QUESTION:
General question regarding working with our “4 elements”. If a person sees that he has a certain middah (i.e. laziness) and he knows which element it comes from (earth), does that mean he has to balance it out with a different element? How does one actually do this? How does merging together 2 different elements create a balance?
ANSWER:
A: This is a very general question, without getting into any of the details about the elements. It depends on which element we are dealing with, because each element works differently when combined with another element. Since you didn’t ask about anything specific, here is a general answer. Any 2 elements will always have opposite aspects from each other as well as areas in which they work together. Any 2 elements will have differences and similarities, from each other. Integrating any 2 elements usually depends on finding the connecting point, where the 2 elements share a similarity with each other. Now, getting more specific, it will depend on which elements we are dealing with. But the general rule is that each element has its unique aspect, in how it differs from another element and in how it’s similar to another element. For example, if we take an element that is dry and cold and also an element that’s dry and warm, these 2 elements are different because one is cold and the other is warm, but they both share a relationship of being dry elements. It is their dryness which will connect them together. In any case we always need to see how they are similar and that is how we can connect them together.
Now, sometimes there can be a small percentage of people who have a soul root that’s rooted in opposite elements. They have a soul that is comprised mainly of two opposite elements – either fire and water, or earth and wind. There are those with souls who have similarities between their earth and wind, but there are those who have an inner makeup that’s comprised of two opposite elements. Either they will have very multi-faceted personalities, or, many times, they are very confused about themselves because they have deep contradictions within their own personality, and this can get so bad that they can become mentally ill from this, depending on how difficult they feel about their inner contradiction. While most people need to work with their 2 dominant elements by finding the connecting point (similarities) between their 2 dominant elements, there are a few people whose souls are comprised mainly of 2 contradicting elements. Their avodah is not to find similarities between their opposite elements, and instead, their avodah is to learn how to properly combine/harmonize their contradicting aspects together.
Now, sometimes there can be a small percentage of people who have a soul root that’s rooted in opposite elements. They have a soul that is comprised mainly of two opposite elements – either fire and water, or earth and wind. There are those with souls who have similarities between their earth and wind, but there are those who have an inner makeup that’s comprised of two opposite elements. Either they will have very multi-faceted personalities, or, many times, they are very confused about themselves because they have deep contradictions within their own personality, and this can get so bad that they can become mentally ill from this, depending on how difficult they feel about their inner contradiction. While most people need to work with their 2 dominant elements by finding the connecting point (similarities) between their 2 dominant elements, there are a few people whose souls are comprised mainly of 2 contradicting elements. Their avodah is not to find similarities between their opposite elements, and instead, their avodah is to learn how to properly combine/harmonize their contradicting aspects together.
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