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Book Title Be Within Stay Above
Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson
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A Quiet Heart

The human heart is beautiful.

The human heart can know secrets deeper than any mind could fathom.

The mind cannot contain G‑d,
but deep inside the heart there is a place for Him.

Yet there is nothing more dysfunctional than a brain controlled by its heart. Indeed, the finest mind is capable of the most horrid crimes when under the management of the heart.

Let the heart be quiet and hear out the mind. In that quiet listening, she will discover her true beauty and her deepest secrets will awaken.

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Based on letters and talks of the Rebbe, Rabbi M. M. Schneerson   More articles...  |   RSS Listing of Newest Articles by this Author

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. To order Rabbi Freeman’s book, Bringing Heaven Down to Earth, click here.

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Latest Comments:
Posted: July 3, 2011
Re: A Quiet Mind
Yes, that's the meaning of the final line. Once the heart learns quietness, then that deep understanding can emerge.
Posted By Tzvi Freeman (author)

Posted: June 30, 2011
A Quiet Heart - Penny June 29
I agree with you ' wholeheartedly '. Furthermore, Binah/Heart is associated more with women so to speak. However, it seems to me that the article wants Chochma/Wisdom/Mind to overrule Binah. It is a wily way to promote Chochma which Chabad associates more with the male jurisdiction.

I could be wrong. I may not have learned it properly, but this is the picture i came away with. Anyone care to correct me ? It is not intended to be a sexist slant, but that is what i came away with. This premise follows from my posts of June 28 2011- "maybe " and then " Contexts ". Am only interested in gaining a more accurate picture if i am wrong. I am also aware of the Chochma - Binah- Daat triangle. If i have that correctly, Wisdom and Understanding combine to render Daat, a total unmistakable grasp of Knowledge. Example: G-d exists. You know it in your entire being. Daat is commonly associated with the heart. Every once in a while i feel like i am in over my head on these subjects. But it feels okay.
Posted By Anonymous, w

Posted: June 29, 2011
A Quiet Mind
My understanding is that we do not want to quiet the heart. We want to develop a "knowing heart" that emerges in Binah.
Posted By Penny Cohen, Pound Ridge, NY

Posted: June 28, 2011
A quiet heart
If the heart is silent, quiet, then the mind makes the body move. The mind is capable of directing the body to move in accordance with the dictates of the Ego.
The heart is the place where G_D is..
"Follow your head, not your heart" has been the cause of broken relationships.
Posted By CHRIS RIEMER, FRESNO, California

Posted: June 28, 2011
to the WiseMomOf2
A Mom who can write this can only be a Wise Mom.G-d bless.
Posted By zeynep, istanbul

Posted: June 28, 2011
Parental decisions
Torah guides us to teach our children mainly from Chesed/love/stronger right hand more often than, and only as necessary from Gevurah/discipline/weaker left hand. That is part 1.

Part 2 is that Torah guides us to establish a Netzach-Hod bond, a steely resolve of trust between us and our children. Achieving this bond allows our children an easy acceptance of our teaching by Chesed and Gevurah, the bond in part 1.

These two parts are more naturally established by mothers. That is why mothers/women are better suited teachers in early childhood development. Better does not mean only. Men also play an essential role in the teaching process.
Posted By Anonymous

Posted: June 28, 2011
Why do we tend to associate mind with coldness and calculation,and heart with warmth and spiritual wisdom?Is this association itself(perhaps subconsciously) the product of a mind controlled by the heart?Where the emotions dwell we denote by the name of 'heart',negative emotions as well as positive ones.Negative ones,when the heart is not quiet;positive ones when it is quite(speaking with Zorach:the lower heart when it is not quite;the Higher heart when it is quite).Resentment,as an example for a negative emotion,depending on the natural disposition of the person (or the collectivity)who is feeling it,can manifest itself as an impulsive hotblooded instantenous act or a well(!) thought-out coldblooded and refined strategic action plan.In both cases there operates a mind that is under the control of an unquiet heart.The mind,without the negative interference of the heart,has the innocence of a child's curiosity;nurtured by a quite thus divine heart,it reaches out to the Divine Truth.
Posted By zeynep, istanbul

Posted: June 28, 2011
Contexts
In Parsha Korach, two commentaries come to mind.

The wife of On did not want him to follow Korach, but rather Moses, and so she got her husband too drunk to participate and thus saved his life. Did she not follow her heart ? In earlier parshas, Sarah sent Hagar and Ishmael out. The women at Sinai did not back the men making the Golden Calf. Are these not decisions of the heart/faith/belief ?

Korach's wife was the instigator for him to rebel. Korach does two things. First he devises a devious plan to get followers to join him in rebellion by attacking the higher level of holiness of Moses and Aaron. Secondly, he calculates that if his rebels can defeat Moses and Aaron, he, Korach, would likely be chosen Kohen Gadol. Are these not decisions of the mind ?

I realize that i am taking examples that thwart the idea that the mind must control the heart. There are probably far more examples where the mind decisions adroitly control decisions of the heart.

Am i mistaken ?
Posted By Anonymous

Posted: June 28, 2011
A Quiet Heart
B"H

As a mother, this truly hits home we discipline our children from the heart more than our brains, which always causes confusion in the home for everyone, not just from parent to child but from mother to Father as well.
Posted By MessiMomOf2, Adel, GA

Posted: June 28, 2011
A Quiet Heart
In quietness and trust is my strength: this convicts me through the years of life. But I believe my heart is the realm of my human spirit which seeks to agree with HaRuach. When a crime of passion occurs that emotion of the soul and the rational or actually irrational of the mind are not of that quiet heart in the first place.
Thank you rabbi Freeman. It is wonderful to start the day with your Daily Dose.
Posted By Anonymous, Forest Hills, NY/USA



 


Getting Past the Mind
Certainty
Supermind
The Convenient Mind
A Real Fool
Being Not That
Memory
Mind Over Matter
A Quiet Heart
Mind and Heart
Harmony
Mental Limits
Waking Up G‑d
Be a Mentsch
The Promise Inside
Decisions
Full Index...
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