Tanya By Rabbi Yitzchok Minkowicz Chapter 9 - The Constant Battle Between the G-Dly & Animal Soul

welcome to this week's Tonya class we are studying chapter 9 and Hebert's called test in English called chapter 9 so chapter 9 in Tonya as we explained as we go through Tanya every chapter is a foundation because this since this is the Bible of mysticism so every chapter is a foundation it's not just you know fluff but everyone is a foundation in a different area on this chapter happens to be a very very powerful chapter because it really deals with the essence the essence of every struggle that you have with whether it's from within or whether the struggle is from without so every time there is a struggle if you go to the heart of the struggle if you go to the heart of the conflict if you go to the heart of the challenge Tonya and chapter 9 takes you to the back room of the struggle and by really taking you to the back room of the struggle guess what you get to see the source and the root of the conflict and once you deal with the cause the source it's very easy to resolve the issue because you're dealing with the essence of the issue so in this chapter and chapter knowing the altar is stuff like this there as we discussed up until now we know already every single one of us had a godly soul and we have an animal soul as discussed in the last chapters every one of us has a godly soul that is implement it's godliness in the intellect the emotion in our actions and in our garments thought speech and action and the animal soul wants to do the same exact thing here the altar says I'm going to tell you what the root of the godly soul is what the root of the animal soul is in reference to the struggle in reference to the conflict another synthetic as follows so the optimist starts off by saying if you take the animal soul where does the animal soul hang out what's it cut what's its comfort zone if you want to find your animal soul right what do you find it now we're talking obviously on a spiritual level where do you find your animal soul you have a head you have a heart the feet your hands if you're looking for your animals so where you gonna find them so the algebra says that the place of the animal soul hangs out is we're in the heart and specifically in the left part of the heart the part that's full with the blood which the blood resembles the heat the excitement the passion so if you're looking for the animal soul it's there now why is the algebra telling this to us what to know where to find them no but to know what the spiritual makeup of the animal soul is in other words what's the buttons that gets pushed to get the animal soul going what is its driving force and who is the animal soul in a source and again as we remember discussed before the Amazons not bad and good it's not about bad and good the animal soul is just a driving force that thinks about self wants things for self and its driving forces how does it make me feel right now so what the altar is saying is wait what was the source of the animal soul its hangout is in the blood of the heart what does that mean practically that means very simple that what gets the animal soul going is emotions feelings how do I feel right now that I feel I want to say something I say it whether they're good or bad or indifferent do I feel I want to go now somewhere I go if I don't feel like I'm going I'm not going to go now obviously the animal soul has access to the intellect and has access to that to your actions but it's driving force it's starting point is always how does it make me feel how do I feel if I feel great I'm gung ho I don't feel good I'm not gonna do it now does it mean it's bad good no it just means that's a starting point sometimes it could be excited about something good if it feels great but sometimes it can be excited about something neutral and sometimes it can be excited about something actually not negative once it gets excited about it because the starting point is the excitement then it pulls in the intellect and comes up with a plan how to do it or pulls in its feet and let's go for it but what is the route what is the starting point the heart the emotions and that you'll soon see as we get into it is an important piece of information to know a to know what you're dealing with and B to know what you're up against and C to know how to combat it so that's the first piece of information important piece of information that we learn in Chapter nine second important piece of information is as follows the godly soul where does it hang out in your body where's the hangout very good in your brain godly soul hangs it by the computer your spiritual computer what does that mean in other words again to clarify the godly Souls like the animal soul has access to your intellect and your emotions and your actions and your feelings etc that's not the question it's as full access just like the animals allowed the difference is we said the animal soul starts out with the feelings and then from near attacks or it infiltrates into the mind and it justifies any behavior at once do or did or and then follows through with action the godly saw on the other hand it's starting point is what is in your brain and it's first question always is what does God want me to do you cannot get past second base or past first base with the Gauley so what I'm asking a simple question what does God want me to do right now so once to the one thing godly soul asks what does got me doing that once you know once you to pray now wants me to study once do a mitzvah fine then it gets excited and it gets passionate about it and it goes on a doesn't with enthusiasm if right now God says do nothing or meditate or whatever God asked you to do irrelevant how you feel about it the feelings will come afterwards God asked me to do this oh my gosh I have a list of them God I'm ready to do it so you see that the starting point and you'll see why it's important from the galleys all the animals to different worlds in other words let's let's take it a step further the starting point of the animal soul it's all about what me how I feel right now and it can change every minute and every hour I know though if somebody's life is driven by their animal soul how stable are they gonna be very okay not bad and good they're not they're not gonna be stables like the hearts unstable one minutes half 12 minutes cold woman it wants to go here one let's go there someone that's driven by his godly soul how stable is gonna be perfect how on targets me perfect it always asks one simple question what does God want and whatever God wants that's what it does so once we see and we learn about this major point then it's very simple when you have a conflict and a struggle what's the simple question who is running my life at this moment before you get to the shore if the galleys also control you that's not the issue but if you're having a conflict think about when you're having a conflict an internal conflict stop you will see that the conflict at the root of the conflict position a position be right thought like this thought like this the root because you know if you could have got the godly soul come and have a conflict with itself no one customer does God want does the animal have a counsel for itself no I feel good I'm doing this I don't feel like I'm not doing it the counselor comes when on one hand you want to do the right thing and why don't you wonder what feels good so once she know what the root of the country giving it names or the root of the conflict is okay this is your godly soul speaking this your animal soul singing for the answer is what do you want what do you want to do you got it so this is so helpful to really help yourself with any conflict you have internally within yourself so does your have you know two different opinions you're not sure I do this I do that get to the root of it one is gonna be rooted in the godly so I want you in the animal soul and then obviously once you you know establish what they what the essence of the conflict is if you're sure you almost do you godly soul or if you have two people that are arguing one of the people one of them right because if you both want it what God wants what's the argument and if you wanted to both what feels good so far you might necessarily agree but you both can do it but if so ultimately you have to see with what through the argument is okay that is the first part of the chapter nine which is an extremely important part but here the algebra column says ok now that we have this information now it's what does that mean practically to us anything like this God gave each and every one of us a godly soul in the animal soul now the reality is if we only had a godly soul what would life be like wonderful you get up in the morning yeah what does God want me to do today do it if you're out they have any conflicts know what does God want oh you want to do this nobody I'm gonna say this I do that you want me to think no problem it's very simple or if you just had an animal soul hey I feel like doing this I don't feel like doing it in a certain way it simple here the altar it says that's great if God gave us one soul but he gave us one body in the body we have two souls the godly soul the animal soul which the Gauley so only animal soul two different worlds and each one wants to rule my life the godly soul wants me to think first what does God want based on that to get excited about God once it does it's not like that golly souls a computer let's make that clear the godly soul doesn't want you to look like a computer the godly soul wants you to think like a computer and once you know what the right thing to do is then live be happy be excited be joyful pray with alacrity right to study be passionate about doing a mitzvah you can have the same and even more passion but anything else you're doing it the animal soul wants you to do the only difference is he wants to check it out first for this what God wants but he's not that at all and that's don't make that mistake to think that here's want you to be happy he wants to be even more happier so the Gauley soul wants you to get excited about life after obviously it's okay twenty knees do and to do what God wants the animal soul on the other hand right wants you to do what feels right start don't ask for God once think you know look into your heart whatever this has a feel and that makes it becomes a major conflict a major conflict so the algebra says that the conflict that exists is a deep conflict but when the godly soul takes charge and gives you a direction and gives you a vision the key thing to remember and to underscore that not only does he want you to have a good life he wants you to even have a better life and a more enjoyable life then the animal soul would give you now you might think what do you mean it has a possible the animal soul starting over the emotions the animal soul starting for the excitement of life right so how can we the godly souls gonna give me more passionate more exciting about life so the Alpha X is explained something which is very really very phenomena like this that when the godly soul thinks of what hey what does God want that's me a study wants me to pray he wants me to do mitzvahs watching respectful write everything God wants me to do and I'm ready to do it then go ahead and they do it so you'd think hey that's robotic there's no no no because this two parts as we said before word to the heart this sort of speaks spiritually the right side and the left side the right side of the part of the heart that gets excited about doing the right things do your God once about it you passion my Torah study about doing this vote and I praying correct but the left side of the heart because the animal soul is there it wants to it once so the question really is how can you if the godly souls in charge create excitement and passion in the heart greater then if it was just coming from the animal soul which is it's excited so the author explains like this nice is as follows that true when the godly soul wants to with God wants so it's almost in a certain way like robotic and you get excited about what God wants this is no he says because when you take the left side of the heart that wants just enjoy life the animal soul wants to enjoy life so what happens wants to enjoy life so here let me give you an example let's say for example you like eating right you like eating everyone likes different foods some people like you know grass and carrots something you like ice cream chocolate maybe a steak sushi some wine whatever you like eating right so the way your animal soul approaches it hey it looks good it tastes good let's enjoy has it time to feel it feels great sit down tonight's dinner right or long-term dessert whatever maybe whatever you like you sit down you enjoy it it's one who is that talking the animal so he likes it how great is the enjoyment as great as the food is and as long as the me alas right the meal is over join it's over till what the next meal now what happens if you eat and you enjoy and you keep on eating in your joy you keep on eating you enjoy what happens you stop putting on some excess weight and then how do you when you look in the mirror how do you feel or if you have to fit into let's say a suit or a dress for like a wedding of our Mitzvah right you don't feel so great so now so there's two ways to die it one way is diet oh my gosh I can't eat this I can t dance right nowhere else mean you can eat this canteen that and you look at food how painful is it it's very painful I like that I want it I can't eat it I can't eat it so what happens now it's painful that's one way to diet and it's a painful way to diet that's restricting the animal soul he taking the animal that wants to eat right the role of an atom within us we want to consume he say no you can't eat it because right what are you doing you're doing it to yourself or a parents doing it a child right either way it's restricting it doesn't feel great doesn't feel great but then there's another way nothing you can eat true that when you eat this it makes you feel good for this minute and it's enjoyable you can't knock it it is enjoyable but I have a better prize for you you don't to have a prize for you that next time you get dressed you're going to look in the mirror you're gonna feel great and you be able to with a nice suit that you were saving for your son's Bar Mitzvah or wedding or your friend's engagement party whatever it may be your your own engagement party right so next time you see the piece of chocolate it's nothing you're saying I don't want that because I don't want is I don't want is I don't and doesn't feel great so you don't say I don't want no chocolate I want something bigger and better I wanna be able to fit into this nice suit dress right and look at the mirror feel good about myself or be healthy so the nose was here so the example would be like it's like for example I tell you here is $20 to go buy something you see great I'm so excited but I don't know but if you give you the $20 today tomorrow I was gonna give you $1000 so it's pick and choose do you want the $20 today or do you want $1,000 tomorrow either tomorrow so it's not even a question you want the thousand tomorrow so if you look at it oh I can't help if you focus on the fact you can't have the $20 today it's me paper I can't have it who's thinking out the twenty mean you have a thousand tomorrow it's the same idea when you think about the thing you can't have it's painful but when you think about whether it's in food arena the dress the right is the way you're gonna look in the mirror over to the money area you can't have this but tomorrow you're gonna have something bigger so as long as you focusing on the positive the positive future of greater bigger reward who cares about the small thing I don't have I didn't want that because I want something bigger in order to get something bigger I can't have this so something I can I don't want this I want the bigger prize so the outer of it says same thing also the godly Souls approach to the to the feeling in the heart where I want something something I can't have that I don't know every time I say no we're talking I'm saying no to this because I really want something greater and something bigger in other words what I really want I want to have real happiness real joy knows here let me give you an example right so because it's it's a it's a deep concept a little difficult but it's a beautiful concept I'll give you another example there was a very righteous man passed away all things you know good things comes in and he passes away comes to a turn and they say to him you know you live the good life ready to take it she says Tim thank you I appreciate it but I would like I hear so much about hell I would like to get a tour of hell what's wrong with that well he never he was never there he's not planning on going there but they you know to see what it's like right that's all so he's a short no problem they take him to the elevator you see in heaven they have elevators also they take him to the elevator and they go inside the angel together with this man they pushed the button zero and the elevator starts going down floor floor floor and showing off the elevator door opens and wow he's surprised this looks like nothing everyone in a cruise ship but this looks like the lobby of the nicest cruise ship that exists in the world beautiful Lobby beautiful chandeliers beautiful big tables nice cheers I mean gorgeous and when he came that was actually dinner time and he sees by dinner they have waiters and waitresses they have a whole I have a huge big you know like a real royal table huge buffet down on the center table and everyone comes in and everyone sits down and this is hell I mean it looks like better than heaven that we had in the world right and he sit down for dinner everyone sits down and they want to eat so the way it works in hell is everybody has like attached their hand they have a fork that's tied on and the fork is four feet long so they pick up the hands with the fork and they want to start eating but the problems you have a four foot fork go try to eat with a four foot four it doesn't work and I try to eat beautiful room right air-conditioned delicious hot food on the table right mouse is very dripping from the food and there these four foot Forks and that's hell they can't eat right I got it let's go back he's done he goes up to heaven he go up to heaven comes to heaven and he arrived by dinner sure he gets a look also gorgeous room big tables big chairs also beautiful food down the middle everyone sitting down to eat and also sure enough they pick up their hands for forth the forks so what happens over there the guy sticks his fork in and he immediately to the other side table feeds the guy crossing the table and the guy across the table media feeds him you have two people what is it hell same scenario but because he's only thinking about himself guess what it's hell and it's painful he's starving the guy in heaven same situation but because he's focused on feeding somebody else he feels good he's helping somebody and meanwhile someone else is taking care of him that is heaven so in other words in other words so if you look after it from a selfish perspective hey I'd love to eat but if you look at it I have enough eternity to help somebody I'm not folk so if you focus I can't eat that's that's really living in hell cuz all about me and I can't feed my some how much gotta feed myself already but if you look at you're trying to help somebody else that's heaven so in other words if the outer is saying is when you take for a moment and think what does God want God wants me to live a godly life God wants me to help people God wants you to pray and to talk to study Torah and I can only eat this and I can't leave that I'm not focusing I can't eat that I'm focusing God wants me the culture and God wants me to do certain mitzvahs I have my restrictions but if I'm gonna have a restriction because God wants him to be a special and unique nation so when I'm basically abstaining from let's say doing what I don't want what doing but I want to I'm not gonna do because God doesn't want me to do what I'm doing what God wants you because God wants me to do it so if I'm looking at the fact I'm not doing what I want that's hell but since you're really focusing and doing what you want that creates tremendous pleasure in other words or it's like there's another term that's used in mysticism that when a person follows his godly soul that's what a godly soul wants right prays studies and that part is easy to him correct that part is easy it's easy to prayed you're studying doing it told anything it's easy for you because the collie soul does it and you already can do it in this isn't that's called told you know told means it's good it's good now I'm trying to pray okay I'm letting you have to pray now trying to study I study now son to help people I help people that the highest mark I'm getting you test is what is good if you want to get tove mode right which that's good very good how do you get there very good so it's 4 times missing explained it's very simple you know when you get very good when you don't want to pray right now well you don't want to study right now oh you don't want to do the myths right now and you do it anyway now you get very good because why because now you harness to your harnessed your animal soul you harness the left part of your heart that didn't want to do it the only one to do it it wanted to do and you've got it excited to do what God wants you got excited to have a relationship with God who nothing godly so the garlic so we know as a relation of a God but the animal soul got excited that's when you get the very good so notice the outer was saying is that when a person uses his godly soul not only to do what God wants where he's convinced then where it makes sense and it feels right he doesn't cleve no no but he does what God wants when and we're even when he doesn't want and specifically he doesn't want that's when you create the very very good and the last point that we finished off in this chapter tanya brings her a full circle you have to realize that what the animal soul wants full control also he wants what to do what he wants to do and he wants the intellect the following the action to follow him but the author who says at the end of the day is what does the animal soul really want deep down does it really want you to follow him doesn't want you to do with God wants exactly the ultimately the animal soul really wants to please God why think about it who created the god animal soul God who gave the animal soul the job to try to derail you and try to test you God so even though his job is to test you but does he really want you to fail no he wants you to pass the test and there's dancing the difference between a good teacher a teacher that really cares about the student or a teacher that really has a bad streak to him a teacher that has a bad streak is going to find a way to get you to fail to your lower mark to break you a real good teacher his goal is to get you to have hundreds because he knows he's only testing you to get you to work a little harder but doesn't really want you to fail he really wants you to get the hundred the ninety nine ninety five that's his goal so you test you just enough to get you excited and get you going get you to work a little harder in other words if for example you're you're you're holding by six he's not gonna test you to ten he'll try to get you between six to up to seven and that will be a hundred for you because his goal is to bring you up a notch because ultimately what's the job of the teacher he wants you to feel but he wants you to do good the real teacher real parent wants you to do well so he just encourages you to step up a little higher once you get there he bring you a little high in eventually I'll get you to fill to reach your potential so that's why this chapter is extremely important leave is this chapter really is the outline of every single challenge we have in our life are we what's leading us is our animal soul how we feel right now or what God wants and as long as you could always remember simple to ask a simple question what does God want this is what God wants me to do I'm ready to do it and when it's easy for you to do it that's great and when it's hard for you do it and you do it anyway that's extremely great and that's what you couldn't really really score big points so it's a win-win situation you're doing God wants and what it's easy you're doing what God wanted it's easy and we're doing what God wants cause it's hard guess what that's when you win that's when you watch when you win the spirit the spiritual lottery so all in all it's a home run so as you can tell this chapter really identifies if you think about your struggles and your lights internal struggles with other people this is at the heart of it and by knowing this really you know studying this chapter commending tank meditating on it it really allows you to empower us you let any time you had a struggle you have a a a place to go to say identify your struggle and be it empowers you to realize that the eve of the struggle that you have that's really testing you the test is not really real the test is ultimately to bring you out to get to your potential so a person struggling oh I had a hard day or I have that's great that's okay because guess what Beyond and behind the hard a is really God giving like a gentle push you can do a little more you can do a little better and if we continue just ask the simple question what does God want we'll do what God wants and when it's easy it's great and when it's difficult and we do what God wants it's extremely