As mentioned before, oxygen is required for life because it removes the poisons that cells are constantly producing as part of their normal functioning. One very important ramification of that fact is that getting oxygen into the organism is not enough; the waste (in the form of CO2) needs to get out. That is, the main function of breathing is to get rid of waste. It has always struck was as a funny way to evolve; one would thing it's pretty hard to evolve when the species is always trying to kill itself. Ah well, be that as it may, we (who understand that we are a creation and not an accident) should be asking, "What am I supposed to learn from the fact that the Creator made the system that way?" (Not, "why did HaShem do it that way?", which is a pointless exercise in frustration because it is impossible for the creature to ever understand the motivations of his Creator.) After all, it seems odd that our main activity in this world should be getting rid of waste.
There is a fundamental kabalistic principle that anything in the physical world is just the tip of a spiritual iceberg. What is this "spiritual iceberg" that is behind breathing? The G"ra on Mishlei 8:13 alludes to an answer: "kina"/jealousy, "ta'avah"/lust, "kavod/ga'avah"/need for glorification, aka, arrogance are intrinsically bound in the the human being. Fascinating!! In Pirkei Avos (4:8), "R' Eleazar ha-Kappar used to say: kina, ta'avah, and kavod remove man from the world." I heard from R' Dovid Siegel, shlita, that the tanna means both from this world and the next. We have intrinsically bound into our spiritual matrix deadly poisons. Why would HaShem create us that way?
He didn't; Adam haRishon chose to infect himself. His challenge, explained before, was to stay the course. Adam was created at the peak of perfection. He decided that wasn't enough -- he wanted to perfect himself; thus making a much bigger Kiddush HaShem (he reasoned). Only one way to do that... infect himself and then eradicate the infection.
So now that we are in this pickle, what to do? Don't worry, the G"ra explains the cure!
There is a fundamental kabalistic principle that anything in the physical world is just the tip of a spiritual iceberg. What is this "spiritual iceberg" that is behind breathing? The G"ra on Mishlei 8:13 alludes to an answer: "kina"/jealousy, "ta'avah"/lust, "kavod/ga'avah"/need for glorification, aka, arrogance are intrinsically bound in the the human being. Fascinating!! In Pirkei Avos (4:8), "R' Eleazar ha-Kappar used to say: kina, ta'avah, and kavod remove man from the world." I heard from R' Dovid Siegel, shlita, that the tanna means both from this world and the next. We have intrinsically bound into our spiritual matrix deadly poisons. Why would HaShem create us that way?
He didn't; Adam haRishon chose to infect himself. His challenge, explained before, was to stay the course. Adam was created at the peak of perfection. He decided that wasn't enough -- he wanted to perfect himself; thus making a much bigger Kiddush HaShem (he reasoned). Only one way to do that... infect himself and then eradicate the infection.
So now that we are in this pickle, what to do? Don't worry, the G"ra explains the cure!
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