There’s so much to talk about on this one. I’m anticipating a loud KToon community buzz, sharing experiences, reactions, rebuttals, rejections, rebellions, reconciliations, rethinkings, repercussions, recapitulations and more.

The idea is actually one of the early teachings of the great kabbalist and chassidic master, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, from when he used to say short teachings before his time in Czarist prison. What’s neat is the way he teaches you to objectify your feelings, saying, “That’s not really me, that’s just a fire burning inside.”

You see, the #1 booby-trap on the path to self-mastery is self-blame. As soon as you say, “Oy! I’m so bad for feeling that way!”—you’ve already sentenced yourself to eternal slavery. Why? Because you’ve identified yourself with those feelings. You’ve said, “That is who I am, that is how I feel.” And you have to be who you are, right?

But if you say, “Oy, it’s that burning fire/dumb animal/secretion of hormones happening again!”—so now you can choose to ignore/tame/master that fire/animal/limbic response system.

After all, you are not the animal inside. You are a G‑dly soul.