In TRANSFORMING THE INNER SELF, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of Chabad-Chasidism, teaches that each of us possesses certain character traits that are "animalistic," or materialistic, in nature. Though not inherently evil, these traits can lead a person toward a life of material indulgence and spiritual indifference.

Our charge, then, is to "sacrifice" and transform the animal within, to refine our animal traits and utilize them in our pursuit of spiritual perfection. Following the meditative process described in this discourse, our minds become a chamber for spiritual thought, which alters the very composition of our materialistic traits