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all worlds and spiritual levels, and tells you: “My child, at this very The Perfection of the Will Hashem to nullify his cravings and evil traits, as a result of his sense
moment, take all of the good in the world….” of danger (as above).

But what impedes this? What gets in the way? If Hashem so deeply Saves Us from Death To Ask to Be Revived
wants to give this to us and He is all-powerful, what is preventing
that from happening? There is a great difference between the prayer of a person who is As long as a person’s craving burns in him, he will never feel that

about to drown in the sea and the prayer of a person who is asking sin is death. His craving appears to him as the sweetest ingredient in
The impediment is that we do not have the capacity to take to be saved from sinning. When a person prays for his life, he is
and receive the goodness of the Creator. Therefore, after we personally involved and he feels the danger strongly, and so he cries existence, “the taste of life.” How can he see that this is death? At
implement the first stage of our work—which is to recognize the out from the depth of his heart—whereas in his prayer for spiritual every moment that he visualizes the craving, he only makes it more
Creator with complete faith—we must approach our work. Our matters, he does not feel that if he does not get what he asks for, and more appealing to himself, and he lacks free choice.
work is to prepare ourselves and then receive the goodness of the he is not really alive, because he does not see his spiritual danger as Therefore, in the work of the will, when a person prays for
Creator and the spiritual salvation that He so lovingly extends to literal death. Therefore, he accepts his situation. He “makes do.” It
us. And the work of preparing ourselves is the work of attaining the does not burn so strongly in him. He prays to Hashem calmly. He his spirituality, he must have a feeling of death: not that “I am
going to die” but that “I am already dead!” He should cry out to
wholeness of the will! thinks, “If Hashem gives, He gives, and if not, that is not so terrible. Hashem: “Master of the world, the problem is not that I am going
Life will continue….” Therefore, his prayer is anemic. to die. I have already been dead for a while. I do not have any free
choice at all. I ask You for life. Give me life! Destroy my craving.
The perfection of the will manifests itself only when a person’s This craving is death. It is killing me. As long as I have this craving,
life is in danger. Then an outcry bursts from the depths of his heart. I am dead. As long as I have this craving, I do not feel danger. I do
Therefore, in order to attain the perfect work of the will, a person not feel and recall anything. I do not recall Hashem and the Torah.
must feel the spiritual danger he is in. That is to say, he must feel I do not recall any obligation and faithfulness. I only want to fulfill
that if he does not receive what he is working on, his life is in my craving. I want to feel danger, but where am I in general? I
imminent and actual danger. He must feel that he absolutely needs have destroyed all of my feelings. Rescue me quickly and give me
what he is working on, that he must have it immediately, that his immediately, right now, a strong will to want only You. Give me
life is at stake! “If I do not get what I am working on at this very true fear of heaven and nullify my craving right away, because at
minute, I am not even alive!” Therefore, Rabbi Nachman said that every moment I am in terrible danger. Revive me and help me so
we must pray for spiritual salvation like a person praying for help as that from now on I will view sin like death and sweetness…”
he is hanging by his hands from a wall and at every moment feels
that he is about to fall to his death. This entire chapter is speaking to a person who has already spent
a period of time working on his will and who is not at peace with
When a person attains this feeling, he extends his will unreservedly the fact that he possesses cravings, and who wants to see a tangible
to the Creator, and receives what he asks for—on the spot! and immediate change. He sees that he is progressing very slowly,
Therefore, such work brings about salvation quickly. And we must and he is still committing many sins, and throughout the day he is
learn clearly what the work is and what we are seeking. consumed by his cravings, and his evil desire repeatedly overcomes
him, and so he seeks the proper way to bring about and experience
This Is Not Enough new changes every day. This entire chapter has been written for
such a person, so that he will receive the inspiration and vessels to
Whoever does the work of the will wants to change spiritually. do his work properly. And when his good will grows stronger and
Therefore, he dedicates half an hour every day to that work. But in pushes away his evil will, he begins to return to sanity, and he can