Work In The Barren Desert

Dr. Michael LaitmanThe work begins with the question: “What is the meaning of our life?” This point already contains the desire to attain the goal of creation, whose meaning is adhesion with the Creator. This is the final point.

We have no idea what this adhesion means, what kind of understanding and sensation it brings. But it is written that we have to cleave to His qualities. There are qualities of the Creator, which He gradually reveals to us, and we have to bring ourselves to similarity with them.

All of the Creator’s qualities are essentially just the single quality of bestowal, “absolute good.” This is the quality that a person has to adopt, “good that does good.” To the extent the Creator reveals His goodness to him, this is what a person should become like.

This goodness becomes expressed in relation to the neighbor, in order to allow us to attain true bestowal and not to bestow for our own sakes, egoistically. Therefore, we have to go through a rather lengthy preliminary path, advancing gradually, step by step along the chain of cause and effect states.

We begin from the state that is diametrically opposite to the Creator and we move with the help of the upper force, with the help of the Light that unnoticeably acts within us. This is called the Surrounding Light, the concealed illumination that returns us to its source.

By attracting this illumination to us, we correct ourselves and advance. And it can only be attracted by equivalence of form. Just as the Creator conceals Himself from us for now, allowing us to perform the correction and attain the true quality of bestowal, so we have to agree to work in concealment. In that case, we can aspire to His quality of bestowal rather than the pleasant fulfillment it gives us.

Yet the final correction, the goal of creation is to delight the creatures, where delighting is above our egoistic quality of reception.

Therefore, this work takes place in the “desert,” on barren land, meaning we do not feel any pleasant results from our efforts. This was done deliberately, so a person would look for possibilities to work without a reward, above reward. One must agree with this and desire only this because one aspires to the truth, to the quality of bestowal, rather than trying to attain a pleasant sensation this way.

This entire preparation is called the preliminary correction, before entering the Land of Israel. First we receive the force of correction, the quality of faith and bestowal, which is called “40 years of wandering in the desert.” And after that, we begin working with the desire to enjoy itself, and even this desire works in the direction of bestowal. This is called working in the Land of Israel.

Work on correcting our desire and raising the quality of bestowal above the will to enjoy is called work in the desert, the preparation phase. It is described by the commandment, “Do not do to another what you yourself hate.” This is work with the bestowing desires (Galgalta ve Eynaim), the small state (Katnut).

But work in the Land of Israel is already work with the actual desires: not above them, but directly inside of them. This is called “work in three lines.” This work is done with the actual receiving desire, which is called AHP, in the great or adult state of the soul (Gadlut).

When working with the receiving desire for the sake of bestowal, on its four levels, we reveal the names of the Creator. That is, we are already able to express qualities inside of us that are equal to His quality and to impress His name inside of us. The desire begins behaving like the Light, and that’s how a person attains similarity, unification, and adhesion with the upper Light until he goes through all the levels of the soul’s maturation and attains total equivalence and absolute adhesion, which is the goal of creation.
[60788]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/15/11, Writings of Rabash

Related Material:
Bestowal Without Reward
We Need New Fuel
Overcoming A Potential Obstacle

One Comment

  1. What a teaching, what a vision.

    So many things in the lesson from the letter of rabash and the Zohar. The preparation for the lesson is so important, especially listening to what you say prior the reading. Without thinking we understand it, because we do not. We imagine instead of applying.. We should never forget that kabbalists do not use words for the sake of poetry or imagination, or even freely, but rather that any words counts for what it says.

    So it is the place to be a mechanic configuring the will to receive. Not even forcefully. but plainly. Not from above but inwardly. With the tools, the lines. With utter, decision. Stillness. So many aspects. Stop being two, interacting with each other, but rather one part working on the other part.

    And the Zohar: again as you say and said so many times, we should hear it, we have to hear it: nothing to understand, a real remedy, another angle. “Be careful what you wish for and how you ask for” is what came in my mind after asking. Theory and practice. Zohar as a living place to ask for and see.

    Duma, hidden at the gate of the palace of kedusha, grabbing the soul and pushing it in the first palace of Tuma. With no harm meant, swiftly. Like a pickpocket. Pitut seducing the soul into seeing what she should not see. Gamgima the red.

    And all the degrees prior to the Land, the desert and its harsh work, and the work in Israel even harder yet different.

    Robbing Hohma to the sitra achra. Not only does it not shine for us below, but it also feeds the sitra achra.

    Babel, Israel, Libanon, Syria and all the degrees.

    Change attitude. Completely.

    HaKol tuv rav vhaverim
    eli

Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question




Laitman.com Comments RSS Feed