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I had swallowed—“Master of the universe, You have out of his mind. He did not allow them to enter his mind
to rescue me!” at all, but he remained very strong and firm. He would
continue acting in the way that he had chosen for some
I really hope that no one will ever experience what I time. Afterwards, with the passage of time, after a few
went through. Everyone can understand that it is hard weeks had passed, he would review and decide the next
to describe the feelings I had in those fateful moments. practice to implement. When this long period of time
An outcry like that, the feelings in my heart that I had had passed, he would consider and choose some other
then—I had never felt anything like that in all my life. way and discipline, as appeared proper to him then. But
Thank God, right after I cried out, I felt something push he did not allow himself to be distracted so as to move
me strongly from behind. It was a large wave, which lifted frequently from one way of service to another, from
me up and threw me onto the shore. My friend, who was one approach to another. Rather, he would be strong in
beginning to worry, ran up to me, and when he saw that proceeding on one path for an extended period of time.
I was exhausted and almost blue, he immediately called
for medical assistance. I received treatment, and with Continue on Your Way
Hashem’s kindness, I quickly recovered.
Rabbi Nachman knew that he would not succeed in actualizing his
A Complete Prayer intentions unless he was strong and consistent with a powerful will
for a length of time that he had chosen. Even if he attained new
This story amazed and inspired me. At that moment, Hashem insights and came to new understandings indicating that he should
opened my heart and illuminated my understanding. This story act in a different way, and even if he knew with a certainty
provided me with the explanation of this Gemara. Through it, I that the new way in serving Hashem that he thought of was an
received an answer to a great many questions and the explanation improvement, he nevertheless knew that he must not change the
of a great many issues (as I will discuss below). I thought about discipline that he had set for himself. Why? Because he knew that
these matters a great deal, reviewing them again and again in order if he did so there would be no end to the matter. If today he
to clarify and elucidate them. I discovered a wonderful secret in would change in accordance with his present-day understanding,
them, one of the secrets of Creation. And after the great secrets tomorrow he again would change his service in accordance with the
that I have already revealed to you in this book, I would like (with understanding that he would have tomorrow.
the help of heaven) to share an additional secret with you that
completes the picture. It is the crowning touch, and everything As a result, he would not deal with any topic on a fundamental
depends on it. Listen and you will be invigorated! level, and he would not achieve anything. Therefore, he told
himself: “It is true that I understand that there are more important
Know that there are various levels of prayer, there are various things that I could be working on. But things change constantly:
levels of intent. In order for your prayer to be completely effective, every day I will understand and know new things. The idea that
two central characteristics are needed: wholeness of faith and I should keep switching the focus of my work is the counsel of
wholeness of will. In the cases that the Gemara describes and in the evil inclination, whose purpose is to keep me from acquiring
the case of my student who almost drowned, there was certainly anything. I will do better to continue working on my present goals
wholeness of will—all of these people wanted to live. But in order until I achieve them. As I do this, I will gain many insights and a
for a person’s prayer be complete, he also needs wholeness of faith. great deal of understanding. And after a few months, when I have

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