Before arriving at the state of sensing the master, we have no concept of either “for the sake of receiving” or “for the sake of giving.” It is all just child’s play, a preparatory period we must go through in order to accumulate various Reshimot (spiritual records) for the future. Intention is acquired through sensing the giver, feeling someone else, someone distinct and different from oneself.

In this world, until I cross the Machsom, I do not feel others; I do not sense anything outside myself because my desire to receive is so underdeveloped. If I do not sense what lies outside of me, I have no intention.

Toward whom will the intention develop for the sake of receiving or for the sake of giving if I do not feel anyone outside myself? The fact that I perceive the existence of other people does not mean they are outside of me. I perceive them as a baby does; an infant is unconcerned with anyone else and is incapable of sensing anyone but itself.

Similarly, we are unable to sense another as a giver or a receiver, and therefore we cannot develop an intention for the sake of receiving or for the sake of giving. We have no understanding of this; we are simply mired in our nature, trapped within the desire to receive.

As for intention, we do not exist within the realm of intentions at all, neither for the sake of receiving nor for the sake of giving. In this regard, our state is like a point created by the Creator as something from nothing. He created the desire to enjoy without any intention; intention emerged only in Malchut of the world of infinity when it began to sense the giver.

This occurred in the worlds at the zero stage, whereas the preparation took place during the descent of the Partzufim (spiritual structures) from above to below. At that time creation, intention, and desire did not yet exist.

Now we begin from the bottom up, starting with the desire to enjoy without an intention. After the Machsom (barrier), we begin to acquire the intention “for the sake of receiving” in the left line, in the Klipot; and conversely, “for the sake of bestowal” in the right line, within holiness; and in the middle line we acquire the intention to the extent we are able to resemble the Creator in intention during the act of receiving.
[357546]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/6/26, Rabash, “Why Is the Torah Called ‘Middle Line’ in the Work? – 1”

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