Sometimes a thought of repentance comes to a man

Sometimes a thought of repentance comes to a man Sometimes a thought of repentance comes to a man [In the language of the companions] Sometimes a thought of t’shuva [repentance] comes to a man, and he becomes at that time a proper man. And afterwards, he desires to do a deed in that which his heart was aroused to t’shuva. Therefore, he desires to travel to the tzadik [righteous one]. And afterwards, when he travels, the evil inclination overcomes him, and he falls from his desire that he had initially. And when he comes to the tzadik, the evil inclination overcomes him even more, and he loses all his desire. Let this not be difficult in your eyes, nor let your thoughts alarm you about this. For know that this is drawn from the fact that initially, when the thought of t’shuva comes due to the good that was aroused within him, through his deeds at that time, he killed his inclination, and his evil inclination was nullified, for he killed it with this thought of t’shuva and the deed of that time. But afterwards, when he desires to travel, another evil inclination overcomes him, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said [Sukkah 52a], and now he has an evil inclination greater than the initial one.

If he does not strengthen himself against it, this new evil inclination overcomes him, and he falls from his initial desire. For he needs new strengthening against this new evil inclination that came to him as above, because there are several aspects in the evil inclination. For there are lowly, gross people whose evil inclination is also lowly and gross. For the many, their evil inclination is the bloods themselves, that is, the blood in the left chamber, which is in its strength. And the main confusions of them are from the turbidity and confusion of the bloods. And in truth, one who has any pure knowledge at all, this evil inclination is to him great foolishness and madness, and he does not need any strengthening to conquer it. And even what is considered in the eyes of the masses as a great trial, such as the trial of the desire for licentiousness, is to him foolishness and is not considered to him as any trial at all (see Shivchei HaRan 16, Sichos HaRan 51). For one who has any knowledge and knows a little of the greatness of our Lord, the Creator, blessed be He, as it is written: "For I know that Hashem is great, and our Lord above all gods" [Tehillim 135:5]. And it is impossible to explain this neither in writing nor orally (see Sichos HaRan 1). For the greatness of Hashem, blessed be He, is only to each one according to what he estimates in his heart, as it is written in the holy Zohar [Vayeira 103b]: "Known in the gates is her husband", to each one according to what he estimates in his heart. And one who merits to estimate in his heart the greatness of Hashem, blessed be He, certainly with this it is not considered anything as a trial, and he does not need any strengthening over this. Only there is an aspect of the evil inclination that is a holy angel, and nevertheless it is an evil inclination, and one needs to strengthen and escape greatly from it. That is the aspect of gevuros [strengths] and dinim [judgments]. And one of knowledge has this evil inclination, that is, gevuros and dinim, and he needs to strengthen over it and to sweeten the dinim, that it be only all good. For one who is included in the place that he needs to be included, that is, in the Eyn Sof [Infinite], there it is all good, and there is no judgment there, chas v’shalom [G-d forbid]. So he needs to be all good and to sweeten all the gevuros and the dinim, which are the upper evil inclination. And in this David damaged with Bathsheba, for certainly, far be it to say that David sinned in physicality due to desire, chas v’shalom. For David already said himself: "And my heart is slain within me" [Tehillim 109:26], that he already killed the physical evil inclination completely and subdued the blood in the left chamber [Shabbas 56b]: Anyone who says David sinned is only mistaken. Nevertheless, even this small damage and light sin that was done as brought, also this certainly was not, chas v’shalom, due to desire from the turbidity of the bloods, from where comes this desire of licentiousness. Only his damage was above in gevuros, that he did not sweeten the upper evil inclination, that is, the gevuros and the dinim. And also this was in great subtlety, for Bathsheba was fitting for David [Divrei HaYamim I 22:8]: "You shall not build a house for My name, for much blood you have shed", that is, that he did not sweeten the gevuros, therefore he did not merit to build the House. And even though he fought the wars of Hashem, nevertheless above above, in the ultimate height in the place that he needs to be included, that is, in the Eyn Sof, there it is all good, and he needs to be only good without any dinim at all.

And this is the aspect of [Tikkunei Zohar Tikkun 70, 123b]: Even the upper crown is black to the Cause of Causes, the aspect of: "They do not know and do not understand, in darkness they walk" [Tehillim 82:5], the aspect of the upper holiness (see above after the teaching in sign 57, in the words that belong above), which is the evil inclination of the holy tzadikim aforementioned. (The following was printed as a gloss) And also above, kiv’yachol [as it were], with Hashem, blessed be He, we find the aspect of the aforementioned evil inclination, as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, expounded [Bereishis Rabba 12:2; Rashi]: Initially, it arose in thought to create the world with the attribute of judgment, which is the aspect of evil inclination as above. And afterwards, kiv’yachol, He broke the evil inclination, and joined the attribute of mercy. And from this force, it extended and was drawn a force below to break the evil inclination, for if not for this, there would be no force to break the evil inclination. And this is explained in the Gemara [Yoma 69b]: This is the might of His might that He conquers His inclination, that He gives long-suffering to the wicked. It is found explained there the aforementioned matter that what Hashem, blessed be He, conquers the attribute of judgment and lengthens His anger is the aspect of breaking the evil inclination with Him, blessed be He (see Rashi there in the aforementioned Gemara and see Bava Basra 16a: like a person whom they incite and he is incited, he is the Satan, he is the evil inclination; and see Sukkah 52b: that as if He Himself regrets the creation of the evil inclination; and all this to break the ear, according to the Maharsha in Chiddushei Aggadot in Bava Basra there). And the general principle is that from the aspect of judgment extend the aspect of the angels standing to the left, until it extended also in the living Satan, as it is written: "And the Satan also came among them" [Iyov 1:6], and he is the Satan, he is the evil inclination, for from there is drawn the root of the evil inclination in the heart of man, by which he has choice. And see in the Zohar in several places, there it is understood and explained that the aspect of the attribute of judgment is the root of the aspect of the evil inclination (see Zohar Bereishis 49b, Zohar Vayeitzei 148a, Zohar Shemos 26b, and Tikkun 21, 60: and Gevura there is the S”M who is the evil inclination, and similarly explained in the writings of the Ari z”l in many places, and see Ma-oray Or). And similarly Shlomo the king, peace be upon him, who married the daughter of Pharaoh and many foreign women, certainly it will not arise on the mind that it was from the physical evil inclination, for he was a true wise man, as it is written: "And he was wiser than any man" [Melachim I 5:11]. And already we have established as a rule that one who is a true wise man even a little, this desire is not considered to him as any trial, even if a beautiful woman demands him in a secret place where it is in his hand to fulfill the desire, it is to him only foolishness and madness, and is not considered to him as a trial at all. And what is said in the Torah, the praise of Yosef the tzadik that he stood in the trial, there is in this a secret. And the main trial is in the aforementioned aspect, in the aspect of sweetening the gevuros, to conquer the upper evil inclination.

But not to conquer the physical evil inclination, which is not a trial at all. And similarly, what Shlomo damaged was only in this aspect as above. Therefore, one who has judgments upon him, chas v’shalom, and has some trouble, chas v’shalom, needs to see and strive greatly to be saved from the evil inclination then. For the main evil inclination is from the dinim, for even the thick physical evil inclination of the turbidity of the bloods certainly has a root above from it. And this upper evil inclination, from it also has a root, for there are several aspects in the evil inclination.

And there is an evil inclination that is not so gross, that is not from the turbidity of the bloods, but it is the aspect of a thin shell. And also this evil inclination is not the evil inclination of the holy ones, possessors of wisdom and knowledge, for with them it is only the upper evil inclination, which is a holy angel, which is the aspect of gevuros and dinim. And it is the ultimate upper root of all the evil inclinations, from the upper evil inclination until the lower gross, dirty, foolish, naive, and stupid evil inclination, turbidity of the bloods. Therefore, when dinim overcome a person, since gevuros and dinim, which is the root of all the evil inclination, overcome him, therefore then his evil inclination overcomes him greatly. And he needs striving and strengthening over this. Also in the matter of approaching Himself to Hashem, blessed be He, there is a great evil inclination, that is, that sometimes the abundance of enthusiasm beyond measure is from the evil inclination, for this is the aspect of "lest they break through" (as explained also in another place, in Likutay Torah 5:7, 9). For there is a great evil inclination when he begins to approach Hashem, blessed be He.

And therefore, at the time of the giving of the Torah, Hashem, blessed be He, warned Moshe: "Go down, warn the people lest they break through to Hashem to see" [Shemos 19:21], for Yisroel were then in a great height, and they needed to be warned from the evil inclination that there is in approaching Hashem, blessed be He. And know that the evil inclination of the majority of the world, which is turbidity of the bloods, is foolishness, madness, and great stupidity, as they said [Sotah 3a]: A person does not commit a transgression unless a spirit of foolishness enters him. For in truth, there is a spirit of foolishness of transgression that is a great wise man more than all the world, and nevertheless it is a spirit of foolishness. But this spirit of foolishness of the majority of the world is actual foolishness, fool, naive, and madman.

And behold, you will see that there are several people who have thoughts of idolatry, and there are those that at the time he stands to pray, an image of idolatry comes before him. And even though he knows himself that there is no substance in it, nevertheless it overcomes him greatly, and he is pained, and this image stands before him, and it is very difficult for him to remove this from his imagination and his thought. And now see, is there for you greater foolishness and madness than this?! And certainly, one whom these imaginations overcome, it is very difficult for him to be saved from them and to remove them from his thought. And all that he overcomes and shakes and throws his head here and there, these imaginations overcome him more and more. For this is the nature and propitious quality of these dirty evil inclinations: all that one wants to overcome these thoughts more and more, they overcome more. For it is like a person fleeing from a thing and looking from the side as if backward at this thing that he fled from, then this thing overcomes him more, for he did not divert his mind from this, but on the contrary, he looks each time backward at this thought. And understand this well. And as is known to all who is caught in this and has these thoughts, chas v’shalom, that it is great foolishness and madness, and it is only from turbidity of the bloods, from turbidity and confusion of the brain. For this is known to all that idolatry has no substance. And nevertheless, it is very difficult for him to remove his thought from them due to already being turbid and confused his brain greatly. Similarly, these thoughts of licentiousness that the majority of the world has, especially when he sees with his eyes, such as at the time that a woman happens before him. And when he wants to be a proper man and does not want these thoughts, then he shakes his head and wants to remove these thoughts from him, and more and more they overcome him as above. And in truth, one who has knowledge, it is to him great foolishness, and is not considered to him even as any merit that these thoughts do not fall upon him, and he does not need at all to throw and shake his head at all. And as with the majority of people it is foolishness and madness, these thoughts of idolatry, so with him foolishness the thoughts of licentiousness [Zohar Kedoshim 84a]: that Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, when he saw beautiful women, said: "Do not turn to the idols" [Vayikra 19:4], for they are the aspect of idols. And as thoughts of idolatry are revealed foolishness to all the world, so these thoughts of licentiousness are foolishness and madness. Therefore, the main remedy for one who already is caught in this and has these thoughts, whether thoughts of licentiousness or thoughts of idolatry, chas v’shalom, he has no remedy except that he sanctify and purify his body, in order that his blood be refined and purified. And he should go to the true wise man, and he will instruct him the ways of t’shuva, ways of wisdom, proper counsels on every matter. Then his uncircumcised heart will be subdued, and he will return and be healed. But as long as his body is not yet sanctified and purified, there is no remedy for what he overcomes and strives and has great sufferings to remove the thought, for more and more they overcome as above. Also, sadness harms greatly and gives force to this thick physical evil inclination. Therefore, on the contrary, if he wants to be a fearer of G-d and wants to pray and does not want these evil thoughts, he needs not to pay attention to them at all, and not to care what stands before him, and only do his own in what he is engaged in Torah or tefillah [prayer] or business, and not pay attention to them at all. And as I heard a story about one that at the time he stood to pray, it would happen and stand before him in his imagination an uncircumcised idolater, and he had great sufferings from this. And all that he wanted to overcome and remove the thought, it overcame him more. And a wise man advised him not to care and let the idolater stand, and nevertheless do his own and pray. And by this it will be removed from him. But this is advice for the time as long as his body is not yet sanctified, and the main thing is to sanctify and purify himself as above. And go to the wise man, and he will give him proper counsel on every matter as above. (Note from the English translator: This elucidates how a thought of t’shuva can be overcome by a new evil inclination, requiring strengthening to reach the tzadik or wise man to sanctify the body, purify the bloods, and sweeten the dinim, transforming foolishness into knowledge.)