Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 236

How Can We Understand the States We Undergo?

We do not know why or in what sequence various states are imposed upon us. In fact, we have no idea how we exist at all. We are like babies who are unaware of the purpose of our lives. We want various things, and certain things are given to us. That is, we are given all kinds of desires and impulses from within, changing qualities, environmental conditions that change from time to time, and we thus continue to exist, flowing onward.

This is how each of us rolls along, carried by the current of life, and it only seems to us that we determine or control something. It is simply untrue, an absolute falsehood.

So why were we given intellect and thought? It was in order to seek the one thing worth holding on to, to learn what is happening to us, and this learning should bring us to conclusions that are called “recognition of evil.” There is no need for us to oppose anything. We should not force anything because that would be in vain. We only need to pay a little attention to what the Creator is doing with us, and from this we begin to understand who we are, who the Creator is, what the Creator wants, why He arranges things for us in such a way, and with what subtle cunning He does so.

Through this, we gradually come to know nature. The wisdom of Kabbalah is the study of nature in its broadest form, including the world of causes, where everything that happens here is prepared and made ready. This world of causes subsequently includes our nature, ourselves, and our environment. We learn the overall reality through ourselves, through self-study: “From Your actions we know You”; “From my flesh I shall behold God.”

Related Material:
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 235
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 234
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 233

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