“Love Your Neighbor” – It’s Simple!
Question: What is bestowal?
Answer: Bestowal is the sequence of actions where you first completely nullify your own desires and opinions, immerse yourself in the desires of another person, and then apply all your abilities to fulfill or satisfy their desires.
For example, suppose you want to buy a new iPhone, but your mother does not understand why you would spend so much money on another “toy.” You start explaining to her how amazing this phone is, listing all its features: Internet, video, and photos.
Essentially, you are trying to get her to connect with your desires, to feel what you feel, and to admire this new “toy.”
You want her to share your desire for this new phone so much that she becomes “lit up” by it and wishes to gift it to her beloved son. This is called “love for one’s neighbor.”
Similarly, I must feel the desire of the friend and feel obligated to fulfill it with all my abilities, even before fulfilling my own desires. It is as if my personal desires no longer exist within me!
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/24/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Introduction to the Book Panim Meirot uMasbirot“
Related Material:
Bestowal: To Live In The Other
Love Is Mutual Inclusion
Like A Loving Mother Giving To Her Child
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