“I remember my song in the night; with my heart I shall speak, and my spirit shall seek. I
have remembered Your Name in the night, O God, and I shall heed Your teachings. I
remember that God brings everything into existence when I recall Your wonders of old. I
remember the days of old; I meditate upon Your deeds; about the work of Your Hands I
shall speak. When my soul became faint, I remembered God. My soul remembers well
and is humbled.”
I encourage my soul: “Remember and do not forget that there is a World to Come and
that this world has no permanence. This world passes in the blink of an eye — like a
passing shadow, a swirl of dust, a vaporous cloud, a gust of wind, a fleeting dream. A
person’s life and true home is only the World to Come. Have mercy on yourself, and
guard your memory well; remember that world every day — never forget it. Let your
thoughts cleave to the World to Come, and never let your awareness of that Supernal
World leave you. Gaze deeply into yourself, and attain true presence of mind — for a
person’s stay in this world is but a fleeting moment.”
I come before You, my God, to cast my supplications before Your mercy and to raise my
eyes expectantly toward Your great kindness. Guard my memory well, and let me
remember always the World to Come, binding my thoughts only to the World that
endures forever.
Every day when I awaken from sleep, as soon as I open my eyes, may I remember my
ultimate destiny. For this world is empty and without substance, “a fleeting vapor —
vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” There is no gain from all the labors that one exerts in
worldly endeavors, for there is no purpose or true good to be found in this world except
the diligent pursuit of the World to Come. Grant me the presence of mind to remember
this well through the power of holy remembrance.
In every time and place, enable me to understand the hidden messages that You
constantly send me in order to draw me close to You in truth. For in Your great kindness,
You have constricted Your Godliness from the first point of Creation, the beginning point
of the World of Emanation (Atzilut) to the center point of this physical World of Action
(Asiyah) — from the Infinite to the finite. Through this constriction, You send hidden
messages to each person, in every situation, to bring him or her closer to Your service, in
accordance with the place, the time and the individual. Open my mind, that I may
understand clearly these hidden messages. Thus I will return to You in truth; now and
forever I will fulfill Your will.
Teach me and guide me, in Your great kindness and awesome power, that I may attain
the higher levels of consciousness necessary to understand these hidden messages. At the
same time, grant me the wisdom to constrain this higher consciousness, that it never
exceed its proper bounds.
Let me not inquire into the mysteries that are above my ability to understand or search
out what must remain hidden to me. Help me to contemplate only that which lies within
my limits; may I increase my wisdom in a modest, measured way, according to my
spiritual level. In this way I will recognize and understand, at all times and at every
moment, all the hidden messages that You weave into the fabric of my experiences. For
through all the thoughts, words and actions that You constantly send my way, Your
intention is only to teach me how to attach myself to You in truth.
Likutey Tefilot Reb Noson’s Prayers I:655-656
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