Saturday, October 24, 2015

Likutei Etzot (Compilations of Advice), Knowledge 15-20

Knowledge (continued)

15. When a person does some commandment (or good deed), there is power in the commandment to go out and awaken all the worlds for the service of HaShem, and [then] blessing is drawn to all the worlds through this. The blessing that is effected from above essentially is intellect. And when it comes below it is made for each and every one according to his will.
Therefore, one who is cares about his soul must direct his will, that he'll draw the blessing of the intellect, and he must draw faith into the blessing of the intellect, for there is no relying on the intellect itself, as is known.
Also, through the inner workings of the blessings which are drawn through the commandments, the one who settles and orders the mind is blessed.
Through all of this, one merits to attain the light which is above [the three levels of the soul which are] nefesh, ruah, and neshama; [that light] which is the light of Ein Sof which is impossible to attain with any intellect, except through doing the commandments with joy, one merits it in the aspect of "there but not there". (From Likutei Moharan I, 24)


16. Everyone must see to it to take oneself out of the medame and to go up to the intellect; to not walk after the lusts of the instinctive nature (lit. of the medame), [which are] the animalistic lust (or urge) - only to walk after the intellect. The intellect pushes away all lusts, entirely. All lusts are the opposite of the intellect and are only by the force of the medame which is the animalistic force. For, also an animal has this force and it also lusts after these things.
When one is drawn after the medame in the heart, this is the aspect of the arbitrariness of the heart which goes after the medame in the heart, and does an act of an animal exactly. One [therefore] must get out of the arbitrariness of the heart, and to break his heart of stone, going after the intellect. (From Likutei Moharan I, 25).


17. Even if one already broke the medame and by this raised the attribute of the intellect, [even] with all this, the intellect is still in potentiality. One must use his intellect, meaning to investigate and think of serving HaShem. And then, when one researches with his intellect and uses it, then he brings out the intellect from potential into actual. Then afterwards, when he attains with his intellect all that is in the capability of a man to attain, this is what remains for him after death.
The main existence of a person after his death is only this intellect of holiness that he acquired and reached in Torah and serving [HaShem]. (There*)


18. When speech is without knowledge, then there is no good in it. And then, the speech is not heard or received. And then, it is not called speech at all, because speech which is not heard or received is not called speech. (From Likutei Moharan I, 29)


19. The correction of speech is through praise of the tzadikim, for through praise of the tzadikim, knowledge is elevated. Then, speech is received from knowledge and it [thereby] has good in it; thus, the speech is heard and received - and this is the overall rectification for speech. (There^)


20. One must know that the whole earth is filled with His glory, and there is no place void of Him, and He fills all the universes and surrounds all the universes. Even one who does business among the nations cannot apologize and say that it is impossible to serve HaShem because of the density and worldliness that always falls upon him as a result of the business that he always does among them. For in all worldly things and in all the languages of the nations, one can find Godliness in them. For without Godliness, they have no source of life and existence at all, rather, that which is on a lower level has its [source of] Godliness in greater contraction and it (the Godliness) is en-clothed in many more garments. (From Likutei Moharan I, 33)

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