How much goodness do some people hold back with their own hands because of their lowly consciousness—people in whose heart the spirit of Hashem is fit to beat, but who grasp smallness and do not believe in themselves, in the greatness of their soul.
Neither environment nor [one’s] actions in particular are the foundations upon which the happiness of the soul is built in its inner treasury. Rather, the foundations are greatness of the spirit, inner holiness and purity, strength of will and might of thought. A person’s environment and deeds are subjugated as he grows more intense, as his spiritual might rises.
Therefore, great, righteous people involve themselves in particular in their inner greatness. Of course, they are very careful in their deeds, they make an effort in regard to the purity of the environment—but all of this comes from the inner factor of the supernal light, which streams in their souls with its entire unique splendor, from the greatest and most fully-flowing conduit. And they do not lower themselves to cling constantly to the reality within the smallness of individual details with no end, which fill the spirit that rises upward.
And in general it is not the sensory world with the details of its actions that takes the greatest place in the eternal soul of life, which appears in the light of its greatness in supernal souls. It is rather the exalted splendor of the beauty of the Life of worlds, in which everything is incorporated—all ideational good, ethical and deed-oriented—an expansion of perfection across [one’s] deeds entirely comes of itself, when the great will for divine good with its immense purity acts with all of its power.
And at any rate the righteous turn at times from their immense greatness and look at their deeds in great detail. After they have already been satiated with the radiance of delights from the supernal pleasantness, after their spirit filled with strength has been encouraged and strengthened and the desire of good and purity, filled with the light of life, lives within their heart, then a self-reckoning comes with greatness and harmony regarding details and the details within details. Then there comes as well a spiritual and physical dolefulness, like a flowing stream and an awesome thunder, fear and greatness, hope and trust, confidence, and a hope of rectification for every flaw, and a supernal repentance that includes all repentances.
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When the righteous find flaws in their deeds, even when they see that it is impossible to rectify them, they do not as a result fall from their supernal level, for they know that the reason for their inability to rectify every imperfection is that the light of the soul, which is the true strength of life upon all the branches of the passages of life, has still not shone.
Therefore, they make an effort to rise to more supernal heights, with attainment and with clearness of the spirit, so that the soul will be stronger, and this phenomenon will appear upon them. And they are confident that with the greatness of the appearance of the soul, their strength will grow so much that they will be able to rectify all twistedness, in spirit and in deed, near and far—between man and God, and between man and man, two areas between which they find no intrinsic difference.
Orot Hakodesh III, pp. 123-124
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