The Power of Mikva – Part 2
There are three ways to rectify the soul. The first is through Fasting and Segufim. The second is through Crying and Tears and the third is through immersion in Mikvas...
When a person has a family member who is heaven forbid sick, he should go to the mikvah for it can help. He should also dress in white.
It is known to the Kabbalists that there are three ways to rectify the soul. The first is through Fasting and Segufim. The second is through Crying and Tears and the third is through immersion in mikva’ot.
It is very very important to immerse in a mikvah on Erev Yom Kippur.
It is brought down by the Ari and the Rokach that before a person starts doing Teshuvah and a set of Segufim he should first try to immerse in a mikvah.
Many famous Kabbalists would not let a person enter their room unless he had first immersed in a mikvah.
Every person is surrounded by hundreds of Nigay Beni Adom (Afflictions of man) and Ruach Zenunim (Spirits of impurity) as well as many other categories of Klipot and external forces. These were created by all his sins in Action, Speech, and Thought. Especially those created by Pgam Habrit, these are fully considered his children. They follow him around all the time, every second of his life and even after his death. They do not leave his soul until it has been very purged and they are killed off by the suffering. When a person immerses in a mikvah for the sake of purifying himself, all these forces temporarily leave him. When they leave him, he must use this time to strengthen his soul. Even though they return afterward, each time he dips for the sake of heaven of purifying himself, many of them are killed and exterminated.
There is also another element of negative energy, this comes from the inside of a person, this is his evil inclination (Yetzer) and the damaged parts of the soul. (This is why people feel Tzimzumim even when they are underwater). These do not leave him, but if a person is smart he can utilize the time in the mikvah to rectify and purify these as well. The purity of the mikvah reaches these as well. This is especially true in cold water.
Imagine to yourself two people; one is mercilessly beating up his friend. He is beating his head and body until it is filled with large ugly wounds. This exactly what a person does to his soul when he sins. When a person sins he beats his soul with cruel merciless blows, if a person could only hear the painful cries of his soul as he is beating it, he would not be able to withstand it for even a second. Now imagine a person who is very wasted, tired and weak. As he enters in cold water he suddenly regains his alertness. So too happens to the soul when it enters the mikvah, it regains its alertness. The mikvah cures and heals the soul. The effectiveness of this cure depends on the amount of sacrifice you had to go to the mikvah, as well as the meditations that you do in it.
A big Kabbalist revealed to his students that the main levels he reached, was only from going to the mikvah.
Know, that when you go to the mikvah you remove part of your bad essence and destroy some of the thousands of klipot surrounding you. You are also working to advance the rectification of the world as a whole.
There are two ways of sweetening the Judgments (dinim) one is through money by doing a Pidyon Nefesh (redeeming the soul through money given to charity). The second is through the mikvah. Even when a person does not have the power to nullify the Judgments, when he goes to the mikvah he draws upon him Chasadim (Kindness). These intermingle with the Judgments and cause them to be less powerful.
A person has to be very careful not to think Torah or do kavanot until he is in the water. He should be very careful not to do this in the dressing room or shower.
A person is not allowed to look at his own Brit and certainly not at his friend’s. A person has to be very careful not to look at the other people in the mikvah.
It is very bad to talk to other people in the mikvah. There are some very confused people who sit and socialize in the mikvah while undressed. A fool like that is for sure causing much damage to his soul. A person should not spend an extra second undressed. If someone begins talking to you and you must answer him for the sake of peace, then give him the shortest answer you can and try to get out of the conversation. A person should try his hardest not listen to the conversations of these foolish people who socialize in the mikvah.
One must have at least these kavanot in the mikvah. Dip once to remove the impurity of the Sitra Acher. Dip a second time to draw Holiness on yourself and prepare yourself for prayer and Mitzvot.
It is also very important to have some thought of Teshuvah before immersing.
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(Reprinted with kind permission of BrisKodesh.org)
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