3 more Tanya summaries

 

Tanya Summary # 14

 

A very fascinating reality though obvious, but not so well known, exists – whenever you lust after something, similar to the law of physics that whatever we bang into hits us back with an equal force as we pushed on it, similarly, the desires say for intercourse, good meat or drugs, has an equal hold on the person to the extent the person desires it (in other words, to the extent this is something I want, is the extent it is an addiction.)

 

As such, a person who even desires kosher food etc. however the reason is not higher (as discussed previously) in order to ascend into heaven; he must forget his desires (for the pleasure of heaven is bliss over spiritual delights and every desire counteracts, like a rope pulling in two directions one person, hence every desire is weakened when any other desire is present) So to arrive into the pleasure of spirituality, one must undergo the decomposition of the body (in the grave – Now the soul sees this decomposition – hence it is greatly repulsed by this stinking rotting corpse – and as one’s self repulsion increases, similarly all the desires of the self/body – interestingly people who have no physical desires (very spiritual lofty people) their body does no decompose as attested to numerous times by the burial society who needing to move a body even twenty years later, the bodies were intact.)

Tanya Summary # 15

Why asks the Alter Rebbe is the sin of masturbation not mentioned in the Torah, for based on Kabbalah it creates the strongest lust (hence as mentioned, the person descends into the low level of kelipah which needs to be rectified through the decomposition of the body.)

 

He replies, that unlike forbidden intercourse (say for a Jew with a gentile etc.) this sin (which is related to what our sages say “no man is immune from”) has an easy rectification, namely to say the bedtime Shema with proper intention ( though this is very esoteric, it appears that the evil man does creates actual demons that are your “offsprings,” now the only way to kill these evil beings is through Teshuvah – turning to God – obviously these beings wish to stay alive, hence have an interest in your continuing to sin.)

 

Tanya Summary # 16

Now the Alter Rebbe describes a second well know pre-heaven preparation/cleansing/punishment.

 

Again the purpose is not to punish rather to remove the desire for instinctual pleasure that prevents the pleasure of spiritual ones.

 

Hence the soul is shown or feels the tremendous bliss of heaven, then it is reminded of its actions on earth (and as I understand this, in other words, what happens is, all of our sins are really committed out of low self-esteem – for a person who feels positive does positive, but as Rabbi Dovid Wineberg told me (based on what Chassidim teach) as we don’t wish to be sad, when we are, we always are susceptible to foolish instinctual desires as they temporarily relieve our misery) So in heaven a person suddenly feels God’s unconditional love for them – in a flash their entire reality changes and as they now feel great, they are deeply remorseful for having acted in such a spiteful way (of course the bully herself is suffering from being bullied etc.)

 

Then the Alter Rebbe explains, for actual sins such as slander etc. a person goes into purgatory where for those sins committed out of passion (say anger etc.) one feels such an intense heat (they say the heat of the sun is only a fraction of the heat of hell) that it quite literally burns out of them any desire (conversely if a person sins were simply laziness they go to the freezer section and this freezes out of them the desire to be frigid uncaring indolent etc.)