In order to fully maximize the transformative potential of this shiur, it is important to listen to the first two parts (My Favorite Shiur 1/3 and My Favorite Shiur 2/3) before continuing with this next installment.
In the third shiur, the Rebbe continues with explaining how contemplating Hashem's greatness (hisbonenus) coupled with His infinite love for each and every one of us can elicit intense feelings of love towards Hashem. Thus it is possible for one to "fall in love with" the Master of the World and to be in a relationship with Him much like the relationship between close friends or between a man and his wife. Fostering this understanding through contemplation and the power of imagination is the key step one must take to stop pouring all his energy into himself and begin divesting everything he does of personal interest.
"I believe that loving the Divine begins with us. G-d loves us. He created us so that He could confer His blessings, His taanug upon us. Creation, everything was for us. And inasmuch as He is boundless and capable of relating to each and every one of us as though we are the only thing that existed, we have G-d's infinite attention, and everything that happens in our lives, on a moment by moment basis, is an expression of G-d's love for us. Directly proportionate with how great we can see and feel G-d to be, then the moment that that combines with the fact that the same Being, who we know to be indescribably great, loves little, puny us, that evokes from us a tremendous response of wanting to reciprocate. We become, in a certain sense, intoxicated with G-d. We want to anything we can. G-d loves us and wants to give us eternity."
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1 comment:
I suggest we make chavrusas in recognizing His goodness the same we make chavrusas in Talmud.
A common question:
A man is minding his own business and is, for no good reason, assaulted by a thug. This bandit immediately calls 911, accompanies the ambulance to the hospital, demands the best doctors on behalf of his victim, accompanies him through months of rehabilitation until he has fully healed and overall shows an unbounded love and caring for the man he has injured.
Would we expect the victim to feel gratitude and thanks for all the help he has received? Maybe some, but for the most part we might expect feelings of disgust, self-righteousness and contempt. Maybe after those feelings subside, we may expect him to accept the help being offered more graciously, but only because it is owed. He deserves this treatment from this man for he is to blame for the entire condition.
I don't think our initial reaction would be one of gratitude.
Why then, are we expected to show gratitude to the Master of the Universe, for health, ability, and success? Did we choose the condition of pain that we should be grateful when it is not present? We were created with the need to eat, why then would we be grateful when the power responsible for that condition provides us with sustenance?
The answer may be the following:
Even the condition is a blessing.
Another question:
How can I be full of gratitude for something that I have, that another may be lacking? Isn't my gratitude contemptuous in that it suggests that others do not have their needs completely cared for?
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