milehashem wrote on 07 Sep 2011 11:02:
re: kidush ashem (sanctified guilt?)
How is receiving more money not a "real ratzon"?
How many Jews think that they have a "real ratzon" because they want to have
a "clean neshama" and have a good "olam haba" - when they have no clue what any of the phrases in quotes mean???
Obviously, so many sinners started out with these "real" ratzonos.
I want money. It's a powerful desire. It happens to be that I want to do
mitzvos with my money, but so what?
I want money. It's a powerful human desire. More powerful than...well...you know....
As Yossi L. and others said well, I'm not discouraging you from using whatever works. If money does it, then great!
It's just that I have a very hard time imagining that you will be able to stay clean just for that...
If you see a direct correlation, where it's obvious to any onlooker that you are getting money b.c. of your kedusha, then it would be easy. But that's not how the world works. Reward and punishment can always be explained away as natural occurrences. The YH will wait for the right moment and then convince a person that there is no correlation and that it's ok to sin...
In the past, I tried stopping for similar reasons. Health, money etc. It would help but it never worked for very long.
What works for me is seeing the
direct results of my actions: acting out=unhappiness, lack of relaxation, negatively affects my relationships etc.
Again, if you see that you can really stop from this alone, more power to you. I'm just uneasy about this and I want to warn you that from my experience, this can wear off...