דַּעַת

One who merits to true da'as — to truly know Hashem Yisborach — has no distinction whatsoever for him between life and death; for he is attached to and absorbed in Hashem Yisborach both in his life and in his death. Only that now, in his lifetime, his dwelling is here among the living in this world; and afterward his dwelling is there among those who dwell in the dust — for since he is truly absorbed in Hashem Yisborach, he therefore lives an eternal life, like Hashem Yisborach Himself, as it were.

Love is dependent upon da'as and intellect [sechel]. And when the brain [moach] becomes turbid and confused, from this comes the intensification of hatred. And according to the degree of the confusion and turbidity of the brain that comes through the lust for money — so too is the intensification of enemies. And sometimes the hatred has some dimension of da'as and mind — meaning that they have at least some reasoning and rationale of the dimension of a turbid brain for their hatred. But sometimes the turbidity in the brain increases so greatly through the lust for money that through this they become gratuitous haters [sonei chinam] — who have no reasoning or da'as whatsoever, not even of the dimension of turbid brain, for their hatred; they are simply gratuitous haters.

The surplus [mosorei mochin] of the true wise person's brain — which are in the dimension of hairs [se'aros] — these are in the dimension of gates [she'arim], through which he opens gateways of wisdom and knowledge [chochma u'madda] for the service of Hashem Yisborach. For since it is impossible for the world to receive from his brain itself — on account of its overwhelming light — he therefore must clothe himself and cover himself and lower himself to small and humble things, so that the world can receive from him; so that the gateway of wisdom and knowledge can be opened for them to bring them close to Hashem Yisborach. And this, for the Tzaddik, is the dimension of the surplus of the brain — the dimension of hairs.

Whoever has any da'as and knows even a little of the greatness of the Creator, blessed be He — and this is only according to each one's individual measure of what he can conceive in his heart — and whoever merits to conceive even a little in his heart of the greatness of the Creator, blessed be He: for him, certainly nothing counts as a trial. And even what is considered by the masses to be a great trial — such as the trial of the lust for sexual relations — it is, for him, folly and madness, and he has no need of any struggle against it. And what is said in the Torah in praise of Yosef the Tzaddik, and similarly other tzaddikim who withstood their trials — there is a mystical secret in this. And there is a yetzer hara that is not so coarse, but rather is in the dimension of a fine [dakah] klipah [husk]; and even this is not the yetzer hara of those holy ones who possess wisdom and da'as — for with them it is only the higher yetzer hara, which is a holy angel [malach kadosh], in the dimension of gevuros [severities] and judgments. And this person of da'as possesses this yetzer hara — and must overcome it and sweeten the judgments so that all becomes only good; for one who is absorbed in the place where he needs to be absorbed — that is, in the Ein Sof [the Infinite] — there everything is entirely good and there are no judgments there whatsoever, Heaven forbid. Therefore one must sweeten all the judgments and severities which are the dimension of the higher yetzer hara, and be entirely good, without any judgments at all.

There is a spirit of folly [ruach shtus] of transgression — and this person is a greater wise man than the entire world, and yet it is still a spirit of folly. But the spirit of folly of the majority of the world is folly and madness and stupidity absolutely — an utter fool, a simpleton, a madman — and it stems only from the turbidity and confusion of the blood [ha'damim]. And whoever possesses even a little clear da'as has no need of any struggle to overcome it.

Every single day a person must receive a renewal of the mochin [mental-spiritual faculties] — and the mochin are in the dimension of seeing with the eyes of the intellect. Just as with the power of physical sight: there are those whose power of sight is excellent and can see into the far distance, and there are those whose power of sight is not strong, and they must therefore draw close to the thing they wish to see and examine it well — so too in the service of Hashem Yisborach: there are those whose moach is clear and who can pray or learn without intense concentration [iyyun]; and there are those who must first bring the thought to mind before speaking — and if they speak before it has risen in their thought, the speech will be without thought. This is the dimension of mochin d'katnus [constricted consciousness] — the dimension of judgments — and such a person is always the same and cannot attain a renewal of the mochin. But through teshuvah out of love [teshuvah me'ahavah] one merits to a clear intellect — which is the dimension of mochin d'gadlus [expanded consciousness], the dimension of mercies and loving-kindnesses [rachamim va'chassadim] — and then one can pray and learn without intense concentration, and every single day one merits to a renewal of the mochin. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in the text for this teaching.]

Whoever has no da'as has no attribute of compassion [midas rachmanus] — and therefore it is forbidden to have mercy upon him, as our Rabbis of blessed memory said [Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 92a]. And through complete teshuvah, da'as is completed and compassion is awakened.

When a person is in a state of katnus ha'mochin [constricted consciousness], he is in the dimension of a pauper bereft of da'as [ani min ha'da'as]; and when he has mercy on himself at that time — for there is no greater mercy than this — and strengthens himself until he arrives at gadlus ha'mochin [expanded consciousness]: then all judgments are sweetened from him and great mercies and loving-kindnesses flow upon him. And if he cannot by himself attain gadlus ha'mochin — the counsel for this is that he enlighten others [yaskil achairim], and through this the mochin are also awakened within himself.

The holy brain and da'as must consume the body — meaning that the body should be transformed into the essence of the holy soul, which is the brain and da'as; for this is the dimension of eating, wherein nourishment is transformed into the one being nourished.

When a new intellect [sechel chadash] awakens in the world regarding the service of Hashem — something not previously known — through this "many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awaken" [Daniel 12:2]: some to eternal life [chayyei olam] — for the tzaddikim receive this new intellect and serve Hashem Yisborach through it; and there are those of whom it is said: "and the transgressors shall stumble in them" [Daniel 12:10] — for they do not use this new intellect for the service of Hashem, but rather through it they mock and revile the world for knowing this new intellect while the world does not — which is the dimension of: "and these to shame and everlasting contempt" [Daniel 12:2].

The intellect that every person possesses through the power of his wisdom — apart from what Hashem Yisborach additionally grants to the wise ["for G-d gives wisdom to the wise" — Daniel 2:21] — through the power of that intellect alone one can also stand firm against all the lusts. Even one who has already been drawn after the lusts of this world, and has transgressed what he has transgressed, and his intellect has been damaged and confused and diminished — even so, with the tiny remnant of intellect that remains, he can also stand against all the lusts. And even a single point of intellect can stand against the entire world with all its lusts. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in this edition for this teaching.]

One must toil greatly in the service of Hashem, and also [requires] great mercy from Hashem Yisborach, before one merits that the sediment of the brain [shimrei ha'moach] stands still and becomes quiet [ya'amdu v'yishketu] below and the brain is fully clarified — to the point where one desires nothing in the world and everything is equal to him. For one who is attached to this world, there is a great distinction for him between this world — which is spacious — and the grave, which is a narrow place, and the like. But one whose brain has been clarified has no desire or will at all for anything except Hashem Yisborach and the holy Torah — and thus everything is equal to him, whether in this world, in the grave, or in the World to Come. In all of them he is attached only to Hashem Yisborach and to the Torah — in the dimension of: "When you walk it will guide you" [Proverbs 6:22] — in this world; "when you lie down it will watch over you" [ibid.] — in the grave; "and when you awaken it will speak with you" [ibid.] — in the World to Come; as our Rabbis of blessed memory expounded — meaning that everything is equal to him, as above.

If a person were to truly settle his mind [yeshev da'ato] properly, he would look and see the truth: that all the fears and dreads he has of people who stand to prevent him from the service of Hashem — all of it is folly and vanity, and he fears and dreads them in vain, "for what can a man do to me?" [Psalms 56:12]. And similarly regarding the lusts — they too are all absolute folly and vanity, and he desires them in vain, for in truth they are nothing; and who compels him to this, etc.? For a person possesses free will [ba'al bechirah], and he can easily train his mind to remove from himself all his fears and all his lusts, as above. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in this edition for this teaching.]

When one merits to truly complete da'as — one can perform and serve Hashem Yisborach in a quarter of an hour what another person would need to labor and toil over for seventy years. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in this edition for this teaching.]

There are wondrous things and supreme, awesome wisdoms even in this world — through which one can live by them alone, without any eating or drinking. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in this edition for this teaching.]

There are two kinds of intellect [sichliiyos], and they are in the dimension of achor va'kedem [back and front / behind and before]. That is: there is an intellect that reaches a person only after a delay of time; but there is an intellect that comes to a person in a great abundance, with great speed, in less than an instant — for it is above time and requires no time whatsoever. This intellect is the dimension of face [panim], the dimension of Yaakov, the dimension of emes.

The reason the world is so far from Hashem Yisborach is only because they lack yishuv ha'da'as [settled, composed mind] — as explained above. For in truth, when the heichalei hatmuros [palaces of exchange / inversion] gain strength, they not only exchange and invert evil for good and good for evil, etc., in the world at large — causing all dominion and greatness to belong only to the son of the maidservant; but even within the innermost thought of the son of the maidservant himself, the heichalei hatmuros strengthened themselves so greatly that they overturned his mind and heart so profoundly as to cause great evil to his true father himself, and to drive the prince [ben hamelech] out entirely. [ben hamelech — the prince/son of the king; ben hashifchah — the son of the maidservant; these refer to the famous parable of the exchanged children in the Sipuray Ma'asios]. And also within the innermost thought of the true prince himself, the heichalei hatmuros likewise strengthened and exchanged and inverted his mind away from the truth — so that he fell in his mind so greatly over having been exiled that he took himself to drunkenness and went after the desires of his heart. And therefore in truth, afterward — even the son of the maidservant himself, when he came somewhat to yishuv ha'da'as, understood by himself that he had sinned a great sin in expelling the prince — for either way, etc. And all the more so the prince, when his mind became settled, then he understood the truth: that on the contrary, if Hashem Yisborach could do such a thing, etc. [v'chulu'] — how could what I did be possible, etc.? — and he greatly repented. And through these repentances the world returned to its rectification, as explained in the inner text. We see, then, that everything depends only on the true yishuv ha'da'as described above.

Certainly nothing happens in the world in vain, Heaven forbid — rather every thing certainly has some root and great Divine intention above. And even one who does not know what is happening in the world — even so, when he merits to do Hashem Yisborach's will, certainly it is very good, and fortunate is he. And one must beseech Hashem Yisborach greatly that he merit to align with His will, blessed be He, and to do only what He, blessed be He, desires. But when a person merits that the illumination of true da'as and wisdom flashes for him — and he merits to know what he is doing, then all the heavens are opened for him and all the holy wisdoms and intellects; and Hashem Yisborach shows him what he is doing, in the dimension of: "The heavens opened and I saw visions of G-d" [Ezekiel 1:1]. And then Hashem Yisborach certainly protects him from all stumbling both spiritually and materially — whether in his sitting at home, whether in his going on the road; for this is the protective Divine Name that emerges from the initial letters of the verse: "And the enlightened shall shine like the radiance of the sky" [Daniel 12:3], and from the final letters of the verse: "For He will command His angels concerning you" [Psalms 91:11]. See the inner text.

When the brain is fatigued from Torah study, one must then engage in ordinary conversation [siachas chulin] and speak with people — to refresh one's mind [l'fakei'ach da'ato] — and this does not fall into the category of idle speech [devarim betailim], Heaven forbid. [Translator's note: No source citation appears in this edition for this teaching.]