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It says, "You shall know today and impress on your heart" (Devarim 4:39). This is a most basic principle and the root of the entire process of avodah. A person's task is first, "know today" to establish the concept in his mind as a given. After the idea is a well-established fact in his mind, there begins the process of "and impress it onto your heart," taking the knowledge to heart. The feelings of one's heart must be in consonance with one's way of thinking, so that it receives the knowledge without any obstruction. This requires a pure heart that has been freed from the "foreskin of the heart", which prevents the truth from penetrating into the heart and guiding it. This is the process of spiritual growth for any level a person strives to acquire. First there is the stage of "know today," and then, there is the stage of "and impress on your heart."


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There are two ways to effect the transition from the stage of "know today" to the stage of "and impress on your heart."

The first is through extensive contemplation on the matter one wants to master. This can be achieved by setting aside a set time each day to think about it for a long period of time. (We will later discuss the statement of the Ramchal in Derech Etz Chaim that everyone must devote about an hour a day for contemplation.) Alternatively by thinking briefly about the matter at short intervals throughout the day - approximately once every fifteen minutes - (except when one is studying Torah, as mentioned before).

The second way is to repeat statements relevant to the topic numerous times. The mouth has the power to inspire the heart, as will be explained later, with the help of Hashem.
http://bilvavi.net/content/view/283/32




Is skepticism the "foreskin of the heart"?

Probably depends on what the skepticism is. [That of the mind, not; that of the heart, yes. Though really, in a sense, any skepticism is because there exists a safek, which is due to amalek, which will be gone during mashiach, because of the gilui of the yechida shebanefesh, which check here and here]. (sorry I keep bringing that up, but its a very core concept in Bilvavi's works..)

Thank you, that's a very interesting point.