe the like I decided to and you'll be happy ever after so let's see why we need a covana formula [Music] um wait sneak preview wrong wrong position let's start the story where it begins foreign this was me before KLM okay and the the problem was as we know that um if you don't have come on it's a big deal let me explain yeah I mean I again I as many of us what were not was not aware that the halafah is Mitzvahs do indeed require kavana Etc so let's hear what the kapha hayam brings he brings the Aries all and the Aria is all says the following he says the he says that the Mitzvah you do the Misa Mitzvah the physical act and I'm including the speech the prayer that's like a goof and the makshava the thinking you invest into the Mitzvah that's the shama and then he says it straight he says a Mitzvah without kavana is like a goof without a nashama and that's you know the light bulb went on I realized you know there my my my brachas they're they're they're they're they're missing some life they don't have life the life was sapped out of them that's the issue wrote will eat the Mitzvah so that's and I think everybody can uh testify from their own experience that they understand the truth of this okay so that this is this what you're looking at right now is pre-klm and then kavana revives the Mitzvah that's what happened right and again I I'm happy to say that it's not just me you know I'll just I'll say do you realize that what you're doing right now is a Mitzvah and if you have Kubota for it um it can't be calculated the difference of reward you receive and you'll start thinking about kavana revved it up right so that and and by the way it makes perfect sense according to the Rizal what did the arizal say he says that uh um the makshava is in the shama of the Mitzvah right so when you realize that you when you add kabani you start thinking about it yes and this is also let's discuss this let's really spell this out okay well it what is it that the what how does the light bulb uh turn on when you even just had cavana for the Mitzvah you're doing it's because she's start to think more right so uh thinking we underestimate we look at it as um well it's intellectual it's merely intellectual well you know that's not how the Torah looks at it the Torah um the Torah says that you know do you know where your nashama is that your nishama forgive me give me one second let me reshare um okay you're in it your nashoma is in your brain okay so thinking we really need to reframe here we have to realize thinking alone is super spiritual right you hear that that the rhombumi says that your cell Elohim Your Divine image is your mind right so that's why cabana revised so you would be expecting me to say and then we lived on Happily Ever After with Hashem right I'm thinking before I do the mitzvah so what what war do I need so let me show you the next uh phase and I think um the um senior members of KLM will understand this the plot thickens wrote eats the kavana and the Mitzvah not just the Mitzvah Rogue can eat the kavana you have beforehand in other words let's say right now let let's do it by the way let's have in mind the Mitzvah of learning Torah because so you have that Cabana and if you haven't fought to be aware that you're doing the midst of learning right now and then to have Cabana that's gonna spark something in you but what if you just become accustomed and now every time you hear a KLM Shear or you uh listen to it of our Toro you read it of our Torah you have in mind doing the midst of learning Torah so what happens is it doesn't feel the same you don't get the same spark and excitement from it why because that's become rote so this was the problem okay however and I can't stress this enough there's a huge difference to doing a Mitzvah without its nashama without having that pre-cavana there's a huge difference if you add the Cabana and even if you don't feel anything when you have in mind learning Torah or when you smile and say good morning you have in mind I have to Rafa kamoha and when you walk into a big nest that you have in mind big Dashi taru reverence for the sanctuary so when you do that even if you don't feel anything your Mitzvah has moved from bidi avidhila you're doing it in the ideal way you have in the shama there you just don't feel the same thing and it's you know again wrote is not great for our connection to Hashem so even though kavana and the Mitzvah even if it becomes wrote is you're an outstanding shape we need to go farther because after what are we here for we're here to get a deep connection to Hashem and to always feel alive okay so the question is what do we do about it right how do you deal with the fact that roads let's face it Road consumes it's a the original metaphor we went with the the Pac-Man metaphor here the original metaphor for but I just thought you know I'm a little bit of a senior here I don't know if everyone uh heard of that uh film The Blob so there there was this gelatinous monster that just basically absorbed everything in its path and that that is indeed what happens road is this monster the spiritual monster if you will Road has a good side but that's not where we're focused on not how we mean it wrote is this monster that just absorbs everything you do right so it sounds like we're just dead in our tracks that we're just not going to get out of this okay sounds bad right however let me uh let me cheer you up a little and I want to say There's Hope okay first is understanding the opportunity within this problem that's number one and number two is the kavana formula that we're gonna discuss and release tonight okay the problem the opportunity so the truth of the matter is wrote um it is always going to be present on some level but um there because Hashem wants you to have a choice are you going to be alive in this moment or are you going to be mechanical and robotic every moment needs the potential uh for vote so that you can fulfill the midst of the device choosing life in other words the physically for everybody but spiritually it's in your hands and yes indeed a lot the Torah involves a lot of repetition right so that's gonna we're gonna see the roach monster is going to rear his head but you have a chance that means you get to choose am I gonna be alive every moment and when you make the choice in the right direction have in mind find the Mitzvah of the heart de bechain so first number number one is the fact that Rose even eats the kavana not just the Mitzvah that is what our life's about we're going to be facing this all the time and that's where we can choose life so that's number one but I also want to help us and that is I want to bring uh this is something that um worked on for like a half a year at least and uh want to present an angle on and again we have to deal with the problem uh or understand how the formula works because in theory everything is consumed by the rote uh the rote man rope man so uh we're gonna see that there's something about this formula that helps us put up a good fight and before I show you the formula I want to tell you what the formula is based on right the source of this basically the ideas that were that it's a it's a three like I said a three-step process it all is based um on perhaps the gr one of the greatest certainly one of the greatest muscles Forum of all time and that's Messias yasharin the ram Khal was a very present conscious angel that was sent to us so I want you to know that's the uh besis of the kavana formula and now let's take a look all right okay this is the uh this was the point for we're gonna see the form in a second the kavana formula of course with hashem's help can Crush wrote all right that's what we see here now let's see the Cabana formula okay GMP that's the new acronym GNP gold Mitzvah presence of machine now before we get into it uh here well let me sort of take it one by one what's my goal that's the first thing in theory you ask um we'll discuss the best way to implement the code about a formula but right now I want you to grasp the ideas so there is a very famous uh non-jewish thinker Stephen Covey he said this uh begin with the end in mind it's a great line with great importance so Dallas he was preceded by the ROM call uh you know was in the 1700s the rampal says there yeah the opening of the book after The the amazing introduction comes the opening a person has to constantly think what is my purpose of being here and the the actual read you the language uh of the ROM call just to hear of a subtle point I know you're basically familiar with this these are opening words of Messiah it said the yesod of hasidus the the foundation of piety and the surest of a voter schleima and the root of like perfect of Otis Hashem is and I'm just going to read this for a man to clarify and come to realize as a truth what his obligation is in the world in his world ready this is the part I want and to what he needs to direct his gaze and his aspiration in everything he does ready all the days of his life The Rock was saying you should always have the goal of why we're here what are purposes all the time it should be informing you every part of your life that we're gonna use that for the kavana formula so that's the first part goal G okay next part the next two um they look like they're pure KLM but the truth is it came from the ROM call in the Paris Zion of Messiah cisarin where he's talking about acquiring to are a purity what he means is a devotion and a pure um undistracted connection to Hashem don't we all want this so he says what does he say this is so kill emish he says don't enter a Mitzvah suddenly pitom right don't just encounter the Mitzvah don't just suddenly rush into the Mitzvah he says you you need to prepare yourself by ready asking yourself the following two questions it what you see now let's look at and and Mitzvah what at Mitzvah am I about to do that's the first thing the ROM call says and then he says before whom am I doing it those two questions the wrongful says if you want purity of connection that's what you do so that's the overview this is all based on the Messiah but now let's put the KLM spin on it okay what's all right so let's go down we're going to talk about what's my goal in more depth in our next um session this may take a session or two because I want us to I want this to be our modus operandi period for our votes Hashem forever okay that this is what this this can this is we will we won't just be reading Messiah we'll be living it okay so we'll get back to goal in more depth later the first thing I wanted to see is that the wrongful says the goal should be informing your every single day okay now let's go to mitzvah what Mitzvah am I about to do okay now uh so that this uh is that what we've been practicing KLM right and the there's two points here is one is that notice that I say cashier C by Hashem I want to add this to your um having come have in mind like I will say have in mind the midst of learning Torah but let's add shared Siva Hashem as a shin commanded me you know someone gave me a ride to the elections a a very big Tom at Hoffman so I was talking about Kailyn and he made a great illustration of why it's important to add as a Shem commandment or the kayam mitsu's story to fulfill the Mitzvah my uh Creator so he says if a person this is a luckic idea if a person um borrowed a hundred shekels from plony and then he goes back and he just he hands 100 shekels to plony right so he didn't he didn't fulfill the midst of paying back the loan because he might be just giving him a gift of a hundred shekels so he has to say this is to pay my debt to fulfill my obligation to return the money you hear this so when we learned we it's I'm doing this as a shim commandative we're making a crystal clear sham of this because it's a Mitzvah so I want you to start practicing adding cashier's as Hashem commanded and then last and definitely not least is in whose presence am I doing this so look we say um the the instruction here is I mean if you got have your goal in mind and you express your Covenant properly you're in great shape but here's the next thing yes in whose presence am I right now right so here's the reason this is so important okay did anybody until now unless you're maybe uh meditators did has anybody until now and this year we've been 25 minutes has anybody been uh noticing that they're breathing yeah probably not right most people are are uh until now just take a second everybody take a second and now focus on the fact that you're breathing I'll do it too okay so noticing your breathing requires Focus noticing that Hashem is present requires Focus it's the same way lojavio okay in other words Hashem is present right but you have to notice it right so look at the instruction here draw into your awareness that you are in hashem's presence this is amazingly helpful for at least two reasons number one you're fulfilling really three Commandments shavichi Hashem placing Hashem before you're as Hashem awareness that you're in his presence it's packed with Mitzvahs but but really when you bring a shin into your Mitzvah fulfillment you will do the Mitzvah better look I I've been doing I've been working on this and I I can testify that that's the case Okay so that let's review goal what's my goal uh then the the next question what Mitzvah am I about to do and then in whose presence am I doing this so the question we have to understand is why does this Crush wrote okay we said that wrote can consume uh even the Cabana you have for the Mitzi and it becomes lifeless so the reason this can is because you're asking yourself open-ended questions and it brings you it reminds you that you have a choice of being present or not okay in other words you um you still have to choose to be engaged but when you ask these questions these are triggers um these are triggers to decide to to to invest and they and they prompt you forward give for example one of the the goals is uh to be close to God so if you embark on a misman you just clarified my goal here is to be close to God are you going to run through it mindlessly less likely right when you're when you trigger yourself that you're doing the Mitzvah and as Hashem commandment less likely to run through it and most importantly when you're in the presence of Hashem okay that's the formula it's introduction number one now I asked everybody to um had a take something that you can make a blessing with okay and we're gonna we're gonna practice this is practice number one of uh applying to come on her formula to our lives okay I assume since we gave you an announcement you have maybe I'll give you 20 seconds 30 seconds just uh to get it maybe I'll get something I'll be right there [Music] of course I need to do this okay so what we're gonna do is I I mentioned to you before that my my initial struggle was throwing blessings out of my mouth and I think um what we may do in the assuming sessions is we're gonna really also work on this idea of throwing blessing because a hundred times we're supposed to be uh doing it properly so if you have your drink or your food um that uh I'm gonna I'm going to just walk you through it and just basically Express to yourself right to your true self you hear this when you ask these questions you're also appealing to your true self okay so I will model it just follow suit okay um so I want to start with Mitzvah yeah I like GMP yeah you can ask yourself what's your GMP but let's I think it starts this with first asking what am I what Mitzvah am I about to do okay so I am about and by the way there's endless depth that's why we'll come back to these blessings there are so many misses within the blessing itself the drinking Etc we're gonna just simplify to begin with but then we're going to expand okay so what Miss I'm about to do I'm about to make a birkus netting a blessing for a pleasure I'm about to have um which is a mixture that the rabbis commanded me to do which itself is a Mitzvah darisa to listen to the rabbis so I'm about to um I'm about to make this lesson um to enjoy this pleasure um in uh in whose presence am I I'm in the presence of Hashem what's my goal right now to come closer to a ship okay everybody make your blessing [Music] we'll also talk about the mixes of drinking next time so try this at home let's let me give you a clear assignment okay one blessing it would be wise to make it the first blessing you make in the morning uh or when you have it let's say maybe you do the uh preparation for Dominic but when you're ready to have your first glass of water whatever it is let's do the GMP okay thank you very much I hope it won't be a TV show you're on mute so thank you thank you for the reference to the 1980s with Pac-Man very good do we have do we have time for comments for sure so you know as you alluded to I definitely saw Pac-Man uh eating Cabana you know I I adopted quickly the five gems uh uh Sinai and then I found myself before I started learning just you know rattling them off quickly and so I saw that um then I just want to say that you know you said that even if you don't feel anything thinking it it's it's it's it's a Mitzvah I feel like you're you're definitely you know and I just thought about like an analogy there that if you leave your house in the morning and you have a habit of saying I love you to your kids or you know to your wife or even giving someone a peck on the cheek there's a big difference even if you do it by Road it still matters it's then if you don't do it at all right right you know like if you just walk out the door and you know you don't say I love you or you don't you know is it even if you do it by rope it's still it's still something that's fantastic right for sure you you know the person probably like what happened why aren't you know it's disappointing to the other that's wonderful analogy right and something else you said which about you know whose presence are we in right so so we're in the presence where Hashem is always there we just have to notice it right which reminds me of one of my absolute favorite Rabbi greennesses which is it blew me away the first time I heard it heard it which he says like to to apply it to this he said right now this day right uh 3 30 or 4 30 in the afternoon New York time November 2nd the secular calendar this is the greatest moment in the history of the universe you say like what now come on how did you compare that to you know Mama harcina right and he'd say you think God creates any any b-minus moments like you think he sits there and says okay This Moment's an a this is a d this is I'll make that a c plus because every moment is an A plus it's just we just we don't plug in and so that's what I think that every moment can be stupendous but we have to plug in right and that's exactly that's what the formula does right right and uh and this also that um right and just even note and to hear that and I've seen it when you even if it's a slow you know it it you're not immediately gonna start shaking when you say I have in mind I'm in the presidency oh shem's here and you faint from the profundity of the experience not gonna happen but when you do it uh when you draw your attention you will act differently and and that's really what the um the remark brings the more you know opening the mission of Brewer is it says your movement movements in front of a king are not the same uh when you are not from the king so exactly so even a bit of awareness will have an impact and most importantly if if they they're huge Mitzvahs when being aware that you're in presence of Hashem like I said is three super permits this you know when you quoted Steve Kobe and you said but before Steve Kobe there was the ram Khal I thought of even before the ram Khao there were the tadikim who composed and said um and before then was a shame because he's the one who had a much and just and to pick up on that I thought like you know what we did I just made the brachan a glass of water right so I did a shahako and that made me think like think about it we say that broccoli so often it may be our most common broken right now it's cover Yahoo but when Hashem we know created the world through his speech but really what was it it was through his intention Al so so when we're saying that brother we have a perfect sort of Paradigm for how the power of intention beautiful and so if we wanted is right there beautiful beautiful what a wonderful insight into the show called yes we'll be we'll be we'll be hunkering in on it too beautiful yes your car thank you okay great all right well everybody thanks so much thank you so much for joining us for the new season and uh please guys we'll give us Seattle [Music] oh