Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 152

Why Does Progress Require First Entering into Evil, and Only From There Drawing to Good?

There are several reasons for this. The will to receive has two qualities. One quality is a pull toward rest, and the second quality is a desire to be filled with pleasure. That is, the best situation for us is to be at rest and to be filled with pleasure. How can both exist together?

To bring the will to receive to want to be filled, we need to create a lack of fulfillment, an emptiness, in it. We must see the darkness within ourselves, examine it, then see what exactly we need and think about how to attain it and what will happen once we become fulfilled. We need to study the entire opposite state while already in the state of darkness, and then, when we receive the opposite state, we will truly enjoy it.

When we hear a beautiful song for the first time, it is difficult to enjoy it fully because it is new to the ear. We might be impressed that it is good. Later, we will want to hear it again, and when we already know all the words and melodies by heart, our enjoyment of the song will increase because the vessel is ready. When we know the song, we enjoy it even a second before hearing it, from the very first note, because the vessels are ready and will soon receive fulfillment.

As in the example of the song, so must preparation be made for every fulfillment. The vessel must be pre-adapted to its fulfillment to such an extent that even before receiving fulfillment, it can already feel it. The vessel must be developed so much that the pleasure is possible even before the fulfillment actually arrives, and as a result, we indeed enjoy it.

There must be a sense of lack, a sense of the greatness of the giver, the greatness of the fulfillment itself, and so on. There are many conditions, the main one being to know how to enjoy. This is the wisdom of Kabbalah. It is quite complicated to know how to receive.
From a Talk on the Article “The Main Difference between a Beastly Soul and a Godly Soul,” 6/9/2002

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 151
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 150
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 149

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