Quotes from the Tanya – 10
By zevi770 · February 19, 2012
CHAPTER 9
“The location of the Jewish animal soul is in the heart, in the left ventricle filled with it is, with blood, as it states, the blood is the soul.”
“Hence all desires from pleasure, boasting, anger etc. all emanate from the heart.”
“The desires emanating from the heart spread to the entire body (as the sages say, the feet go where the heart desires.)”
“In addition the desires ascend from the heart, to be contemplated, thought about, and planned in the mind in the head (this is similar, how the blood pumps from the heart to the entire body, including to the brain in the head.”)
“The location of the Godly soul is in the mind in the head.”
“From the mind it spreads to all the limbs, including to the heart into the right ventricle.”
“What travels to the heart is the fiery glowing love of God, which is born from the mind’s eye that contemplates and knows the greatness of God.”
“Similarly one may have great joy from the contemplation of God’s infinity, so the minds comprehension and understanding of God’s infinite greatness relative to our finite limitations, arouses a happiness – similarly all the Godly emotions of the heart begin in the Wisdom Understanding and Knowledge of the mind.”
“Kelipah and holiness are locked in a battle. As two kings would both desire the rulership of a city – i.e. that the people in the city should follow their orders exclusively – such is the war between Kelipah and the Godly soul.”
“The Godly souls desire is that its ten levels and three garments (see chapters 3 and 4) should be what fills the mind, namely thinking about the infinity of God, arousing reverence, awe and love for God, channeling into one’s thoughts, speech and actions, being solely focused on God.”
“Additionally the Godly soul desires to achieve a delight in God (i.e. a higher level of, just love) this occurs when the mind receives pleasure from conceiving of God’s infinity, hence this pleasure should be strong enough to transform the person from ceasing to take pleasures in worldly delights and thereby transform his animal soul into a Godly soul, as our sages state “You should love God with all your hearts” – this refers to both the good and bad in your heart, (for when one loses the pleasure of the world he can use his animal’s soul desire for pleasure in purely spiritual matters.”)
“On the other hand the animal soul that gives life to man, desires the exact opposite (i.e. that its seven negative emotions and three intellectual capacities and its garments, namely the thoughts speech and actions, that fulfill its instinctive drive, should be the sole drive of man.”
“The Zohar teaches, a king desiring to test his sons morality had a gorgeous harlot approach him to see if he could withstand this test.
Similarly God in heaven testing our greatness sends us into this world and gives us a harlot, the Yetzer Hara whose desires are forbidden to us, to test us and ultimately, the challenge brings out our greatness.”