Rabbi Nachman of Breslov's teaching of AZAMRA (Likutey Moharan I:282)
Azamra l'Elokai be-odee!
"I will sing to my God as long as I live!" (Psalm 146:2).
Find the good in others...
KNOW that you must judge all people favorably. This applies even to the worst of people. You must search until you find some little bit of good in them. In that good place inside them, they are not bad! If you can just find this little bit of good and judge them favorably, you really can elevate them and swing the scales of judgment in their favor. This way you can bring them back to God.
This teaching is contained in the words of King David in the Psalms: "And in just a little bit (ve-OD me-at) there's no sinner; when you think about his place, he won't be there" (Psalm 37:10). King David is teaching us to judge everyone favorably. Even if you consider someone to be totally bad, you must still search until you find some little bit of good in him. There in the place of this tiny bit of good, that person is not bad! This is the meaning of the words, "And in just a little bit there's no sinner..." In other words you must seek out the little bit of good that is still in him. For in that place he is not a sinner. Maybe he's a bad person. Even so, is it really possible that he is totally devoid of even the slightest modicum of good? How could it be that all his life he never once did anything good? By finding one tiny good point in which he is not bad and thereby judging him favorably, you really do raise him from being guilty to having merit. This will bring him back to God. "In just a little bit there's no sinner!"
By finding this little bit of good in the bad person, this place inside him where he is not wicked, through this "...when you think about his place, he won't be there." When you examine his "place" and level, "he won't be there" in his original place. For by finding some little bit of good in him and judging him favorably, you genuinely raise him from guilt to merit. And "when you think about his place, he won't be there". Understand this well.
Find the good in yourself
You must also find the good in yourself. A fundamental principle in life is that you should always try to keep happy and steer well away from depression. When you start looking deep inside yourself, you may think you have no good in you at all. You may feel you are full of evil, and the negative voice inside you tries to make you depressed. Don't let yourself fall into depression. Search until you find some little good in you. How could it be that you never did anything good in your whole life?
When you start examining your good deed, you may see that it had many flaws. Maybe you did it for the wrong reasons and with the wrong attitude. Even so, how could it be that your mitzva or good deed contains no good at all? It must contain some element of good.
You must search and search until you find some good point inside yourself to give you new life and make you happy. When you discover the good that is still in you, you genuinely move from being guilty to having merit. Through this you will be able to come back to God. "And in just a little bit there's no sinner; when you think about his place, he won't be there."
Earlier we saw that we have to judge other people favorably, even those who seem totally bad. We must search for their good points in order to swing the scales in their favor. The same applies to the way you look at yourself. You must judge yourself favorably and find the good points that still exist in you. This way you won't fall into despair. The good you find inside you will give you new life and bring joy to your soul.
Posts tonen met het label Kabbalah Artikelen. Alle posts tonen
Posts tonen met het label Kabbalah Artikelen. Alle posts tonen
The Paradox of Free Choice
Six Questions / Chabad.org
So let us first distinguish and list those questions:
1) Determinism: Isn't everything predetermined by the mechanics of the universe?
2) Robotism: G-d knew exactly what I was going to do when He made me this way. I'm just a programmed machine. How can I be blamed for being what I am?
3) Prescience: Since G-d knows the future, what choice do we have in it?
4) Omnipotence: G-d wants something to happen and it happens. So how could I possibly choose to do something He doesn't like? Who's more powerful, after all?
5) Oneness: Since there is nothing else but His Oneness, what room is left for us to make any difference?
6) Primal Cause: If G-d is the Primal Cause, doesn't the buck stop there?
Each question has its particular answer. So let's deal with these one at a time (since each question picks up were the previous one leaves off, it's best to read them in order):
~Tzvi Freeman
Question:
How does our tradition explain the paradox of free choice?
Answer:
This issue becomes difficult to discuss because we are often confused
with just what the question is. As soon as we hear one question being
answered, another one is nagging us.So let us first distinguish and list those questions:
1) Determinism: Isn't everything predetermined by the mechanics of the universe?
2) Robotism: G-d knew exactly what I was going to do when He made me this way. I'm just a programmed machine. How can I be blamed for being what I am?
3) Prescience: Since G-d knows the future, what choice do we have in it?
4) Omnipotence: G-d wants something to happen and it happens. So how could I possibly choose to do something He doesn't like? Who's more powerful, after all?
5) Oneness: Since there is nothing else but His Oneness, what room is left for us to make any difference?
6) Primal Cause: If G-d is the Primal Cause, doesn't the buck stop there?
Each question has its particular answer. So let's deal with these one at a time (since each question picks up were the previous one leaves off, it's best to read them in order):
Abonneren op:
Posts (Atom)