Likutay Moharan - Volume 2 - Torah-teaching 10

10 - The World is Distant from Hashem, Blessed be He, Because They Lack Settlement of Mind

That which the world is distant from Hashem, blessed be He, and do not draw near to Him, blessed be He, is only because they lack settlement of mind [da’at] and do not calm their minds [da’at]. And the main thing is to strive to settle oneself well: What is the ultimate purpose of all the desires and of all the matters of this world? And then certainly one will return to G-d.

But know, that through sadness [black bile] one cannot direct the brain [moach] and mind [da’at] as desired, and therefore it is difficult to settle one’s mind [da’at]. Only through joy can one direct the brain [moach] and mind [da’at] as desired, and settle one’s mind [da’at]. For joy is the world of freedom, the aspect of: "For with joy you shall go out" [Isaiah 55:12], that through joy one becomes free and goes out from exile. And therefore, when one binds joy to the brain [moach] and mind [da’at], then the mind [da’at] is liberated, free from the state of exile. And then one can direct one’s brain [moach] and mind [da’at] as desired and settle one’s mind [da’at], since the mind [da’at] is in freedom and not in exile. For through exile the mind [da’at] is not settled, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded on the children of Ammon and Moab, that their mind [da’at] was settled because they did not go into exile, as it is said: "Moab has been at ease from his youth," etc., "and has not gone into exile, therefore his taste has remained in him," etc. [Jeremiah 48:11; Megillah 12b].

And to come to joy is through what one finds in oneself some good point in any case, as explained on the verse: "Then I will sing to my G-d while I yet exist" [in Likutay Moharan I, Torah 282], see there. To rejoice in that which one merited to be from the seed of Israel, that He did not make me a gentile, and as we say: Blessed is our G-d who created us for His glory, and separated us, etc., and gave us the Torah of truth, etc. From all this and the like [Israelite identity, Torah], it is fitting for one to draw joy to gladden one’s mind [da’at] as above (Shabbat 77b), cheerfulness of mind [bedicha da’ateih], a great virtue, binds joy to the brain [moach] and mind [da’at]. And then the mind [da’at] is liberated and one has settlement of the mind [da’at] as above. And also above, a great unification is made from this through cheerfulness of mind [bedicha da’ateih].