Rebbe Nachman: The Carried, The Carrying and The Stirrings of Addiction

‘Regarding the common act of giving a blessing (b’r’ch’h) to the one who brings  strong drink for the guests…following the words of the Zohar (II:242a) describing  numerous things that are carried and carry (nissaim v’nossim), things that are carried, meaning that one carries them, while in truth these things provide the carrying as well, like the chariot (merkava), as she carries and is carried; like the ark (ahron), they carried it while it carried its carriers…This is the aspect of the blessing that is given, as b’r’ch’h is the acronym ‘ki ruah ha’haya bi-ofanim, for the spirit of the living  was in the wheels’, this is the aspect of  carried and carrying, the wheels carried the living as the living carried the wheels, for the spirit of living was in the wheels, so to with the entirety of the merkava…therefor the one who carries the strong drink is giving a blessing, which is the aspect of ‘the spirit of the living in the wheels’, the aspect of carried and carrying, as he carries the strong drink, and now the strong drink carries him. (Or, this may create a shattering (sh’varim), for strong drink extinguishes and enflames- and he (Rebbe Nachman) did not explain this at all.)’

Likkutei Moharan 2:69