Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”, Item 17: Thus, we are already in that measure of perfection, worthy and fitting of the Perfect Operator who made us, even in our current, second state, for this body does not defect us in any way, since it will expire and die, and is only here for the time necessary for its cancellation and acquisition of our eternal form.

As it is written, “I created the evil inclination.” It is all about the corrupt form that reveals itself within us so that we will rescind it. By doing so, we will attain the full depth of creation and will come to know the upper force, the one, the only, the unique. This is the way it works. We must be grateful for having circumstances that allow us to act in a certain way, thus ascending to the level of the Creator.

In this world, while learning something, we stay who we are, with the addition of some knowledge that is external to us. In spirituality, new things disclose themselves internally and come to us through our desires and roots.

As a result, we constantly change and are born anew every single moment. Each internal change turns us into someone else. Our new form is not connected with the prior states in any way, that is, with something that previously happened to us before a new spiritual action emerged within us.

There is nothing but a chain of causes and effects. Other than that, all our thoughts and sensations acquired at a new level completely differ from the prior step.

We must get ready for that and prepare ourselves to go through various conditions while we still are at the preparatory level. Desperation, disappointment, apathy, and indifference are replaced by enthusiasm and excitement. We go through the entire spectrum of sensations that allows us to analyze ourselves and see prior states vanishing as we transition to new levels.

At this time, the amplitude between our ascents and downfalls is not so great, nor are the various details of our perception of the world really significant. Nevertheless, our animate sensations can be opposite to the judgments we make. For example, when we fall to the very bottom, we regard this state as the ascent to a new high. The main thing is to realize from whom we are getting the descents and what does He want to achieve by sending them to us. Or it might be the opposite: Elation, like doing drugs or winning the lottery, can be regarded as a dead end that doesn’t contain even a tiny spark of the Light and draws us down to an animal state.

I evaluate the situation not by their feelings, but by their importance and the purpose. Everything depends not on the state per se, but rather on the evaluations we make.  And therefore, our prime concern is to transition from sensations to analysis of closely it is connected to our goal. We examine everything around us to how it relates to and how closely it correspondences to, and how useful it is for the goal. For example, if the descent I experienced distanced me from the goal was intended for my subsequent recovery, then I am happy.

Thus, we try to maintain a connection with the goal and measure our internal states by it. In the end, we begin striving to stay in one perfect state. Anything that runs through us helps us to analyze ourselves and thus, adhere with the state of merging.
[82061]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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