How To Measure Faith Above Reason

Dr. Michael LaitmanOur entire path consists of revealing the Creator’s actions toward us and finding the right reaction to them. It is called “work of the Creator,” when I wish to learn two things: Who is doing this to me, and what He is doing. In other words, I wish to reveal the action and the One who acts.

My attitude to the actions and the One who acts is formed through my attempts to reveal them. And in this regard I can already be referred to as a “human being,” the “I” that somehow relates to “what happens to me” and to “the One who controls me.”

The attitude to the action occurs “within reason,” that is, within and according to the mind. If I relate to the One who acts, to the Creator who controls these actions, in opposition to what I feel from His actions, then this is called “above reason” or despite of reason. If I relate to the Creator in direct dependence from His actions, this is called “within reason.”

However, we evaluate our whole work only in relation to the Creator. I may feel His actions as “bitter or sweet,” perceiving them as “good or evil,” according to my sensations. Yet simultaneously, I also have the attitude of “true or false” in regard to the Creator.

Not necessarily is bitter always true and sweet always false. If I rise above my sensation of “bitter or sweet,” and instead of caring about the sensation, I reveal that it comes from the Creator (who is good and does good), then it means that I am in faith above reason.

I am incapable of this on my own since I live by my sensations. However, I can receive help from the Creator, and the difference between “bitter and sweet” will no longer exist. Then this means that I am in bestowal and relate to Him by faith above reason.

I rose above my sensation due to the force that I received from Him, and now I accept pleasant and unpleasant states, “good” and “evil” equally. I don’t just succumb to the circumstances; I truly feel that way, and this determines the height of my relationship with the Creator.

The more opposition there is between good and evil, while perceiving them equally and blessing the Creator for the bad things as well as the good, the higher is my spiritual degree. It is the height to which I rise above my desires and fulfillment, be they pleasant or not. This is called the measure of faith in the Creator.

From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 9/14/10, “Preparation for the Reception of Torah”

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