Likutay Moharan - Torah-teaching 193

193 - The Thought Has Great Power

Know that thought possesses immense power. If one strengthens and empowers his thought toward any matter in the world, he can bring it into being. Even if he intensely focuses his thought on acquiring wealth, he will certainly obtain it. The same applies to any matter – provided the thought involves the nullification of all physical senses. And the thought is so powerful that it becomes possible to surrender his soul through it literally. That is, he can feel the actual pain of death by accepting in his mind that he is willing to give his soul for the sanctification of the Name in any form of death.

It is possible to strengthen and empower the thought to such an extent that, at the moment he accepts in his thought that he is willing to surrender his soul to die for the sanctification of the Name, he feels the pain of death literally. This is what Rabbi Akiva said (Berachot 61b): "All my days I was distressed over this verse: 'When will it come to my hand so that I may fulfill it?' Now that it has come, and I would not fulfill it?" That is, during the recitation of Shema, when Rabbi Akiva would accept upon himself the four modes of capital punishment by the court, he would accept the giving of his soul in such a strong and powerful thought that he would feel distressed and experience the sufferings of death literally, as if they were stoning and burning him in actuality, without any difference.

And this is "all my days I was distressed: when will it come etc." – meaning, from what I estimated and accepted in my mind – "when will it come to my hand and I fulfill it" to surrender my soul for the sanctification of the Name – from this alone I was distressed and felt and endured the sufferings of death literally, as aforementioned. "Now that it has come to my hand in actuality, and I would not fulfill it?" – for haven't I always endured this pain literally from the acceptance in thought alone? And when one strengthens the thought in soul-surrender to this degree as aforementioned, he can die literally from this pain, as if he were dying from that death in actuality, for there is no difference between death in actuality and the pain felt from death in thought, as aforementioned. Therefore, one must prevent and distance himself from remaining in that state when he feels that his soul is close to departing, so that he does not die before his time, G-d forbid.