Avraham Yurovitch, who died in 2002, was a rabbi of some prominence in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community. He was also a mystic who taught meditative techniques to his followers. His son recently published a book based on his ideas, which draw heavily on the works of the 13th-century Spanish kabbalist Abraham Abulafia, recent academic findings about the history of kabbalah, and Buddhist techniques for meditative breathing. Alan Brill dissents:
Almost any contemporary natural-health book in the last decades has [instructions on] basic meditation for health. Yurovitch probably obtained his knowledge from those works. . . .
[First, Yurovitch’s] directions of how to sit [while meditating] are nowhere to be found in Jewish literature. Second, in no place in Jewish literature do we find directions on how to breathe, [such as] “empty your lungs,” lesson number one in any yoga or [Buddhist] teaching on breathing. Third, [Yurovitch elevates] breathing as an end itself, its own form of meditation. . . .
In 50 years, Yurovitch’s instructions will be seen as the true Jewish tradition of breathing and meditating. A new ancient tradition . . . is being constructed. In the meantime, a younger generation is being raised on these practices.
Read more on Kavannah: https://kavvanah.wordpress.com/2015/02/11/meditation-in-the-mir-the-teachings-of-rabbi-avraham-yurovitch/