Concerning the Divisions of Watchfulness (Chapter 3)

            How to be watchful in 2 simple steps:

1. Determine what is good and what is evil. (Hint – Learn Torah.)
2. Examine our actions and determine whether those are in the good or evil category. Act accordingly.

Once you have mastered that…

3. Examine what is a good deed and find the not sooooo perfect intentions. Or, perhaps, it was a good deed, but I stopped short of doing better. I’m not trying to say that our good deeds are not good enough, only that we continue watching them. Now we are purifying character traits, building up merit for Olam HaBa. (That’s the world to come we have been talking about.)

            Watchfulness is a simple task. So why does it seem I am thrust back into a losing battle? No one can accuse the Ramchal of sending his readers on this path ill-informed and unprepared. He describes, in painstaking detail, just how dark this world really is. Like on the darkest nights, when we think we see “a man”, but in reality, it is a pillar. If that is how blind we are, then how will we ever know when we get things right? Then he describes a labyrinth, where no one can know if they are on the right path or not! This sounds a little too familiar. For a quarter century, we were on a completely different path.

            One cannot know if they are on the right path of the labyrinth, except for one who has made it through to the “tower”. Now that one… he can be a guide. Moses? Samuel? Elijah? Rabbi Luzzatto? Rabbi Nachman? Our Rosh Yeshivah? Torah is a guide. HaShem, Master of Souls, is our guide. Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the Universe, who gives sight to the blind… who clothes the naked (also mitzvot) … who sets captives free (don’t have to be captive of yetzer hara) … who has provided me with all that I need…

            I would say I have been plenty blind, and even with my “new glasses”, I can’t see much clearly. Sometimes I am downright confused. I might start down a path I have already been on; or find myself on a path I can barely make out. At least now, I know I am blind! I am confident that my Master knows where I was and where I am. Only He knows where I am going. His patience, His kindness, His compassion will get me through. And, I have Torah guides. So, I know I can be a blind watchman.

Concerning the Manner of Acquiring Watchfulness (Chapter 4)

Concerning the Factors Which Detract from Watchfulness

and the Withdrawing of Oneself from Them (Chapter 5)