Baal HaSulam, “Letter 34”: Even those who were awarded with forgiveness for their sins, which turn into rights, in which it turns out that there is no flaw, will still need more power to stand in the King’s palace, which means to stand and pray and wait, without getting tired… until they acquire a complete desire from the Creator.

And so we have to learn this art before we enter the King’s palace, which means the palace of power and might, and stand as an iron pillar…

Question: Why does Baal HaSulam say that a person must stand like an iron pillar if we know that, on the contrary, we should reach a state when we despair of our own powers?

Answer: If a person despairs of his own powers, it doesn’t mean that he becomes weak. He doesn’t cry out of weakness, but is rather joyful as a hero for having risen above all his egoistic powers (the “shells“) that used to confuse him and draw him in different directions. After all, he is standing in front of the Creator now, asking for help!

So, why does it seem that he should reach total exhaustion? He understands that he cannot enter the spiritual world by his own powers since it is a totally different nature. However, he knows that he was helped from Above every step of the way and, thus, brought toward the spiritual world, and he actually is standing at its doorstep.

He is sure that, with the help of the Creator, who gave him the power to overcome the egoistic forces (Klipot – shells), he is now totally free.

If he doesn’t have the power to take the step into the spiritual world, it doesn’t mean that he is weak; it is just the realization of the fact. But the fact that every time he tried to advance with the Creator’s help means that he is a hero. A hero is not someone who foolishly fights using his own powers.

Overcoming is a war against myself, against my desire to do everything by myself, to determine everything by myself, as if there were other forces besides the Creator. It is the greatest foolishness to think that we should win by ourselves. Then, a person feels happy that he has fought and won this war.

He has won not because of his own powers. The reason why he wanted to start this war didn’t come from him, and the request for help from the Creator and the situation that was created afterward also is not to his credit.

So, why is he called a hero? It is because he has passed through all the stages along the way and, thanks to them, has adhered to the only Upper. This is what it means to win this war. Being a hero is to discover that “There is none else besides Him,” despite all the disturbances.

So, it depends on what we call “weakness.” A person clearly doesn’t have the powers to fight against himself, but he attains that he has no powers and that everything is done with the help of the Creator who has given him the powers with which a person builds himself the image of Adam (human), which resembles (Domeh) the Creator.
[99611]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 2/5/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

Related Material:
The Reason To Turn To The Creator
Steps Of Overcoming
The Most Difficult Task Is To Ask

Filed under: Inner Work, Prayer and Intention | Add Comment →