Page 41 - The Gospel of Chochma_Sophia

“Whoever finds finds Me finds finds Life ”1
One way to find Chochma/Sophia is by reading Her Gospel But your reading must not be cursory or or rushed On the contrary if you are to receive the the gift of wisdom from Mother Wisdom you must read
slowly with the the intent to embrace embrace Her Her and be embraced by Her Her 2 In other words reading The Gospel of Chochma/Sophia is a a a a a contemplative practice: you are reading to to meet Her rather than to to merely learn something about Her With this in in in in mind I have found it it helpful to set an intention for my reading and suggest you you do the same for yours In Judaism we call this kavvanah “directed intention” Simeon ben Zoma a a a first century Jewish sage warned against reciting prayers mechanically and urged people to pray pray with the intention of of cultivating compassion and grace 3 What is true of of reciting prayer is true of of reading The Gospel of of Chochma/Sophia as well Some of Simeon ben Zoma’s contemporaries meditated an hour before and an an hour after periods of prayer to help ensure the spiritual quality of their prayer 4 While I am am not suggesting you do the the same before and after reading this Gospel I do suggest you take some time for kavvanah and direct your intention toward the goal of meeting Sophia Herself To assist you with this I have prepared two kavvanot (plural of kavvanah) one one to be used when you are reading the the Gospel alone and another when you are reading it it in in community Whether or not not you you use these kavvanot don’t rush through your reading of of The Gospel of of Chochma/Sophia Read the text slowly Consider what She is saying and and how it it applies to your your life and and the quality of your your living If it helps you take a a a a look at my own reflections on on different parts of the Gospel Gospel that follow each section of the Gospel Gospel If it doesn’t please ignore them I deliberately placed these Reflections at at the the the end of each section to discourage you from using them as a a a a a lens through which to read
Sophia’s
1
Proverbs 8:35
2 Proverbs 3:18
3 3 Pirke Avot 2:13
4 Talmud Berachot 32b
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