Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 142

Is the Point in the Heart the Coarsest Desire?

The point in the heart is not the coarsest desire. The new spiritual desire is higher than worldly desires because it leads us to study Kabbalah. It causes us to awaken from our sleep, to leave our warm bed, and to care less about worldly, earthly matters. What does this mean? It means that the desire for spirituality is greater than the other desires, but only at the moment when it is given from above.

Later on, we are given free choice, and from that point, we must begin to examine our desires and prefer the spiritual desire over the others. This means we must grow the point in the heart over the desires of the heart. But then the bodily and worldly desires start to rise again. Fatigue and frustrations return, both in the point in the heart and in the heart itself; they oppose each other, and we start running back and forth between them.

Thus, some people leave the framework of study for a month or two, a year or two, and then return. Some experience many different states even in a single day, which is called “the catapult.” We are thrown into the turmoil of bodily and human desires, then flung back into spirituality, again and again. And through this, we grow. It is not like we grew throughout human history, through previous reincarnations, where the goal was merely to expand desires for this world. Instead, now we grow a desire for the next world in opposition to desires for this world. In other words, now we grow a desire for the Creator in opposition to desires for physical pleasures, money, honor, and intellectual pursuits.

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 141
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 140
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 139

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