Translated text of Mesilas Yesharim in this font.
My
commentary in this font.
CHAPTER Ill
CONCERNING THE DIVISIONS OF WATCHFULNESS
ONE WHO WISHES to watch over himself
must take two things into consideration. First he must consider what
constitutes the true good that a person should choose and the true evil that he
should flee from; and second, he must consider his actions, to discover whether
they appertain to the category of good or to that of evil. This applies both to
times when there is a question of performing a specific action and to times
when there is no such question. When there is a question of performing a
specific action, he should do nothing before he weighs the action in the scale
of the aforementioned understanding. And when there is no such question, the
idea should take the form of his bringing before himself the remembrance of his
deeds in general and weighing them, likewise, in the scales of this criterion
to determine what they contain of evil, so that he may cast it aside, and what
of good, so that he may be constant in it and strengthen himself in it. If he
finds in them aught that is evil, he should consider and attempt to reason out
what device he might use to turn aside from that evil and to cleanse himself of
it. Our Sages of blessed memory taught us this in their statement (Eruvin 136),
"It would have been better for a man not to have been created... but now
that he has been created, let him examine his deeds. Others say, `Let him
"feel" his deeds.' " It is to be seen that these two versions
constitute two sound beneficial exhortations. For "examination" of
one's deeds refers to an investigation of one's deeds in general and a
consideration of them to determine whether they might not include certain
actions which should not be performed, which are not in accordance with God's
mitzvoth and His statutes, any such actions to be completely eradicated.
"Feeling," however, implies the investigation even of the good
actions themselves to determine whether they involve any leaning which is not
good or any bad aspect which it is necessary to remove and to eradicate. This
is analogous to a person's feeling a garment to determine whether its material
is good and sturdy or weak and rotted. In the same respect he must
"feel" his actions by subjecting them to a most exhaustive
examination to determine their nature, so that he might remain free of any
impurities.
In
general, yes, people should be aware of what they are doing and of what is good
and what is bad. But this, minutely examining even your good deeds to keep
oneself “pure,” seems like a recipe for insanity and depression. One will never
be good enough, never stop second-guessing himself.
To summarize, a man should observe all
of his actions and watch over all of his ways so as not to leave himself with a
bad habit or a bad trait, let alone a sin or a crime. I see a need for a person
to carefully examine his ways and to weigh them daily in the manner of the
great merchants who constantly evaluate all of their undertakings so that they
do not miscarry. He should set aside definite times and hours for this weighing
so that it is not a fortuitous matter, but one which is conducted with the
greatest regularity; for it yields rich returns.
Our Sages of blessed memory have
explicitly taught us the need for such an evaluation. As they said (Bava Bathra
78b), "Therefore the rulers say, `Let us enter into an accounting'
(Numbers 21:27). Therefore the rulers over their evil inclinations say, 'Let us
come and compute the world's account, the loss entailed by the performance of a
mitzvah, against the gain that one secures through it, and the gain that one
acquires through a transgression against the loss that it entails... ' "
Quoting
bits of Tanach out of context is an annoying habit of the gemara, but this is
particularly egregious. That’s just not what the pasuk says. It’s talking about
a city names “Cheshbon.” Yes, the name in Hebrew means “accounting,” but using
the pasuk this way is absurd.
This true counsel could not have been
given, nor its truth recognized by any except those who had already departed
from beneath the hand of their evil inclination and come to dominate it. For if
one is still imprisoned by his evil inclination, his eyes cannot see this truth
and he cannot recognize it.
How
clever. If you disagree with him, it’s because you’re evil.
For the evil inclination literally
blinds his eyes and he becomes as one who walks in the darkness, where there
are stumbling blocks before him which his eyes do not see. As our Sages of
blessed memory said (Bava Metzia 83b), " ` You laid down darkness and it
was night' (Psalms 104:20). This refers to this world which is similar to
night." How wondrous is this truthful commentary to him who concentrates
upon understanding it. For the darkness of night can cause two types of errors
in relation to a man's eye: it may either cover his eye so that he does not see
what is before him at all, or it may deceive him so that a pillar appears to
him as a man, or a man as a pillar. In like manner, the earthiness and
materialism of this world is the darkness of night to the mind's eye and causes
a man to err in two ways. First it does not permit him to see the stumbling
blocks in the ways of the world, so that the fools walk securely, fall, and are
lost without having experienced any prior fear. As Scripture states (Proverbs
4:19), "The path of the wicked is like pitch darkness; they do not know
upon what they stumble," and (Proverbs 22:3), "The wise man sees the
evil and hides, and the fools pass on and are punished," and (Proverbs
14:16), "And the fool becomes infuriated and is secure." For their
hearts are steadfast and they fall before having any knowledge whatsoever of
the existence of the stumbling block. The second error, which is even worse
than the first, stems from the distortion of their sight, so that they see evil
as though it were goodness itself, and good as if it were evil, and, because of
this, strengthen themselves in clinging to their evil ways. For it is not
enough that they lack the ability to see the truth, the evil staring them in
the face, but they also see fit to find powerful substantiations and empirical
evidence supporting their evil theories and false ideas.
Those
evil people, with their empirical evidence! How dare reality disagree with the
Ramchal!
On
the one hand, to be fair, this has a basis in reality. People do find ways to justify
what they already believe. On the other, dismissing people who disagree with
you out of hand as evil, and adding that they nefariously use reason and
evidence to bolster their evil beliefs, is boilerplate response to non-believers.
The reasonable response to someone who (politely) disagrees with you and offers
reasons for his disagreement is to show him where he’s mistaken – and to be
open to the possibility that you’re the one who’s mistaken. Not to vilify the
other person and dismiss his arguments and evidence out of hand.
This is the great evil which embraces
them and brings them to the pit of destruction. As Scripture states (Isaiah
6:10), "The heart of this nation has become fatted, and its ears have
become heavy, and its eyes have turned aside, lest..." All this because of
their being under the influence of the darkness and subject to the rule of their
evil inclination. But those who have already freed themselves from this bondage
see the truth clearly and can advise others in relation to it.
To what is this analogous? To a
garden-maze, a type of garden common among the ruling class, which is planted
for the sake of amusement. The plants there are arranged in walls between which
are found many confusing and interlacing paths, all similar to one another, the
purpose of the whole being to challenge one to reach a portico in their midst.
Some of the paths are straight ones which lead directly to the portico, but
some cause one to stray, and to wander from it. The walker between the paths
has no way of seeing or knowing whether he is on the true or the false path;
for they are all similar, presenting no difference whatsoever to the observing
eye. He will not reach his goal unless he has perfect familiarity and visual
acquaintance with the paths through his having traversed them and reached the
portico. He who occupies a commanding position in the portico, however, sees
all of the paths before him and can discriminate between the true and the false
ones. He is in a position to warn those who walk upon them and to tell them,
"This is the path; take it!" He who is willing to believe him will
reach the designated spot; but he who is not willing to believe him, but would
rather trust to his eyes, will certainly remain lost and fail to reach it.
So too in relation to the idea under
discussion. He who has not yet achieved dominion over his evil inclination is
in the midst of the paths and cannot distinguish between them. But those who
rule their evil inclination, those who have reached the portico, who have
already left the paths and who clearly see all of the ways before their eyes -
they can advise him who is willing to listen, and it is to them that we must
trust.
This
sounds good, but really it boils down to, “trust authority without any way to verify
their trustworthiness.” How are we to know who has conquered their yetzer hara?
And, again, this is an argument from analogy. The truth is that there are many
different challenges people face in life, and having overcome one’s yetzer hara
(if that’s even possible – I don’t think it is) doesn’t automatically give
someone insight into someone else’s moral dilemmas.
And what is the advice that they give
us'? - 'Let us enter into an accounting.' Let us come and compute the world's
account." For they have already experienced, and seen, and learned that
this alone is the true path by which a man may reach the good that he seeks,
and that there is none beside this.
What emerges from all this is that a
man must constantly - at all times, and particularly during a regularly
appointed time of solitude - reflect upon the true path (according to the
ordinance of the Torah) that a man must walk upon. After engaging in such
reflection he will come to consider whether or not his deeds travel along this path.
For in doing so it will certainly be easy for him to cleanse himself of all
evil and to correct all of his ways. As Scripture states (Proverbs 4:26),
"Consider the path of your feet and all of your paths will be
established," and (Lamentations 3:40), "Let us seek out our ways and
examine them, and we will return to God."
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