The Final of the SIX constant mitzvos.

this motzai Shabbos iyH, 10 pm NY time
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Ask yourself two things as you go through your daily moments.

1.  Do you really want a Gd whose ways you can understand?

2. Are you pausing to see what really lies beneathe the surface of all that is around you?

Important:Please add Refael  Yoel ozer Ben Chaya Malka to your tefilos

 Bilvavi Book 1: 

Chapter 7: Closeness to Hashem

171. Avodah: reach the inner essence and purpose of avodas Hashem=deveikus

172. Deep awareness that Hashem is present in every place through a. simple contemplation (repeat Hashem is right near me)and if needed, b. studying the inner wisdom of the Torah (Rama, Mesillas Yesharim). Use thought and speech.

“Hashem is present right next to me”

173. Now Hashem becomes “You”, no longer “He”, realize we can't grasp Hashem mentally, only in our hearts we can feel as if we are relating to Him directly.

174. Internalize that this is “true inner life”; Orach Chaim says “This awareness it the entire greatness of the tzaddikim”

175. Train yourself to talk and think to Hashem as You during anything you do. (Tefillah is a way of achieving this direct connection to Hashem in second person)

176. Matter of habit, sounds hard but gets easier.Use prayer and also different phrases (Hashem You are here with me now, etc) during designated times and during brief free moments. May take, months or years to break through the barrier that blocks Hashem from you, until you feel at all times Hashem is with you, until death, where you will merit to be attached to Hashem as well.

Sefer: The Six Constant Mitzvos:

The sixth constant mitzvah:

Do Not Stray after Your Heart and Mind

Questions:

1. How is this mitzvah unique?

2. Are the eyes and heart inherently evil?

3. Didn't the first five mitzvos make sure we wouldn't do the sixth?

Answers:

1. Lo Sasuru is a practical mitzvah only. (235)
   By the time we reach this mitzvah we already know Hashem exists, no other force has power, Hashem is one, we love Him, and fear Him.
   But what if we are overcome by temptation because we got distracted.

This mitzvah requires us not to get distracted, to remain focused on what we already know.

2. How do the eyes and heart effect us?

Heart: pumps blood to body, heart represents human emotion (236)

most powerful force in the world. A person who feels strongly about something will pursue it relentlessly. “once emotion stirs, it is uncontrollable....must place it in the service of our superior intellect.”

Eyes: equally unreliable...perception is not objective. “We often see what we expect and want to see.”

(pg 238 examples)

3. Lo Sasuru “makes sure we stay one step ahead of our eyes and heart and cause them to emote and perceive in accordance with the truths we internalized in the first five mitzvos” (239)= program our heart and eyes to energize us for spiritual growth.

a. heart must be guided toward some feelings and away from others (241-242) because it is not sensible.

b. eyes must be averted from seeing evil because they provide us with impulses (“I must do this now”).

The antidote: “Take your heart, and submit it to your intellect.”

(the clearer we are in our purpose, the more emotion we will generate for it) (244) and avert our eyes, avoid situations that may have temptation, and work on developing new cravings and habits in line with Torah. (follow good habits out of rote eg- Dovid Hamelech)

Use cheshbon hanefesh to monitor the eyes and heart thereby subjugating them to intellect.

Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh book 2:

XV: 

Including Hashem in the times of tests and difficulties:

Daven even in times of smallness and greatness_ What does this mean?

Live completely with Hashem.

HOW?

(Olah is the only korban that is totally for Hashem/ we can be an olah, 248 limbs and 365 sinews- all to closeness with Hashem)

To give your entire existence to Hashem, you need a vessel- otherwise how do we return something that is separate from something else? ie, transporting water from one place to another, need a pipe.

What is our vessel? 

speech:

Hashem sends us a thought or ratzon, any that come to us we can say out loud, i know this is from You (if its a thought that disconnects us from Him, ask Him to take it back!)

Chazal teach that a persons yetzer intensifies each day, without Hashem intervening we would not be able to overcome it.

Pasuk: Devarim 6:5; "you shall love Hashem your Gd, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your resources." (ahava= echad=13)

all your heart:  all your thoughts should be one with Hashem- know that Hashem sends us each thought and it is up to us to return it and reconnect it with Hashem.

all your soul: (berachos 54a)even if He takes our life back to Him; the soul is bound to the Creator naturally.  So each day we need to consciously reconnect soul in a state of unity to Hashem.

all your resources: even the sparks of holiness that are hidded in your possessions, "harness and use for love and unity with Hashem".

In Forest Fields:pgs128-132

It seems difficult to thank Hashem for the terrible things that are causing extreme pain-illogical!

Yet, if we know all that Hashem does is for the best, we can use emunah as the bridge that enables us to feel at peace.

There is no despair: every cloud has a silver lining, Rebbe Nachman teaches. As we learned, a person who falls and returns is even greater than a tzadik who never has fallen. When we do teshuva out of love rather than fear, then our misdeeds turn into credits.

The ultimate purpose:

Yehudi: lehodot: give thanks:"A Jew is one who gives thanks, for without giving thanks, there can be no emunah"