READING: BETWEEN AFTER MIDNINGHT AND DAWN TUESDAY

Baal HaSulam. Shamati, 189. The Action Affects the Thought

LESSON MATERIAL

189. The Action Affects the Thought

I heard on Tishrei 27

Understand the reason for the sharpness, excitement, and shrewdness when all the organs work in coordination at full speed, when one thinks of corporeal possessions. But with matters concerning the soul, the person, the body, and all the senses work heavily with anything that concerns the needs of the soul.

The thing is that man’s mind and thought are but projections of man’s actions. They are reflected as if from a mirror. Hence, if most of one’s actions are of corporeal needs, it is reflected in the mirror of the mind. This means that they are sufficiently perceived in the mind, and then he can use the mind for whatever he wants since the mind receives its sustenance from corporeal things.

Thus, the mind serves that place from which it receives sustenance. And because there are not enough Reshimot [recollections] in the brain from the needs of the soul for reception of sustenance and impression, the mind is unwilling to serve it for the needs of the soul.

For this reason, one must overcome and do many things until they are recorded in the mind. And then the knowledge will certainly increase, and the mind will serve him with shrewdness and speed even more than for corporeal needs, since the mind is a close dressing for the soul.