I Envy Means I Grow

Dr. Michael LaitmanA person has no strength to do a single spiritual action. We need to take a sober look at the reality, understanding that we act in the framework of strict laws and forces, which we have to organize for ourselves. That is why if he does not connect himself with the environment correctly, in order to connect through it with the source of the method of correction, that is, with the teacher, and through the teacher with the Light that Reforms, then he will be constantly spinning within his desires and aspirations that lock him in this world.

He will never go beyond the limits of this world. And while he will learn something, ultimately he will remain with the same nature with which he was born and will remain on the same level. It is possible to rise to a higher degree only under the condition that a person receives an additional, qualitatively new desire, rather than increasing his common earthly needs for money, family home, power, and knowledge.

He can get all this in this world. But if he needs to move from the earthly plane of “money-family-power-knowledge” to the next, higher dimension, then he needs a completely different desire—the need for the property of bestowal—because our world is based only on the desire to receive. The spiritual world is based on bestowal, to which a person has to become attracted and aspire to as to the greatest treasure:  the desire that will be able to serve as a lever for him, a springboard.

He has to suffer because he is not capable of loving and giving, but is this possible? Only the envy of other people that appear great, attractive, and important to him can help him. He discovers that they are glad that they have the ability to bestow, they find something unusual in this property of bestowal, and in comparison to them he is nothing.

If he has the point in the heart, he begins to envy them. Without this point he has nothing to hold on to, has no sensing organ to feel that they have something special that he does not have. He will not feel that he lacks something. It is like a person who loves music and dreams of becoming a musician will not envy the one who wants to become a physicist. Physics and poetry are completely different worlds.

This also works in spiritual aspiration. Only if a person has the point in the heart, he has at least an initial opportunity to envy people who are in the property of bestowal. At first he is attracted because it seems mystical, promises some supernatural abilities, the power of the mind, the ability to manage his own life and the life of others, power over the entire creation.

That is, at the beginning, the property of bestowal is clothed in all kinds of material garments, not at the bodily level “food-family,” but at the level of “money-power-knowledge.” In essence, it all comes down to one thing: to the power of dominance (the power of money, the power of knowledge). It is a purely egoistic desire, but one hopes that he will reach success in the revelation of the spiritual world.

If he has a strong desire, then initially it seems to him that he advances quickly and successfully, but later he suddenly discovers that he is behind, and that he cannot really connect with others. On the other hand, he hears that connection is the main tool for advancement. He begins to hate this method, but has nowhere to go.

There a decisive battle takes place from which many escape. But there are those who remain. They increase their point because due to helplessness they surrender to the environment. Then they finally begin to understand that spirituality is not in money, power, or knowledge, but only temporarily it became clothed in these material garments in order to lead a person further.

And now spirituality pulls him further upwards because he begins to appreciate the property of bestowal and love for the other on its own. He feels that this very force, this property, is unusually exalted and unique; it is above this world and possesses the divine essence. Precisely these forces of bestowal rule in the world.

Gradually, the person bows lower and cancels his egoistic nature, agreeing to annul himself before the property of bestowal. All this work takes place within the group. The influence of the environment is the only factor of such change of values in which bestowal and love for the other becomes more important for a person than the usual good things: food, money, family, power, and knowledge.

He is increasingly imbued with the desire to bestow from the environment, and thus he comes to the stage of the path that is called “Lo Lishma.” He invests all his efforts and does everything possible to increase the portion of “Lishma” in “Lo Lishma”; that is, he bestows and bestows, wanting to be involved in the property of bestowal, but still expects to get something in return. For the time being, it is still egoistic bestowal, for the sake of reception; however, it is approaching altruistic bestowal.

Here, he needs humility; self-nullification; the greatness of the goal, of the group, of the teacher, of the Creator. All this becomes very important for him, and except for this, there is nothing else… Everything he dreamed of before is gradually devalued: first money, then honor, then power. Whom does he need to rule over and for what purpose? He wants the upper Light to rule over him. That is, it is not just the desire to dominate himself, but the desire to bow before the Light so that it can do its work.

The person discovers his weakness in everything: He can neither cancel himself nor acquire the property of bestowal. He does not find a single bit of bestowal and love for the other within himself, but he cannot rule over his egoism either. He feels that he is naked and helpless. Because he is no longer interested in wealth, honor, and knowledge, he has nothing left but the point in the heart that is called the sign of the covenant with the Creator. Suppose he learns everything that happens in the world, all of the science invented by humanity. But all this is included in the same Light, and in its true, direct form, instead of the reversed back form, on which all earthly science and knowledge are based.

As a result, he remains dependent only on the Reforming Light that comes to him through the entire ladder of spiritual worlds, through the teacher, through the group, under the condition that he wants to return through them everything that he has back to the Creator. The Direct and Reflected Light clothe in each other.
[111003]
From the 1st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/24/13, Shamati #175

Related Material:
Material Success Is No Guarantee Of Spiritual Success
Envy Each Other More
Where Is My True Self?

Discussion | Share Feedback | Ask a question




Laitman.com Comments RSS Feed