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R. Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin (1823-1900), Chassidic master of Torah, taught that spiritual growth follows a predictable sequence of stages: One's youth is most conducive to growth in love and kindness, one's middle years provide the best opportunity for learning submission to Divine authority, and one's later years are the optimal time for growth in truth-perception.
Stages of Spiritual Ground explores R. Tzadok's system. It clarifies the necessary steps within each stage of growth, explains why each stage of life lends itself to that specific facet of development, examines some of the underlying axioms of non-Jewish culture that sabotage our psychological and spiritual progress, and perhaps most significant for the current generation, dispels the common misconception that spiritual growth ill Torah stifles an individuals self-expression. Stages of Spiritual Growth provides a philosophical framework for incorporating one's individuality into one's quest to serve God.
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
Part I Stages of Spiritual Growth 3
1 Defining Spiritual Growth 5
2 Moral Choices 8
3 Chesed-Gevurah-Emes as Sequential Stages and as Personality Orientations 11
Part II Levels of Chesed 17
4 Level 1: Care and Nurture of My Self 19
5 Levels 1-4: The Life-cycle as a School for Chesed 25
6 Levels 1-4 (continued): The Underpinnings of Compassion 34
7 Levels 1-4 (continued): The Painful, the Difficult and the Imperfect as "Very Good" 44
8 The Problem of Chesed in Western Culture: An "Either/Or" Worldview 50
9 The Problem of Chesed in Western Culture: The Legacy of Eisav 59
Part III Expansion and Contraction 65
10 The Dynamic of Creativity and its Relationship to Kedusha 67
Part IV Levels of Gevurah 73
11 Levels 1-3: External Authority, Autonomy and Submission 75
12 Level 3 (continued): Middas Hagevurah at Midlife 85
13 Level 3 (continued): Gilu Bere'adah - The Joy of Contraction 92
14 Level 3 (continued): The Problem of Middas Hagevurah in the Culture of Yishmael 99
15 Level 3 (continued): Middas Hachesed Must Precede Middas Hagevurah 103
Part V Levels of Emes 105
16 The Difference Between Truth and Integrity 107
17 The Work of Discarding Illusion 108
18 Levels 1 and 2 of Emes: Narcissism and Objectivity 114
19 Level 3 of Emes: Paradoxical Truths 118
20 Level 3 (continued): Mediating the Paradoxical Poles of Reality 123
21 Level 3 (continued): Middas Ha'emes, the Dimension of Time and the Role of Ya'akov Avinu 131
22 Level 3 (continued): Emes and Kedusha 136
23 Level 3 (continued): Defining Kedusha 141
24 Level 3 (continued): Postscript to the Words of Reish Lakish: the Aleph-beis as Emes 145
25 Level 3 (continued): Reality in "The Space Between" 148
26 Level 3 (continued): The Tension of Ratzo Vashov 152
27 Level 4 of Emes: Consciousness of the Infinite Informing the Finite 156
Conclusion: Toward a Psychology of Avodas Hashem: The Fabric of Creation 162
Epilouge: R. Tzadok's Stages 165
Appendix A Summary of Stages of Spiritual Growth and the Psychological Skills Necessary for Each Stage 173
Appendix B Index to Psychological Problems 175
Glossary 177
About the Author 180
Overview
R. Tzadok Hakohen of Lublin (1823-1900), Chassidic master of Torah, taught that spiritual growth follows a predictable sequence of stages: One's youth is most conducive to growth in love and kindness, one's middle years provide the best opportunity for learning submission to Divine authority, and one's later years are the optimal time for growth in truth-perception.
Stages of Spiritual Ground explores R. Tzadok's system. It clarifies the necessary steps within each stage of ...