What does it mean to gather the fringes of your garment? Whatever your tradition, these words can have meaning for you. It is a gathering—a bringing together—in every meaning of the word. To gather yourself and your attention to your center. To gather your alignment in this moment with the values that matter to you. To gather in your heart those you love and your good will to humanity. The instruction, “Gather the fringes of your garment,” is often given before saying the Shema, the prayer that affirms “The Lord is our God, the Lord is One,” in the Jewish tradition. In that setting, the garment is the tallit, the ritual prayer shawl, but regardless of the tradition or spiritual path, this instruction has deep meaning. In any moment, here now, we can gather the fringes. For example—
❖ The traditional meaning is, remember God’s commandments. For all of us, however you view your place in the universe (or the universe’s place in you), this implies: Remember what is of utmost value to you. Remember your highest light, your deepest knowing. Feel it, embody it, wrap yourself in it. It can be words or wordless, whatever the texture, the feeling of it.
❖ Bring your awareness here now, gather your attention, bring home the tendrils that reach outward from your being, back to the center of yourself, back to your center, where you are right now.
❖ Remember your intention – your intention for a sacred practice, your intention for compassion, your intention for love and respect to yourself and others – whatever you choose in this moment.
❖ Become aware of the “garment” you are wearing – Is it a mood of judgment or self-condemnation? Tenderness? Tiredness? Joy and energy? We all want good feelings, yet we know that feelings come and go, and no state is permanent. But we can be conscious of the truth of where we stand in any given moment, and how we choose to respond to that. If it’s not something we prefer, perhaps we want to gather a different garment around us, or perhaps we want to accept it as it is and regard it with warmth and compassion.
❖ A “fringe” does not exist alone. The surround, the space between, is part of its inherent and defining possibility of existence – as we do not exist alone, and are supported by our surround, existence itself, and by the larger cloth of which we are a part. Awareness of the larger context can stretch to infinity and eternity, and include everything and everyone.
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There is a space behind and in between your thoughts and emotions. When you become aware of that space, you are present, and you realize that your personal history, which consists of thought, is not your true identity and is not the essence of who you are.
~ Eckhart Tolle
