From between man and man one learns how to behave between man and the Creator.
…you have to keep awakening the love of the Creator in this way, that you must always stand guard, all day and all night, when you feel a state of day or feel a state of night.
We say to the Creator, “Yours is the day, and Yours is also the night.” Thus, the night, too, the darkness of night, comes from the Creator… (Rabash, Letter 24).
We have all already felt what “day” and “night” mean. “Night” means that suddenly the desire disappears, indifference comes, and the taste is lost. It becomes difficult for us to listen about a person’s work on their correction; we grow tired of repeatedly speaking about love of friends and connection.
Then “day” returns: enthusiasm, upliftment of spirit, and a person absorbs every word under a powerful impression, moved to tears. He burns with desire and rushes forward ready to move mountains.
All of this depends on some tiny measure of the light that influences us a little more or a little less. Our whole life and death, our entire mood, good or bad, depends on this small measure of light.
These states come to us so that we will understand that we must rise above them and not take them into account at all. Just imagine, is such a thing possible? Notice how much you fall under the control of these states when they take hold of you, and you can do nothing: neither in a good state nor in a bad one, you cannot cope with your joy nor with your sorrow.
So how is it possible to rise above them? Does it mean being above the influence of the light? Of course, I cannot be above the light, but I can be above my reaction to it. After all, this reaction arises in my egoistic desires. I must hold myself above this pleasant or unpleasant sensation.
At times, I am drawn to spirituality and am ready to do anything for it, dreaming of attaining bestowal. And at other times, nothing moves me, I am as if dead and want only to fall asleep and forget everything. How can I rise above such states?
I must ask the light for help. But not to ask for a pleasant sensation, we are always ready for that, even in the most difficult situation. Although there are such difficult states when we can no longer even ask, and only want to disconnect from the state and distract ourselves with some corporeal goals, just to forget and not feel the suffering.
But if it is not such a completely suppressed state, then we are able to ask. And usually, we ask the light to correct the problems and make us feel good. We expect a pleasant state, a sensation, but this is not correct. We need to seek a force that will allow us to remain above the bad state. We must ask the light for correction, so that these states will not influence us and we will perceive the bad states as good.
We must feel that the bad state comes in order to advance us, and no less, but even more than the good state. This means that a person must bless the Creator for the bad just as for the good. Then we will rejoice at every change of states, because we will be able to be impressed by them and ask the light to give us a screen that allows us to be above the reaction of our will to receive. I will always remain above the impression of good and evil, adhering to the Creator and striving to bring Him contentment.
Then all these unpleasant and pleasant states will determine the height, the level above which I can rise and establish contact with the Creator with a request for love and connection. It follows that the stronger the darkness and the light, and I do not react to them within my egoism, but only determine the height of my screen above them, the more it will grow. There will come ever brighter “days” and ever darker “nights,” ever higher states, and thus I will ascend.
Therefore, always, both in light and in darkness, we must strengthen the love between the friends with all our might, so that neither darkness nor light will influence us or change our attitude toward our constant duty: to strive only for unity and love.
[103770]
From preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/28/13, Baal HaSulam, Letter 13
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