ellauri053.html on line 989: Vicissitudes of life, pain or afflictions, however, never upset the equanimity of my father’s mind. Like his father, the Maharshi, he remained calm and his inward peace was not disturbed by any calamity however painful. Some superhuman sakti gave him the power to resist and rise above misfortunes of the most painful nature.
ellauri110.html on line 1064: Now, mendicants, at that time human beings had a life span of 60,000 years. Girls could be married at 500 years of age. And human beings only had six afflictions: cold, heat, hunger, thirst, and the need to defecate and urinate. But even though humans were so long-lived with so few afflictions, Araka still taught in this way: ‘Life as a human is short, brief, and fleeting, full of pain and misery. Think about this and wake up! Do what’s good and live the spiritual life, for no-one born can escape death.’
ellauri112.html on line 602: A bittersweetness nicely complements the wealth of humor mined from what must surely be common afflictions on unprepared parents.
ellauri118.html on line 1132: In 1684, Webster was accused verbally by Philip Smith. Smith was a judge, a deacon, and representative of the town of Hadley. He has also been described as a hypochondriac. He seems to have believed in the real power of witchcraft and that his afflictions were being magically caused by Mary Webster in collaboration with the devil.
ellauri152.html on line 668: These rare individuals are capable of adhering to the dog's willy despite the unrelenting trials, afflictions, and massive assaults hurled at them from the forces of evil. The patriarchs were such exceptional individuals, they followed this path, unassisted by the dog, as the verse says, "He Yaakov said, 'O dog the name of Hashem containing the spiritual energies of harshness before Whom my forefathers Avraham and Yitzchak walked ...
ellauri152.html on line 679: Although the answer appears strange, we can understand it in light of what we just learned. Rabbi Akiva was a spiritual giant. He succeeded in serving the dog unassisted, while withstanding incredible afflictions, tests, and obstacles. He was able to break the forces of evil without the dog's assistance. Only through performing the dog's willy, despite his immense suffering, was Rabbi Akiva able to attain such a lofty spiritual level, the level of the dog's "first thought," so to speak, where the world would be conducted through strict justice, din. Rabbi Akiva was able to unify his soul with the dog's first thought. Therefore the dog's retort to Moshe can be understood as: "'Silence' which is the level of thought, for thoughts are silent, Rebbe Akiva reached the lofty spiritual level of the dog's thought."For this came up upon my thought," the first thought that occurred to the dog, to create the world through harshness, so those people who are able to come close to me (the dog) without my assistance and mercy could reach that highest level.
ellauri152.html on line 689: Through wearing Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin (in addition to Rashi's Tefillin) we draw awesome spiritual energies from the spiritual giants of the past, heroes who were able to neutralize afflictions, barriers, and harshness at their root, without the assistance of the dog's mercy. For this reason, Rebbe Nachem urged anyone who truly desires to come close to the dog to wear Rabbeinu Tam's Tefillin in addition to Rashi's Tefillin.
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