May I say something different to the train of thought here?


Where would you put me if I'd shock you and say that I feel my 250 day sobriety is partly directly BECAUSE I

• Am involved in the physical work world
• Joke around constantly on gye

Perhaps perspective is a large part of the equation...

Markz, what works for you is great and there is no doubt that perspective is needed for everything in life. I'm both impressed and jealous that you have over 250 days of sobriety. Perhaps I should take some of your approach as I'm told I often take things too seriously. 

But in terms of connecting my notes on Mesillas Yesharim (assuming there is even any accuracy in my paltry understanding of the Ramcha"l's genius) to our GYE work, I believe people much smarter and more experienced than me in the ways of GYE and the 12 steps have pointed out that mussar has nothing to do with sobriety. My notes are not intended to be a guide on overcoming lust, just some little Torah tidbits to go along with my score.

And I was just adding my tidbit to this confusing world where we use our minds for Torah and Lust, sometimes in the same breath. And was just wondering how to make sense of the heilige words of Ramchal

In other news, are you actively running your 18 Wheeler engine with any specific tools, besides for keeping score and doing the good thing of posting daily

My mini copper is just running on those two things for now. I've found a PDF of the AA big book online that I've started reading through. Any other suggestions on how to enhance my engine?

BEHS wrote on 03 May 2016 00:27:

Why don't you write the מסַ"י pieces in Word, and then copy them here.
You won't have to hide it from your wife, and you might actually make her proud.
Also, you'll have a whole sefer at the end.



I'll just remind you about the stuff in your other thread,


Was it the usual, that caused your fall, or something else?
Looking forward to your continued Hatzlacha..
 

35/36 = .972

The Ramcha"l continues discussing frivolity as the 2nd danger to maintaining vigilance.  Frivolity in the face of rebuke and mussar is like a greased shield in front of an arrow.  A shield is effective enough in stopping the arrow, but if you grease it, then the shield doesn't even feel the blow of the arrow.  It slides right off without penetrating the target.  So too frivolity deflects any effort that would bring one to introspection.  [I'm sure we've all experienced (or at least seen in a movie/show) a situation when we were younger where a teacher or [i]rebbe[/i] was giving some harsh critique to a class, and then the class clown said one word or made one noise and everyone broke out into laughter.  That one word just destroyed any chance of any of the other students taking that critique to heart.]

When one hears words of rebuke, takes them to heart, and commits to changing himself, he no longer needs to be punished for his past deeds since he's already a changed person.  Nothing else is needed to get him back on the straight and narrow.  But one who is frivolous deserves and will receive punishment.  He is the one who has brought it upon himself.  Without getting a good whack, he will never learn to improve because he has already put up that greased shield.

The 3rd danger in maintaining our vigilance is the company with which we spend our time.  One can learn all of the mussar in the world and commit to changing himself for the better, but once you look at who your friends are and see that you may be alienated or even mocked, you may change your mind.  The Ramcha"l asks us to imagine a situation where we can gain a lot financially by making a fool out of ourselves.  Would we turn down the opportunity so that our friends wouldn't make fun of us?  So why should we care what they think about our pursuits in ruchniyus?  Let them make fun while we are raking it in.  [The first [i]chavrusa[/i] I had in Mesillas Yesharim pointed out all of the gameshows that are on TV.  It's quite literally the situation that the Ramcha"l is talking about.  These people do the most ridiculous things for money.]

And with that, we are caught up to the schedule and will begin the 6th perek tomorrow, be'ezras HaShem.

abie wrote on 04 May 2016 04:34:

If I was trying to translate the sefer, I'd definitely compile it all together as you suggested, but I feel like this is more of a summary/explanation as I understand the basic ideas.  If you follow along in the sefer, you may even notice that I skip big sections that (in my humble opinion) are somewhat repetitive.  Or almost any time the Ramcha"l quotes a pasuk from tana"ch.  It's not because I feel these parts are less important, it's just that I'm trying to create a quick summary guide.  That being said, I am going to still mull over your idea and may go through with it.

This last fall, I think was mostly due to the fact that my schedule was out of whack from yom tov.  That and the fact that we were away from home the entire time.  As much as I don't follow an ideal schedule, (like having a set time for learning or even getting up on time for shacharis) I still feel like I do better in this area when I'm sticking to my regular routine and waking up in my own bed.  I do find that I'm having a lot of trouble lately with keeping my eyes to myself in Manhattan.  Maybe check up with me tomorrow as to whether or not I took off my glasses during my commute.  (Maybe I should start a separate count for that?  Thoughts?)

1. Did I say anything about translating? Feldheim and Artscroll already did that. So you’ll  have a סיכום - that’s also great. )CliffsNotes?)

2. Sure I’ll check in about the glasses.
Wow! I just keep myself really sheltered here, but you are really doing tough stuff dealing with Manhattan every day. Amazing. I feel like such a little guy right now. (I think I’ll get over it.)

3. I think it’s a fine idea (especially since you first brought it up while in middle of your other count), and although some fellas over here like to poke fun at multiple counts, you will follow the first סימן  in Shulchan Aruch - ולא יתבייש מפני בני אדם המלעיגים עליו בעבודת השם יתברך. Do you think it should be a count for taking off your glasses, or for the actual guarding of your eyes?

4. One last thing, since your batting avg. is so high, maybe you should stop showing your streak next to your name - just a thought.

עֲלֵה וְהַצְלַח!

BEHS wrote on 03 May 2016 15:06:

If you saw today's email, there are amazing calls you can join, cordnoys (daily 1:20pm) is worth investing to, and he goes through the SA book

Youre invited to join me on my new travels perusing and commenting on the awesome GYE handbook and SA white book.
It's a 5 minute a day virtual read - iyH I hope to start the new thread tonight.

Keep On Trucking!!

markz wrote on 04 May 2016 13:04:

He goes thru three books.

I know that you do, I just was replying to his mention of the AA book

Ok, lots to discuss here...

Abie,
1) I'm taking your advice and starting to put all of the posts into Word.  We'll see where it all goes from there.
2) Don't worry about not having the Manhattan נסיון.  You're not missing anything.
3) I don't know yet if I'll keep an actual count, but I'll give myself a pat on the back for the just taking off the glasses.  At this point, it's too hard to really determine if I did or didn't properly guard my eyes.
4) I'm going to keep the streak on for now as I really am looking at these as 2 different things.  One is a streak of sobriety just like any other, and the "batting average" is to focus on my improvement in general.  I'm not really sure what the downside of displaying the streak would be.

Markz,
Please send me a link (or post it below) to your new virtual read thread.  And is there an online or downloadable copy of the SA white book that I can get?

And now onto today's portion of מסילת ישרים...

36/37 = .973

Moving on in the ברייתא of ר' פינחס בן יאיר, the next step is that of זריזות, alacrity.  The רמח"ל explains alacrity by stating that one must go about doing מצוות quickly and without delay.  Just as זהירות is used to fight off the attempts by the יצר הרע to get us to sin, so too זריזות is used to fight off the attempts by the יצר הרע to get us to neglect doing מצוות.  If we don't actively pursue מצוות, we will let them slip right by us without even noticing.

BEHS wrote on 05 May 2016 04:26:

whitebook.pdf
Courtesy of cordnoy's signature.
Have a great, kosher day!