A Tribute to Joanna Macy
Tanya, Holy Letters, Chapter 27
I heard today of the passing of one of the great teachers of our generation, a dedicated practitioner and true lover of life, Joanna Macy.
(See one obituary here)
I offer in her her honor a translation of chapter 27 of "Iggeret HaKodesh" (Holy Letters) in the latter part of the Tanya. It is a letter of consolation written in response to the passing of R Menahem Mendel of Vitebsk in Israel in 1788. The letter describes the relationship between teacher and disciples after the teacher's death. In the letter Rabbi Shneur Zalman (the founder of Habad) explains the meaning of one rabbinic euphemism for death - Shavak Hayyim L'kol Hai" - literally, they (the deceased) left life to those who still live.
In honor of Joanna Macy, I have changed the pronouns to the feminine, and have given the translation a delicate Buddhist touch.
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To my beloved, my brothers and friends whom I love as myself, may you and your descendants live in God's presence eternally, your life a seed of truth blessed by God now and forever.
Having inquired after your welfare, you lovers of the divine name, I write this to console the saddened who are weeping and crying out. May you be comforted more and more by these words which express what I have heard and understood regarding the rabbinic expression - "he left life to the living".
A righteous person’s life is her trust in the divine and her awe, the sparks of her burning love for the divine which vitalize all of her engagements throughout her time on earth. When her spirit (ru'ah) rises and her soul (neshamah) merges into the great One, it rises, ascent after ascent to the highest rungs, but it leaves behind the life of her spirit. That is to say, all that she brought about through her life-giving work in the community of all life is left to those who are living. More specifically, it is left to the souls of the living who are bound to her soul with great love, eternal never failing love. A person who desires a life connected to the soul of all life, can connect to her work, and weave their soul into the divine web of life, interwoven with the life of our teacher, who flows in and out of us with every breath, and whom we take refuge in all our suffering.
She left her life in each and every one of us, according to the degree of true connection we each have, the true and pure love we each have for her in the depths of our hearts. "For as water reflects a face, so is a person's heart to another" (Proverbs, 27:19) spirit brings in spirit and draws out spirit, and her spirit is actually (mamash) present within us.
She sees her children, the work of her hands manifest within us as we make the divine present in the world, the holy Name glorified and sanctified when we walk the path she has shown us, when we walk in his footsteps. This is the meaning of the Zohar's teaching (3:71b) that when a righteous person dies, she is present in all worlds even more than during her lifetime. Even in this world of action, the site of our practice, she is more present. Our actions create new branches growing from the light planted by the righteous in God's blessed field. And that light shines throughout the world, illuminating us here today as well, we who follow this holy path.
This is Certainly true regarding the realm of divine service, our spiritual practice. But it is true also in relation to the physical existence of this world, as the Zohar (ibid) explicitly states that the righteous protect the world after death even more than when they are alive, and without their prayers in that world, this world could not have survived.
And those closest to the divine sanctuary, our teacher, during her life, are the first to receive blessing.
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Hebrew text can be seen here.