Fixing Your Earth [Laziness] - 003 Moderating The Pace

דע את מידותיך – הדרכה מעשית – עצלות מפורט 003 – רוח דעפר דעפר

The Opposing Elements – Earth\Heaviness and Wind\Movement

With siyata d’shmaya we will continue here to learn about the element of earth [with regards to the trait of laziness]. We will now discuss “wind”-of-earth [of earth]. As mentioned earlier, earth is the root of heaviness, and wind is the root of movement.

The Vilna Gaon said that the four elements consist of two “pairs”, which are each opposing elements of each other: the elements of water and fire, and the elements of earth and wind. In Heaven, there is fire and water, so fire and water are a “pair”. On this world, the main elements which combine together are earth and wind, and this is symbolized by the prime physical creation, man, who is a combination of earth (physicality) and wind (the soul, or the “breath of G-d”).

When these opposing elements of earth and wind are properly balanced, it is a wondrous combination, a mafli laasos, “a wonder to make”, and this is also called pele Elyon, “a wonder from on High”. Two opposing forces always bear one root, and therefore, they can be balanced and harmonized.

Thus, the opposite elements of earth and wind can combine, and they can also be balanced. When earth and wind combine properly in man, man looks like the tzelem elokim (“image of G-d”) which he was created in. In the usual situation, though, the earth and wind in man are not combined properly – meaning that there is a lack of balance between the body (earth) and the soul (wind).

The Generation of the Dispersal – The Evil Combination of Earth and Wind

This concept, the combination of earth and wind in the soul, bears several results. The following is an example.

The Vilna Gaon[1] says that the three active elements are water, wind and fire, whereas earth is not an active element, and rather acts as a container to harness the other three elements, utilizing their potential. The Vilna Gaon drew a parallel between these three active elements and the three evil generations in history, who each misused one of these elements: The Generation of the Flood were impaired in their element of water, the Generation of the Dispersal were impaired in their element of wind, and the Generation of Sodom were impaired in their fire.

The sefer Megaleh Amukos[2] differs about this, and writes that it is the Generation of Enosh who were impaired in their wind, whereas the Generation of the Dispersal were impaired in their earth [unlike the Vilna Gaon, who wrote that that they were impaired in their wind]. The Generation of the Dispersal were the ones who built the Tower of Bavel. This was a building of earth, and their motivation to build it stemmed from a dominance of their element of wind. It was a combination of earth and wind.

Which element was dominating? Clearly, their wind overpowered their earth. If their earth would have been dominant, it would have slowed them down and they would have been prevented from building the tower. Their ambition to build the tower came from a dominance of wind, which overpowered their earth. In this way, we can reconcile the words of the sefer Megaleh Amukos with the words of the Vilna Gaon, that they are both correct – the Generation of the Dispersal were dominated both by earth and wind. The power to build comes from earth, whereas ambition comes from wind.

Laziness of Wind-of-Earth: Slowed Movement

For our purposes, an example of a result of the combination of earth and wind is when these elements are the cause for a specific kind of laziness – particularly, when one moves slowly. When a person’s movements are slow, this stems from an impaired combination of earth and wind. The wind allows for some movement, whereas the earth aspect slows down the movement. Thus, when a person moves slowly, this is a specific kind of laziness which stems from wind-of-earth. His dominant “earth” slows down his movements, and the result is that he moves slowly.

Furthermore, not only does this result in him moving slowly, but since his main element is earth, he will cease the moving as soon as his movement gets interrupted a bit. He may start moving, but if he becomes slowed down or if he gets prevented from continuing, he falls back into his unmoving nature, and he stops moving.

So when one’s laziness is stemming from a dominant nature of wind-of-earth, either he will move slowly, or he will cease moving once his movements are interrupted.

This is a general description of the laziness that stems from wind-of-earth [of earth].

The Pace of Our Movement: How Quickly Do We Need To Move?

Whenever a person moves, there are differing levels of speed, in his movements. There is either slow movement, fast movement, or moderate movement.

If a person is physically heavy, usually he moves slowly, unless he has great strength of soul which empowers him to move quickly and energetically. On the highest level, one acts quickly and energetically because he has accessed his higher will (ratzon), a spiritual source of energetic movement. But even if one isn’t that spiritual, he may simply have a nature (in his animal level of the soul) to move quickly.

On the other end of the spectrum are those who naturally move slowly, because they have much internal “heaviness” which slows them down. When a person with this slowly moving nature also bears the negative trait of conceitedness, he is more self-conscious when he walks, and this will slow down his movements even more.

A person’s movements must be balanced. One should move with a speed that depends on his current needs in his soul – his soul may require more movement, or it may require less movement, depending on the situation. His physical speed of movement must become properly aligned with the speed of the movements in his soul. If one moves too slowly, he will become lethargic. If he moves too quickly, he will usually lose his peace of mind, and in turn, he will lose his inner balance and then he won’t be able to focus and concentrate well. So the speed of one’s movement can either slow down one’s thinking, or it can accelerate it.

Thus, whenever a person moves, he must wonder and discern if his amount of movement is properly aligned with the rest of his soul’s needs right now. Sometimes a person must change his speed of movement, depending on the situation.

For example, when a person wakes up in the morning, he should arise quickly, he should “be strong like a lion to arise in the morning, to serve his Creator” as stated in the beginning of Shulchan Aruch. He should overcome his laziness, and get up joyously. But it is also brought in halachah that he should not arise too quickly, because this is physically endangering to the spine, but besides for that, there is a more inner issue as well: if he arises too rapidly and he jumps out of bed immediately after waking, this may be jolting to his soul, because he cannot handle such rapid movement right now, after he was just asleep for so long. It creates an imbalance in his soul, so this kind of rapid movement is damaging to him on an inward level.

Most of the time when a person wakes up, he wakes up in steps, in stages, and not right away. The body needs some time until it fully awakens, and the soul also has an emotional need to arise in stages, so that the transition from sleep to waking shouldn’t happen so rapidly. The ideal way to wake up, indeed, is to wake up calmly, and in stages. One should not be getting up in the morning as if he is waking up from a nightmare, where he wakes up terrified and chaotic, making a rapid transition from being asleep to quickly waking and rising. This is too jolting for the soul. Instead, the proper way to wake up in the morning is to arise calmly, and in stages.

Therefore, if a person jumps out of bed in the morning as soon as he wakes up, it may seem like a praiseworthy trait of enthusiasm, but in actuality, it is jolting to the soul, because the rapid physical movement is too much for his soul to handle right now. It creates an imbalance in his soul.

The same idea is true in the opposite scenario: If a person was moving a lot during the day, and later he slows down and he feels himself getting lazy, and he wants to get moving again, he should not move very quickly. Although he would be overcoming the heaviness of the physical body which was weighing him down, his body is weak and it needs to regain its strength, so it would not be wise to get the body moving very quickly. If he does, it is jolting to the soul and it creates an imbalance between his physical movements with his inner movements. Usually when a person is tired after moving a lot, his body needs to rest from all of the movement, and he needs that rest to recharge his physical strength.

Rapid Movement Can Be A Catalyst For Anger                                                                    

Also, when one is used to moving quickly, this usually awakens his emotional state. Movement awakens the emotions in the soul. There is a relationship between movement and emotion – which can each influence and activate each other. In any case, the quicker a person moves, the more his emotions may become activated. What can result from this? When one’s emotions are active and intense, he may easily be angered. He is chaotic and his physical movements may increase his emotional intensity, causing him to be more prone to anger.

Moving Too Slowly vs. Moving Too Quickly

Therefore, each person needs to know how to have different degrees of movement. With some people, this depends on their mood – they will move quickly when they are in a good mood, and when they feel low and despondent, they feel inwardly heavy and they move slowly. However, this is not what we mean here. Here we are speaking of a concept that every person needs to know how fast or slow he needs to move, depending on what the situation calls for. One needs to develop a place in his soul where he can perform different kinds of movement.

One needs to know how to move either quickly or slowly, whether he is in a situation which requires him to move at a certain speed, or whether his soul currently needs a certain speed.

Here is an example which illustrates the concept. Some people will generally move very slowly. When they see the bus coming and it’s in the distance, they will walk very slowly towards the bus, even when the bus slows down for them. This has nothing to do with having more emunah (faith) or not, which is a separate matter. Even when this kind of person runs to the bus, you can tell that he is contradicting his nature. It’s hard to tell if he is running to make the bus or not. This is true whether a person is physically heavy, or even if he feels inwardly heavy. He will not run fast even when he should, because his heavy nature weighs him down. This kind of person needs to learn how to run, when the situation calls for it.

Others have the opposite problem - they have a nature to move very quickly, so they will always be on the move, and they never walk slowly. That is good, but when does this become a problem? Sometimes there’s an elderly person walking slowly in front of them, and they are stuck behind him, which slows them down, and they have no patience for this. They want to get going already and barrel past him. He has never yet developed a place in his soul for moving slowly, so he does not have the patience to move slowly right now.

Earlier, we explained the contrast between the elements of earth and wind, which are the powers of non-movement and movement, and how a person should balance out these elements with each other. We explained about the speed of movement which the body needs, the speed of movement which the animal soul needs, and the speed of movement which stems from the higher will of the soul. Now we are explaining that a person needs to acquire different kinds of movement.

What is the correct balance? Every person needs to know how to move slowly, as well as how to move quickly. One needs to know how to move with yishuv hadaas, a settled mind, with maturity and dignity, as well as to know how to move quickly and energetically.

Understandably, not everyone moves quickly on the same level. Others move faster, and others move slower. This differs based on one’s physical weight, height, and personality. But each person, on his own level, must know how to move quickly, and naturally. Even if it is not one’s nature to do so, he should learn how to acquire either of these movements as his second nature.

For example, some people move their hands very slowly, and some move their hands very quickly and rapidly, which can cause others around them to be anxious. How should a person move? One’s movements need to be aligned with his inner state, but besides for this, one needs to be able to move his hands slowly and calmly, and he also needs to know how to move quickly. 

This idea is practiced on a superficial level today by people who teach others about how to influence others through professional speech and proper body language, which they offer complete courses about today in our generation, on this topic alone. But we are learning here of a concept that develops our inner, true world, not the external, superficial world. One needs to move at a speed that is aligned with the deep needs of his soul, or because he needs to act at a certain level of speed, and not because he is trying to program his body language. One needs to know how to move at different speeds, not because of any external reasons that are superficial, but because his soul needs it.

The Art of Combining Opposite Abilities – “Dovor V’Hipucho”’

This concept, when practiced, enables one to acquire the power of “dovor v’hipucho, “a thing and its opposite”, an ability in the soul which enables one to contain opposites[3] – in our case, the ability to contain the opposing elements of wind and earth.

As mentioned earlier, wind and earth are opposite extremes from each other, and it is part of our inner work to contain these opposite elements in ourselves. Simply speaking, this means that we need to balance out these opposite elements in ourselves. If we have a lot of wind, we need to balance it with earth, and vice versa. That is true, but there is a deeper part of our inner work. The opposing elements of earth and wind are not only an inner contradiction that we need to make sense of - rather, these opposing elements are the root by which we can acquire a deep ability in the soul: the ability to contain opposites, “dovor v’hipucho”.

This is not simply a way to solve the contradiction of earth and wind. This is a very fundamental concept, and it is the very depth of the soul: when we unify opposites. In our world, the main contradiction is between our body\earth and soul\wind, and therefore the contradiction between earth and wind is the inner root by which a person can acquire the ability of opposite movements. Our work when it comes to wind-of-earth [of earth] is not simply to work out the contradictions between the earth and wind and to balance them out. That is the only the external definition, though it is needed. The depth which we need to come to is to acquire the art of dovor v’hipucho. 

When one acquires this ability, either it means that (1) He will be able to live with contradictions, or (2) He will be able to balance out the contradictions, or, (3) He will be reach “the root of opposites” – which is the deep rectification of the soul.

Thus, our work is not simply to attain balance in the soul between contradicting elements. That part was addressed in previous lessons. Our work here, as explained in this chapter, involves a deeper aspect. We are not simply trying to learn here about how to balance out our earth and wind with each other. With Hashem’s help, we will explain more about this balance, in the coming chapters, when we will speak about the general element of “wind”-of-earth. At the beginning of our work, though, where we are now studying wind-of-earth-of-earth, we need to begin with the idea of integrating opposites with each other, before we work on balancing. That is why we explained in this lesson that one needs to become familiar with two kinds of movement – slow movement, which is rooted in earth, and quick movement, which is rooted in wind. When one can do these two kinds of movements which are opposite from each other, this is the depth of the balance between earth and wind.

Easily Transitioning Between Different States of Movement

Going further with this, the more a person acquires this ability act with opposite movements, he will also find that he can easily transition between the states of slow movement and quick movement.

Normally, any transition from one state to another involves difficulty, and sometimes even danger. For example, if a person is in the heat and he quickly enters a cold place, or vice versa, this is dangerous to the body. One needs to first transition into a serene state, before he can move on to an opposite state. In order for any transition between two different situations to go smoothly, there must be a point of menuchah\serenity, or ayin\nothingness, between the two states. One must make a “space” between opposite kinds of movements, in order to make a safe transition from quick movement to slow movement, or vice versa.

How long should this ‘break’ last? How much time should one allow, when transitioning between two states? For a person who lives superficially, this issue is irrelevant, because he doesn’t make a space between two different states, and he tries to easily transition from one state to another, without taking a break in between. He isn’t aware of the need to form a ‘bridge’ between two different states, and the result is an undesirable mixture of both. But a person who lives internally will understand the need to create a space\break between two different states. How much of a break should it be?

It depends on how much emotional or mental strength he is in middle of using. If his movement is minimal, he will not have to allow that much time pass, because he isn’t that connected to the movement. But if he is strongly involved with the movement, he will need to allow a longer amount of time to pass before switching to a different kind of movement, because he is more connected to the movement, and hence he will need more time to pull away from it.

However, when one acquires the ability of dovor v’hipucho as explained previously in this lesson, the transition between two states will be quicker.

When one moves slowly, he awakens his aspect of heaviness\earth, and when he moves quickly, he awakens his aspect of movement\wind. This is not about mere external behavior of how to act. It does not mean that a person should move slowly when he wants to appear more honorable, and that he should run in other situations. It is about the deep, inner movements of the soul which are the roots of a person’s physical movements. When a person is moving slowly, it is really a reflection of the slow movement in his soul, rooted in the element of earth. (On an inner level, this is the secret of Shabbos Kodesh, which corresponds to the “heaviness” in the element of earth on the side of holiness). The same is with quick movement: a person moves quickly when he is aware that there is fast movement in his soul. This is the root of how a person is able to make any quick transition.

Understandably, whenever a person makes a quick transition [between two different movements], he must not do so if it will cause any imbalance to any other areas of his soul. Any transition must be balanced with the rest of his soul. The transition must be done calmly and serenely. When one can do this quickly, this is a true balance between the elements of earth and wind.

How much should one move, and at what pace? This will be different with each person.

In review, our work when it comes to repairing wind-of-earth [of earth] is not merely to attain balance between our elements of earth and wind. Rather, we must take an “opposite” direction than this. Our work here is not simply to repair the laziness caused by the element of earth, which can either be non-movement or slow movement, as described in the previous three lessons. Rather, the complete way to repair wind-of-earth [of earth] is when we are able to do opposite kinds of movements. Herein is contained a deep aspect of man’s shleimus (self-perfection).

Practically Actualizing This Lesson

Practically speaking, in order to actualize the concepts of this lesson, one needs, firstly, to:

(1)  Fortify his element of earth, so that his element of earth is strong;

(2)  Then, he should develop a strong element of wind [to balance out his earth];

(3)  After that, he can work on the concept of practicing opposite movements. Part of this stage is that one should practice moving quickly, as explained in previous lessons. After that, one should progress to the stage of making quick transitions between two different kinds of movement – by quickly switching from slow movement to quick movement, and vice versa. One should keep practicing this until he can make the transition in a way that he doesn’t throw him off balance, and he can remain calm and serene while transitioning.

Acquiring Deep Self-Control

This helps a person acquire great self-control over his movements. When one is in control over his movements, he can easily transition between different kinds of movement. He can quickly transition from slow movement to quick movement, and vice versa, depending on the situation.

How can one work on this idea? He should practice moving quickly. For example, if one is in a closed room, he can try running, and he should remain calm while running. He can also try running from one room to another, and then he can try walking slowly back to the other room, and then he can repeat the cycle. He should guide the pace of his movements and make the transition between them. However, one should only practice this if he is remaining calm throughout the different kinds of movement.

Slowly as a person practices this, he acquires for himself a kind of self-control. Of course, only Hashem has total control. But a human being, on his own level, can acquire self-control over his movements, either by quickening or slowing down his movement.

Often while a person tries this, one will notice if he is running too quickly, and then he can balance himself out by slowing down his movements. He will see if he can quickly balance out his movements, either by accelerating his movement or by slowing down his movement – whatever the balance requires.

When one practices this often, he will live a life of sensitivity and deep awareness [of his inner world]. It is a life of stable movement which is aligned with the soul.

In Summary and In Conclusion

Most people are far from this concept, because they are not that aware of the pace of their movements. Here in this lesson, it was a described how one can live a life of deep awareness of the movements in the soul, and how to direct them, according to one’s current needs. It is a life of experiencing the movements of the soul, and controlling them. This is a higher experience of life than what most people are aware of.

Therefore, in practice, most people will only be able to understand the idea of attaining a balance in their movements, as explained in previous chapters, and which we will continue to explain about in coming chapters. That is a kind of inner work which most people will relate to. But the concept described in this lesson is a deeper kind of self-work which not many will identify with or want to work at.

In summary, this lesson explained the idea that one should acquire the ability of doing opposite kinds of movements, both quick and slow movement, knowing when to make use of either of them, and transitioning between them with ease.

This offers a deep self-perfection in the soul: when one is able to contain opposite abilities. It is contained in anyone who has a strong combination of earth and wind in his soul, but it can also be activated from its potential state [by any person] when one develops a constant awareness and experience of the movements of his soul, which are the roots of his external movements. After one has developed this keen awareness, he can easily moderate the pace of his movements, as well as easily transition between different movements, depending on the situation.

This is a life of self-control over the abilities in one’s soul, from a deep, subtle kind of awareness that is within him.