The Shalom/Infinity Meditation
In Chinese medicine, stress is expressed through the fire element. The element of water is said to control the element of fire. A balance with the water element can convert a destructive, raging fire into a warm and soothing bath. Following is a similar concept using kabbalistic imagery.
In the Tree of Life, twenty-two paths, corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, form channels that link the ten sefirot. Of these, three are horizontal channels that connect the sefirot opposite each other on the right and left sides.107 The letters found in the horizontal channels are called Mother letters and represent the elements of fire, air, and water.
Image 105—Tree of Life with Mother Letters
Two of these elements are opposites:
Fire shin/
,
And
Water mem
Shin/ makes the sound SHHH, the sound of fire. Shin/ represents passion, emotion, and because of its position in the Tree, the power of the mind. Fire is heat, yang, masculine.
The word for fire is 
/aish.
Mem/
the symbol for water mayim/
, and is found on the Tree in the area of the belly, which is also the domain of the second chakra. This area represents the waters of the womb, nurturing, flow, ease and the “gut” reactions of intuition. Mem makes the sound mmm, a sound of relaxation, of mama, of a baby nursing. Water is yin, feminine.
The Tree is the blueprint of creation and so provides a guide for examining different parts of ourselves. We all have masculine/feminine, fire/water aspects. The Hebrew word for heaven is /Shamayim. Symbolically then, in heaven, the opposites of fire and water coexist peacefully. As above so below: we neither want to burn up in our passions nor drown in the depths of our own emotions, but find a warm bath of balance between them. To this end the two sounds, SHH and MMM, are often used in kabbalistic meditation to create balance.108
In this practice, the secret of balancing these two opposites: masculine and feminine, fire and water, is found in the word shalom, peace. Shalom comes from the root shalem: shin/, lamed/
, mem/, meaning wholeness. Shalom begins with fire and ends with water.
In the three root letters of shalom, the opposites of fire and water meet at the letter lamed. Lamed is the first letter of the word for heart, lev/
(lev sounds a bit like love). The energy of the heart is the most powerful in the body. The heart has the wonderful ability to hold opposites, balancing and mediating between them to create peace and wholeness. The letters of shalom truly reflect its essence.
The following practice uses an infinity sign to create shalom/peace, and wholeness by balancing fire/shin and water/mem , as symbolic of all our parts that need balance, through the power of the heart, lamed/.
Image 106—Triangle Over Lower Belly
Water 
Connect the thumbs on the navel and the spread fingers over the groin and pubic bone, making a triangle over the lower belly. Close your eyes. As you exhale, fill the belly with the MMM sound. Imagine the entire area as a clear, crystal blue, beautiful river. Feel the river flowing between the hands and then let it flow to every cell of the body, purifying, releasing stale patterns.
Continue exhaling with the MMM sound and picture the river flowing to a part of your back, belly, legs, or other body part that wants some attention. Let the purifying waters linger there, gently but firmly extracting whatever lies buried and is ready to be released. As the MMM of the crystalline water washes away old patterns that no longer serve you, observe closely to see if you can identify what is being released. When the cleansing feels complete move on to the shin.
Fire 
Place your thumbs on the temples and let your fingers gently rest on the forehead above the eyebrows. Make sure the elbows are supported and comfortable. Your hands cradle the right and left brain and the main stress points of the body. The main stress points are located halfway between the arch of the eyebrows and the hairline.
As you exhale, make the sound SHHH and feel the shin, passion, the power of the mind’s focus, enlivening between your hands, burning red. Feel the heat of the red fire burning off unwanted thoughts or stories that may be stuck in the mind. Observe closely to see if you can identify what is being released and when the process feels complete, move on.
Heart 
Place the right hand on the forehead imagining the red fire of shin.
Place the left hand over the belly, imagining the blue water of mem.
With either or both hands, slowly draw infinity signs between the forehead and the belly with lamed/
, the heart, at the center. See the red fire of shin and the blue water of mem slowly blend as fire and water move closer the heart. At the heart/lev, water and fire are in such harmony that they appear violet.
Bathe in the violet light of balance, harmony and wholeness. Imagine the fire/water infinity sign, animating every cell. See the cells glow violet.
Lev, the love of the heart, allows opposites to coexist and dance together without losing their individual identities. Together in the center of the heart they create something new and beautiful in its own right, violet. The heart can be a space of love, acceptance, presence, and shalom/shleimut, feelings of wholeness and inner peace. Acknowledge the opposites of fire/masculine and water/feminine within yourself and the beauty of their relationship. Know that the balance and wholeness you create is a tikun, a repair that goes beyond the self, influencing the energies of all those around you.
