Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Lessons in Tanya, chapter 17. Okay, let's truly unpack this. Today we're embarking on a deep dive into a truly remarkable piece of ancient wisdom, a text called Tanya, specifically chapter 17.
Our mission for this deep dive is. Well, it's to unravel a fundamental paradox, something right at the heart of human spiritual life. You might, like. Many of us naturally, assume that cultivating a deep, palpable sense of love and awe for the divine is incredibly challenging, almost unattainable for most of us, right? Maybe reserved for a select few. Yet this profound text suggests something quite different, that this very connection is, in fact, very near to us. So how can both of these things, these seemingly contradictory ideas, be true at the same time?
[00:00:41] Speaker B: That's real.
[00:00:42] Speaker A: The core question we're here to explore and hopefully clarify.
[00:00:45] Speaker C: Yeah, and what's genuinely fascinating about this chapter is how it takes a foundational verse, one that might seem, you know, pretty straightforward at first glance, and it just delves into its myriad layers of meaning. It really challenges our preconceived notions and. And frankly, our everyday experience.
We're going to explore how a disciplined yet kind of simple act of contemplation can prove to be far more powerful, far more transformative than we might ever imagine. We'll see how even those who feel they are struggling, really struggling with their spiritual connection can discover a clear, accessible path forward.
Ultimately, this deep dive is about understanding the profound nuances of how we truly relate to the divine. It offers, I think, a really fresh perspective on what spiritual connection actually means. Means.
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Okay, so our journey begins with a really powerful statement. It's drawn from the ancient teachings from Deuteronomy, A verse that, you know, when you first read it sounds wonderfully comforting, almost simple. It states, for this thing is very near to you, in your mouth and in your heart. That you may do it seems to promise accessibility, doesn't it?
[00:01:46] Speaker C: It really does, yeah. On a surface level, this verse appears to be talking about, well, the sheer ease with which one can fulfill divine teachings and commandments. It breaks down human engagement into what the text refers to as the three garments, or you could say faculties of the soul, thought, speech, and action. So in your mouth clearly points to our power of speech. In your heart, well, that's commonly understood to signify the power of thought. And then that you may do it obviously refers to our capacity for physical action. So from this initial perspective, the verse suggests a simple, incredibly accessible path to spiritual fulfillment, achievable across all dimensions of one's being. Really, it seems to say that observing the divine will isn't some Herculean task, but rather something readily within our grasp. Easy almost.
[00:02:31] Speaker B: But the text being, you know, a deep work of spiritual wisdom, immediately prompts us to look beyond that initial, maybe simpler interpretation. It points out that the word heart here isn't just about the power of thought, the intellectual process. In many ancient traditions, and certainly within this text, the heart is also profoundly understood as the very seed seat of our deepest emotions, right where our love resides, our awe, our fears, desires, passions, all of that.
So if we embrace that richer, deeper meaning of heart, the verse takes on an even more extraordinary promise. It seems to be telling us that a sincere, tangible feeling of awe and love for the divine is not just possible, but literally within easy reach of every person.
Which, honestly, sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? Like a spontaneous, overflowing love and awe to is accessible to everyone. And this is precisely where this deep dies gets truly compelling, I think, because we immediately encounter a glaring contradiction. If this verse emphatically declares that the ability to acquire a spirit of love and awe for the divine is very near to us, easily accessible, inherent in our hearts, then why in our actual lived experience, does it feel so incredibly difficult to achieve?
This often contradicts everything we personally feel. What we observe in others, what we experience in our daily spiritual struggles. It just doesn't always line up. Why does it so often feel like such an uphill battle to truly feel that deep connection, that profound love, that reverent awe?
[00:03:54] Speaker C: That's the fundamental question, isn't it? And the text itself highlights the stark contradiction. It doesn't shy away from it. It explains that it's. Well, it's no simple feat to genuinely shift one's core inclination to redirect the heart's affections from, say, the immediate allure of worldly desires. You know, from our natural inclinations towards pleasure, comfort, status, material things, to redirect that towards a sincere, profound and selfless love of the divine. By our very nature, humans are often deeply inclined towards the tangible, the transient gratifications of this physical world. It's just how we seem to be wired sometimes. And the source text really brings this point home with a powerful statement from an ancient work called the Duties of the Heart. It unequivocally states, desires for worldly pleasures are unable to dwell in the heart together with a love of the divine. Full stop. So this isn't just about making like a small adjustment to our daily rout.
It strongly implies that attaining a true all Consuming divine love requires a radical, almost transformative shift in one's very fundamental nature. And that kind of change is profoundly challenging for the average person, right?
[00:04:57] Speaker B: And it's not solely about the elusive feeling of love, is it? The text broadens this challenge to include the concept of awe, or, you know, fear of the divine. It references an ancient query that asks, basically, is fear of heaven a small matter?
The very posing of this question and the implied answer, which is a resounding no, it is not a small matter, indicates that even cultivating a basic foundational awe of the divine is considered inherently difficult. And this was true even in past generations, which, you know, we might mistakenly romanticize as being somehow more spiritually inclined. So if even that basic level of awe is hard to come by, then genuine, unadulterated love, which is often perceived as an even higher, more intense, more self transcending emotional state, well, that would be exponentially more challenging to attain and sustain. So the paradox just intensifies, right? If even the easier form of connection is hard, how can the verse claim love is very near?
[00:05:48] Speaker C: Precisely. And to deepen this apparent paradox even further, ancient sages have stated quite clearly that only righteous individuals have control over their hearts. Now, this is a crucial distinction. It implies that only a select few, those who have achieved a very, very high spiritual stature, are able to genuinely arouse love and awe for the divine at will, like whenever they desire, almost as if flipping a switch, they possess an inner mastery, a kind of spiritual discipline over their emotional landscape that most people simply do not naturally possess. For the average person, our emotions, particularly those as profound as love and awe, they tend to be fleeting, right? Spontaneous or tied to external circumstances, not something we can just conjure up on demand.
[00:06:28] Speaker B: And this really magnifies the initial contradiction, doesn't it? Massively. If this profound capacity, this direction, spontaneous control over one's heart to generate love and awe, is the exclusive domain of a minority, these truly righteous individuals, then how can the divine teachings claim that such a profound connection is very near to us, implying it's accessible to everyone? The teachings are eternal. They're meant for all generations, for every single person. So this fundamental discrepancy, it just demands that we look for a deeper, more nuanced, and ultimately more inclusive interpretation of what nearness truly means in this spiritual context. It forces us to reconsider our assumptions, doesn't it?
[00:07:04] Speaker C: Absolutely. And this struggle, you know, it's something many of us can deeply relate to. We want to feel a deeper connection, a more profound spiritual emotion. But we often Find our hearts pulled in countless directions by the demands of everyday life, by our mundane desires, by constant distractions. It's noisy in there.
This chapter, though it doesn't dismiss that very human challenge, that internal tug of war. Instead, it offers a. Well, really a revolutionary pathway to understanding how the teaching of nearness can stick, still hold true, even when our initial emotional experience seems to contradict it flat out. It's about reevaluating our assumptions, not just about what divine connection truly entails, but maybe more importantly, how it is actually cultivated in our daily lives.
[00:07:46] Speaker B: Okay, so if that's the core paradox, what's the revolutionary insight? How does the text reconcile this? The text recognizing this profound contradiction offers a truly remarkable reinterpretation of that initial verse. It suggests that the phrase that you may do it, which you know, in the simpler reading just referred to general action, isn't merely a general statement. Instead, it acts as a crucial, transformative qualification of the love mentioned in the heart. That changes everything, doesn't it?
[00:08:12] Speaker C: It absolutely does. This is such a pivotal insight, really, it's a cornerstone of the entire chapter's teaching. The nearness of love, as the verse states, refers specifically to that kind of love which merely leads to the fulfillment of divine commandments. Even if it is not an actual overt burning emotional love that you might feel intensely and spontaneously well up within your heart. It's different. This subtle yet powerful interpretation, it resolves a key puzzle, the unusual order of words in the verse itself. Remember, in your mouth and in your heart that you may do it. The phrase that you may do it immediately follows in your heart because it serves to clarify and define the specific type of love being referenced. It's the love that effectively results in action.
So it's not about an overwhelming internal passion, you know, constant emotional ecstasy, but about a practical, consistent and motivating love that facilitates spiritual absor observance.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Right? It facilitates the doing.
[00:09:05] Speaker C: Exactly. Think of it like this. Maybe imagine a sophisticated heating system in a building. There's a main furnace, right? Let's say that represents your mind. And then there are individual radiators in each room. Those represent your emotional heart. Now, you might not always feel the intense heat directly from the furnace. If you touched it, right? It might just feel warm. But the warmth emanating from the radiators throughout the building, that's a clear, tangible result of the furnace's activity. Similarly, this is about an internal, consistent force, maybe like a hidden pilot light in your soul that's always there, providing warmth, potential direction, even if it doesn't flare up into a roaring, visible fire of emotion all the time. It's a consistent underlying drive that guides behavior. Even when the external emotional experience isn't overtly passionate, it functions as a steady spiritual compass.
[00:09:52] Speaker B: That's a powerful and really relatable analogy. So we're talking about a kind of hidden desire of the heart, then what the text later calls an intellectual emotion. It's a love that doesn't necessarily, like, burn openly like a flaming fire or show up as a spontaneous, uncontrollable surge of feeling, but it is nonetheless deeply present and incredibly effective in driving one to fulfill the divine commandments. Subtle, maybe, but profoundly powerful in its impact on our actions.
[00:10:16] Speaker C: Precisely. Yeah. And this very concept of arousing a love for the divine that may remain hidden or intellectual, but is deeply effective in motivating action. This is described as very easy and very near to every person who has a brain in their head. Now, that's a crucial distinction. Why is it easy? Because unlike the emotional heart, which can often feel chaotic, resistant, swayed by circumstances or subconscious desires, one's mind is fundamentally under one's conscious control, or at least much more so. You have the inherent capacity to meditate, to contemplate, to focus your intellect on any subject you please. You can choose where to direct your thoughts.
So if you consciously choose to engage your mind to truly dedicate time and mental energy to contemplating the greatness of the Almighty, you know to reflect on divine wisdom, infinite power, boundless benevolence, the intricate design of the universe, or the profound depth of the teachings themselves. An inevitable outcome, at least within your mind, will be a form of love.
[00:11:10] Speaker B: For the divine, a love born from understanding.
[00:11:13] Speaker C: Maybe exactly this mental love, this intellectual emotion, it might not cause your heart to pound with overwhelming devotion or bring tears to your eyes every time, but it generates a powerful, reasoned appreciation and attachment. And this mental love then serves as an incredibly powerful and consistent motivator, leading you to actively cleave to the divine through the dedicated performance of divine commandments and the diligent study of divine teachings. It's a love born not of raw, spontaneous emotion, but of profound intellectual understanding and appreciation, which crucially leads to concrete spiritual behavior. It's a functional love, you could say a foundational love that quietly and consistently guides your path.
[00:11:52] Speaker B: This truly feels like a pivotal breakthrough for many of us, like a genuine aha moment. It completely reframes our whole spiritual approach. It means you don't have to passively wait around for some surge of overwhelming tangible emotion to miraculously Appear before you can begin acting in a divinely connected way. The text empowers us by showing that you can actively think your way into a form of love that is incredibly effective and motivating. It's proactive. It's a love that produces tangible results in your actions and your spiritual life, even if you don't always feel that intense emotional fervor that we often mistakenly see as the only true measure of spiritual connection.
This removes such a significant barrier, I think, for countless individuals who struggle with their emotional responses. Or lack thereof sometimes.
[00:12:35] Speaker C: Exactly. And this emphasis on action is incredibly central to the text's entire understanding of our purpose here in this world. The study of divine teachings and the diligent fulfillment of commandments is highlighted. Not just as important, but as the whole purpose, purpose of man in this physical world. The teachings draw a sharp distinction between this day and tomorrow. This day, as stated in the ancient texts, refers specifically to this world, the physical realm we inhabit, which is designated as the primary arena for physical action and spiritual service through deeds. Tomorrow, on the other hand, refers to the afterlife, which is described as the time for receiving the spiritual reward for one service, not the primary arena for the service itself.
[00:13:16] Speaker B: So the focus is very much on the here and now, on the doing.
[00:13:19] Speaker C: Precisely. Therefore, the true main objective in the commandment to love, the divine, lies not solely in the love itself as an end goal, as if the emotion were the ultimate purpose. Rather, the true purpose is the practical, wholehearted and consistent fulfillment of the commandments that this love motivates. In this world, action is paramount. It's our deeds, our engagement with the divine will through our physical lives that truly matter. This redefines the spiritual journey for the average person, making it about engagement and action fueled by an intellectual sexual appreciation, rather than solely by a fluctuating, often elusive emotional state.
[00:13:53] Speaker B: That's a truly significant shift in perspective. It moves us from potentially a passive waiting for emotion to an active mind driven engagement. It means that spiritual practice isn't just about cultivating some internal emotional state as the exclusive or primary goal. It's about external, measurable and consistent behavior motivated by even a hidden intellectual love.
And this approach makes spiritual growth far more accessible, achievable, and indeed practical for everyone. It transforms what might seem like an abstract ideal into a concrete daily reality. Much more grounded.
[00:14:28] Speaker C: Very much so. Grounded is a good word for it.
[00:14:30] Speaker B: So if this intellectual emotion or hidden love originates in the mind, how exactly does it translate into actual practical behavior? Like, how does the mind, which feels like just one part of us, Take charge of the rest of our being, Especially when our emotional hearts might be pulled in entirely different directions by, you know, worldly desires. How does that mechanism work?
[00:14:49] Speaker C: Well, the text explains that the mind possesses an inherent natural mastery over the other faculties. It's quite remarkable. It's described as master over the left part of the heart, which is considered the seat of what the text refers to as the animal soul. Now, this animal soul isn't inherently negative, we should clarify. It's the part of us driven by natural instinctive desires. Our need for food, comfort, sex, self preservation, even our urges for anger or pleasure. Normal human stuff. But these are the impulses that often pull us towards worldly gratifications, sometimes away from spiritual focus. Beyond that, the mind also naturally masters the mouth and all other bodily organs. These are the physical instruments through which we perform actions.
[00:15:30] Speaker B: Right.
[00:15:30] Speaker C: Whether speaking, moving, or doing good deeds, the mind directs them.
[00:15:34] Speaker B: Okay, so there's a built in hierarchy, almost.
[00:15:36] Speaker C: You could say that.
So by consciously cultivating in your mind at least a love for the divine and a profound desire to fulfill the commandments, you can strategically leverage this natural built in mastery of the mind. This allows you to effectively overcome the competing desires of your emotional heart, to sort of quell the distractions of the animal soul and to motivate your mouth for speech and other bodily organs for action. To diligently study divine teachings, to pray with intention, to fulfill all divine commandments with consistency.
And the text emphasizes, this remarkable feat can be accomplished even by someone whose emotional heart is not under their direct spontaneous control.
Unlike, say, a righteous individual who seems to have effortless command over their feelings. It's a process of disciplined spiritual engineering.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: You might say this is genuinely empowering. It offers such a clear strategy. It means even if your heart isn't always in it emotionally, or if you feel that constant inner struggle with distractions and conflicting desires, your mind can still firmly guide your actions. It can effectively override those inter emotional conflicts and lead to consistent spiritual behavior. It provides a really robust pathway to spiritual growth that doesn't rely on the elusive, often fleeting experience of constant emotional highs or perfect inner harmony. It puts agency back in your hands, doesn't it? Making spiritual progress a matter of mental discipline and intentional action.
[00:16:59] Speaker C: Exactly. It really does. And this concept of the mind's mastery is absolutely crucial for understanding the different categories of individuals that the text implicitly discusses. Which in turn clarifies the paradox we started with about who this nearness applies to. We've heard that righteous individuals control their hearts and can Arouse love and awe at will. Okay, but what about everyone else? The text mentions a wicked person and an intermediate person. Understanding these helps clarify the paradox because it shows there aren't just two stark alternatives. Either being in complete emotional control of your heart or being completely controlled by it. There are actually three distinct categories that represent more of a spectrum of spiritual engagement.
[00:17:39] Speaker B: Okay, so break those down for us.
[00:17:41] Speaker C: Sure. First, you have the righteous individual. These are truly exceptional souls, as the text describes them. They directly control their heart, meaning they can arouse love and awe for the divine in their heart whenever they desire, without needing their mind as an intermediary or a medium of influence.
Their emotional state is directly and spontaneously aligned with their spiritual will. There's just no inner battle. They are in complete, harmonious command of their inner landscape, and their actions flow effortlessly from that deep internal state.
[00:18:12] Speaker B: The ideal, perhaps?
[00:18:13] Speaker C: Perhaps, yes. Then there's the truly wicked person. Now, this is presented as the rare exception to the rule of the mind's mastery, and it's a very specific category. They are described as being under the control of their heart, but critically, their heart is not under their control at all. They are unable to master the desires of their heart because their mind, due to their past actions, has tragically lost its active control over it in a way that can direct their spiritual will. They are essentially enslaved by their lower impulses, their animal soul dominating their choices. It's described as a very specific, quite dire spiritual state.
[00:18:47] Speaker B: Okay, so righteous at one end, truly wicked at the other. What's in the middle?
[00:18:52] Speaker C: And finally, there's the intermediate person. This individual bridges the gap. And this category is likely where many, many of us find ourselves in our spiritual journey. Although they are not in direct, effortless emotional control of their heart like a righteous individual, they might still feel inner struggles, conflicting desires, battle with temptations. All that they do rule their heart by way of their mind, which is under their conscious control.
So to a certain extent, therefore, particularly regarding the practical effect of their heart on their thought, speech, and action, the intermediate person does control their heart. They might not always feel the perfect emotional harmony, but their mind can still choose and direct their actions towards the divine, consistently overriding those internal pulls. Ah, okay. That truly clarifies so much. It means the nearness and accessibility of divine connection really applies to the intermediate person, which, as you said, is likely most of us striving for growth, and obviously to the righteous. It's the truly wicked who are the distinct category, operating under different spiritual rules, or where this natural mental mastery is for some Reason absent.
[00:19:57] Speaker B: Precisely. You can think of it maybe like different relationships between a horse and its rider. The horse represents the heart and its natural inclinations, and the rider represents the mind and the divine soul, striving for spiritual connection.
[00:20:10] Speaker C: Okay, I like that analogy.
[00:20:11] Speaker B: So the righteous person is like a rider who has perfectly trained their horse. The horse, the heart, immediately responds to every subtle command, moving precisely where the rider, the divine soul's will, mediated by the mind, intends. There's no struggle, just harmonious movement, effortless control.
[00:20:28] Speaker C: The truly wicked person, on the other hand, is like a riderless horse running wild. It's completely dominated by its animalistic instincts and desires, ignoring any attempts at direction, whether from within or without the rider. The mind has lost all ability to steer or guide it, effectively becoming a prisoner of the horse's whimsical. The horse determines the course, not the rider and the intermediate person. Well, they are a rider who, though the horse sometimes pulls in unexpected directions, might be a bit stubborn, or even occasionally tries to bolt, can consistently steer and direct it using their reins, which represent the power of their mind and their conscious choice. They might not always feel the perfect emotional harmony or effortless connection of the righteous, and they certainly have to work at it, put in effort.
But their actions are consistently guided by their intellect towards a higher purpose. They are actively engaged in directing their inner world, even if it requires conscious effort and discipline. And this makes the path of spiritual growth incredibly accessible for the vast majority of people, because the mind, those reins, are always within our conscious reach.
[00:21:32] Speaker D: That's a fantastic way to visualize it. Okay, so we've established that the mind's mastery over the heart and body which makes divine connection so near and accessible, applies to most people, but not to the truly wicked. This raises an important question. Why do they lack this natural capacity if it's inherent to the mind? For everyone else, what's the spiritual dynamic at play there? Why the exception?
[00:21:52] Speaker C: It's a profound question. The text explains that this lack of control in the truly wicked is not an inherent flaw in their creation. It's not like they were made differently. Rather, it's presented as a severe spiritual consequence, a punishment, the text says, for the enormity and potency of their sinfulness.
Their repeated and profound negative actions, their deliberate choices to act against their divine nature, have created a spiritual state where their mind has tragically lost its natural leverage over their heart. The text even states quite starkly that the divine teachings do not speak of the dead, referring to those wicked individuals who are considered dead even during their lifetime.
Now, this isn't literal death, obviously, but it implies they are in such a spiritually compromised, disconnected state that as they are, they simply cannot spontaneously engage in the kind of spiritual service through love and awe that the text discusses for the intermediate person. It is in fact truly impossible, the text states, for such genuinely wicked individuals to begin serving the divine, that is, to observe the commandments out of a genuine feeling of love and awe without first repenting for their past actions.
For them, repentance isn't just an option, it's an absolute prerequisite. It's the spiritual key that unlocks any possibility of connection.
[00:23:05] Speaker B: Wow. Okay, so if their sins have such a profound and almost, well, incapacitating spiritual effect, what exactly is happening on a spiritual level within them, around them? And how then does this act of repentance, this inner transformation, manage to break through such a severe and seemingly impenetrable barrier?
[00:23:23] Speaker C: Well, when an individual commits significant sins, particularly with intent, and the text explains, they inadvertently create what it describes as impurities or forces of evil. These aren't just abstract concepts or, you know, feelings of guilt. They're described almost as spiritual entities, negative energies that coalesce and form a sundering curtain and even more profoundly, an iron wall that interposes itself between the wicked person and their divine Father in heaven. It's a real spiritual blockage, a profound disconnect that prevents the flow of divine influence and connection.
[00:23:56] Speaker B: A self created barrier.
[00:23:57] Speaker C: Exactly. These impurities, however, are not insurmountable. They are shattered, the text says, by means of contriteness of heart and bitterness of soul over one's sins.
Now, this isn't just about feeling a superficial regret or momentary sorrow. It's described as a deep, gut wrenching remorse, a genuine feeling of brokenness, and a profound desire to fundamentally change and reconnect true repentance.
Ancient mystical texts like the Zohar illuminate this further. They interpret a verse from Psalms which says the sacrifices to the divine power are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart.
This means that through one's breaking their heart with true contrition, the unclean spirit of impurity, these negative forces and spiritual barriers, is also broken and dismantled. This act of a broken and contrite heart is considered such a profound spiritual offering that it's likened to a sacrifice, even though typically sacrifices involve physical offerings to a different aspect of the divine. Here the offering is one's very inner being, broken and humbled. It's a spiritual act of dismantling the barriers, effectively creating a Path where none seemed to exist before.
[00:25:02] Speaker B: That sounds incredibly intense. A spiritual act of almost violent transformation, in a way, breaking the heart to break the barriers. This concept of impurities and barriers being shattered through such deep contrition. How does this profound internal process connect to something the text calls the exile of the Divine Presence?
That sounds like a concept of, well, cosmic proportions.
[00:25:24] Speaker C: It is indeed a concept of immense spiritual depth. And it links directly to what the text refers to as a lower category of repentance.
When a person truly repents in this profound, heartbreaking way, it's about raising up a specific, lower aspect of a divine name which symbolizes a particular manifestation of divine energy or light from its fall into these forces of evil or impurities.
This fall is what the text describes as the mystery of the Divine Presence in exile. And there's that profound statement from the ancient sages. When the people were exiled, the Divine Presence went into exile with them.
Now, this isn't just a historical event referring to the physical exile of a people, it also speaks to a profound spiritual reality that tragically plays out within each individual soul when they sin.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: So it's an inner exile too.
[00:26:08] Speaker C: Precisely.
Spiritually, when a person sins, when they act in a way that embodies evil or goes against their divine nature and true purpose, they inadvertently degrade and draw down the divine spark that vitalizes their soul's faculties, their holy divine life force within them. This divine spark, which provides life to their divine soul, becomes, in a sense, clothed within the impurities of the animal soul which resides in the left part of their heart. So as long as the person remains wicked, the animal soul reigns over them, dominating their entire being, referred to metaphorically as their small city, which is their body and all its faculties.
Thus, the divine spark within their divine soul is held captive in spiritual exile within the impurity of their animal soul. It hasn't vanished or been destroyed, but it loses its freedom and its ability to effectively influence the person's divine vitality. It can't motivate them towards good, can't inspire them to connect. It is metaphorically imprisoned by their lower desires.
[00:27:04] Speaker D: Wow. So it's like imagining a brilliant, pristine light, right? A piece of something sacred and pure that has fallen into a dark, confined space may be trapped and obscured within a thick, dirty window. The light is still inherently there. It still possesses its intrinsic brilliance and warmth, but it just can't illuminate or warm its surroundings. It's powerless to affect its environment, its purpose frustrated. This is the profound, tragic spiritual state described here. For the truly Wicked, a divine spark, a core piece of their spiritual being, held hostage and unable to express its true nature.
[00:27:35] Speaker C: That's a very apt analogy. Exactly. But, and this is crucial. When that truly wicked person's heart is broken within them, when that profound contriteness takes hold, the spirit of impurity and the forces of evil that imprisoned the Divine spark are broken and dispersed. And then that specific aspect of the Divine Name, the Divine Presence that was in exile, rises from its fall and stands firm. It is freed from its spiritual bondage. It can once again radiate and influence. So only when a truly wicked person actively engages in this profound repentance and thereby frees the Divine Presence from the spiritual exile, allowing the Divine spark within them to once again effectively affect their soul and body, only then can they truly begin to serve the Divine with a renewed sense of love and awe. For these individuals, repentance is not just beneficial, it is the absolutely essential key that unlocks the door to any possibility of genuine spiritual service and connection. It's their pathway back, their way to re entering the fold of accessibility.
[00:28:34] Speaker D: Okay, let's try and bring all these incredible threads together now, weave them into a cohesive understanding. This deep dive has offered a truly transformative reinterpretation of that initial deceptively simple verse. It's shown us in a really profound way how divine connection, love and awe are indeed truly accessible to us, even if not always in the way we might have initially conceived them.
[00:28:54] Speaker C: Absolutely. To summarize the core takeaway from Tanya, chapter 17, and perhaps the most empowering, it is indeed very near to us to love and awe the Divine, even if our emotional heart isn't always in perfect, constant, overt self sync with that spiritual aspiration. This nearness stems from our inherent ability to create what the text calls an intellectual emotion, a profound love and awe for the Divine, generated through conscious, thoughtful and disciplined contemplation of the Divine's infinite greatness, wisdom and benevolence with our minds. Our mind, unlike our emotional heart, is fundamentally under our conscious control, and it possesses a natural mastery over our inner desires and our bodily actions.
This hidden love, born from the mind's active engagement, is entirely sufficient to motivate the wholehearted, consistent fulfillment of the Divine commandments. And that fulfillment, the text emphasizes, is the primary purpose of human existence in this physical world, action driven by this mindful love.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: And this applies to most people.
[00:29:51] Speaker C: Yes, it's crucial to remember that this accessible path is open to almost everyone, especially what the text refers to as the intermediate person whose mind can effectively influence their heart to direct their actions towards spiritual growth.
However, the truly wicked are, as we discussed, a specific and tragic exception. For them, this path isn't immediately accessible because they are, in their current state, enslaved by the desires of their animal soul, and their mind has lost its natural mastery due to the profound spiritual consequence of their persistent negative actions.
[00:30:23] Speaker B: So for them, repentance is the first step.
[00:30:25] Speaker C: Exactly. For these truly wicked individuals, their path requires a prior, essential, and deeply transformative step. Genuine repentance expressed through a broken and contrite heart. This profound process shatters the spiritual barriers created by sin, thereby freeing the divine presence within them from its spiritual exile and allowing them to finally begin their service. With a newfound capacity for love and awe, it reopens the door.
[00:30:49] Speaker B: This really means that regardless of where you feel you are on your spiritual journey, whether you're battling inner distractions, maybe struggling with conflicting desires, or simply striving for a deeper, more consistent connection, there's a powerful and always available tool at your disposal. Your mind.
It's not about forcing an emotion that feels unnatural or, you know, waiting for some spontaneous miracle. It's about thoughtful, disciplined, intellectual contemplation leading to consistent, meaningful action. It puts the power to connect firmly back in your hands.
[00:31:22] Speaker C: It really does. And this raises an important question, I think, for you, the listener, to consider as you reflect on this deep dive. How can you leverage the immense inherent power of your own mind, your intellect, to cultivate a deeper and more consistent connection with the divine? And, crucially, to motivate meaningful action in your daily life? This chapter suggests a profound, active path of internal work that is always within your reach, A contemplative process that can lead to tangible, consistent spiritual growth, regardless of your current emotional state at any given moment.
[00:31:52] Speaker B: That was a truly insightful and, I think, profoundly practical deep dive into a remarkably powerful chapter. We've journeyed from, well, a puzzling paradox about the nature of spiritual love and awe to a practical, empowering understanding of how divine connection is far nearer and more accessible than we often realize.
[00:32:12] Speaker C: Indeed, the profound wisdom we've uncovered today really highlights the immense inherent spiritual potential within each of us. It powerfully demonstrates that the journey towards divine connection is an active contemplative process, accessible to all, primarily through the powerful faculties of our mind and the actions it can inspire.
[00:32:30] Speaker B: We truly hope this exploration has given you some profound new insights and perhaps even inspired you to explore these ideas further in your own spiritual journey. Until next time, keep diving deep.
[00:32:40] Speaker C: Keep seeking knowledge. Keep contemplating the divine, and always remember, there's always more to learn and more connection to uncover.
