Questions from Pharaoh – Our Egoism (Advanced)

Questions from Pharaoh - Our EgoismQuestions I received on feeling weak, doubtful and unsure along the spiritual path

Question: I just don’t understand: Why does a person have to fight himself in order to enter this fictional “other” state? And why does he even need this?

My Answer: You’re right: If you don’t have a point in the heart, then go on living without any worries. After all, a person only realizes the desires that awaken in him. If a person’s point in the heart has awakened, then he is driven by the desire to reveal, understand, and feel the Creator; and he has to attain this.

Question: I have been trying to understand how is it even possible to change one’s nature, because more and more, I keep discovering just how egoistic all my thoughts and desires are, and they are only becoming more egoistic. So why should I be destroying myself with this useless work instead of living a normal life?

My Answer: You’re absolutely right: A person cannot change his own nature! Nevertheless, if he persistently strives towards the goal, then his perseverance will help him, and the Creator will give him the strength to reveal Him (see the “Introduction to Talmud Eser Sefirot,” item 133, where it talks about people climbing the mountain). Only the force of the Creator’s revelation can pull a person out of this world – out of the perception “inside oneself.” And then one reveals an eternal and perfect world. But again, only the Light, which created the creation, is able to change it and lift it to Its level.

Question:
As a person gets older, he grows weaker and needs more strength. But where will he get it if he never gets a response from the Creator?

My Answer: The entire path up until the revelation of the Creator, the Machsom, consists of ever increasing disappointments. It’s written that coming out of Egypt happens by sending plagues to Pharaoh, our egoism. These plagues become more and more painful, making us feel more disillusioned about our ability to attain the goal, to come out of egoism and enter the perception of the Upper Force, the Creator. These plagues reveal our nature – egoism, the Pharaoh, and just how much he is ruling us inside. Read the section in the Torah where the Creator keeps repeating to man (Moses): “Go to the Pharaoh, because I have hardened his heart.” This means that the Creator keeps increasing our egoism on purpose, so we’d reveal how absolutely evil it is for us and desire to run away from it!

Question: Sometimes it seems like I don’t have enough time left in this life to attain the goal, the revelation of the Creator.

My Answer: In this case, just like on the entire path, there is only one “Kabbalistic” principle to use : “Knock that tempter’s teeth out” (the tempter that throws you off the path), and keep being stubborn, advancing by “faith above reason,” in spite of your common (regular, animalistic) sense. And look for the Creator’s help inside all this, in order to be able to follow these two principles.

Question: Maybe it’s better to live a “pleasant lie,” like the people who buy what Berg sells – psychological support and imagined but sweet confidence that tomorrow will be OK, that everything will be fine, and that everything can be changed for the better. This has a psychological affect on you, gives you strength, and helps you survive. And you get the positive results up front!

My Answer: Who can object to these centuries proven methods! If I could, I’d buy red strings and holy water myself. But no one is even inviting to Kabbalah those people who can comfort themselves with these methods, and who can convince themselves that they work. But while they shut their eyes to the illness and take painkillers, the illness keeps spreading.

And there are others who can no longer be helped by these painkillers; they understand that this is a lie. These people keep searching, because a person cannot remain unfulfilled, and this state of futility and emptiness is worse than death, because their spiritual desire already demands to be fulfilled. And so they keep searching. And it’s for these people, who can no longer find anything that can fulfill them in this world, that Kabbalah provides the answer: Fulfillment comes from the Upper Light, to the degree you are similar to it!

Question: It still seems absolutely impossible and unfeasible that every person and all the people together will be able to desire to come out of egoism voluntarily, instead of being pushed by plagues that are worse than death itself, when even death seems like a salvation from the suffering.

My Answer: The Creator says that it is simple and easy to come out of the corporeal nature and enter the Upper Nature, provided that one diligently carries out the Creator’s conditions, or the precise, strict laws of nature. No one has the strength and the desire to ascend above this world, above one’s nature. But you can receive these desires from the correct environment (the worldwide Bnei Baruch group), by studying Kabbalah according to the authentic sources – the books of Baal HaSulam. And then the Light will lift you, and there are thousands of examples to prove this. The choice is yours!

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2 Comments

  1. Is crossing the Machsom the most difficult part in the spiritual ascent?  Once you cross over, is the process accelerated?

  2. On this page,in your answer to the 4th question,you speak about two” Kabbalistic” principles to follow on the path;one is ” knock that tempter’s teeth out”(the tempter that throws you off the path);I understand and agree with this principle,but what is the second one?(is it “keep being stubborn advancing by faith above reason”?).

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