Could someone explain the terms of kavanah, hitbodedut and hitbonenut in relation to Tefilah (prayer)? I know that these are all forms of meditation of some kind; but are they integrated in the way one prays?
I try to figure out these concepts around prayer and the way they tribute to it.
I read the following online:
There’s a teaching in the Gemara about the Hasidim rishonim (anyone who knows the source?). In the first generation of pious Jews, who before sitting down to pray the morning service would first meditate for an hour in order to be able to bring full concentration and intention to reciting the prayers words – and after the morning service, would meditate for an hour in order to let the prayers fully percolate into their hearts and souls. Two hours of contemplative practice for every hour of liturgical prayer; wow.
Much later in our history, the movement we now call Hasidism, inherited those meditative practices along with the kabbalistic aspiration of seeking devekut with G’d. A variety of contemplative practices arose in Hasidic communities. One is hitbonenut (contemplation), another hitbodedut (self-seclusion)