The Depth of Mind

 

Our last two shiurim concentrated on the technique of Rav Yisrael Salanter and its variations.  When most people speak of "Mussar" nowadays, there is a narrow connotation to the term, which alludes to the nineteenth-century Mussar movement.  However, this series has been continuously using the broad meaning of the word - the study of how to live.  In pursuing our survey of the practical means at our disposal in the task of spiritual and ethical progress, we will from here on follow in the wake of other schools of thought found in Jewish sources.

 

The methods of "learning Mussar" we have studied until now were generated by the dichotomy of mind and emotion.  The assumption was that substantial change needs the vehicle of emotion in order to achieve depth.  The path we will take this week, however, is different.  It takes mind alone as the exclusive point of departure, and as the prime focus of activity.  Yet, as we shall see, the contribution of mind per se to ethical growth is not so easily understood.  This is why sources we will examine tend to cross over to the super-rational.

 

We'll introduce this viewpoint with Rav Elimelekh Bar-Shaul, the late rabbi of Rechovot, from his collection of essays called "Ma'arkhei Lev" (p.11) -

 

"Many are the thoughts in the heart of a man" - Great, rich thoughts, and small, poor ones.  Thoughts that rise to the very crucible of existence, and thoughts that address ordinary daily life.  Thoughts as calm as placid waters, and thoughts that storm like turbulent waves.  Stable, continuous thoughts, and thoughts of revolution and breakthrough.  Ripe, clear thoughts, and premature, obfuscated thoughts...

 

Rav Bar-Shaul is telling us that the mind is not merely a vessel which absorbs knowledge, an instrument which analyzes facts or orchestrates reactions to external stimuli.  Our mind is better described as a fountainhead of thought.  The ideas it produces are not monotonous, bland statements.  They have color and character.  They are distinguished from one another not only by content, but also by form and texture. 

 

From here we proceed to the distinction which will be the theme of Rav Bar-Shaul's discussion.  The coming ideas are abstract, but be patient - practical ramifications are "in the wings!"

 

There are inner thoughts, and external thoughts.  The inner thoughts are the ones that have not been  "carved" into letters, that have yet to come down to the level of explication.  "Thoughts precede all letters.  They constantly roam about in our inwardness.  We have to discover our true courage ... in order to always be aware of the nature of those unimagined imaginings, those forms that are beyond all form, in order that we should recognize the glory of our soul." (- from Rav Kook's "Rosh Milin," 1) 

 

The inner thoughts are the ones that are projected directly from the recesses of the soul.  We look inward and sense that "the life-activity of the soul never ceases, just as physical life-activity never ceases throughout life.  The manifestation of the mental life, which comes about because some new, bright ideas are thought of from time to time, it seeming to us that time elapses between one new thought and the next - does not come from the basic, essential capacity of life, but from its outbranching manifestations.  But the essence of life, which is the activity of the soul in its depths, never ceases at all.  The thoughts constantly are created and stream inside us." (ibid.  137) ...

 

The primal depth of human thought, the source from which light flows to the inner thought and from there to all thoughts, is invisible to us.  Yet that is the essence of thought and the essence of man - as opposed to all other thoughts and ruminations which pass through the human mind, which are not the main part of thought, but only the garb of the inner thought...

 

The bottom line of all this for us, on our level of understanding, is this: thought is superficial and external, if it doesn't plumb the depths to the source of thought ... Only once thought has deepened to the source of its sustenance, will it be illuminated from within.

 

However - deepening of this sort is possible only through study of Torah.

 

We will pause here to catch our breath.  This picture contrasts sharply with the conception of the intellect as a tool used by us to interact with the environment (compare with the citation from Georg Simmel, lesson #9).  Such interaction is treated here as the most external, non-essential function of mind.  But the essential mind is non-transparent, virtually ineffable.  The thoughts that become intelligible to us are derivatives, or "garments" of the inner intellect.  From this description of the reality, we arrive at a presumptuous program - we can use our revealed intelligence to establish contact with the world of inner thought, which is beyond clear conception.  Our defined thinking can plumb the depth of the mysterious mind, and thus become "illuminated from within."  The vehicle for this communication is Torah.

 

You no doubt sense the mystical aura which surrounds all this.  This strain becomes more pronounced in the following quotations.  To support this claim, Rav Bar-Shaul cites Ramchal (Rav Moshe Chaim Luzzatto) in his "Derekh Etz Ha-chaim:"

 

The Torah is not like other branches of knowledge and secular sciences ... Torah is sacred, and possesses a reality which is celestial.  When someone learns Torah in the lower world, it is a light that illuminates his soul, which connects it to the upper secret chambers of the Holy One, by way of the illumination and the powerful influence it exerts upon it ... [1]

 

He also cites this kabbalistic doctrine, from Rav Chaim of Volozhin (Nefesh Ha-chaim 1:16):

 

Chazal have told us in no uncertain terms, the only way to achieve the sparks of the soul's light is through intensive study of our holy Torah, for both of these derive from the same source, as is known to the wise.

 

The mystical theory here is important to the author as a basis for his conclusions, but he is not recommending "transcendental" practices.  He is rather following Rav Chaim Volozhiner in claiming that intensive study of REVEALED Torah leads to the discovery of thoughts that are of profound INNER significance.  Torah is a light in the soul, because it is the soul's cognate, issuing from the same supernatural Divine source.  Thoughts of Torah belong to the world of thoughts of the innermost soul.

 

Rav Bar-Shaul believes that this is particularly true of that part of Torah that deals most directly with Mussar and midot (character traits).  He quotes Rabbenu Yona's Sha'arei Teshuva (3:15):

 

Of those who do not devote thought to the study of the fear of God, it says: "And their fear of Me is merely as a people's customary obligation," and also, "You are close in their mouths but far from their reins" ... But of those who think, study intensively and draw near [to God], it says, "And I am always with you, You have held My right hand ... and as for me, the proximity to God is good for me."

 

To put it succinctly - the directive here is for in-depth study of Torah, particularly Mussar.  Depth of study reveals the person's own personal understanding and original insights in this area, and these are a unique revelation of his inner self.  Such study, ostensibly intellectual, develops and builds the personality.  Rav Bar-Shaul concludes:

 

No one can know himself unless he has discovered the light of his soul.  And this light is revealed only if he has achieved the light of Torah.  The effort of Torah study and in-depth Torah thinking, are great illuminations of the soul ... the heart, and the whole being.  It is all one light - the light of Torah, which is the light of the soul, which is the light of thought, which is the light of man.

 

I would like to draw attention to the contrast between this and what we learned in our very first shiur in the name of the Vilna Gaon.  The Gaon wrote that Torah study is often not a positive moral influence, and can even have a negative effect on the personality.  Is there a conflict here? Not necessarily.  Rav Bar-Shaul is talking to a person who is interested in growth and ethical progress.  For one with such a positive orientation, profound Torah study holds out the promise of help in actualizing his potential.  The Gaon, on the other hand, was warning us that if the "seed" within the man is evil, Torah can conceivably make matters worse by exacerbating the already-present negative tendencies.

 

Admittedly, the theory here presented is one that may leave the rational-minded among us "hanging," with a feeling of less-than-full understanding.  At the same time, regardless of our level of comprehension, the example of genuine Torah scholars whose ethical stature was clearly and positively shaped by their years of intensive study, speaks loudly.

 

MEDITATION IN CHASSIDUT

 

Let's go a step further.  The attempt to connect with the depth of thought within us may take a more direct turn, in the form of meditation.  While this practice is commonly connected with mysticism, it can be used to assimilate and deeply identify with principles of Mussar, with the aim of making them a source of profound influence in our lives.

 

Meditation of this sort is discussed in the literature of Chabad (Lubavitch).  The instructions that follow, based on Chabad sources, are from a book called Betach Ba-Hashem, by Rav David Rosen.  The subject of the book is the attribute of bitachon (trust in God)[2].  In chapter 8, meditation (rendered here "hitbonenut") is discussed as one of the means of changing one's midot in general.

 

Meditation is done in two stages: in the first, one must expend effort to study the subject expansively ... to bring down the things from their abstraction and to illustrate and imagine them as far as possible, until he feels that he has gotten the message of the matter ... and he is able to summarize the idea and the subject in one or two sentences...

 

But in order to arrive at understanding of the heart, one must continue to the next stage, in which one uses the power of da'at (literally, knowledge).  "Da'at" means attachment and connection, as in "And Adam knew (yada) Chava."  In other words, after precise study, one must attach and connect oneself to the object of study, in order that it become part of the person, so that he should not have the feeling that he and the subject learned are two things, that his study is foreign to him.  On the contrary, he should reach the state in which he feels connection, identification, belonging and unity with what he has learned.

 

We will presently return to this passage.  But first note that the intellectual category "da'at" is given the force of the added connotation "connection."  This idea is found in the foundational work of Chabad, Tanya (chap. 3):

 

"Da'at" is [meant] as in [the verse,] "And Adam knew Chava," connoting connection and attachment, meaning that he [= the meditator] attaches his da'at with a very strong, powerful connection, and tightly fastens his thought to the greatness of Einsof (the Infinite), blessed be He.  Now if he does not attach his da'at and fasten his thought tightly and continuously, he will not succeed in producing within himself genuine love and fear...

 

In Chabad, the mind is the archetypal vehicle of connection, because the object of knowledge - a fact or a concept - is grasped and "surrounded" by it.  The connection is at once abstract and real.  If the thought is "strong" and "tight," the connection becomes even more apparent and actual.  Of course, the author of the Tanya, Rav Shneur Zalman, is talking about meditation on the "greatness of Einsof," a patently mystical meditation, though it certainly has ethical ramifications.  Our purpose in bringing this technique is to utilize it in the more explicitly ethical sphere - meditation on a concept or teaching of Mussar.  Getting back to "Betach Ba-Hashem" -

 

So it is specifically regarding the rectification of a moral attribute: the person and the idea studied must unite ... In this thought process one must pay attention to two things (without which there can be no "connection" or "attachment").  The first is CONCENTRATION, that is, the person exerts himself to the utmost of his ability to tie his thought and hold it on the subject upon which he meditates, without losing attention.  This is very important, because if the person does not tie his mind tightly and continuously without distraction from the object of his meditation, he will not achieve understanding of the heart, because loss of attention greatly weakens thought and handicaps its potential influence on the heart, and the result is that the moral attribute in question will remain un-rectified. 

 

The second thing which requires attention is DURATION.  The meditator must hold each thought for a certain amount of time, because a fleeting thought which does not persist in the mind does not have the power to penetrate the heart and work upon it.  Just like in sin (as Chazal say), "The eye sees, the heart desires, and the body's 'agents of action' carry out the deed," a parallel process characterizes spiritual progress.  The "eye sees" - proper meditation influences the heart, and then the heart desires, and the "agents of action" complete the rectification of the moral attribute in question...

 

I will not go beyond this basic description of the meditation process.  Those interested can learn more from the rather extensive literature on the topic (the writings of Rav Aryeh Kaplan deserve mention), and also in courses and workshops given for people who want to develop the skill. 

 

It is important to emphasize that our recommendation of this practice as an avenue of spiritual improvement for those so inclined, applies exclusively to meditation done and taught in the spirit of Chassidut and Torah Judaism.  Training and guidance given by teachers who represent thought-systems outside of Judaism can be hazardous, and frequently involve serious halakhic problems.  A further word of caution is in order - one who seeks to develop the skill beyond the very basic level we have described should do so only with the guidance of an experienced teacher.  These more advanced levels are, of course, relevant mainly to mystically-oriented meditation, and less important for the purposes which interest us here.

 

It is time to retrace our steps and get a perspective on our survey thus far.  Heretofore, we viewed the mind mainly as a prologue, with emotion as the vehicle of existential identification with the ethical ideal.  This week we saw that the mind itself can be used not only as a means of understanding, but also as a way of achieving assimilation and identification.  This can be done, on one hand, through intensive, creative study in depth.  Meditation as taught by Chassidut - a process which grants power and continuity to thought - is another way of achieving "unity." In trying to understand both the theory and practice of these approaches, we found ourselves crossing the dividing-line between rationalism and mysticism. 

 

We began our survey of techniques by suggesting a balance between intellect and emotion; we continued with an approach that de-emphasizes emotion and relies heavily upon thought.  Our next step will conserve the overall symmetry; it will feature an approach that has an opposite emphasis.  This is a tradition which distrusts the mind, and sees emotion as the premier, reliable vehicle of ethical ascent.  Such is the teaching of Rav Nachman of Braslav.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Note that this idea was quoted from Ramchal by Rav Wolbe (above, shiur no. 11).  But Rav Wolbe proceeded from here to the assumption that intellectual study is not sufficient to get to the "light," whereas Rav Bar-Shaul, like Rav Chaim Volozhiner, infers that the study itself is a way of linking up with the "light" of Torah and the soul.

 

[2] The book is recommended, by the way, as a good, thorough treatment of the subject, based on primary sources.