My heart says, seek inwardness

The Alef Kabbala group (4 Sept. 07) explored a discourse delivered in 1960 by the Lubavitcher Rebbe (based on a phrase in Psalm 27, LeDavid Hashem Ori, said in Elul: "My heart says, seek inwardness") about the quest for inwardness, inwardness in our own inner selves, in the spiritual worlds, in G-dliness.The quest within oneself is like a battle, the Divine Soul confronting the Animal Soul, yet taking it captive, meaning that the Animal Soul instead of resisting, now joins with the Divine Soul. There is yet another step, in the terminology of the Torah (Deut.21:10-11): "when you go out to battle... and you see among the captives a beautiful woman ". The beautiful woman is the most profound dimension of one's inner being, which is 'captive', and one releases it. This step enables one to transform one's inner world, not only one's thoughts and actions, but also one's feelings, and connect with G-d at every level.