In “Introduction to TES,” Baal HaSulam explains that everything depends on the efforts. But it’s not simply efforts. When a person starts to study the wisdom of Kabbalah, he does not yet have any notion of what the spiritual world is. He reckons that spiritual pleasures will open up in his egoistic desires.
That is why in the beginning he exerts effort in the usual way, and he cannot really act otherwise. He is ready to invest his strength, the accumulated knowledge, intellect, and feelings, without realizing that on this path his personal “baggage” will not help. In order to come out into the spiritual world, we need the force which comes from Above.
But gradually, the studying and the group do their job, and the person begins to understand that the usual scheme does not work here. He heard this before, but now he realizes in practice that he needs to reveal all features of a new picture within himself.
He gets disappointed in the “logical” approach and in the game with the feelings. He discovers that everything he has does not suit spiritual development at all. New Kelim (vessels, desires) are needed here, which cannot be found in oneself, but must be received from Above.
In this way, the Light which arrives during the studies changes the person. But he sees it only by the results, by the internal changes, by the new way he relates to bestowal. Kabbalists have explained everything to us, only we do not really want to implement it: You do not need to be very smart to understand that our intellect is absolutely not suited for the spiritual world.
For thousands of years we have been developing from generation to generation, and each one was smarter than the previous one. We, ourselves, see how our children easily grasp everything that came to us with much difficulty.
We should understand that this whole process of egoistic growth is intended to bring a person to despair, when he will no longer have anything to take from the world. I come to the conclusion that everything the world can offer is not enough for me, thus reaching the “ceiling,” the end of the road.
This way, I strive for something higher, I want something that exists above the “ceiling.” It is then that the point in the heart starts to speak within me. So how can I ascend toward the place where it is calling me to? This, I do not know.
A new desire awaits me there, completely new instruments of perception, a new feeling, and a new intellect. But they need yet to be acquired. That is why I arrive at the wisdom of Kabbalah, the group, and the teacher. By using them correctly, I attract the Light that Reforms, and only this Light leads me to the goal.
The new feeling and the new intellect are being formed, born, are emerging within me, and I begin to look at the world in a new way. The old picture recedes to the side and a new picture takes its place. This, in fact, is a new world.
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From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/10/10, Writings of Rabash, Dargot Hasulam, Article 545
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Filed under: Daily Kabbalah Lesson, Group Work, Inner Work - 1 Comment →
It is particularly the lowest, most external souls, the “wicked” that possess the strongest desire. Once they awaken and aspire to goodness, the entire pyramid will turn from the bottom up.
