Finding true harmony within yourself requires understanding the inner forces that shape your thoughts and actions. Inside each of us, an invisible battle rages. Two forces, two beginnings constantly compete for control over our thoughts, feelings, and actions. Understanding this inner dynamic can become the key to mental balance and spiritual growth.
Two Souls: Who Lives in Our Heart?
Imagine a small town. In this town, two rulers are trying to seize power. Each wants the residents to follow only their orders. This town is your body, and the two rulers are the two souls that dwell within you. Achieving harmony within yourself starts with recognizing these two distinct forces.
The first soul is the animal soul, connected to the material world. Its home is the left chamber of the heart, filled with blood. From this place, it spreads its influence throughout the body and even rises to the brain. This is where our desires, pride, anger, and other emotions originate.
The second soul is the Divine soul. Its center is in the brain, from where it also influences the entire body, including the right chamber of the heart. This soul nourishes our love for the higher, wisdom, and striving for good.
“The heart of the wise is on the right” – says ancient wisdom.
How Our Inner World Works
The animal soul operates mainly through emotions. It creates desires, makes us strive for physical pleasures, fame, and wealth. Its energy is like blood that flows from the heart throughout the body.
The Divine soul works differently. It begins with the mind, with understanding great truths. When a person reflects on higher values, a special feeling is born in their heart – love for good, which is “like burning coals.” This contrast is central to finding harmony within yourself.
What Happens When Two Souls Meet?
These two souls constantly struggle for influence. Each wants to completely control the body and all its actions.
The Divine soul strives for:
- Your mind to be filled with wise thoughts
- Your heart to burn with love for good
- Your words to be devoted to truth
- Your actions to serve higher purposes
The animal soul wants exactly the opposite – for all your powers to be directed toward obtaining material pleasures.
Victory Strategy: How Can the Divine Soul Prevail?
For the Divine soul to win and create harmony within yourself, it needs to act according to a plan:
- Fill the brain with bright thoughts – reflect on goodness, truth, and higher values.
- Ignite the heart with love – this love should be so strong that it fills the right part of the heart and overflows into the left.
- Transform the animal soul – direct its energy not toward worldly pleasures, but toward serving good.
“With all your heart” – with both your natures.
When this happens, a person reaches an amazing state called “love filled with delight.” At this moment, even the animal soul begins to derive joy not from material things, but from serving higher ideals.
Three Levels of Soul Expression
Each soul expresses itself on three levels:
- Thoughts – what we think about
- Words – what we say
- Actions – what we do
The task of the Divine soul is to fill all these levels with goodness and light, so that our thoughts are pure, our words wise, and our actions noble. This alignment is essential for harmony within yourself.
Amazing Paradox: Why Do We Need the Animal Soul?
Interestingly, the animal soul doesn’t exist without reason. It is like a test that helps us grow and develop.
There is a parable about a king who sent a temptress to his son to test his wisdom. The goal was not for the son to succumb to temptation, but for him to show strength and resist.
Similarly, our animal soul is not just an enemy. It’s an opportunity to show strength and transform even lower aspirations into something high and noble. When this happens, evil turns into “absolute good.”
Practical Steps to Inner Harmony
How can we use this knowledge to cultivate harmony within yourself in everyday life?
- Start the day with reflection – take time to fill your mind with bright thoughts.
- Pay attention to your emotions – when you feel anger, envy, or other negative emotions, remember that they come from the animal soul.
- Transform energy – don’t suppress your desires, but direct their energy toward good deeds.
- Practice mindfulness – monitor your thoughts, words, and actions, trying to fill them with meaning.
Conclusion: Harmony Instead of Struggle
Ideally, the two souls can exist in harmony when the energy of the animal soul serves higher purposes. This doesn’t mean that one soul must destroy the other – rather, they must learn to cooperate.
When we achieve harmony within yourself, our life becomes more whole and meaningful. We are not torn between conflicting desires but act in accordance with our true nature.
Remember: a small town can prosper only when peace and order reign in it. The same applies to our inner life.
This article is based on the ninth chapter of the book “Likutei Amarim – Tanya” by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, one of the greatest Hasidic thinkers and the founder of the Chabad movement.
Afterword: This text has not been approved by any sage, Torah scholar, or rabbi and is merely a simplified adaptation of the sacred text for general understanding. For comprehension of true wisdom and a deeper understanding of the original text, you should refer to the sources.
