Dear Friends, please ask questions about these passages from the great Kabbalists. The commentaries in brackets are mine.

Egoism Is Embedded in the Nature of Every Person

Egoism is embedded in the nature of every person, as in any animal [but in man it is also directed at using and demeaning the other and in addition, it constantly develops].
– Baal HaSulam, “The Solution”

One cannot make a single movement without any benefit for oneself.
– Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”

“A wild ass shall be turned into man” (Job 11:12) because when one emerges out of the bosom of Creation, one is in utter filth and lowliness, meaning a multitude of self-love that is imprinted in him [and he is not capable of considering the interests of another], whose every movement revolves solely around himself, without a shred of bestowal upon others [and what’s more, by demeaning another. Man always evaluates his success not in and by itself, but relative to another. Meanwhile, an animal is content with natural needs and virtually does not compare itself with others].
– Baal HaSulam, Matan Torah (The Giving of the Torah), Item 12
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Related Material:
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 3
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 2
Kabbalists On The Nature Of Man And The Nature Of The Creator, Part 1

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