Chapter 35
|| What were the ascetics of the ancients?
That heaven and earth are warring elements, one against the other.
That all men must choose to serve one or the other, and at once engage in the battle.
If a man desires everlasting life and bliss in heaven, then he must battle his earthly parts with great vigor.
He shall torture his flesh, by fastings, by lying naked on sharp stones, by flagellations, and otherwise, showing before the Gods how displeased he is with his corporeal body.
He must live alone, deny himself all pleasures, not sleep in a house, nor eat cooked food. ||
What is the extreme of great learning?
To devote one’s whole life to learning what is in the books. To cultivate the memory so that one may repeat all the words in four thousand books, is great learning. But it is greater learning to be capable of repeating eight thousand books, word for word.
What is the extreme of loyalty?
To love the emperor, so one cannot see his faults; to love the rab’bahs, so one cannot see their faults. To love discipline, so that one has no time for anything else; and, on the contrary, to have no time for discipline, rites or ceremonies.
What is the law of life?
The spirit of man is the man; to live for the growth of the spirit, this is the highest of living.
What are the kinds of spirit communion?
The spirit of one person can commune with the spirit of another, if they are not encumbered with grossness. The spirits of the dead can commune with the spirits of the living, even without one’s knowing it.
What is the destination of the souls of men?
When man dies, his spirit is born into the air of the earth, which is the intermediate world, where it sojourns until sufficiently purified, and is reverential to the Creator; and then it is taken up by His angels to dwell in the higher heavens forever.
What shall mortal man do for the benefit of his own spirit?
He shall love the Creator with all his soul, and strive to emulate Him in good works, gentleness and love.
But if he does not do this, what then?
His spirit will be bound in hell after death; he will become a victim for the delight of demons.