Torah on Mental Health #4 - Daas: Focus and Concentration is key - Rabbi Chaim Dalfin

Welcome to our weekly class in the series of Torah on Mental Health today is the fourth class out of seven and we're discussing the idea of maturity thus this is based on the third chapter in the holy book of T authored byman of the see him right behind me the book that I authored on his Tanya called Tanya of mental health so the series is dedicated to looking at his book and finding from each chapter some caveat some point to deal with a mental health issue so today we're discussing the mental health issue of focus and concentration this is a very important and large issue because far too many people today suffer from the inability or the per received an ability to focus and concentrate the internet age has brought tremendous good to the world in the sense of communication Torah Outreach mental health classes and much more at the same time it's caused a breakdown in the the ability to focus and concentrate everything is quick today anything that needs time to seep in is very very difficult in today's culture so the first thing we want to do is talk a little bit about the importance of what we call Das or dot da a th Loosely translated means knowledge there's the Hebrew word to know you shall know the author ofman he says although those those those meanings are all true but thus also comes from the idea of the ability to to plant yourself to settle yourself or in in in in mental health language to focus and concentrate to focus and concentrate on an idea let me let me tell you a short story anecdote there was Aid his name was reperat and this reperat when he was a young boy when he ate he ate he made a blessing but rather very quickly and the third known ased told him pits don't be childish he didn't tell him don't be a child because he was a child at the time childish what is the difference between a child childish a child doesn't think much it's instant gratification I want it now if I don't have it now I get upset or for that matter I get very quickly turned on and excited the long-term absorbing of an issue the development of an issue the thinking much into an issue is an adultlike Behavior so that samed was telling this child if you want to succeed in life don't use a childish attitude of impatience of the Quick Fix and we know about this because when Paris was an adult already before he made a blessing on food he would stop I say it's analogous to this on a basketball court timeout right they dribbling the ball and they're stealing they're shooting then right it's happening and everyone's running one team against the other and all of a sudden one one fellow one player goes like this time out the referee says time out everyone gets a chance to to talk with each other and their coach and to regroup ER before he made a blessing as an adult he didn't go time out this way he went time out this way he put his head on his forehead like this and he thought for a moment before whom am I eating this apple it didn't just take the apple and put it in his mouth even very quickly no no he held the Apple then he just for a moment put down the apple and he put his head on his forehead take a moment of reflection don't be childish be an adult the balatan here in this chapter teaches us that this is the notion of Das you see we have H and Bina HMA Loosely translated his wisdom beina Loosely translated his understanding of the first of the Hebrew the first letter of the Hebrew word the bet the bet the B ofina and the doll of is an acronym for is Bina the D is D what's difference between the three in the in the authors in the balatan version the difference is Extreme HMA is a geometric point it's a flash of intuition it's an idea you don't know yet what it is enina Bina is study and Analysis the developmental process as is the most important of the three that's is focus and concentration you can have a genius idea and you can have the best computer an analysts to develop that idea but if you don't take that idea and dwell on it and focus and concentrate on it the idea won't go anywhere and this is why many good ideas and many well thought out IDE ideas in the sense of developing the idea don't end up getting aat for example why because what was lacking is the third and most important stage of D of focus and concentration and we find this in the tal tal teaches us that the way to actually have the consummation of of of the husband and wife in their relationship for for there to come and Offspring a child it requires focus and concentration dust and if there is no D in the union nothing happens it's a fleeting experience and fleeting doesn't mean it it you know it's not great it might be great but nothing is developed there is no fruit to bear so Das is a very very important element now when it comes to mental health people who deal with all kinds of mental health issues and the truth is we all do mental health and those that have struggle with mental health we think of those that have severe mental health issues from depression to anxiety to anger Etc truth is you find one person doesn't have some issue of mental health and you'll find me that person about it I'm not talking about what we call in Judaism a sadic a Holy Soul they're in a different plane a different category the average person has some issue regardless of what they do for their living they are plagued with a mental health issue it doesn't mean that it becomes a crisis it doesn't come AC crisis that that would be the difference between someone who's able to control their mental health issue and someone who can't the difference is in it becoming a crisis we want to control the mental health issue so the batan says you want to control it you need to focus and concentrate you need to focus and concentrate on the idea on the you need to focus and concentrate on the Bea on the development of the idea now both Hina in comparison to each other one is more I self and one is more the object the objective few one is more subjective and one is more objective right is more objective and Bea is more subject but the truth is that when you put both of them on the scale in comparison to D they're both subjective in comparison to das which is object why Das leaves the eye as we discussed in last week's class the ego the difference between what we call the neiss of chapter 2 and Tanya the neis of chapter one and Tanya is a difference not just in comparison but a totally different category one is I selfish and one is you God selfless th in comparison to would be the same idea or similar at least it's being selfless versus selfish why because when you focus and you concentrate you are cusing the idea and it's development to take a backseat the position in Das is being absorbed by The Higher by the greater the position in andina is you're in control a little more or a little less is submit let go let the idea hover over you let it let it in in know inspire you and you just seek not seek seep in the inspiration to do this takes time to do this takes training to do this takes patience so what I suggest and I've written it in third chapter in the book here what I suggest is to take one idea per week and to dwell on this idea initially by understanding it well both in its term form it's in its idea form and then in its development F form and then letting it well on you know be submerged in it don't seek to understand it don't seek to develop it just seek to be to be to be in the aura of the idea to be to be in the environment of the development of the idea what what position do you play in that realm in a way none that's exactly what we want in order to become healthier you need to get rid of the blockages the blockages that we cause on ourselves because of our ego so we seek to submerge ego to divest of ego does this mean to say that you need to be used in not talking about physical abuse but abused in allowing people to embarrass you to insult you to hurt you of course not that is very unhealthy the same time realize something takes place that is on the realm of outrageous it's god-given why why why why now why to me I don't know why but I know that since it happened to me at this given moment there's a message and when we focus and concentrate in this line of thinking and this subversion of self into the unknown we become cleansed cleansed of the plague cleansed of the Demons cleansed of all the stuff walk around with so much stuff you know the stuff from I know this and she knows this and he knows this and why this and why she and why he on and on and on it go so this is my message to you for today I want you to focus and concentrate on being absorbed especially when it comes to us Jewish people and we have opportunities as the high holidays approaches to submerge ourselves into the rosashana yipper those holidays are an excellent Time by doing and participating with people whe whe it be in synagogue or at home and preparation is absolutely necessary what you put in is what you take out you don't put in time you don't prepare yourself for the holy days you're gonna have a meaningless experience another day of bang bang bang w po poo haa and the the three three four weeks were finished and we're into the next month and he turned back and say hey what did I experience so this month the month of el is now time to really really invest in preparing ourselves for the for the month of the Hool days and these classes are a good way another way to do so so stay in touch let me know how it can be helpful and may God wish everyone may be written craved for a good year of Life Health sustenance you and your family and may we see finally very speed very soon the Messiah will take us all to Jerusalem rebuild the holy Temple and we'll celebrate all together and we'll all be healed mentally and happy to be together amain be amain