Good morning. We're continuing our study of Mesillat Yesharim. We are in the subject of Ta'anugim, the subject of pleasures. Baruch Hashem (Blessed is Hashem), we have completed our study. I don't know if we completed the subject, but we completed our study of four of the five pleasures.
We went through 5th-class pleasure, which was physical pleasure. We went to 4th class, which is the pleasure of Ahava, Love. We went to 3rd class, which is the pleasure of living for a cause. We went to 2nd-class pleasure, which is the pleasure of power. Imagine a person has perfected all of these pleasures. I told you, unlike an airplane, when you sit in one class, it means you're not sitting in another class. But when it comes to the pleasures that we're talking about, you can sit in all the classes at the same time.
So imagine a person has taken these classes seriously. That's a very big if. There are many people who enjoy classes, but they don't really take them seriously. But even enjoying them is good. It's much better when they take them seriously and actually put them into practice. So imagine somebody actually listened, enjoyed, and put them into practice. They started working and working and working, and achieved pleasure in their life, where they're now enjoying the physical world immensely. They have a tremendous amount of ahavat for all the right things, and it's part of their daily life. They're living for important causes, and they have power over themselves and lead their lives in the way they desire, in the right place. What a person. Imagine such a person. It's an angel.
But yet, with all of that, you're still missing first-class pleasure. You're missing something that doesn't exist in everything we just mentioned. What is this pleasure that's not in the physical, that's not in the love, that's not in the cause, that's not in the power? What could it be that a person is missing out on? So we're going to go first to the counterfeit of this pleasure so that we can better understand the authentic one.
The counterfeit of first-class pleasure is something that we see inside all of us. Sometimes we don't want to admit it, but it exists inside every normal person. And that is, there is a great pleasure when we are around awesome people. For example, you have a guy who shoots basketballs better than anyone else on the planet. Other people, when they shoot the ball, once in a while they get it. But this guy, he doesn't miss. He's unbelievable. He's so good that when he plays, he is a giant amongst men. And he became, of course, very, very famous because of that. When you shoot balls in baskets, you become a famous person. And usually, people pay you a lot of money. But perhaps most of all, you become a magnet to people who will become in awe of you. Being in your presence is tremendously pleasurable to them.
Instead of watching the game, listening to the game, or getting the final score, they will actually drive and spend all kinds of money to be in your presence. Even if they can watch from home, being in the presence of someone awesome feels a lot more pleasurable. And not only will they sit in the same room, but if they can move up a few rows to get even closer, they're willing to pay thousands of dollars extra. And if they can sit right next to you on the court, then wow, what a feeling.
Now, they don't even know how to play the game, but being around awesome people is a tremendous pleasure, worth spending all kinds of money and all kinds of time and all kinds of sacrifice, just for a moment next to someone who is awesome. And then, if you're really, really in touch, you don't go home after the game. You make sure that you get into that smelly locker room. You make sure you wait in there as the sweat of the awesome person smells like the most beautiful perfume. Ah, the sweat of this awesome person. And then you even shake their hands while they're sweating. You don't want to wash after. You don't want to do it. You want to keep that sweat on your hand. I wish I was exaggerating. But there's more to it than that.
Just being around it feels so pleasurable, being around such a person. Even when you're not around them, chances are you'll buy their picture, especially if you're in the picture. If somehow you got a picture with this awesome person, it's going straight into your room. You're going to show it to many, many people who are your friends. You look at it and you can't believe your eyes. Something so beautiful, something so special. And sometimes you'll get the guy's bandana, the smelly bandana that's on his head while his face is soaked with sweat. You don't want the one that's not soaked. You want the one that's authentic, and you get the bandana from him in the locker room, and it's love at first touch. You're going crazy. You show somebody that bandana. You say, "You see this?" And they look at you and say, "What are you?" "It's a bandana." "No, not a bandana. It is the bandana of this awesome person. He wore it in the awesome game. You know when he hit the awesome shot? He was wearing this one. Can't believe it. What an item."
He takes that bandana, and he'll never wear it because he doesn't want to waste it. He makes sure he puts it in a very safe place. He takes a special box in the bank to make sure that he puts it in a safe place. His children are running around the streets. They're in all kinds of places, but the bandana needs to be safe. He puts it away and he just can't believe the zechut (merit) that he has from all people in society, and that he got the bandana.
And then, if you're really lucky, you get the guy's sneakers. If you get the guy's sneakers, you basically just made it. The sneakers that sit in your closet are triple your size, so obviously you can't wear them. But the sight—I mean, when people come to your house, you have some beautiful things going on there. You have sefarim (books) that you can share with them. You have all kinds of nice things in your house. But the centerpiece of the home, when people come in and say, "I gotta show you something"—you're not talking about the library, we're not talking about the dining room, we're not talking about the sukkah (temporary hut). No, no. We're going to take you upstairs and we're going to show you the sneakers.
Now, of course, the people won't know what you're talking about until you explain to them why these sneakers are just awesome. You understand? And if you keep them around for a very long time, you'll probably sell them for a lot of money, because there are many other people who are crazier than you. And they too, if they can identify the sneaker as authentic, will pay all kinds of money for having a moment, not with the guy, but with his sneaker.
You see, a moment with the sneaker of an awesome person is a worthwhile moment, and on and on and on. If you didn't see this in real life, you would say, "It can't be. What does it matter? A guy shoots basketballs. You're giving up all this time, and you're invested in going and paying money, and you're in awe of his clothing? What's happening?" Unbelievable. It's hard to imagine. But we can't deny the reality.
The reality is, when you're around a big person, you feel big. That's what it is. When you have something of a big person, you feel you have something big. Now, who is a big person? It depends what you think is big in the world out there. Usually it's famous people, athletes. People appreciate how awesome they are in what they do, and they get very attracted to them. And they feel big around them. You have people who have a nice voice, and people are attracted to their voice and they feel big around them. There'll be people waiting and all kinds of fans spending their lives buying merchandise.
It's amazing, the brilliance of the marketers, how they took five people playing a sport and made it so big that people feel big around those people. They're selling their products and putting them on commercials. When your guy on the screen tells you that that deodorant is good, that's the only deodorant you buy. Now, what does he have to do with deodorants? Nothing. But when someone big is using that deodorant, that's the one I want to use because I feel big. It's amazing. Oh, they drink that soft drink. That's what I'm drinking.
You would think this is not real. You would think that when people buy a soft drink, the commercial needs to be about the quality of the drink, the taste of the drink, the health benefits of the drink. That's what you would think. See, I'm too intellectual, so if I want to sell something to someone, I would think that the way to sell it is to tell them the benefits of the product. So if you give me 30 seconds, I'm going to tell you in 30 seconds why this product is going to benefit you. But shockingly, I see a 30-second commercial, and it doesn't even talk about the product. It doesn't make one mention of the taste, of the health benefits—nothing, zero. How can you sell a product if you don't talk about it? How do you expect people to buy it if you didn't describe the benefits of that product? It's unbelievable. How could it be?
So if I'm selling a product, I want to tell you what it does feel, but the commercials don't do that. They don't even talk about the product. All they do is bring you a very chashuv, important person that people think is important, someone awesome in something. Maybe he's awesome in talent, maybe he's awesome in money, maybe he's awesome in politics, whatever it might be. And they just have that person wear those jeans. They have that person buy that soft drink. They have that person doing something that would be attractive to people watching.
Why? Why do I care if that guy uses that product? The answer is, and you cannot deny this, the marketers are very well aware of this: people are attracted to big things. Big people, big events. People, when they are around something big, feel big. It's an unbelievable thing. The person that's big doesn't necessarily care about you, doesn't know you. It doesn't matter. When I'm around something big, I feel so good. I feel very big.
That's why sometimes some of the highlights people have in their life are, "You know, I lived a hundred years. And what's one of the highlights? When he met this important person"—if they have the phone number. But some people, their phone becomes elevated when they have the number of somebody important on their phone. And sometimes they don't have his number, but they have his assistant's assistant's number on their phone. And he said, "From my phone." And he said, "What happens?" It feels special.
You have to know this is a God-created feeling that we have. Not a mistake. When we're around big people, we feel special. We feel big. Again, what's called big? Whatever you consider big. Big in athletics. Big in music. Big in money. Big in politics. Big rabbis. Anything big. When you are around something large, you're attracted to it, and you feel big around it, and you're willing to travel and pay and sacrifice just to have a piece of the action.
All of what I describe is in every normal human being. If you tell me, "No, I'm above that. I have none of those feelings. I'm the biggest person in the world. I don't have anyone..." That's what people tell you or me: "I don't, nah, not me." What they mean to say—let me explain to you what they mean: "I am bigger than anyone on the planet, and there's no one that I would be feeling big around except myself." That's what it means. But normal people, when they have someone big around them, feel special. In fact, you have to know, Raymond—are you with us?
What I just described and much more. Again, in today's world, it's perhaps the biggest it's ever been. The amount of attention that big people around the world get through followers, through merchandising, through all kinds of events and avenues that technology has given people to be connected. You have people, influencers. It's unbelievable. You would never think it's possible. He has millions of followers. If he says everyone should jump twice every morning, people are jumping three times to be machmir (stringent). They want to do more. Just in case. They're not sure. If they jump twice, they want to jump one more time. No matter what, it's not normal.
While it's not normal and it's funny, and really we can laugh at it, we can't deny the attraction that all of us have to someone big. Everything I described today is the counterfeit of the real pleasure that it was meant for. Everything I described is taking a certain magnet that Hashem put in us. We have a magnet inside of us that attracts us to big things, big people. Now, we have free choice, as we learned many times, and we can decide to use that magnet for everything I just spoke about. It's a free choice, or that magnet was put inside of us for one reason: because the greatest pleasure in life, and where you feel the most big, is when you live your life in the presence of the creator of the world.
Again, we have a magnet to something big. Most people are using it for a perception of size. A guy shooting basketball is not big. He may be good at basketball, but that's not a big person in reality. A person, just because they have political power, doesn't make them big. It gives them power in certain areas. But if you want to talk about the creator of the world, who is really big, and if you live in his presence, you will be living with tremendous pleasure. The pleasure of the locker room after a basketball game, that's a joke. Living in the presence of the creator of the world is the most magnificent pleasure on this planet. There is nothing greater than a person who lives in that presence. And the more time you spend, the greater it is.
People listening say, "Living in the presence of the Creator? What does that mean? I have to go to Olam Haba (World to Come)? What are you talking about? Where is He? What does that mean? I mean, I heard about Him. I talked to Him sometimes. I learned from Him to live in His presence. Is that even possible? How can a person that's flesh and blood live in the presence of the Creator? Where is He? Where do I buy the tickets to go courtside next to him? Where do I get his sneakers? Where do I find the shirt that he was wearing?" It seems so out of reality.
For anybody listening, they can, I think, appreciate now what it is. But in reality, how does a person live in the presence of the creator of the world? This is one of the big questions that we need to answer to be able to live life in first class. But guaranteed, if we're able to get that, everybody in the world will be living like here, some living up here, and you'll be flying high like an eagle, not because you're trying to compare yourself to others. I'm just giving you the difference between living in first class and living in fifth class. First class is truly magnificent. Unfortunately, most of us are chasing it in it's fake down different way. It's all we know.
You can't expect a 5-year-old to live in the presence of the creator, so automatically, when you're 5, you're in awe of people who are around you, and that continues and continues. That's how life is unless you take a break and say, "Hey, what am I doing? Why am I going crazy for this person? What does it matter? Is that person really big? Is it really important? Is he taking me?"
By the way, you should know, besides the pleasure of being around someone big, that it also has a tremendous impact on your life. Because when you're around someone big, you start to want to be like them, and you start to copy them and you start to live like them. That's a side benefit, or the opposite, when you're around someone big. So therefore, you see society today: when someone tries to live and copy Hollywood, you're going to have a lot of the issues that Hollywood is very, very much drowning in because you're trying to copy people and their lifestyle. You're trying to copy the way they dress. You're trying to copy the way they vacation. You're trying to copy the way they talk. You're trying to copy the way they socialize. You're trying to copy the way they marry. You've got so... Being around big people is not just a pleasure. It has many, many, many branches that come out of it. Great branches if you're around the right person, and horrible branches if you're around the wrong person, and much more.
So it becomes critical for us to know first what's authentic and what's fake. Today we have figured that out. But now we have to know the second rule: we said no pain, no pain. Remember, the second rule we have to enjoy the pleasures of life is no pain, no pleasure. To follow athletes, you don't need pain. To follow all the fake size big people, you don't need too much pain. But to really enjoy the first-class pleasure of living your life with the creator of the world every moment, that requires an investment. Be'ezrat Hashem (with Hashem's help), tomorrow we're going to learn what a person has to invest to live his life constantly.
See, the nice thing about the Creator is you don't have to go anywhere to find Him. You don't have to buy tickets. You don't have to fly anywhere. You don't have to be anywhere different than where you are. But you have to invest properly. If you invest properly, you start to bask in the radiance of the greatness of the Creator, and you will be raised with it, and your life will start to change as a result of it. But we need to know what the investment is. What is the investment to be in the pleasure of first class, to be in the presence of the Creator? We'll continue that tomorrow. Have a good day.