Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar,” Item 19: …all the agonies in our world are but manifestations offered to our eyes, to prompt us to revoke the evil Klipa of the body and assume the complete form of the will to bestow. And it is as we have said, that the path of suffering in itself can bring us to the desired form.

Our corrupt desire has to develop, that is, to change in the course of its evolution. As it develops, it strives for pleasures as long as this pursuit doesn’t stop satisfying us. Now, on the contrary, it brings us troubles and problems.

The afflictions vary. Partially, they happen because a desire is unable to fulfill itself, which is not that scary yet. However, in addition the desire suffers from its own vices. In other words, the desire suffers not only because it experiences a lack of fulfillment but also because it feels a lack of vitality. It’s one thing when there is no abundance but it’s a totally different thing when there is a deficiency of essential things. This  eventually leads to death.

From this we see that desire can be accurately directed to anything. Sufferings forces people to run away them, that is, sufferings direct us to exactly where we should be. They don’t define the goal, but simply push us away from them.

But there is another path, the path of Torah. It reveals the purpose of man, which defines the goal without painful reminders. The state in which I feel bad (the evil state) pushes me away to a place where suffering stops being the main moving force. I move away from it to a distance of, let’s say, L₁. I stop there, and then, a new round of pain pushes me away again to a safe distance of L₂, solely to stop the torments.

This kind of Brownian movement can take years and generations. It is the path of suffering.

On the other hand, on the path of Torah, I pursue its purpose it in a good, peaceful manner, in the quickest way, through 125 degrees.
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From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 7/3/12, “Introduction to The Book of Zohar”

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