Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article 26, “One’s Future Depends and Is Tied to Gratitude for the Past”: It is written, “The Lord is high and the low will see,” that only the low can see the greatness. The letters Yakar (Precious) are the letters Yakir (will know). It means that one knows the greatness of a thing to the extent that it is precious to one.

One is impressed according to the importance of the thing. The impression brings one to a sensation in the heart, and according to the measure of one’s recognition of the importance, to that extent joy is born in him.

In order to perceive the reality in which I am located and which I do not yet notice, I need to develop the sensitivity to and perception of it. We do the same thing in other cases as the laws here are unchanging.

Whatever and whoever I may be working with, may it be metal, wood, plastic, people, animals, or plants, I gradually begin to feel the material that I am working with. The more important it is for me, the more I am interested in it and the more I penetrate into its qualities with my perception. Now, even a simple piece of wood can tell me a lot, even though for an outsider it is not noteworthy in any way at all. It’s all in my connection with it, the importance I give it. It’s the same in everything.

A true master is he who values the material with which he works and values his profession, and thanks to it, he sees the full richness of its palette. Before, he used to be like everyone else, but now, having invested the efforts into the acquaintance with the material, he is becoming a specialist and distinguishes the thousands of facets and hues in it.

It is exactly the same in the spiritual. There is only one problem. If in our world we see in advance what we’re dealing with and then we penetrate into all of the finer points, then in the spiritual world, the situation is different. There, I will not get to the “working material” until I develop a special sensing organ. In our world I study what I already see, while in the spiritual world, I first have to develop the sensitivity, and only to that extent do I begin to feel the object in order to study it and to get to know it.

Thus, the realization of the importance precedes everything else. At first we must attach the importance to the spiritual object and only then do we discover it. So why then in our world is this not required? This is because my “approach to the ammunition” is egoistic here; I value what I already see. On the other hand, in the spiritual world, I must first exalt the object in my eyes, attach importance and value to it. To that I extent I get into it with a special relationship, with a sharpened sensitivity. I begin to feel it not from the doorstep, but from behind the door, from a concealed state. And then, when it begins to emerge, I study it and connect to it.
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From the Arava Convention 2/24/12, Lesson 5

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