The raw act of the mitzvah itself is the main part of the fulfillment. The thoughts one attaches to it are only secondary.

Another trick is that the evil inclination has a person believe that the focus should only be on purity of heart, and tricks him to miss the proper time of the mitzvah or prayer.

One of the tricks of the evil inclination is that he passes himself off as the good inclination.

The more one has worked on his level of purity and holiness, the greater is his need to be careful not to be ensnared in the trap of the evil inclination of putting others down.

Embarrassing Torah scholars is a horrible sin, and it incurs great spiritual destruction. Even if the person is learning Torah with the wrong intents, by putting him down, great spiritual destruction can occur, Heaven forbid.

While learning Torah lishma, for the right reasons, is a great level, even learning for the wrong reasons is considered a great thing, as it can eventually bring one to learn for the right reasons.

One must be careful not to look down upon others who may not be on the same level of service of Hashem. Doing so constitutes an incredible sin.

Even when one is climbing to the greatest spiritual heights with the tools the Nefesh Hachaim has provided, once must be keenly aware of his capacity for pride, and be careful not to fall into its trap.

We end the third gate with an understanding of the proper intent one should have in prayer and Torah learning - completely nullifying oneself and all of reality to Hashem's overarching Oneness.

There was a fundamental difference between the quality of Moshe's prophecy as opposed to the prophecy of the forefathers, and it involved a perception of the higher essence (Yud-kei-vav-kei) as opposed to the concept of Elokim.

There was a fundamental difference between the quality of Moshe's prophecy as opposed to the prophecy of the forefathers, and it involved a perception of the higher essence (Yud-kei-vav-kei) as opposed to the concept of Elokim.

There was a fundamental difference between the quality of Moshe's prophecy as opposed to the prophecy of the forefathers, and it involved a perception of the higher essence (Yud-kei-vav-kei) as opposed to the concept of Elokim.

There was a fundamental difference between the quality of Moshe's prophecy as opposed to the prophecy of the forefathers, and it involved a perception of the higher essence (Yud-kei-vav-kei) as opposed to the concept of Elokim.

The meditation on Ain od milvado also has the ability to aid one in doing miracles, because, from Hashem's perspective, there is no difference between nature and the supernatural.

When one meditates on the concept of Ain od milvado - that Hashem is all there is - this has the intense power to subvert any evil plans and to act as a strong protection from evil.

Black magic has the power to subvert the powers of the stars and the zodiac, but the powers of holiness are higher, and can not be subverted. The very power of Black magic is ultimately rooted in the power of holiness itself, as well.

We explore the concept of black magic, and how it works to subvert the laws of nature.

Shema represents the Unity of the two aspects we are discussing. We also discuss the statement that follows - Baruch Shem.

Shema represents the Unity of the two aspects we are discussing. We also discuss the statement that follows - Baruch Shem.

At the current time, we do not perceive Hashem as the root of everything. In the future world, however, we will.

The roots of everything are the original ten statements of Hashem when He created the world. These are not perceptible now, in our current state, but will be perceived in the future.

Everything in this world is rooted in the upper realms. They, in turn, are rooted in the realms above them, reaching back to the highest worlds which are composed of the four-letter name of Hashem.

Everything in this world is rooted in the upper realms. They, in turn, are rooted in the realms above them, reaching back to the highest worlds which are composed of the four-letter name of Hashem.

We discuss further the difference between these two names.