Question: One day I really wanted to do something for someone without expecting anything in return. Suddenly, I saw a poor, sick girl on the street who clearly needed help. I gave her some money. She did not expect it and was so happy that I even teared up. Was it my ego crying, or did I cry because I had made a truly altruistic act?
Answer: A person, by definition, cannot do anything selflessly because he is an egoist. You helped the girl and were so moved by your own act, feeling like you were special, like you had done something selfless and unconditional. You lost a quarter from your pocket and felt good about it.
I am not denying the nobility of your act in any way. But it is earthly nobility, not spiritual. Because you, as a human being made 100% of egoism had to feel satisfaction in order to commit this seemingly altruistic deed.
Therefore, if you receive pleasure from your actions, it is called a reward, payment, or compensation. Your action cannot be called unconditional. Moreover, it was not selfless from the start, because you were moved by compassion; meaning, someone else’s suffering affected you.
And I am not even mentioning that, perhaps, the girl was pretty, in tears, in need of support, and some masculine qualities may have flared up in you; in other words, your egoism was working at full force.
You have to know your nature well in order to understand the reasons behind these inner impulses aimed at helping another person. But until you make a connection with the Creator, they will always remain egoistic.
Inside us, a very interesting machine is at work. That is why people serve each other in different ways, run around hospitals, look for victims, and do all sorts of things for others. All this because egoism, in this special form, pushes them to exchange what seem to be good deeds. But in reality, they are just satisfying themselves, their own vanity!
Through these actions, you elevate your status in your own eyes: you gave to someone, they enjoyed it, and you became higher than them, nobler, you started to respect yourself even more. This is your reward for what you did for them.
Question: So if a person has not revealed the Creator, who provides him with altruistic fuel, does he have any chance at making an altruistic action?
Answer: None. It is self-deception.
Comment: But the act itself is noble.
My Response: Noble means “bringing about good.” And these actions bring no real good—on the contrary, only harm.
If you want to bring true good into the world, draw the upper light into it, that fuel which will help us truly perform even unconscious actions directed away from ourselves and not toward ourselves.
[178246]
From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah” 1/10/16
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Question: It is said that a person cannot do anything for the sake of the Creator. What about faith and the prompting of the heart when a person feels he can act for the sake of the Creator?
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