Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 111

How Does the Transition from Anger at the Creator to Recognizing His Importance Take Place?

If we are angry, then we are in a big desire to receive, deeply immersed in ourselves and our needs. Why are we angry? It is because something contradicts our desire. We want to do things one way, but the Creator wants them done differently and does not let us achieve our desire.

How do we come to recognize the importance of the Creator from within this anger? The will to receive, when not paired with the will to bestow, only considers its own benefit. The moment it encounters someone stronger opposing its will, it immediately submits to them because it sees that this is to its advantage. It even begins to love the other because they are stronger, even though they are against them. They begin to depend on them.

In our world, whether we like it or not, the strong one is always right. What does “in our world” mean? It means in the will to receive. From within the will to receive, in order to shift from valuing oneself to valuing the Creator, we simply need to recognize that the Creator is stronger than us, and this cannot be changed. From the very nature of the will to receive arises the realization that “the Creator is great,” “the Creator is good,” and so on. From there, we start to reach states that teach us how to bestow.

What does it mean, “to bestow”? It means granting us the independence to say, “I want to bestow, and not because the Creator is stronger than me,” as if to stand up to Him.

At this stage, we have free choice. Only when we have the ability to do whatever we want, do we truly begin to examine whether we wish to act according to our natural inclinations or if we want to resemble the Creator. The will to receive is satisfied as soon as it sees that the Creator is everything, that He is just and great. Then it has no problem accepting that the Creator is all there is and that He is right. Since we are entirely a will to receive, we surrender immediately.

Even though this realization might provoke rebellion, it is our nature, and there is no point in resisting it. This is why we are taught through suffering. The will to receive respects power, follows it, and always finds justification for itself. Baal HaSulam calls this “the power of the fist.” This is how the will to receive operates.

If the will to receive seeks fulfillment, and fulfillment is all that matters to it, then it has no other considerations. It calls “good” whatever provides it with fulfillment, regardless of the means by which it attains it, whether or not they are appropriate. The concepts of appropriate or inappropriate do not belong to the will to receive itself or to fulfillment. Instead, they belong to the system of Kedusha, which has introduced to receive various discernments of bestowal into the will.

In practice, the will to receive cares about nothing other than being filled. It does not care who fills it, whether the Creator or Pharaoh, as long as it receives and is satisfied. Therefore, as long as we are in the Klipa, the Klipa nurtures us, which is called “protecting us.” It nurtures us by continuously giving us more and more fulfillment.

How, then, do we arrive at true reception? It is by becoming disillusioned with the many false fueling stations. We try to fill ourselves with money, honor, sex, and food, and when we see that they cannot be truly satisfied, we turn to the Creator, hoping that perhaps spirituality will fill us. This is what the will to receive seeks, to be filled at all costs.

That is why it does not matter whether people “want” or “do not want” spirituality. The key is to show them that Kabbalah contains fulfillment, and then they will desire it. This can be clearly seen in the behavior of biological cells or in the mating behavior of animals.

How does a herd choose its leader? Solely based on strength. It becomes evident that everything in nature is arranged in such a way as to lead us to the truth. All of these conditions are embedded in our very nature, in the will to receive, in its inversion of form. They develop directly into failure, suffering, and ultimately, submission.
From a Talk on the Article “The Whole of the Torah Is One Holy Name,” 6/6/2002

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 110
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 109
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 108

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