Parashat Naso 5786 – 05/30/2026
Beginning with Bereishit 5781 (17 October 2020) we embarked on a new format. We will be considering Rambam’s (Maimonides’) great philosophical work Moreh Nevukim (Guide for the Perplexed) in the light of the knowledge of Vedic Science as expounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The individual essays will therefore not necessarily have anything to do with the weekly Torah portion, although certainly there will be plenty of references to the Torah, the rest of the Bible, and to the Rabbinic literature. For Bereishit we described the project. The next four parshiyyot, Noach through Chayei Sarah, laid out a foundational understanding of Vedic Science, to the degree I am capable of doing so. Beginning with Toledot we started examining Moreh Nevukim.
Bamidbar 4:21-7:89
I have been ill (nothing serious) this week, so I’d like to reprise a piece from last August that revolves around the last verse in parashat Naso. I will leave tenses as in the original. Gd willing we’ll resume with Rambam next week.
A calendrical note: Last Shabbat was the second day of Shavuot, so we read the special reading for that day, and postponed Naso until this week. In Israel, of course, there is no “second day of the Diaspora” and last Shabbat was an ordinary Shabbat, on which they read Naso. This week they’ll be reading BeHa’alot’cha, and they will be one parashah ahead of us until they read Chukat and Balak separately (on 20 and 27 June respectively) and we read Chukat and Balak together (on 27 June). We join up again on the 4th of July for parashat Pinchas.
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On August 17th [of 2025] Gd willing, I will be giving a presentation at an online conference organized by Rahchel Ben-Zvi and the Israeli TM Organization. I’ll be discussing the relationship between Veda and Torah, and I thought I’d present the talk here. I don’t think there will be anything terribly new or revolutionary; most of what I’ll say I have probably said in one or another of these essays, but hopefully this will provide a consistent framework for these ideas. Feedback is, of course, always welcome.
“M’daber beino uven atzmo, uMoshe shome’a me’elav” – Torah Revelation and Vedic Cognition
The Hebrew quote is from Rashi to Bamidbar (Numbers) 7:89, and I will explain its significance shortly. First, however, I would like to review a bit of what Maharishi has to say about Vedic cognition.
What is the Veda? The word Veda means “knowledge,” in much the same way that the word science means (or originally meant) knowledge. In the West, we have appropriated the word science to mean knowledge of the objective world that is verified by repeatable experiment . In the case of Vedic Science, the object is the subject – that is, the realm of Vedic Science is consciousness, and the knowledge of consciousness provided can be verified on the basis of repeatable, subjective (and objective) experience.
Everyone on this conference is familiar with the seven states of consciousness that Maharishi delineates. I want to review them briefly so we can discuss what Vedic cognition is, then we will proceed to Torah’s depiction of its origins.
When we learn TM we learn how to transcend thought. We take a particular object of perception, the mantra, and allow the mind to experience it in a progressively finer state, until the object is completely transcended and the mind is left in a state of minimum activity, without any object of perception. We call this state Transcendental Consciousness, and it is described as Consciousness alone with itself. The salient point here is that Transcendental Consciousness is first experienced as complete silence.
With continued regular practice of TM, alternating with activity (waking state), the mind and nervous system become cultured to maintain the silence of Transcendental Consciousness along with the activity of waking, dreaming and sleeping states of consciousness. Maharishi calls this state Cosmic Consciousness. The state of Transcendental Consciousness is in our mind continually, and we recognize it as our own Self, our essential nature, whereas our individuality, as expressed in our mind, intellect, ego, body, is a particular expression of our Self. The main point here is that we identify our Self as the infinite, eternal Transcendental Consciousness.
As we continue living with Transcendental Consciousness as the continuous, underlying reality of our Self, we start to appreciate finer and finer level of the objects of perception. This growth is not on the level of the mind, but primarily on the level of the heart and the senses. The growth of love and appreciation is what unites in life, and in this case, it unites the unbounded Self that we experience in our inner life, with the finer and finer levels of the objects we are perceiving. For those of you who are counting, the sixth state of consciousness is achieved when we perceive the very finest level of the object of perception. This is a glorious state of consciousness, but we are going to pass it by to the seventh state, where we perceive that the essential nature of the object is the same unbounded, eternal, absolute consciousness that is our own Self. Maharishi calls this Unity Consciousness, because the Self of our inner, subjective life is unified with the Self of objective life. When Unity Consciousness is fully developed, we perceive that the Self, Consciousness, is all that there is. It is all-pervasive, and everything in creation is nothing other than the virtual fluctuations of Consciousness within itself.
We’re almost done with this long introduction. All of creation is just the virtual, internal dynamics of the Unified Field of Pure Consciousness. At the most fundamental level of creation are certain specific patterns of vibration, the basic laws of nature out of which all creation is structured. According to Maharishi’s understanding, these vibrations can be cognized on the level of one’s own Pure Consciousness, within one’s Self. Further, these vibrations can be expressed as sounds, and they are the sounds of human speech. The interaction among these primordial sounds can be cognized as words and grammar and semantics. The language of nature, according to Maharishi, is Vedic Sanskrit, and the Veda is actually the blueprint of creation, an expression in sound of the fundamental processes by which creation appears to manifest from Pure Consciousness.
All this may sound a bit strange, but it doesn’t take too deep a look into our own tradition to see that our Sages tell much the same story, albeit in a different language. So, I would like to turn to the very last verse of Parashat Naso, which is Bamidbar 7:89. Please pardon my Hebrew pronunciation. The verse reads:
ובבו משה אל אהל מועד לדבר אתו וישמע את הקול מדבר אליו
uv’vo Moshe el Ohel Mo’ed l’daber ito vyishma et hakol meedaber elav
Now despite my pronunciation difficulties you will note that I pronounced the word meedaber with a hirik and not m’daber with a schwa. Correct Hebrew grammar calls for a schwa; the form that the Masoretic pronunciation brings down to us, with the unexpected hirik, is actually incorrect grammar. Therefore, we have to turn to Rashi to explain that meedaber is really “like mitdaber” (my italics). Mitdaber is a reflexive form, and with the word “reflexive” you should start thinking “Self-referral.” And indeed, Rashi goes on to explain (as in the title of this presentation), “Gd was speaking to himself, and Moshe heard on his own.” Jokingly, we can say that Moshe was eavesdropping on Gd’s private musings. More seriously, we see that Moshe was directly cognizing Gd’s language with which the universe was created.
Just a personal aside. In 2015 on my TM Teacher Recertification course, the MIU bookstore was having a sale on Dr. Vernon Katz’ two-volume set, Conversations with Maharishi, about his time working with Maharishi translating various texts, including the Bhagavad-Gita and Brahma Sutras. As a bonus, Dr. Katz was signing the books, so I happily got on line. When it was my turn, he looked up and remarked about having an Orthodox Jewish TM teacher, and we chatted for a few moments. A couple of years later I heard a shiur, which discussed, among other things, this verse. Shortly after that I went to Fairfield for the group program for a month. As I was walking into the local health-food store I saw Dr. Katz sunning himself by the entrance. I excitedly went up to him and said, “Dr. Katz, you have to listen to this Rashi!” and I told it over. His eyes widened and he looked at me and he said, “But that’s Vedic cognition!”
So apparently the process of revelation of the Torah to Moshe Rabbeinu, who passed it on to us, was the same process as Vedic cognition as described by Maharishi. In fact, my dear friend R. Alan Green related to me that he was discussing Torah with Maharishi on one occasion, and Maharishi emphatically stated that Veda and Torah are essentially one and the same thing. And our esoteric tradition tells us that the Torah is the blueprint of creation, that Gd “looked into Torah and created the world.” R. Akiva Tatz has likened Torah to a hologram – it contains all the details of creation in a compressed and encoded form, and when Gd’s light is shone through Torah, like a laser through a hologram, the form of creation appears.
Now it is obvious that there are some substantial differences between Veda and Torah, as well as the similarities we have just discussed. To begin with, Vedic Sanskrit and Hebrew are quite different in their phonology, grammar and semantics. Hebrew is a Semitic language and Sanskrit is Indo-European. There are sounds in Hebrew (particularly the pharyngeals in their original pronunciation) that do not appear in Sanskrit, and the difference between aspirated and unaspirated stops in Sanskrit is absent in Hebrew. I actually had a long discussion on my 6-month sidhis course in 1977 with my MIU colleague, the late Doug White, who was a linguist. He made these very points against my argument that Hebrew and Sanskrit must be connected, as they’re both Scriptural languages. When we returned to MIU he sent me an article from an archaeology magazine about some Hittite inscriptions that had just been discovered (Hittite was apparently an Indo-European language, according to Prof. Google) and forced a re-evaluation of the entire proto-Indo-European phonetic system. After the re-evaluation, it turned out that proto-Indo-European phonology was almost identical to proto-Semitic. This was almost 50 years ago and I don’t know to what extent that understanding persists today.
Why do we have this difference? Did Moshe have only a partial cognition? I think that the answer has to do with the nature of time and the need of the generation. First, a quick review of the cycles of time, according to Maharishi. We start out with a society that is living 100% of natural law. Action is right and evolutionary in a spontaneous way, because people’s consciousness is fully expanded, and they act from the level of Pure Consciousness. Over time, however, the level of natural law being spontaneously lived begins to drop. When it reaches 75%, a lawgiver brings a code of conduct to guide the people, who no longer intuitively understand what the right course of action is. As the level of natural law continues to drop, even the code that was appropriate for the 75% level is no longer useful, because we have lost the intuitive understanding of what that code means. So at the 50%, and again at the 25% level of natural law, new codes arise, that are more and more explicit, because we can’t figure things out on our own.
Here’s an example from Torah. In the Aseret haDibrot / 10 Commandments it says lo’ tirtzach / Do not murder. Sounds straightforward, doesn’t it? But then questions start to arise. What if it was an accident? What if it was a completely unavoidable accident? What if it was something that a little more care could have prevented? Some of these are dealt with even in Torah – we set aside cities of refuge for an accidental killer. Other details are worked out in the Talmud, then in the Codes, then in the rishonim, then the acharonim, and on and on. The codes get more and more explicit, but unfortunately they get so unwieldy that they are not so useful to guide life as it is being lived. “Knowledge in the books remains in the books – it’s never there when you need it.”
What I believe is that Torah is the code that is appropriate for, probably, the 25% level of life. The need of the time and the need of the generations required a projection of the Veda to a lower, more concrete level, in order for it to be useful to the people of that time. Looking at it from the other angle, the lower level of consciousness of the people of that generation created enough static, or enough smoke, that Moshe’s perception was, to a certain extent, clouded. As Maharishi once put it, in a smoky room, even the vision of an enlightened man is clouded. In a sense, it is the lower level of consciousness of the people in Moshe Rabbeinu’s time created a kind of attenuated cognition that produced a document that they could use. So Torah is Veda projected onto a more concrete level, a level appropriate for a lower level of collective consciousness, and if we want to restore Torah to its full glory, it’s up to us to do whatever we can to raise the level of collective consciousness.
Now at this point the Talmud would ask mai nafka minah? / what difference does it make (lit. what comes out of it)? I think this understanding that Torah resides within our consciousness actually turns our understanding of the fundamentals of Jewish life on its head. Consider:
- We are adjured to meditate on [Torah] day and night . If Torah is structured in our Pure Consciousness, what this really means is that Pure Consciousness must be permanently established in our awareness.
- We are adjured to engage in Torah study constantly. But what is real Torah study? It’s development of consciousness so that we can begin to cognize Torah directly. We shall return to this point presently.
- Torah gives us many mitzvot to refine our character. We can view these mitzvot as particular performances as actions / recitations that enliven the various laws of nature to produce certain effects.
- Torah promises that actualizing Torah within our life will create a situation where nature supports our actions, as in the second paragraph of the Shema : V’haya im shamo’a tishm’u el mitzvotai … v’natati m’tar artz’chem b’ito / If you obey My commmandments … I will give you the rain for your Land in its proper time.
- Torah also promises that if we actualize Torah in our society then we will dwell in safety and security, v’ayn machrid / None will make [us] afraid. Maharishi has described this as rashtri kavach / shield over the nation (iron dome? Golden Dome?). This is because we will create an atmosphere of coherence and harmony that will create in our enemies the fear to attack. In fact, enemies will turn into friends, as far-fetched as it might seem with our current lineup of enemies.
I think we can all see the application of these points to the current political and military situation in Israel. Those who are devoted to full-time Torah study argue that Torah study (and prayer) is their contribution to the state and to the Jewish community. On this basis they feel they should be exempt from sharing the burden, both military and economic, with the rest of the nation. In theory, they are correct, with the one exception being that burying one’s nose in a Gemara all day is not actually a deep understanding of what Torah study is, or should be. It is only study on the level of meaning and interpretation, as if intellectual understanding of Torah is really plumbing the depths of Torah. It probably has some value in expanding consciousness, but in terms of developing enlightenment, acting in accord with the laws of nature, and creating harmony and coherence, it doesn’t seem to be doing that. If we have 50,000 yeshiva bachurim all practicing Maharishi’s technology of consciousness, then the transformation of the world that they would create would make all of the world’s problems disappear in relatively short order. If we really imbibe the full value of Torah, then we will really be a light unto all the nations of the world.
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Commentary by Steve Sufian
Parashat Naso (Raise the Heads, Count, Lift Up)
In this parshah, Gd commands a census (raising of heads) of the Gershonite branch of the Levites. Moses completes the Tabernacle, Gd gives Aaron and his sons, through Moses, the Priestly Blessing, three blessings that raise us up:
Numbers 6:24-26:
“ May HaShem Bless you and Safeguard you”
“ May HaShem Illuminate His Countenance for you and be Gracious to you.
“May HaShem Lift His Countenance to you and Establish Peace for you.” (Art Scroll Stone Edition Chumash)
“ Bless,” “Safeguard,” “Illuminate His countenance for you,” “Be Gracious to you,” “Lift His countenance to you,” “Establish Peace for you”—all these combine to bestow Gd’s Name on us, the result of which is that Gd Blesses us, Lifts us up..
What does it mean to have Gd’s Name (not “Names”) Bestowed on us?
It means that the complexities of life are simplified, the many ways we experience Gd are united into One and our life becomes one with Gd, not separate from Gd: “All Your names are one” we know from the Aleinu “It is our duty” prayer we recite daily.
What additional lifting up occurs when Gd Blesses us through a census?
Within the Unity, the Oneness, the diversity is raised: we are One with Gd and yet also continue to play our roles as individuals, roles in which we continue to behave devotedly to Gd, to “Love Gd with all our heart, and soul and all our might” and to love Gd’s Nature, including all people, to “love our neighbor as ourself (our Self)
Gd, from Gd’s Point of View, Blesses us, Raises us higher and higher so that there is no distance between Gd playing the role of Gd and Gd playing the role of Creation, including us.
May we be lifted up today and every day to experience deeper and deeper openness to the Priestly Blessings, to Gd’s Name, to Gd’s Blessings and deeper openness to living these and sharing with all and all.
Love and Baruch HaShem