Machshava:

Ethics 

Collections: Rabbi Weinberger: Tanya

Description

P. 38 in the commentary (9th perek). The root of the desire for the taanug (pleasure) to connect with Hashem is a light that is planted in all of us. No human being in the world can have as much pleasure as a Jew. The most natural need of the soul is to feel pleasure. Talk to the nefesh habehamis (animal soul) in its language - taanug, enjoyment, to bring it around into the domain of Elokus (Godliness). The greatest pleasure is Torah and mitzvos. The foundation of the way of the Baal Shem Tov is the ahava d'taanugim (the love that is pleasurable). It is hard for us to imagine spending huge amounts of money on mitzvos, but we can imagine spending in on physical pleasures. There is temporarily overcoming the power of taiva (physical desire), and there is fully transforming the taiva into a desire for Elokus.