In Appreciation of Bilvavi Part One

Thank you very much for the free copy of the first part of Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh.

I read it some time ago, when I first came to Yeshiva. The title caught my attention since I came from a background of yoga and meditation where building the heart is very important. So I was curious to know how would the Torah approach to it would be.The book helped me to feel Hashem as a presence which is constant in my life. And I have been integrating some of the exercises into my daily life. Especially talking to Him and thanking for everything that happens. It helped me be aware and raise consciousness when I arrived to a new place, and understand that is all acts of Him.I also set a sort of automatic association to every time an alarm sounded, I would think He is there. It has been nonetheless decreasing because my life is quite a routine therefore thanking Him for bringing me from the Beit Hamidrash to the Dorms and back has turned into somewhat an automatic thing, not necessarily filled with a feeling of Dveikut.

In fact, when I used to spend a long time meditating throughout the day, I would feel very present and conscious, but I would lack a focus and did not know that it was, in fact, Him! So, the most important complement I received from the book was directing all my previous effort and internal work to God. BH, thank you.Nonetheless, it is important to share that my experience in Yeshiva it´s been of a decreasing feeling of the presence of Hashem. Feeling Dveikut requires effort and internal work: studying at Yeshiva requires a lot of externally directed attention (Books, Jevrtuta´s and so on) and therefore it is not a conducive atmosphere for that kind of work. 

Finally, regarding the writing of the book itself. I found it somewhat repetitive. Although I understand the importance of being clear with transmitting a message of delicate matters, some of the paragraphs seemed not to add much newness. I decided to write this paragraph, because I spoke to someone else about this book, who had also read it, and he agreed with this point as well. [1]

I hope this brief feedback serves useful. I would be happy to continue expanding on my experience with the book and even collaborating to further writing as I can contribute a focus of a different perspective.

Thank you again,
Tizke Le-Mitzvot

[1] Editor's Note: All the repetitions in the Rav's sefarim are on purpose to "drive home the point."