How do you take a person who has become accustomed to the state he is in and persuade him to step out of his limited perspective and build a new life? It is almost like teaching a dead person to breathe. If he is not completely dead, however, there is still hope. Let us look at how a dangerously ill person is treated and learn what can be done.
When a person is in hospital his diet is generally monitored carefully, and comprises the basic food elements the body requires. Any excess might tax his system and slow down the healing process. In some serious cases he is fed intravenously, not being able to even taste the essential nutrients carefully deposited straight into his blood stream. If he has trouble breathing he is also given air filtered for its essential ingredient, oxygen; when a patient's heart stops working he is given extremely powerful electric shocks in the hope of reviving him.
No one wants to go through these procedures unnecessarily. We would much prefer to walk freely, eat what we want, when we want, than to be limited to bare necessities. Nature, however, does not allow this freedom haphazardly. When people appreciate what they have, they curb their desires so that they will not have to be curbed for them.
Most people are not aware of it, but spiritual Nature has rules as well. In fact, Nature as we know it is only a reflection of another Nature above it. Preservation of energy, for example, is based on the concept that positive spiritual forces (Sparks of Holiness) are never lost entirely. Even when there is no one to extricate that element of goodness from the quagmire it fell into, a limited world cannot hold onto an eternal Spark forever. Hence, as physical things die and decay they loosen their hold and eventually repel the Spark of Truth that had caused their illusionary identity to seem real. How ever far the Sparks fall, eventually the restrictions they acquired will force them back up to their Source. How much better would it have been for the world if they had not needed to be forced back to where they should have stayed in the first place. How much suffering would it have saved.
Harsh treatment is sometimes necessary, but if we preserve our holiness, happiness and vitality, we can avoid much of the suffering we bring upon ourselves.
Adapted from Rabbi Vali's book on Dvarim. Questions and subscriptions can be mailed to: the Yeshiva