1. RABASH, Article No. 18 (1984), "And It Shall Come to Pass When You Come to the Land that the Lord Your God Gives You"
One should fight with oneself to subdue the heart, which is where these desires clothe, expel the domination of the will to receive, and give full governance to the desire to bestow upon the Creator. When one begins to work the holy work, which is to aim all of his work for the Creator, the wars between those two desires begin. Then, through great labor, a person is rewarded with overcoming and he wins the war. At that time the ruling of the will to bestow upon the Creator enters his heart.
2. RABASH, Article No. 926, "Come unto Pharaoh"
One will not think that he can submit his evil inclination by himself. Rather, as it is written, “Man’s inclination overcomes him every day. Were it not for the help of the Creator, he would not overcome it.” Hence, one should not say that he cannot defeat his evil, for he must believe that the Creator will help him.
3. RABASH, Article No. 696, "Your Strength to the Torah"
If a person wants to succeed in the Torah, he must see that the desire to engage in Torah is stronger than the rest of the desires in him, and then they will surrender to it because the strong has the power to subdue the weak. Hence, the strong desire subdues the desire for idleness, for honor, and the rest of the lusts.
4. RABASH, Article No. 282, "Be Mindful with a Minor Commandment as with a Major One – 2
All the darkness that we feel in spirituality extends from the evil within us, which is to receive in order to receive. Our sages said about this, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice” (Kidushin 30b), meaning that through the Torah we obtain the power to subdue the receiver in us so he can work in order to bestow.
In other words, all we want to receive from the Torah and Mitzvot is the power to subdue the evil. This is the only reward that we hope to receive from Torah and Mitzvot, since once we obtain the power to bestow, we will be able to obtain all the delight and pleasure that the Creator has prepared for us.
5. RABASH, Letter No. 13
All the work we have is only to turn the reception to be in order to bestow. This is against our nature and desire. However, we were given the remedy of Torah and Mitzvot, by which we obtain the power and might to subdue our bodies, so that all of our intentions will be for the Creator. This is the meaning of engaging in Torah through the light in it, as well as to engage in good deeds, which is the meaning of loving others. By those two we can exit reception and be rewarded with bestowal.
6. RABASH, Article No. 128, "Exalt the Lord Our God"
“Bow before His holy mountain.” Bowing means surrendering. It is when one lowers his reason and says that what the reason understands or does not understand, I annul and subjugate it. Before which quality do I subjugate it? Before “His holy mountain.”
Har [mountain] means Hirhurim [reflections], meaning thoughts. “His holy,” for “holy” means separated from the matter. This means that he removes himself from the desire of reception. “Bow” means submitting the body, even though it disagrees, and taking upon oneself only thoughts of Kedusha [holiness]. This is the meaning of “Bow before His holy mountain.”
Why must we submit ourselves to thoughts of Kedusha, meaning retire from receiving in order to receive? It is because “The Lord our God is holy,” for the Creator only bestows. For this reason, one must be in equivalence of form with the Creator.
7. RABASH, Article No. 696, "Your Strength to the Torah"
When one wants to go somewhere, but there are people who interfere with his walking on the path he wants to go, and each one pulls him to the place he wants, if he is drawn, he does not have the strength to subdue them, and then he is pulled away from the place where he wants to go to the place that the strongest one among them wants, since he subdues all the others because he is more powerful.
It is likewise with emotional strength. Man consists of many desires, and each of the desires wants to subdue the other desires and draw the body to go to its side.
8. RABASH, Article 30 (1988), "What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends"
When his reason shows him his friend’s true face, that he hates him?” What can he tell the body about that? Why should he submit himself before his friend?
The answer is that he wishes to achieve Dvekut [adhesion] with the Creator, called “equivalence of form,” meaning not to think of his own benefit. Thus, why is subduing a difficult thing? The reason is that he must revoke his own worth, and the whole of the life that he wishes to live will be only with the consideration of his ability to work for others’ benefit, beginning with love of others, between man and man, through the love of the Creator.
Hence, here is a place where he can say that anything he does is without any self-interest, since by reason, the friends are the ones who should love him, but he overcomes his reason, goes above reason.
9. RABASH, Article No. 24 (1991), “What Does It Mean that One Should Bear a Son and a Daughter, in the Work?”
The work above reason should be unconditional surrender. That is, one should take upon himself the burden of the kingdom of heaven above reason. A person should say, “I want to be a servant of the Creator even though I have no idea about the work and I feel no flavor in the work. Nevertheless, I am willing to work with all my might as though I have attainment and feeling and flavor in the work, and I am willing to work unconditionally.” At that time, a person can go forward, and then there is no place for him to fall from his state, since he takes upon himself to work even when he is placed right in the earth, since it is impossible to be lower than the earth.
10. RABASH, Article No. 22 (1991),”What Is 'A Lily Among the Thorns,' in the Work?"
One should believe that the fact that one has been rewarded with faith in the Creator comes from the Creator. By this he is rewarded with the voice of the Creator subduing the enemies, meaning that the will to receive surrenders and in its stead comes the desire to bestow, and now he wants to work for the sake of the Creator. This comes from the voice of the Creator, as it is written, “The voice of the Lord is powerful” (Psalms 29:4). We should interpret that the voice of the Lord gives power to man to subdue the enemies.