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1
Hisbodidus is a gateway to the Secrets of the Torah
One who wants to taste a taste of the ohr
haganuz [cached light],
that is, the secrets of the Torah that will be revealed in the future, he
should abound in hisbodidus between himself and his Creator, and judge and
adjudicate himself all the time, regarding all his affairs and conduct, if this
is proper and befitting for him to do, and to conduct like this against Hashem
Yisburach, Who deals out to him goodness all the time and at every instance.
And he should “manage his affairs {/dispense his words} judicially (Psalms
112:5),” and bring himself to account for
everything. He himself should judge and adjudicate himself over all his affairs
and deeds, and by this, he will remove from himself all fright, and he will be
saved from the fallen fears, meaning that he'll not be afraid or frightened
from any officer or lord, or dangerous beast, or bandits - nor from anything in
the world, only from Hashem Yisburach alone he will fear and be frightened. And
by this he will raise the fear to its root, which is da'as (realization
of knowledge) – that he
will merit complete da'as (realization of knowledge), that he will know from whom to
fear, namely to fear the Glorious Name alone, [with a] fear of [His]
loftiness (“yiras haroamimus”). And through this, he will merit an
attainment [of perception]
of the revealed Torah, and through this he will merit to true humility, and
through this he will merit to prayer with meseeras nefesh (giving over
of the soul, self-sacrifice)
to abnegate all his physicality and ego at the time of prayer, and he will pray
without any intention of self-benefit, and he will not think of himself as
anything – just, he will annul all his physicality and his essence (/ego), as if he isn't in the world. And
through this, he will come to the attainment [of perception] of the Hidden Torah, which is the ohr
haganuz (cached light)
which will be revealed in the future. And all this is attained through
hisbodidus, as mentioned previously.
(Likutay Moharan, Torah 15:1-4; Outpouring of the Soul, article
52)
2
Personal words to G-d are Divinely inspired
The words that a person converses and speaks between
himself and his Maker are the aspect of ruach hakodesh (Divine inspiration), for through undertaking this, and forcing
himself, and preparing himself to speak before Hashem Yisburach, Hashem Yisburach
sends him words in his mouth which are the aspect of ruach hakodesh (Divine inspiration). And it is necessary to see to it, and to endeavor
to innovate always, to beseech at all times with new words of appeasement and
entreaties, and one merits this through purity of the heart, which one merits
through the holy motion of the intellect (as is explained in the entry of Daas,
article 3).
Added from Outpouring of
the Soul, article 64
And this
is (Psalms
51:12), “A pure heart create for me, G-d,” then (continuation of the verse), “and a resolute (/correct/established) spirit create (/renew)
inside of me,” that he should merit every time to come up with new original
words which are the aspect of ruach hakodesh as mentioned above.
(Likutay Moharan, Torah 21 and 156.
Outpouring of the Soul 64)
3
Yearning creates potential souls, verbalizing the
yearning actualizes them
Through the conversation that one converses and speaks
between himself and his Maker, and he verbalizes his yearnings and good
desires, that which he yearns, and quests, and longs to get out of his baseness
and merit to the true good, and he prays and pleads before Hashem Yisburach for
this, through this he produces the good souls from their state of potentiality (bikoaach) to actuality (bifoaal).
For through the longing alone, potential souls are made [because
the yearning is the soul, in the aspect of (Psalms 84:3), “my soul yearns and pines (-even to the extent of expiration),” (added from Outpouring of the Soul)] and through the speaking mentioned above, they are
completed and produced from potential (bikoach)
to actuality (bifoal) [in the aspect of (Genesis 2:7), “and the man became a living soul,” and the Targum
(aramaic
translation of Unkellus) is, “a speaking spirit,” and as it is written (Song of Songs 5:6), “my
soul departed with his speaking.” (added
from Outpouring of the Soul)]. And
through this one merits to effectuate his request, and he merits to configure
the letters of the Torah for the good, and sustain and give to everything, and
to draw goodness and blessing in all the worlds [and good implementations
are carried out in the world (added
from Outpouring of the Soul)], and many
souls are aroused to repentance through this speech, that one speaks between
himself and his Maker.
For this matter of yearning and good desires, and to
fully verbalize them, is extremely precious, and everyone needs to accustom
himself to engage in this plentifully every day, and through this it is
possible to return the whole world to the better.
(Likutay Moharan 31,
Outpouring of the Soul 56 – at much greater length)
4
Connect the heart to its point to save it from the
shame of fallen desires
In every Israelite there is an extremely precious
good point, whose desire is always strong, to do the desire of its Maker, but
the (worldly) desires break his heart, and through this his
heart is distant from the point. Therefore it is necessary for every person to
speak between himself and his Maker, in order to light up the aspect of the
point which is in his heart, and through this his uncircumcised heart will be
nullified, that is, the bad loves (-affections)
which are the heart's disgrace, which break a person's heart [in the
aspect of (Psalms
69:21), “disgrace broke my heart” (added
from Outpouring of the Soul)]. [See the
entry of Tzadik, article 42].
(Likutay Moharan 34:7-8; Outpouring of
the Soul 57).
5
Speaking to G-d will bring one to be embarrassed
before Him with such holy connection that his face will shine
A person needs to accustom himself to speak between
himself and his Maker, frankly with great and utter truth, until his heart is
truly aroused, until he begins to speak with a passionate heart words of truth
that are in his heart with great arousal, with repentance, until he sees his
negligibility and the greatness of the Creator, until he is very embarrassed
before Him blessed He. For until now he threw his sins behind his shoulders (-turned his back on them) and did not pay attention to them, and now that he
acknowledges them, in this way he is inoculated with great embarrassment over
the severity of his sins against a master and ruler, the essence and root of
all the worlds, and this embarrassment is revealed on his face, and this shame
is the aspect of the light of the tefillin, which are the sign of attachment (divaikus) Israel has with the Creator blessed He, and it is
the aspect of (the) beam of light of the face, and through this shame all his
sins are forgiven.
(Likutay
Moharan, Torah 38; Likutay Aitzos, Embarrassment and Brazenness 2, Speech 7;
Outpouring of the Soul 58).
6
Abnegation to be included in one’s root
It is necessary for every one to see to it that he is included
in his root. And in order to be included in his root, it is necessary for him
to have abnegation (“bitool”). And it is impossible to come to abnegation
except through hisbodidus, because through seclusion of himself with his
Creator, through this he can abnegate everything, and bind (“divaikus”) with
Hashem Yisburach, and be included in his root.
(Likutay Moharan
52; Outpouring of the Soul 59)
7
At night, go alone to somewhere people never go, and completely nullify yourself to G-d.
The primary hisbodidus is at night, for then everyone
is sleeping, and also that the place should be outside the city, that he should
go on a solitary way, that is, in a place where people do not go there even in
the day. And through this that one does hisbodidus at night on a solitary way
as mentioned above, and clears his heart and mind from all engagements of this
world, and abnegates everything, until he nullifies himself completely;
meaning, that first he prays copiously until he abnegates this vice, and
afterwards [he continues to pray copiously until (Outpouring of the Soul)] he
abnegates a different vice, and afterwards [he continues to pray
copiously until (Outpouring of
the Soul)] he utterly nullifies himself, that he should not
retain any haughtiness or any entity, until he is in his (own) eyes as literally nothing and void, and through this
he merits to come to the aspect of true nullification, and through this his
soul is included in its root [in His infinite (Ain Soaf) unity blessed He, which is
called the michoo'yuv hamitzee'oos (imperative
<of>
existence), as is known (Outpouring of
the Soul)]. And through this the entire world is included
with him in its root, that is, it is all included with him in His Unity blessed
He.
(Likutay
Moharan 52; Outpouring of the Soul 59 – at much greater length).
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Hisbodidus at night, crying to G-d and building ones
good points from out of the bad, bring joy, and holds lust at bay, and cultivates
a consciousness of the future world
At night, then it is the main time for hisbodidus,
that is to seclude oneself with his Creator, to express one's words before
Hashem Yisburach, to converse with one’s heart[1] to
seek out the good spirit, that is, the good points that he still retains, to cull
them from within the bad spirit, until he pours out his heart like water directly
before the countenance of Hashem (Lamentations 2:19), and through this he will merit to joy and to quell the imagination,
from which all the desires ensue. And through this he will merit memory, to
always remember the World to Come, and to think at all times of his purpose and
ultimate end, of the World to Come, until he merits to truthfully return to Him
blessed He.
(Likutay
Moharan, Torah 54; Outpouring of the Soul 60).
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Sighing – to regain one's standing
When a person prays with divaikus (binding, clinging to Gd) or does hisbodidus properly, and in the middle he
falls from his level, this stems from defection of (the) faith, and so it is necessary then to break his
heart inside, and to be ashamed of himself for falling from heaven to earth,
and he should pity himself until he sighs, and through the sigh he will return
to his level.
(Likutay
Moharan, torah 108; Outpouring of the Soul 63).
10
G-d helps and provides words for one to prevail and
be victorious despite all
When one
speaks before the Holy One Blessed He and expresses his words with argumentations
and supplications, and desires to best the Holy One Blessed He, so to speak, that
He should do his bidding, the Holy One Blessed He derives exquisite pleasure
and joy from this, that they are defeating Him. Therefore He Blessed He, Himself
sends him words in his mouth, so that he can defeat Him, because otherwise it would
certainly be impossible for (man of) flesh and blood to defeat the Holy One
Blessed he, just, Hashem Yisburach Himself helps him with this, as mentioned
above.
(Likutay Moharan 124; Outpouring
of the Soul 24)
11
Candidly unburdening oneself to G-d evokes Divine
consolation
When a person does hisbodidus and expresses
his words and his pain before Hashem Yisburach, and confesses and regrets the
severity of the defects he impaired, then the Shechina (Divine
Presence) directly
across him expresses before him Her words and pain, for every single infraction
and infringement that he violated in his
neshama (soul),
he inflicted by Her, so to speak, and She consoles him, that he should seek
contrivances to rectify all the damages.
(Likutay Moharan, torah 259; Outpouring
of the Soul 66).
12
Do hisbodidus in the fields
It is very good to pray and to express one’s words
(-sentiments) before Hashem Yisburach in a field in the grasses and the trees.
Because when a person prays and expresses his words in a field, then all the
grasses and all the vegetation of the field, all of them come into his prayer
and help him and give him power in his prayer and conversing.
(Likutay Moharan II,
Torah 11; Outpouring of the Soul 27-8)
13
Highest virtue, Speak in your vernacular, and Set a
designated hour daily
It has
already been explained, that hisbodidus is a great virtue, and a very correct
and upright way to draw close through it to Hashem Yisburach. And it is
necessary for everyone to set for this some hours of the day, to express one’s
words (-sentiments) before Hashem Yisburach in the spoken language,[2] like
in these provinces, in Yiddish ("lushon Ashkenaz", today
this can very readily refer to English vernacular), in which we speak. Because in the native tongue
it is much easier to express well all one’s words, and all that is with (-upon)
his heart he should converse before Hashem Yisburach with argumentations and exculpations,
and words of appeasement and entreaty, that he should merit to draw close to
Him Blessed He, everyone according to what he knows the maladies of his heart,
and how distant he is from Hashem Yisburach.
And the
actual virtuous ascendances of this practice cannot be explained nor fathomed,
because this practice exceeds everything, and it includes all the service of
Hashem. Because through this one can come to all the goodness in this world and
the next. Because everything can be accomplished through prayer and entreaty.
And all the great tzadikim did not come to their levels except through this
practice, and one who applies himself to understand the matter, will understand
on his own the great ascendances of this practice. Fortunate is the one who
merits to set for himself for this a designated hour every single day, and the
rest of the day he should be joyous.
(Likutay
Moharan II, Torah 25; Outpouring of the Soul, article 2)
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Pray to attain what you learned
It is also good to make from the Torah-teachings –
prayers, and see inside (the source), and understand.
(Likutay Moharan II, Torah 25; Outpouring
of the Soul, article 2)
15
Trying to cry is also a distraction
Even though crying before Hashem Yisburach with
entreaties and beseeching is extremely good, even still, when a person says
Psalms or other entreaties and supplications, or converses personally with his
Creator, and he thinks and anticipates, and looks mindfully all the time that he
should cry and shed tears, this also is a (distracting) foreign thought, and
confuses the kavana (-concentration, intention). Because the main thing is –
that he should concentrate his mind to say the words truly with all his heart,
that he should incline his ear and his heart to hear what he is expressing with
his mouth, and if he is aroused to cry, how wonderful – and if not, he should
not confuse his concentrations for this.
(Likutay Moharan II,
Torah 95; Outpouring of the Soul 3)
16
Hisbodidus is the only way to succeed
Daily
Persistence even just for the preparation or one utterance
All the tzadikim and the G-d fearing, didn’t
come to their level except through hisbodidus and conversation between oneself
and his Creator, as is explained earlier. And specifically in these
generations, at the end of the exile, when the yetzer hura (-evil inclination)
and the other side (-evil realm) have very extremely intensified, and the
generation is very weak, body and soul, it is impossible to be saved now from
the onslaught and from the abundant impediments and to draw close to Hashem Yisburach,
except through conversing between oneself and his Creator, that one should
accustom himself to set a designated hour every day to express his words before
Hashem Yisburach in his native tongue specifically. And everything that is with
(-on) his heart he should converse before Hashem Yisburach, be it to ask for
pardon and forgiveness on the past, be it to entreat for the future that Hashem
Yisburach should save him from what he needs to be saved from, and he should
merit to draw close to Him blessed He.
And even if he is unable to speak and to
express his words, even still, even if he won’t speak just one word, this is
also very good. And even if he says just, “Master of the World,” this is also
very good.
And even the preparation itself, what he prepares
himself and desires to speak, even though he is unable to speak, even still the
preparation and the desire itself is very precious in the eyes of Hashem
Yisburach.
And if he will be strong at this, to force
himself every time to speak before Hashem Yisburach what is with (-on) his
heart), certainly in the course of time Hashem Yisburach will help him so that
he will be able to express his words well, and he can merit to speak new
(-novel) precious words that they will bestow him with from the heavens, and he
will merit to come to all the goodness, truth, and eternal, through this
practice, which includes all the aitzoas (-advice, remedies) for serving Hashem
Yisburach. Because all the aitzoas need copious prayer and entreaty, fortunate
is the person who strengthens himself in this. Because from (one) small (in
stature) to (one) big (in stature), it is impossible to be a kosher person
except through hisbodidus and conversing between oneself and his Creator.
(Likutay Moharan II, 25, 96, 100, Outpouring
of the Soul, Introduction, article 2, 4, 8, 47)
17
Find yourself in the Psalms and prayers
Also when one says Psalms, or “Chatzoas” (the
midnight rectification), or other entreaties and supplications, he needs to
find himself in them (-to see how they pertain to him personally). And see
inside (the source) wondrous discourses in these matters.
(Likutay Moharan II, Torah 101,
Outpouring of the Soul 9)
18
Speak even without heart, always start new
Even though it seems to the person that he is speaking
without heart, even still this is very good. And when he speaks so, abundant
words, through this he will usually merit that his heart will be aroused
to speak with an impassioned heart befittingly, because speech has a great power to
arouse a person. And even if many days and years pass, and it appears to him
that he still has not accomplished anything with his words and conversing, even
still he shouldn’t fall from this at all, because certainly the words make an
impression. An allegory for this: Like water coming down on a stone, even
though it would seem that the water doesn't have power against the hard stone,
and the water has no apparent impression in the stone, even still, when the
water comes down on the stone many, many times consecutively, they bore a whole
in the stone, as can be seen outright. Similarly, even if one's heart is a
heart of stone, and shows no sign of his words and his prayers, even still with
the accumulation of days and years his heart of stone will be pierced through
his conversing and his words, like (Job 14:19), “stones withered by water,” as
mentioned above.
(Words of Rabbi Nachman, article 234, Outpouring of the
Soul 37)
And it is good for a person to say
during hisbodidus, “Today I begin to bind (divaikus)
to You.” And every time he should initiate a beginning, because all
continuations follow after the beginnings. Like they say: the beginning is
paramount to half of the phenomenon of the entire process. Consequently, either
way he should make a new start every time, and he should say as mentioned
above, for either way (mima nafshuch); if it was good
before – now it will be better, and if Heaven forbid beforehand it was not good
– certainly it is necessary and incumbent to launch a new beginning, as
mentioned above.
(The Life of Rabbi
Nachman, article 437; Outpouring of the Soul 45).
19
Speak to Hashem until your soul is about to depart
It is necessary to converse and speak between
oneself and his Creator, and to truly arouse ones heart so much, to the extent
that his soul will just about depart, Heaven forbid, and this is the main completeness
(/perfection) of hisbodidus.
(Likutay Moharan II, Torah 99; Outpouring of
the Soul 7)
20
Speak to Hashem like you speak to a friend
When Hashem Yisburach helps with (one’s)
hisbodidus, he can express his words before Hashem Yisburach like a person
speaks to his friend. And it is necessary to accustom oneself to this, that he
should speak to Hashem Yisburach like he speaks with his teacher or his friend,
because Hashem Yisburach exists everywhere, because (Isaiah 6:3), “the entire
world is filled with His glory.”
(Likutay Moharan II, Torah 99; Outpouring of
the Soul 7)
21
Speak to G-d like an enamored toddler pesters his
father
It is very good for someone who is able, to pour
out his words before Hashem Yisburach piteously and pleadingly, like a son who pesters
(before) his father [which is called “piyestin”- (playing, cooing)]. And how good it is when one can arouse his
heart with entreaties until he cries and sheds tears like a son before his
father.
(Sichos Huran – The Words of Rabbi
Nachman 7; Outpouring of the Soul 17)
22
Scream silently
It is possible to scream to Hashem Yisburach in a
silent whisper, screaming tremendously, and no one will hear anything, because
one does not release any sound outside, he just visualizes distinctively the
scream in thought etc. [see inside (the source) the matter].
(Words of Rabbi Nachman, article 16; Outpouring of the Soul 40).
23
A Broken Heart Is Precious and Not Sadness
A broken heart is extremely precious. And know that a
broken heart and sadness are not at all the same thing. Because sadness is like
someone is angry and upset, but a broken heart is like a son who expresses his
yearning before his father, like a baby who cries and complains
before his father for being distant from him, and this is precious and dear
before Hashem Yisburach.
And it would be good for a person to have a broken heart
the entire day, however, since most people can easily come from a broken heart
to sadness, which is extremely damaging, may the Merciful One save us, as is
explained numerous times, and see (the entry of) Happiness, therefore it is
necessary to designate just some hours in the day to express one’s words with a
broken heart, and the rest of the entire day he should be happy.
(Words of Rabbi Nachman, article 41-42; Outpouring of
the Soul 19-20).
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman
[1] In
Outpouring of the Soul it says here, to pour out one’s soul like water etc. and
to seek etc., whereas here in Likutay Aitzos, it first says to converse etc. to
cull the good points and only then it says to pour out one’s soul etc..
[2] There
are actually halachic opinions that forbid this, but the leading halachic
authority, the Ro”sh says ruled that the prohibition only applies to the
language of Aramaic, and this is congruous with the holy Zohar.
Na Nach Nachma Nachman MayUman!
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