Aryeh Kaplan on Meditating the Nature of YHWH and Our Relationship with Him

From Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide, pg. 73-75:

For this type of contemplation to be most meaningful, one must have some idea of the meaning of the four letters of God's name (edit - I take the Hebrew word for name, shem, to mean the nature of the thing named). As I have said, the Tetragrammaton is spelled YHVH (יהוה). It therefore consists of the four Hebrew letters yod (י), heh (ה), vav (ו), and heh (ה) (read right to left). These four letters have a very special significance.

This name can be understood on the basis of an ancient Kabbalistic teaching. The teaching states that the four letters contain the mystery of charity.

According to this teaching, the first letter, yod, denotes the coin. The letter yod (י) is small and simple like a coin.

The second letter, heh (ה), denotes the hand that gives the coin. Every letter in the Hebrew alphabet also represents a number. Since heh is the fifth letter of the alphabet, it has a numerical value of five. The "five" of heh alludes to the five fingers of the hand.

The third letter, vav (ו), denotes the arm reaching out to give. This letter has the form of an arm. Furthermore, in Hebrew the word vav denotes a hook, and thus vav has the connotation of connection. Indeed, in Hebrew, the word for the conjunction "and" is represented by the letter vav prefixed to a word.

Finally, the fourth letter, the final heh (ה), is the hand of the beggar who accepts the coin.

This is the essence of charity on a mundane level. However, "charity" can also be understood on a divine scale. The greatest possible act of charity is that act through which God gives to us. The greatest charity that God gives is existence itself. We have no claim to existence and cannot demand that God give it to us as our right. Therefore, when He gives us existence, it is an act of charity. Since this "charity" is denoted by the Tetragrammaton, the four letters represent the mystery of the creative link between God and man.

Here again, the yod represents the "coin." But this time, the coin is not a piece of copper or silver, but existence itself. As the tenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, yod has a numerical value of ten. Hence, according to the Kabbalists, it alludes to the Ten Sayings of Creation. The concept of the Ten Sayings is found even in the Talmud and is not necessarily a mystical teaching. In the account of creation in Genesis, the expression "And God said" occurs ten times; these are the Ten Sayings. These sayings represent the entire act of creation, and therefore represent the "coin" of existence that God gives us.

The heh of the name is then God's hand, which holds the existence He wishes to give us. The vav is His arm reaching out to us, to give us existence. Finally, the last heh of the name is our hand, which accepts this existence. Of course, God must give us even this hand. Thus, in a sense, God gives us the "hand" through which we receive existence from Him.

As one gazes at the four letters of the Tetragrammaton, one can actually see this.

One begins by contemplating the yod (י), which is the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, almost like a dot. One contemplates the yod and sees it as the initial point of creation, the Ten Sayings that brought creation into existence out of nothingness.

One then contemplates the first heh (ה) of the name. This is the level of the Divine at which a vessel comes into existence to hold the abstract power of creation. One sees God holding the power of creation, so as to give it to us. The opening at the top of the heh is the channel from God, while the opening at the bottom is the channel to us below. The heh is thus seen both as a five-fingered hand (based on its numerical value) and as a channel for the forces of creation.

One then contemplates the vav (ו). Here one sees God's power reaching out to us, wanting to give.

The most important letter is the final heh (ה). This is our hand, into which we receive what God is ready to give us. This represents our ability to receive from God. The connection between the vav and the heh is extremely important. This is the connection between the Giver and the receiver. Unless this connection is made, we cannot receive anything from God (emphasis mine).

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Kaplan insists that it is forbidden to speak the name of God, YHWH, "in any form whatsoever" (p. 73). Well, it is forbidden by the synagogue, not by God. He says, "USE IT!!" If you are looking for a suitable mantra to attain singleness of mind, ask for the coin. And hold out your hand.

From Victor Alexander's translation of Matthew, chapter 7:

7. "Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you will find. Knock and it shall be opened to you.
8. "For whoever asks, receives (is set), and [whoever] seeks, finds. And whoever knocks, it is opened to them.
9. "Or which man among you, when his son asks him for bread, why, does he hand him a rock?
10. "Or asks him for a fish, why, does he hand him a snake?
11. "And if so, you who are wicked, know the performance of good deeds toward (to give to) your children, how much more your father in heaven shall bless (proffer goodness) those who ask him?
12. "Whatever you wish that human beings do for you, likewise you also do for them, for this is 'the Law and the Prophets.'
13. "Enter through the narrow door, for (that wide) wide is the door, and broad is the path that leads to oblivion, and numerous are those who go that way (that go by it).
14. But it is the constricting door and the narrow path that lead to life everlasting, and few are those that find it.