Similar to Sichah 1, we need to address why Reb Nosson put this sichah at the beginning of the sefer. What is the importance of giving our movements and conduct over to Hashem?
The answer is that once we experience the spark and illumination of closeness to Hashem that Rebbe Nachman discusses in Sichah 1, we find the inspiration to truly enter into avodas Hashem. We discover new yiras Shamayim that awakens our yearning to reach higher levels of purity and kedushah. We begin to take upon ourselves the yolk of Heaven by committing ourselves to a daily schedule of learning and davening with consistency.
However, this process is not so easy. Things don’t also always work out so smoothly. There are days when we don’t have the spiritual or physical strength to do our avodah. It is difficult for us to continue on the path of growth. Thus, after a little while, we lose our joy and chiyus in life. We try very hard, but in the end, we come away with a feeling that we’re unsuccessful. We don’t have any satisfaction from our Torah and mitzvos, and we don’t feel connected to Hashem in our daily activities. This is very discouraging, and it stops us in our tracks.
This is why Reb Nosson put this sichah right after Sichah 1 at the beginning of the sefer. Together with the avodah of attaching ourselves to the illumination of the greatness of Hashem that motivates us to truly enter avodas Hashem, we also need advice on how to be happy and satisfied in life. We need to save ourselves from pressure of perfection that destroys our yishuv hadaas. Rebbe Nachman reveals that we accomplish this through the act of mesiras moda’ah – giving over a declaration.
