Da Es Nafshecha (Getting to know your soul)

Tomorrow at 12:45 ny time IYH

Da es Nafshecha:
Part one:

Last week's review: 


Fire: Negative: destruction through action or speech and conceit ("I am higher than you")
Positive: source for personal growth; burn negative actions to grow.("you cannot be both above and below")

When these people choose a goal, anything else that exists in them becomes meaningless to them. Problem is that sometimes they will try to go to something higher even if not ready for it.  This person wants to add to what he has in growth.

Chapter 1: Working with Fire: (pgs 19-26)

Three kinds of destruction:
1. destruction of something negative
2. destruction of something positive that needs to be transcended
3. destruction of something positive that is supposed to stay

Even good fire can spread past its boundaries:

source of anger:

1. seek to destroy opposition
2. want to rise to higher state so magnify the power of fire within (can lead to wrong areas like anger and this is cause of anger in Torah scholars)

Controlling the fire:

How do we control fire if it spreads past its boundaries?
 1. water:  cuts off forms of nourishment and thus destroys (feels void of vitality): balance it with a constructive form that provides life-giving elements (mohel)

2. earth:  directly attacks the victim and destroys (feels so depressed wants to commit suicide- destroy his very existence): balance it with providing existence to others (build a new city if you are a ruler that destroyed one)

Properly using the fire that inspires:

negating one's current level to rise to the next level:

1. search for a higher level (opposite to a person with no goals in life and never grows)
2. at the same time be happy with where you are- the current level (opposite of a person who is always focused on what he doesn't have)

"we need to "burn"the lower level somewhat in order to strive for a higher one, but...simultaneously sustain it, using earth to maintain its existence(of our current state) and water to get emotional nourishment (the pleasure we derive) from it until the higher element is available."

Please finish chapter one for next week and come up with examples of where you could see this in life.