What you've been leaving BEHIND | Ten Minutes of Meaning | Tanya #32

Good morning, Boat. Welcome back to 10 minutes of meeting generously sponsored by Marilyn and Michael Fidak. We remain very grateful to them. Please help yourself from Shia Corner. Coffee, slushy, pastries, and the like. We are beginning today the seventh perk of Tanya. Perrick, Zion of Tanya. We last left off talking about the three kipos. Kipos we described are in the model of ego versus elocus. that all of our life can be evaluated by what we're doing, eating, saying, where we're going, what we're thinking, which are all the garments of the soul. Are we doing so in order to indulge in the ego? Are we doing so because of our sense of self, our need, our want, our desire, our craving? Or are we doing so as a yearning for elocus? Because we're striving, we're reaching, we're going higher and higher to connect to Hashem. Everything fits into ego or elocus. said to Balatanya Batana actually introduced this new idea that there's not unlike the world of that there's something which is something which is a mitzvah and that which is in the middle in the world of hashkaf or in the world of aod everything is either ego or elocus we're either doing it in a way that's bringing us closer to hashem or driving us further so the first three kipos are kipos that are categorically bad or negative they are all by definition ego go and the end of perv ended with several examples of them. All non-coosher food, all non-cooser speech, all non-cooser behavior essentially. Why would one engage or indulge in any of them is only because of ego. It's all only out of ego. But then we encounter the fourth realm, the fourth kipa. And the fourth kipa is called kipas noa. And on the one hand it's a kibba. It's a husk. On the one hand it's a blockage. On the other hand it's noa. It is bright. There is light. How could it be both the hos the kipa and noa and bright because it is neither defined categorically as ego or elocus. It is open and available for us to decide and determine what it is. So with that we begin per z. However, in contrast, the energizing animal soul of a Jew that comes from the kipa is which is embodied in our blood. Where are the kipa in the blood? Why? Because kipa emanates from the animal in us. And here points out in his commentary that when the balatanya is invoking the image of an animal not necessarily lowly and base an animal in a negative way. Animal means biological biologically anatomically we have a lot in common with an animal. We eat we eliminate we reproduce. Much of who we are the physical being of who we are much of it parallels the animal the animal kingdom and animals. So biologically we have this animal where is the animal in us found that animal soul that is part of earth and here and craves pleasure and the now where is that animal found that's found in the blood. So number one where is this kipas noa in the animal soul in us the animal soul is not good or bad unlike other the balatana says our goal is not to she or slaughter or purge or eliminate the animal we're trying to train the animal we want the animal to be working for us so number one the energizing animal soul is is uh in the blood and that is kipos noa second example or manifestation of kipos no If non- kosher foods are automatically ego, then kosher foods, you could eat kosher food in one of two ways. You could be a glutton. You could eat it out of ego. You could eat it out of desire. You could eat it as a base animal. Or you could be elevating the experience and the act of eating. The eating is a way of connecting to the source of that food to the life force is called. and the bright kipa being the sustenance and life force of everything that's permissible to eat from the animal world and the vegetable world number three is the is also the sustenance and the life force of every worldly act spoken word or thought we said that the soul has garments the way that the soul presents itself and interacts with the world is through speech thought and action so in our speech thought and action it's not categorically good or bad. It's not inherently or intrinsically positive or negative. It's what we do with it. It has no trace of inherent religious prohibition neither in its root nor its branch from the 365 prohibitions or from their offshoots which are durab. So why is such an activity considered to be from kipa the dark energy if it's not prohibited if these are kosher foods and if these acts speech and thoughts are permissible so why are they kipa at all right in other words again is setting up this paradigm I would have thought that anything that's not prohibited is perfectly permissible if it's not user what's the problem however the batan is setting up this paradigm he began in the last par continues into this that says that's not true. That whole paradigm, that whole assumption is incorrect. It's inaccurate. It's not that if it's not us or what's the matter with it. It's that even the things that look neutral are kipasnoga. They can go one of two ways and it's up to us to decide which direction to put it. But writes an oldic saying states what is forbidden one must not and what is permitted one need not. What is forbidden was must not and what is permitted one need not. What is forbidden he writes is evil holy on the other side. What is forbidden is also kipa and what is permitted is not holy and therefore belongs to the other side. But the other side includes all that is not holy. What is not a mitz or what is not act actively holy is kipah husk something extraneous to the divine essence of creation. The difference between the forbidden and the permitted is not the difference between holiness and kipa but the difference between the levels of kipa between kipa that can be rectified and kipa that cannot be rectified. So therefore kipa's noa is still from the world of kipa if the urge for it is not a mitzvah mitzvah is by definition categorically good mitzvah is the means to connect to elocus but kipa if it's not a mitzvah it's just mut just because it's permissible doesn't mean you have to what is forbidden one must not and what is permitted one need not why because even that which is permitted has an element of kipa whatever pastry is available in the lobby today is mut has a it's kosher in theory you could eat it. It's permissible. So is it a mitzvah to eat it? It has kipa. It's extraneous to creation to holiness. It has a husk an element. Now if you're eating it to make a if you're eating it to observe a if you're eating it because created it you want to connect to him by saying the brah and eating the food that's going to give life force and sustain you throughout the day. If you're eating it because your sugar is dropping and you're a diabetic and eating a little something with sugar in it is the way you're going to maintain your health in the moment. There's all kinds of ways to redeem the kipa. But it's kipas noa. It's not outright kipa because it's not user. If it were, we would never have non-cooser in the lobby. But if it were non-cooser, it would be outright kipa because it is in this middle category. It's kipas noa. And we have the ability to either elevate it or to lower it or to lower it. So continues the the alter. So we learned in the last par that an activity might serve either to enhance awareness of a divine energy which saturates the universe or ego. Right? The whole world is this paradigm. What we're doing, what we're saying, what we're thinking, where we're going is either ego or a kosher activity will strengthen even if it's really bodily need for continued living. Know you have to eat. So now you're sitting down to lunch to breakfast. Let's say you're having breakfast. You're not an intermittent faster and you're having breakfast. When you sit down to breakfast this morning, that's you need to eat. You need to eat to live. So you might think if I need to eat to live by definition, then it's good. says the baltan if while you're eating your is not you're not sitting meditating reflecting thinking with tremendous intention I'm making a braha created this food hashem is amazing he created me that I need to eat it in order to live so when I eat it and he is the source of it he is giving me life and through the act of eating I am connecting to the source of life and this act of eating is transformational it is a religious experience The act of eating can either be a religious experience or a gluttonous experience. All these unawwakened acts, spoken word thoughts are not superior to the animal soul's energy itself which is focused on the self. You could eat, we actually use this in our vernacular. We describe somebody who eats like an animal. You could eat like an animal. You could eat like a pig. You could eat in a gluttonous anim animalistic fashion. And that's indulging the animal. That's kipus noa. Or you could you could eat with ego or you could eat with elocus. And just as you can't lift yourself up by grabbing your own hair, no force in the universe, right? So Miller can transcend its own source without outside assistance. If an act is motivated exclusively by the animal soul, which is powered by self-centered kipa, it cannot awaken to God. Wow. Let's say that again. You can't lift yourself up by your own hair. You can't reach up in theory when you had hair and lift yourself up by your own hair. You would need an outside force to do it. If Alan Ber standing next to you and you have hair, he can certainly lift you by your hair, but it takes an outside force. You can't lift yourself up. So, so to the animal soul in you, you can't lift it up because it has self-centered kipa in it. So, it cannot awaken to God. Andos and it is the same for all all kosher objects and activities and the animal soul itself are powered metaphorically metaphysically by the second higher level within kipos and sitra kipo kipos noa which is this fourth kipa and it has the bright light while predominantly self-centered it has a little good making it bright so all kipa is categorically bad kipa is ego that which is forbidden that which is us or that which is That which is a that drags us down. Indulging it is indulging the ego. You're doing something wrong. Watching, saying, going, doing, thinking, you're indulging ego. It's lowering you. It's lessening you. It's the pull of spiritual gravity. But kipas no is not categorically good. A mitzvah is categorically good. A mitzvah that you do, we'll get to the shalishma no of the mitzvah. We'll get to. But the mitzvah, you've done an act that's categorically good. Kipus noa is in the middle where it depends on the intention that we bring to it. An act power by kipas noa could either promote ego consciousness or it could bring you to awareness of hashem. These two possibilities are suggested by its name. On the one hand it's kipa. It's husk. It conceals hashem. On the other hand it's noa. It's bright. It doesn't eclipse hashem fully. Right? It's it's a it's a husk that's blocking hashem. Outright kipa outright ego. Outright negativity is a total eclipse of Hashem. There's no light that shines through. It's pure darkness. It's the other side. It's the sitra. Kipas noa is a partial eclipse. On the one hand, it's concealing God. If you eat, if you sleep, if you indulge in the physical, animal, biological world we live in. It's an eclipse. It's eclipsing Hashem. But there's no God. There's light that shines through of him. It's neither categorically positive or negative, good or bad. And we have the capacity to connect and it's up to us. Will we indulge in it as a ego consciousness? Is it an ego experience or is it an elocus experience? In this physical world, the world of many worlds in this world of so evil predominates. There's a lot of negativity, a lot of darkness, a lot of pull, a lot of gravity weighing us down. and only a little good is mixed in. The odds are stacked against us. It's grossly unfair. We wake up, we're already in the red. We're already dragging down. This is I've quoted several times what the what the quotes says, why is there gravity in everything in the physical world? There's a correlary in the metaphysical world. The same way in the physical world gravity is pulling us down and we have to resist it in order to lift up. In the spiritual world the spiritual gravity is weighing us down and we have to resist it in order to lift up. That's what the alterb is saying. There's a spiritual gravity for I was saying from when we wake up in the morning but the truth is it's from before we wake up in the morning. It's the first three snoozes in the morning. Maybe you can or can't relate to this. I every morning go through a battle. Many don't even know the likes of which. Before I even get out of bed, there is a battle and a war that took place. Several alarms, several snoozes. Maybe somebody is not so happy. There's several alarms and several snoozes. There's all kind There's a battle. There's a war. There's arguments and excuses why I don't need to wake up, why I don't need to get out of bed, why I don't need to. It's a war. The spiritual gravity gravity is weighing us down. And you have to resist it. You have to overcome it. writes the this little good, this the little bit of good that's mixed in, this is the source of the positive qualities in the animal soul. The animal soul is predominantly bad. It's a spiritual gravity. It is directing us and driving us with cravings towards bad things, wrong things, self-sabotaging things. But there's a stick good. There's a little bit of good within even that animal soul. And that's kipas noa. What we tap into that's how we can get around the partial eclipse to access the light of hashem that is shining through even through that kipas noa the he and then the rabbi continues. We'll stop here with the relationship between kipas noa the fourth kipa and the first three. We'll pick up with this hashem next time. Yes.