Mesilas Yesharim, Perek 3 Part 1/2

AI summary (may contain mistakes)

How does a person guard his ways? The Mesilas Yesharim has him first clarify what is tov and ra, meaning the will of Hashem, then weigh his own deeds, both before acting and in a regular cheshbon hanefesh. In our generation, looking first at the good one does gives the strength to keep growing. A rebbe's advice puts it into practice: sit each night with a cup of tea and think over the day.

Key points

• The Mesilas Yesharim has a person clarify tov and ra, then examine his own deeds.
• Though the Mesilas Yesharim asks for both, focusing on the good works better today.
• One rebbe's tip is noting nightly two things to thank for and two accomplishments.
• The Mesilas Yesharim reads searching one's deeds as sorting good from bad, and probing them as refining the good.
• The Mesilas Yesharim compares this to a businessman who checks his business every day.

In this shiur

1. 0:00Recap: the yetzer hara keeps us busy
2. 0:23Two parts of zehirus
3. 3:20Before acting and cheshbon hanefesh
4. 5:46Two ways of cheshbon hanefesh today
5. 14:01A rebbe's tip on nightly gratitude
6. 18:12Searching and probing one's deeds
7. 23:51The mashal of the businessman
8. 25:23The secret of the cup of tea

Topics

• Cheshbon HaNefesh
• Zehirus
• Yetzer Hara
• Mesilas Yesharim