Dov Ber ben Avraham (1704-1772 CE), known as the Maggid of Mezeritch, was born in what is now western Ukraine, and established himself in the village of Mezeritch. He was a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidic Judaism, and became his successor as the leader of the nascent group.

Think of yourself as nothing,
And totally forget yourself when you pray.
Only have in mind that you are praying for the Divine Presence.

You can then enter the Universe of Thought,
A state that is beyond time.
Everything in this realm is the same, life and death, land and sea…

But in order to enter the Universe of Thought where all is the same,
you must relinquish your ego, and forget all your troubles.

Translation Aryeh Kaplan