Thursday, December 16, 2010

Talking to Yourself

Art: "Hannah's Reflection" - Jana Bouc


Sometimes when you speak to a friend, your words are not accepted.

Still, you can be motivated by your own words.

A ball cannot enter a stone wall, and therefore bounces back from it.

When your friend refuses to accept your words, they likewise are reflected back to you.  You are therefore influenced by your own words.

These same words may have had no effect if you would have spoken them to yourself.  But when you speak them to your friend and he is not influenced, they are reflected back to you.  You are therefore motivated by them.

Source: Rabbi Nachman's Wisdom by Rabbi Nathan of Nemirov
Translated by Rabbi Ayreh Kaplan

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like this! How our souls act on the things we believe in our mind. Or maybe, when you talk to yourself it is your lower soul (Ruach) telling your higher soul (Chaya or Yechida-that stays hardwired to Hashem) all the things it has gone through. And then the Chaya goes to Hashem with all of these things and Hashem sends you the solution in your dreams. You are not talking to yourself, you are telling your soul.
The Kabbalists says the Nechama flies away at night to Hashem, don't they?

Devorah said...

The Kabbalists explain that while we sleep, our souls leave our bodies and ascend to their heavenly source to replenish their energy. While a residue of the soul remains with the body to keep it alive, the main portion of the soul travels to higher places. In this disembodied state, the soul is free to experience visions and encounters that are usually off limits to beings of this world. This includes the possibility of meeting other disembodied souls--particularly the souls of loved ones who have passed away. It is their opportunity to convey a message to those they have left behind. [Rabbi Aron Moss: http://nefesh.com.au]

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“When a man’s soul ascends above as he sleeps, if he is sinful then his soul is cast about from place to place by the forces of the powers of evil, this is why one sees himself in a dream in another country or in another land.” (Zoh. 3,222b).

Link: http://www.koshertorah.com/PDF/dreams.pdf