First of all, a person must understand the state he is in. He is sent a very low, even humiliating state. He discovers that he is a creature for which there seems to be no need at all, and such a condition is by no means honorable; it has neither cause nor purpose.

It is precisely from this moment that a person should use his freedom of choice. That is, he must nevertheless find strength in the environment because without an environment we are like animals. If not for the environment, I would live with my wife in the forest, produce children, obtain food for them and for myself like all animals and beasts.

But unlike animals and beasts, my desire to receive keeps growing, while theirs does not increase. It is said: “A one-day-old calf is already called an ox.” A newborn calf already knows how to walk; within a day or two it stands up and walks, it already knows everything it needs, and it will never harm itself or cause itself injury. The calf is still small in size, but its mind is the same as that of an adult cow.

With a human being everything is different. The desire to receive constantly grows and rises above the animal level. There is nothing one can do about this desire.

Therefore methods appear that claim that one must suppress the desire within oneself, become like an animal, and then one will not feel any suffering. Live like an animal.

Food? You will always obtain a bit of nourishment. Shelter? You need some corner, some hut—no problem, you will always find a place to sleep. Family? You will find a suitable wife, have children—everything will work out. If you do not demand much, you descend to a very low level. You are told that dieting is good, breathing less is also good. In general, reduce your needs, and you will become righteous.

By acting this way, you begin to feel good. You descend to the animal level, limit yourself strictly to what is necessary for life, and you have no troubles. An animal has far fewer problems than a human being. We say, “a dog’s life.” But it is a dog’s life for a human being, not for a dog.

However, there is another method: not to endure deprivation, but on the contrary, to learn how to use the desire to receive. Then you must take it fully and completely, not suppress it, but learn how to use it correctly. For this, you need a specific method, not methods of suppression, which usually include Eastern teachings or various religious approaches based on suppressing the desire to receive, but the method of Kabbalah.

Kabbalah is the only method that claims the opposite: do not suppress the desire to receive, but use it as much as possible.

It is true that the world has always preferred to reduce the desire to receive just in order not to suffer, since that is more convenient, calmer, and easier. This was possible in previous generations, when the desire to receive did not burn so intensely in a person. “He who increases knowledge increases sorrow”; this is understandable.

In our days, when the desire to receive already burns so strongly in a person, and in the coming years will grow even more, a person will not be able to restrict it and descend to a natural, simple way of life like the one proposed by yoga and other methods that say “Go to a monastery, sit quietly and peacefully in your cell, and be content with little.”

We live in a transitional period in which all methods of suppression become untenable. They no longer work, and then there truly remains no other choice but to turn to the method of Kabbalah.
[352385]
From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 1/26/26, Rabash, “Lishma and Lo Lishma“

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