Three Stages of Higher Life

There are three forms of enlightened life:

At the foundation is life upon a wild beast— only that the inner self stays awake, and that innerness is joined by a great light from Above, so that eyes stay on the road, with mind, words and limbs working together to reach their destination.

There are many levels to this rung, but all are within the reach of every person.

Then there is a person within whom burns a holy fire of desire for the Oneness of the Infinite Light. With this fire, he overwhelms the fire of earthly passion, until it is diminished to no more than a faint flicker.

This again knows many levels, but all within the realm of the tzaddik—something not every person is meant to attain in this life.

And then there is an ultimate point: Where the fire of earthly passion becomes itself a G‑dly force. Then there will not be any more darkness, for we will have revealed how all darkness shines.

This is the stage of a time to come, but it is being formed in the here and now, out of our struggle with that wild beast and the harnessing of its passions.

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In Your Hands

The Night Will Shine

By Tzvi Freeman

From the wisdom of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, of righteous memory; words and condensation by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. Subscribe and get your dose daily. To order Rabbi Freeman’s latest book, Wisdom to Heal the Earth, click here.

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11 Comments

Adele Mischel Boston January 26, 2020

Thank you Rabbi for this inspired teaching.
We all struggle to live with the best that is in ourselves, and we may “feel” that we are being led by a power beyond ourselves. Reply

Mark Reibscheid Brooklyn, NY April 2, 2014

faint flicker or a more gentle earthly passion Like a multitude of streams conversing into a river, earthly passion will recede from the all-encompassing to it's reality, like a sofa doesn't make a parlor, it's just part of it. It will be put into perspective with more "lofty" mindsets put into place. After what is to come in the near future this train off thought will envelope humanity. We will evolve spiritually far beyond what is now. The time of moshiach will be a transitional time where this modality of thought will spread geometrically across the world. We will morph into a "kinder" entity. Just like a house is renovated and furnished, we will be the dwelling place that HaShem is creating as we speak. Our concept of personality will become extinct just as pre-civilized humans worldview is gone. (Well, almost gone)
Eventually as the time of mosiach is at an end. HaShem will have that dwelling place. As a lesser entity now inhabits our bodies- HaShem will inhabit people of the future. That is the intention of creation. B"H Reply

Michele usa April 2, 2014

SPEECHLESS B"H

Thank you for sharing Rabbi Tzvi! Reply

Henry Brown Miami Beach April 2, 2014

3 stages of enlightenment Great topic, with this information you can reach the heights.
Do you have a class teaching methodology?
Fits well into the Passover/Shavuot celebrations.
Shalom and Thanks,
Chanoch Reply

Anonymous Montreal April 2, 2014

Three Stages...... 1.) You can accept life for what it is, the beauty that GOD created, and live each day to the fullest.
2.) You can live in the negative and run away from life and live in a story.
3.) You can hate your life and find a guru and escape into pure fantasy. Reply

Lenny ben Nathan richmond, va January 20, 2012

three stages of enlightenment Wow, thanks for explaining, that puts it all in perspective. Thank you, Nancy from Queens. Reply

Rabbi Tzvi Freeman Thornhill, On January 19, 2012

For Lenny Yes, the two are related, but they are opposite extremes. In the first stage, the animal remains an animal, only that it is under control.
In the final stage, the animal itself is revealed to be a G-dly beast. Reply

Lenny ben Nathan richmond, VA January 19, 2012

3 stages of enlighenment/ todays daily dose This is good but i am curious in what ways the first stage differs from the third stage? Reply

Anonymous January 19, 2012

Wow!! Trully amazing and enlightening. Thanks for this great way to perceive our service of G-d. Reply

Nancy Duong Queens, NY/USA January 19, 2012

Paraphrase Three Stages of Enlightenment 1) One inner self is awake and joined by G-d that with natural talent, ability, conviction to achieve the welfare. There are varied levels of outcome but all of us can do this.
2) There is a person whose earthly passion is so diminished to a faint flicker in order for G-d to shine forth. Again there are also varied levels but each still can not totally overtaken by the Holy Light in this life.
3) Ultimately in the Moshiach era all earthly passion is Holy Fire, because no more darkness. We reveal that darkness shines. This is to come. (Our struggle with darkness in the here and now is like the seed that someday we see its sprout). Reply

Cuauhtémoc Vite guadalajara, méxico March 8, 2009

About Three Stages Of Enlightenment Beautiful text as always.
Thanks Rabbi Reply

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