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"If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am for myself, what am I?"

The Baal Shem Tov taught that if one has negated his/her existence to G·d, then no foreign thoughts can distract them.

To be mindful of mitzvot and to heed their performance protects man from sin. The emphasis is on daily acts. Every single day is an important entity on its own. To the seeker of G-d there is no difference between "major" and "minor" mitzvot: both are commands of G-d and effect refinement and illumination of the soul.

On the day of its death, one's spirit is judged in the heavenly court if he should ascend to the upper, supernal world. Originally, he is judged only on the very lightest matters and at every subsequent anniversary of the day of death (yahrzeit), he is thus judged again, so as to elevate the spirit to a yet higher level.

It is written in the Zohar that in the realm of holiness there is a hall of innocence and virtue, and conversely, in the outer realm of evil there is a hall of guilt.

When one judges every man favorably, to find him good and virtuous, he is in a state of holiness wherein is the hall of innocence and virtue. But if he judges everyone to be bad and guilty, then he is on the outer realm of evil wherein the hall of guilt is found.

In the same way that through a person's pulse, bodily sickness can be known and recognized to healers of the physical being, so, too can one's power of thought be unable to clarify and expel the extra refuse of the blood outside, due to his transgressions.