I heard from one of Rebbe Nachman’s followers that the Rebbe exhorted him to study his Torah lessons deeply and endeavor to produce some original idea {just as he exhorted many of his followers}.

And the Rebbe said to him: If you merit ascertaining the substance of what I intended with my lesson, good. But even if you cannot ascertain my intention, it is still very good when you merit originating something in Torah, because it is a great remedy for immoral thoughts. This is because all immoral thoughts are the product of the medameh (imagination). Thus, by originating something in Torah—which is the concept of medameh (likening) one thing to another—one rectifies the blemish caused by the immoral thoughts which stem from the imagination.

I, myself, heard this from the Rebbe’s holy mouth many, many times. He greatly stressed originating [insights] in Torah, saying that it was a very, very great rectification for the past. He said, too, that articulating even just a single original idea is also very good, because it is a very great remedy.

He also said that it is a favor for the souls of one’s forebears who have already passed on.