Let the Donkey Look Only at the Road
Question: Why is the authority of the Creator experienced as some heavy burden that must be accepted with effort, as a yoke?
Answer: Because the authority of bestowal is directed against our will, against our ego. That is why we perceive it as a heavy load, as a burden.
First and foremost, I need to organize a routine for myself, one that becomes a framework, a burden so that I work “like an ox to the burden and a donkey to the load.” I must understand that this work is unpleasant to my “donkey” (desire—Homer, donkey—Hamor). I treat my nature like a donkey, over which I, as the master, want to place a burden, a yoke that restrains it and forces this force—the “ox” or “donkey” to work.
I cover its eyes with blinders, give it food, I create both restrictions and fulfillments in order to compel it to perform the actions I need. In this way, I am not killing or punishing it, but working with my natural inclination in a deliberate, goal-oriented manner.
I am not the one who makes the corrections, the light does. I only carry out all the preparations so that my “donkey” will do its job exactly as needed, so that the light can influence it. That is why I bring in my control: reins, a yoke, a bridle. Most importantly, I blind its eyes so that it will not be distracted by anything irrelevant to the straight path, and so it sees only the road ahead.
This is what it means to place a load on the donkey. But I do all this for its own benefit! Because afterward, as it is said: “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s trough.” It is in these desires, corrected with the right intention, that we eventually receive fulfillment.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/10/11, Writings of Baal HaSulam “Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah]”
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