Tanya Chapter 31: Transition from bitterness to joy. part 1

Taking the ideas presented in the previous chapters to heart seems to put us in a very compromised position. Sadness! Isn't sadness to be avoided at all costs? After all, every sadness, even that which is induced by spiritual concerns, belongs to the realm of the kelipah. The Alter Rebbe tells us: Don't worry! This is the method -- to subdue the darkness with its very own kind. And furthermore, the main feeling that follows these humbling meditations is a holy one, that of bitterness, which comes from the energy of the holy gevurot (severity). By stirring up the holy gevurot within our own Divine soul, we call forth a response from the holy gevurot above. And that manifestation bears down upon the animal soul, which is actually sourced in the holy gevurot, only to have degenerated in its descent down below.  Exposing its holy source sweetens the animal soul, even as it is down here.