All of our work is an ascent up a ladder where each next step is completely disconnected from the previous one. This structure of the ladder emerged during the descent from above downward when the Malchut of the upper became the Keter of the lower. The same happens in every transition from one state to another, even if it is not yet an ascent on spiritual levels.

This is a real revolution; it is a fundamental change that occurs in our matter, in its very foundation, that we cease to understand ourselves when we transition from one state to another. After all, all of these states consist of a change in the portion of light that awakens our desire to enjoy, and both the light and the desire give birth to a new degree, a new state.

And we are within this new degree, and we have nothing remaining from the previous state except for the informational gene (Reshimo) that has led to this new state. And this Reshimo is also hidden. It turns out that in a new spiritual state, nothing remains from the past.

We can already feel that this is how it happens even before entering the spiritual world. We must agree with all the states we pass through, and learn from them what a true spiritual transition really means when we step from one world into another. Each degree is a separate world.

The problem is that on every degree, two opposing forces act: the desire to receive and the desire to bestow, left and right lines that are opposite and contrary to each other, each with its own impure aspect (Klipa). And we must become the middle line that connects them both, rules over them, and stands above them.

The descent from above downward went like this: Hochma (on the right) → Bina (on the left) → Daat (below in the middle)—like an inverted triangle. But in the ascent from below upward, there is Hochma (on the right) → Bina (on the left) → Keter (above in the middle)—since we desire to rise. Keter is always the result of Hochma and Bina—mercy and overcoming, fear and love—and is always above them.

And therefore the problem always arises of how to combine the two opposites that negate each other, until a third one comes and reconciles them. This third component comes from above as the revelation of the Creator after a person sees that he is totally unable to reconcile the two opposites on his own.

Therefore, both in fear and in love, what is needed is devotion of the soul. And it is harder to attain it in fear than in love. After all, love already absorbs the soul, and they move in the same direction. If I love someone, I am devoted to him with all my soul and strive to unite. That is how we perceive it in our world, because we love what our desire to enjoy loves.

But in the spiritual world, I love someone who is hateful to my egoism, as it is written: “Love covers all transgressions.” It turns out that even in love, it is difficult to be devoted with all your soul. And in hatred, it seems impossible altogether.

To hate and yet be devoted to the soul means to use one’s receiving desires for the sake of bestowal. How can I unite with all the people I hate most in the world, who hate me, and shower them with all the good that I am capable of giving to my most beloved ones?

This can be done only for the sake of some higher goal that justifies everything else. But if the goal is the action itself, it seems completely impossible. That is, it requires a very difficult ascent above one’s own calculations.

And we gradually advance toward this, not by the shortest and most beautiful path of light, but by a slightly longer one, which includes suffering and is called “the path of the earth.” But in the end, we do reach the goal because every action we make draws the upper light, which reconciles the two conflicting sides.

Therefore, although slave-like devotion to the Creator is needed both in fear and in love, it appears in a mixed form until we rise to a state in which we unite everything. Then even in fear you will be able to be devoted with all your soul just as in love.
[67721]
From Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/12, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Devotion”

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