DEUT438 Know, there are six ways by which man can arouse himself to return from his evil behavior. For each of these we will teach the knowledge [Yeshayahu 40:14] required for one's ability to classify them analytically and for understanding what each requires of him. We will bring them to his attention [Yeshayahu 50:4; Merely reading these words is insufficient; one must pay attention to them and take them to heart (Zeh Hasha'ar)]. Yet, beyond this, my son, take care to repent daily and to purify your soul. Even if you don't experience [one of these] ways to arouse yourself and daily events disrupt your thoughts, remember your Creator. Recalling His presence will bring your soul back from the pathways that emerged through a clod of earth. [I.e., Man's earthly body, which draws him to the corporeal world.]. Similarly, you must expose the power of your intellect [Chavakuk 3:9], to straighten any crookedness within your nature. Through your fear of Hashem, your love for Him, and your shame when standing before Him, you will continually elevate yourself. Persevere in keeping your hands untainted, remove unruly thoughts from your mind, and purify the carriers of the instruments of your soul [Yeshayahu 52:11; By cleansing your deeds and your thoughts, even your body will assist in helping perfect you (Zeh Hasha'ar).] When the soul recalls its Creator, it will adorn and add beauty to itself, as the pasuk says (Yeshayahu 45:25): "Through Hashem, all the seed of Yisrael will become righteous and glorified." Intensify your efforts to arouse your spirit through the six ways that will be clarified. One who has not yet attained this level [I.e., of returning to Hashem by recalling His presence] will be able to [at least] subdue his uncircumcised heart [I.e., A heart that is "covered overall" with coarseness, making it untamed and stubborn; see Ibn Ezra on [this verse]] through one of these [six] ways, and by seeing many [other motivating insights]. As the need for any one of these ways to arouse one's heart to repentance is lessened and to the extent that one is inclined toward the path of one's inner resolve to teshuvah, his repentance will be recognized and discerned as [emerging from] the preeminence of the soul.
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