Baal HaSulam, “A Speech for the Completion of The Zohar”: Our sages said, “Make for yourself a rav and buy yourself a friend.” This means that one can make a new environment for oneself. This environment will help him obtain the greatness of his rav through love of friends who appreciate the rav. Through the friends’ discussing the greatness of the rav, each of them receives the sensation of his greatness. Thus, bestowal upon one’s rav will become reception and sufficient motivation to an extent that will bring one to engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lishma.

They said that, “The Torah is acquired by forty-eight virtues, by serving friends and by meticulousness of sages.” This is so because besides serving the rav, one needs the meticulousness of friends, as well as the friends’ influence, meaning that they will affect him by elevating the greatness of his rav. This is so because obtaining the greatness depends entirely on the environment, and a single person cannot do a thing about it whatsoever.

Without the pressure of the group, without feeling that the environment highly values the spiritual mentor, a person cannot esteem him. Egoism does not allow him to do so. It’s clear that here we need the help of society; only it can oblige us to have the correct attitude towards the teacher, through which we will get help from Above.

A teacher is a higher degree, and the group must instill the importance of this higher degree in a person. The difference between the material and spiritual world is that it is enough for the student to follow the teacher’s instructions, performing some material work together with him, and this will already connect him to the teacher even though he has not attained the same spiritual properties. Simple help is sufficient to make a connection with the higher degree and to begin to receive the Light that Reforms.

However, all of this is possible only under the condition that the person venerates the teacher. And this is at odds with human nature, and that is why this can be achieved only due to the influence of the environment. The more the environment venerates the teacher, the easier it is for the person to bow his head before him and thus get help from above according to the order of spiritual degrees.

The ten Sefirot of the person’s spiritual vessel are his friends, and the upper source from which they get the Light, is the Teacher. Thus, the person ascends the rungs of the ladder.

Being in this imaginary world gives us a unique opportunity, through the use of our egoistic desire, to come into contact with the upper spiritual degree and also to build our spiritual union by means of the material connection with friends. Otherwise, there would be no chance to connect to the desire of bestowal from the depth of our egoism.

It’s this material, imaginary form that allows us to use our egoistic desire to rise to spiritual degrees with the help of physical actions. So it happens up to the very top of the spiritual ladder: the same attitude towards the group and the teacher remains. The higher a person ascends, the higher or lower he feels himself, depending on his state. He appreciates the group more and loves the friends or vice versa, hates them more. Also, the teacher seems to him more insignificant, or more exalted.

This connection is never lost. It’s not important in what worlds the friends and teacher exist, in this world or if part of them have already entered the other world, that is, have lost their material form. In general, their connection with each other is forever preserved in the structure of the soul as if they belong to the same spiritual organ.
[109185]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/5/13

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Question: I cannot manage to locate the starting point that doesn’t serve my ego that will enable me to rise above it. Everything that is in me, even this question, is a result of my pride, so what can I do?

Answer: Cry.

Question: But I can’t cry.

Answer: So, you should cry out. Of course, you have no powers and you even feel that you are a bit corrupt, so, you are not really alarmed by it since it doesn’t look so bad. It means that you still are lacking many discernments by which you can be drawn to the goal, by which you are repulsed by the current state and exit it.

So, cry and cry out and ask to do everything that is in your power. If you cannot even do that, then you still have the environment to which you can turn to. Turn to the friends.

If you have no power to do even that, then at least be somewhat incorporated in them. A person must take certain actions and he is given a chance to do so.

Question: The envy I feel toward the friends really works but it doesn’t bring me to the desired point yet. Therefore, no matter how hard I cry out, my cries will only be egoistic.

Answer: It doesn’t matter; they still help. The Surrounding Light responds to egoistic cries. Therefore, it is the Surrounding Light and not the Direct Light and not the Inner Light, and so you operate it even by egoistic cries. So, cry out. Call out and it will awaken in response to that.
[108924]
From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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There are two principles: Hillel said, “That which you hate, do not do to your friend,” and Rabbi Akiva said, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The first principle refers to Bina, which is divided into two parts:

• One is neutral, the main thing for it is not to harm anyone. I always watch myself in order to be a “good boy,” seemingly to “hover over the earth,” not involving my ego. I have no shirt? Well, I don’t need it. I live in the “forest,” away from everyone, and don’t communicate with anyone. Thus, I follow the principle, “That which you hate, do not do to your friend.” Beware of causing any harm to others, just as I would not want to be harmed by them. These are the first three Sefirot of Bina.
• This brings me to the “continuation of the original phrase,” to the seven lower Sefirot of Bina, to the vessels of reception. Now, I check myself on the subject of “short weight”: Perhaps I, in some way, deprive others? Perhaps I do not contribute to the good that they could receive? This still does not touch my “main egoistic capital.” I am not ready yet to sacrifice something of myself, but already feel the need to assist others. While I do not correct my desire to receive, I already add something to the desire to bestow. Due to the previous stages of correction, I begin to recognize opportunities to benefit others: “Ah, he can earn here, and this will bring him good.” And I contribute to these opportunities. This is the transitional phase that will lead me to true bestowal.

In the meantime, it is not real bestowal, not self-denial for the sake of the other. For example, I have earned five thousand dollars last month, and only two thousand is sufficient for me. The question arises: If I follow the principle of “that which you hate, do not do to your friend,” must I give three thousand dollars to the other?

The answer is no. After all, I do not work with the receiving vessels, do not forgo my own, but I remain fully in the property of mercy (Hassadim) and just contribute to the good of others. I have a good heart, and I am ready to help others, but not at my own expense. Thus, I work with egoism on level 0, level 1 and partially on level 2 of Aviut (the “thickness” of desire), but not in the desire of AHP that belongs to levels 2, 3, and 4.

The upper part of my vessel, my total desire to enjoy, is the vessels of bestowal (248 desires), and the lower part is the vessels of reception (365 desires). The vessels of bestowal are in the state of Hafetz Hesed (HH), in the property of mercy, and want to bestow in order to bestow, but the lower vessels receive in order to bestow. Accordingly, in the first part, I carry out “purification,” and in the second part correction, becoming similar to the Creator by properties. Here, I already form my human likeness: the human image, similar to the Creator.

In general, this corrected desire with the altruistic intention is called the “soul.”

Thus, Hillel’s principle belongs to the upper part of the vessel, and Rabbi Akiva’s principle to the lower part. Of course, in any case, I work with my egoism and must overcome it. However, the work according to the first principle does not require me to suffer losses, give up my assets, and this is their fundamental difference.

It is important to remember that we are talking about a person who wants to adhere to the Creator (C), and that is why he asks: “How can I achieve adhesion? How can I enter the upper world, spirituality?” These questions first push him in the vessels of reception, to the left line, and then bring him to Hillel’s principle. Afterward, this decision leads him down again and lets him work with his egoistic desires.

This path is described in the example of a convert who goes to a sage to ask advice. First, he asks Shamai to teach him to love the other as himself, but is refused because it is impossible to reach the goal at one go. Then, he goes to Hillel and asks him to explain the entire Kabbalistic method while he is standing on one foot, that is, to describe the means of advancement by one rule. In response, Hillel formulates the principle of “that which you hate, do not do to your friend,” that is, he clarifies what actions are needed for this.

Thus, according to the law of creation, the principle or adhesion with the Creator is divided into two parts:

• “That which you hate, do not do to your friend”;
• “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

If I consistently advance according to this order, I eventually reach love for the Creator.

Question: Following the principle of “that which you hate, do not do to your friend,” I carry out physical actions. How can I combine this with the correct intention?

Answer: The same principle works in our world, in the spiritual world, in ordinary life, and among the friends. No matter in what environment I am, I must stand at the level of this environment and try to behave in the same way as I would want them to behave toward me. Consequently, in the group, I follow the friends’ desires and their goal, and at work, I adjust my attitude to the desires of my colleagues. And I do so everywhere.

I put myself in the situation of the other and thus measure my attitude toward him, and this is already bestowal. Indeed, I do not wish evil to myself, and hence, I for sure will bring good to the other.

This is more than an exercise; this is already an action, correction. It is not important whether I act egoistically. It cannot be otherwise. My actions always stem from egoism. However, with this approach, they draw to me the Light that Reforms, and then I change. That is why it is said that the heart follows the actions. First, I act according to Hillel’s saying, and then the Light comes and corrects me.

Question: So, could we say that the criterion of my advancement is the measure of love for the other that I attain?

Answer: Of course, how could it be otherwise? Spiritual degrees are different precisely in their measure of bestowal.

Question: Over the past four to five years, I only was able to understand that I am not good. The only thing I can do is to try not to harm others. Nothing more.

Answer: If you are thinking about how not to cause harm to others, you have gone a long way. The very acceptance of this thought in your head is a great achievement.

Question: In fact, bestowal for the sake of bestowal also is egoistic because in the end, I wish good to the others just because I wish good to myself. This only provides me with a more comfortable life.

Answer: Then, why has humanity not adopted this principle yet? The problem is that it is repulsive to our nature, which demands that others feel bad. We see how entire countries wallow in silly conflicts, the basis of which is primitive pride. This costs a huge amount of resources, billions in investment, a lot of nerves and troubles. Yet, nevertheless, on the whole, the world acts egoistically, and nothing in it could be called “bestowal for the sake of bestowal.”

Question: I suppose that “bestowal for the sake of bestowal” is something naïve, abstract. What is it in reality?

Answer: It is an action directed against the will, against my egoism. It requires that I bow my head, feel the other, stand in his place, “tried myself on” him, and him on myself. Here, you need a very deep understanding of psychology.

The principle of “that which you hate, do not do to your friend” comprises half of the entire method, half of the correction of the soul. Having implemented it, I rise to the level of Partzuf Abba ve Ima of the world of Atzilut, I obtain the Lights of Hassadim. They contain the illumination of Hochma because I cancel my egoism.

In order not to cause harm to the other, I must stop myself, work on myself. I do him a favor — only not at my expense, without giving away my possessions, but by compromising and agreeing for his benefit. In our world, these actions are thought to be generous and benevolent, and we even think that we are able to perform them altruistically.

Anyway, with the right approach, with the help of the Light that Reforms, they gradually guide me along the way. Each time, my desire to bestow grows while I pursue my own interest, seek reward, but the Light brings me to the true payment.

I repeat, we must perform actions, the Light will follow the actions, and changes will come after the Light. In the beginning, I purify my vessels from the egoistic intention. Thus, even my most evil offences turn into the category of oversights. Then, I proceed directly to correction, building my human resemblance from clean “material.”

Thus, “that which you hate, do not do to your friend.” This is the entire method, and if you take this path, it will lead you to the goal.
[108808]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/30/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal HaSulam, “The love of the Creator and the Love of the Created Beings“: The immediate phase after “love your friend as yourself” is adhesion. 

The commandment of the love of others brings us to the level of the love of the Creator. It is a safe path with all the opportunities, states, and means that we need. It is impossible to escape it by different excuses like saying that we didn’t know or that we couldn’t act since everyone has received what he needs.

The correction of “love thy friend as thyself” includes all the other corrections and is the most hateful one because it is opposite from our nature, yet we have no choice but to understand that it is our only basis. As long as we don’t discover the need for this correction, we cannot get on the path that leads to the goal.

Question: How can we bring contentment to the upper one by treating others well?

Answer: Essentially, it is the same thing. Imagine that all the created beings, all the people are the “Creator’s sons.” This is what it says in the sources. So if you do good to the son, you certainly bring the father contentment.

Once the Creator said to Jonah the prophet that He cannot just abandon the great city of Nineveh with 250,000  inhabitants despite their sins. The message is clear: “If you treat them with love and save them, you will bring Me contentment.”

The Creator has no vessel (Kli) to receive contentment from us, so the means for that is the entire reality that spreads between us, between each of us and the Creator. And in this reality other people come first.

So the dissemination of the method of correction and worrying about the whole world are the most precious actions that we were allowed to perform and we have to focus on them. Of course we first have to correct ourselves in order to know how to relate to the world.

The calculation is as follows: “I do everything in order to bring the Creator contentment. I express this desire by worrying about the world or more accurately, by worrying about people. The still, vegetative, and the animate levels of nature will also join their correction. In order to take care of people, I have to correct myself and so I have to start by correcting myself.”
[109010]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/02/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Rabash, “What to Look For in the Assembly of Friends”: …that a person should make an effort to obtain love of others. And this is called “labor,” since he must exert above reason. Reasonably thinking, how is it possible to judge another to a scale of merit when his reason shows him his friend’s true face, that he hates him?

It turns out that we must exert ourselves when we don’t want to. I don’t feel any urge to work, have no desire for it and no interest in it. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be considered exertion. I am not attracted to love the friend and value him. Perhaps, I actually must look for such states when the friend doesn’t interest me, and I don’t enjoy being with him, and I feel that I am opposite to him. Then, I can see to what extent I can love the other and can check whether it obligates me to exert myself.

Sometimes, during a big convention or a special event I am impressed by the general spirit that is shared by everyone. Then, of course, I feel fine. However, the moment I leave this external influence, I immediately fall. This means that I don’t wake up by myself. I don’t feel like thinking about the love of friends and about connection. The greatness of the goal also disappears, and I pass the time aimlessly until I feel another awakening from above again.

However, it is during this time when we feel lifeless that we must exert ourselves since when I am revived from above, I have nothing to add of my own, and I am totally operated on from above. It seems that I operate myself, but I am totally operated on from Above and am under the domination of the upper. Therefore, everything that I do is not on my account at all.

Only when I don’t feel the spirit of life and I obligate myself to exert myself is it considered on my account. Then, it is called exertion, a prayer, an intervention from below that draws the Light that Reforms. This Light will make me feel attracted to others, to love the friends, and this will now be on my account.

This is all true provided that I have brought about the intervention from below, in response to which there is an intervention from above, which is the Light that Reforms that I have drawn. Thus, my correction also will be mine. When I feel distant from the friends, low and uncaring, I revive the spirit of life. The problem is only in how to exert myself, how to yearn for the love of friends in times when one feels totally lifeless.

Thus, as it is written, “Everything that is within your power to do, do.” You should think about this, discuss it, and consult one another as to what needs to be done. This is actually considered our exertion.
[108496]
From the Preparation for the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/28/13

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Question: How can we create the right atmosphere in the group of ten so that each of us will feel that everything that happens in life is only for his own good and that this is what the Creator wants?

Answer: We need the society’s support in order to accept everything in “faith above reason.” It doesn’t mean you should just say everything is for the best without thinking, like people who feel they are righteous do. We want to accept everything that happens as beneficial and to see everything in the Light of the Creator as a means for the correction of our vessels. We try to reach correction so that we will really see that everything is for the best, that it comes from “there is none else besides Him,” from the good and the benevolent.

Everything that I have at present is good and I have to rise to the next state by the actions that are taking place in me. The environment has to help me feel the Creator’s actions as good and beneficial.

In order to do that I have to rise to “faith above reason.” This is a very confusing concept, since one can just blindly say that everything is for the best even if he feels like he is torn to pieces. But “a judge only knows what his eyes can see.” So “blind faith” is not “faith above reason” even if a person is confused and has received the power to act for a certain idea from the environment.

We have to organize the whole system correctly so that it will operate on us and help us yearn for bestowal. “Faith above reason,” which means bestowal, should be more important for us than receiving. But a person cannot reach this feeling since he doesn’t have the power to do so and so he shouldn’t just lie to himself.

We have to turn to the group so that it will provide us with an increasingly growing feeling of importance of the advantage of bestowal instead of receiving. I am impressed by the environment as to how important this attribute is just as I copy all its corporeal values. Society is strong in quantity and quality and I submit myself before it and absorb the feeling of the greatness of bestowal from it.

After I am impressed by it, I have to connect with the friends and with them to develop a great deficiency for acquiring a new attribute for self-change. This is now a different type of submission before the society.

First I had to receive the importance of the goal, the importance of the Creator, the importance of the teacher, the importance of the study. These are ordinary things, just as if I want to be a tailor and have to be in the society of tailors in order to learn the profession from them and to be inspired by its importance. But if I want to attain the force of bestowal, I have to be incorporated in a group and to submit myself differently. Self-submission is the inner connection between us following all the conditions that Kabbalists have set, submitting to the friends, the teacher, the study and the way for attaining the goal. I don’t have to just be incorporated in this society but must actually submit myself before it and thanks to that to receive the Light that Reforms.

The Light that Reforms influences me, and thus the group, the teacher, the study, the goal of creation, and the concern for all of humanity all become dearer to me. It all becomes more important. This means that I am already in the process of correction.
[108481]
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/27/13, Writings of Rabash

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Rabash, “One Should Always Sell the Beams of His House”: Each of them had a spark of love of others, but the spark could not ignite the light of love to shine in each, so they agreed that by uniting, the sparks would become a big flame. Hence, now, too, when he is spying on them, he should overcome and say, “As all of them were of one mind that they must walk on the path of love of others when the society was established, so it is now.” And when everyone judges his friends favorably, all the sparks will ignite once more and again there will be one big flame.

The goal of creation is to reach the force of connection, the force of love in which everyone feels the deficiencies of the other and fills them. But it’s impossible to do that alone, since a person doesn’t have the power for it. There is only one tiny spark in him that pushes him towards the goal and he doesn’t even understand what he is drawn to and why.

This is why we must connect, so that everyone will receive the power of the spiritual connection: the power of the collective desire, the power to connect the hearts, the power of love. This is why we come into this world in which we connect physically by our bodies, by different external actions. These physical actions draw the Light that Reforms upon us which connects our tiny sparks into one strong general flame.

Each one receives this general force and only by that can he feel it and use it. This Light obligates us to unite all our spiritual sparks and to be inclined to mutual bestowal. Then, by the general force of bestowal that is now in each of us, we can begin to work and to perform spiritual actions of bestowal and to ascend.

It turns out that by using our physical bodies and the corporeal work that is a result of egoistic intentions we evoke the Surrounding Light that connects our sparks into one spark, into a flame, that becomes the force of general bestowal, love, and connection. Then each one receives this force. We don’t split it up like loot, but rather use it together, by being in the middle, within it as one whole, as a group of ten, for example. Then each one can use this force and thus begin to perform spiritual actions and not corporeal ones. The first stage is called the stage of preparation and the second stage is the stage of correction: first “to bestow in order to bestow” and then “to receive in order to bestow.”

A person who doesn’t operate in order to connect with the friends in a group of ten doesn’t actually use the only means to attain spirituality, which means that he is not in the stage of preparation. The stage of preparation is when we use all the means we were given in this world, on the corporeal level, in order to reach the force of bestowal, the force of connection.

The phase of preparation will not be over as long as the group of ten doesn’t fulfill itself and becomes as one man by the Light that Reforms. The moment we connect and acquire the general force of connection that is enough for fulfilling the actions of bestowal, it means that we transcend the Machsom (barrier), the border of the spiritual world.
[108705]
From the Preparation to the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/29/13

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Question: When does the corporeal reality become a spiritual reality for a person?

Answer: It happens when he can relate to others as to himself, when the boundary between the two is erased.

In fact, we cannot even say that we acquire the attribute of bestowal, although this transition is described that way. We cannot actually acquire new attributes. Our essence, like computer hardware, remains unchanged.

The whole point is to what extent I “take in” the other as if he were myself. I operate above my growing ego since otherwise there would be a natural closeness between me and the other, just like between a couple or between partners who worry about one another because of common interests or interdependence. This is the reason that the resistance of the ego should build up and above which I still bring the other closer to me, until he actually becomes like myself according to the principles of “don’t do to others what is hateful for you,” and “love thy friend as thyself.”

This doesn’t mean that I exit myself. More accurately, I “swallow” the attributes of the other, which seem external to me. Then the whole world is mine.

Question: The problem is that when I look at my group of ten, I don’t want to “swallow” it….

Answer: It will come, and then you will feel that the friends are the closest people to you and that no one is closer than they are. Even your relatives, even your family will seem much more distant than the friends. After all, the friends are close to your soul and the family is closer to your body. The family is like a contract that we have to keep, and the mutual guarantee between the friends is very dynamic, constantly changing, by joining, getting closer to you more and more….

I repeat, eventually, you will not come outside, but will actually let all the friends enter you.

Question: How can I speed up this process? Since it comes back and hits me time and time again.…

Answer: That’s right, the future is knocking at your door, and you don’t let it in and thus you feel pain. You have to open the door in advance before it can be knocked on, since otherwise it’s too late.

It says in the “Song of Songs”: “Open the door for me my beloved.” But his beloved is not ready, she doesn’t want to receive her beloved, and her door is locked. When she does open, the beloved is already gone, and is hiding: “I searched for him but I did not find him; I called him but he did not answer me.”

So you should open your door in advance, open up to the Creator together with the friends.
[109018]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/03/13, Writings of Baal HaSulam

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Baal Hasulam, “The Peace”: These are the words of Rabbi Akiva: “The book is open and the hand writes.” Any state that the generation is in is like a book, and all the evildoers are as writing hands because each evil is carved and written in the book until they accumulate to an amount that the public can no longer bear. At that time, they ruin that evil state and rearrange into a more desirable state. Thus, each and every act is calculated and written in the book, meaning in the state.

And he says, “All who wish to borrow may come and borrow.” This means that he believes that this world is not like an open store without an owner, but that there is an owner present, a shopkeeper who stands in his store and demands of each customer the right price for the merchandise he is taking from the store, meaning toil in His work while he is nourished by that store, in a manner that is certain to bring him to the purpose of creation, as He pleases.

His goal is to attain bestowal. However, a person requires powers to realize this, and he doesn’t have these powers. He takes them on loan, even though he intends it all for bestowal. What is more, this is even if he wants to repay, that is, not to use anything for himself. He uses the entire world for bestowal.

According to the standards of our world, it is impossible to declare that a person like this is taking something on loan. You see that we get a loan for personal benefit. Here, everything is otherwise. Incidentally, the Torah’s prohibition against giving a loan with interest is derived from this. In the spiritual world, no loan must be paid back with more than what had been received.

So, the forces that I don’t have from the start I take on loan, but I am not taking for myself. They are not mine, I only add to them a desire for the sake of bestowal. Instead of the Creator, I bestow to everyone, and my entire goal is only to convey this bestowal skillfully, as if it were from His hands. I have nothing of my own besides my altruistic self that contracts the egoistic desire within it and acts above it. Therefore, essentially, I don’t have anything to return.

Question: In spite of all this, it is not clear: How can a person ask for a loan for himself in spirituality?

Answer: So, I said that this is another kind of loan. You see, I don’t have my own powers of bestowal. Additionally, I (specifically, I) want to give just as the Creator does. I have to transmit and give that which He wishes for the world.

This state is described allegorically with a metaphor that says that the Creator wanted to give the nations of the world the method of correction. However, they could not accept it. So, He used a transitional group called Israel, which means “straight to the Creator.” The people of Israel are like coordinators that connect the upper Light with the AHP. Thanks to this, Malchut can rise to Bina and be “sweetened” there so as to pass the Light from above downward.

So, this is called a loan only because a person doesn’t have the power of bestowal, and he receives this from the Creator. However, he doesn’t use it for himself, as it is customary in our egoistic world. In this world, a person seeks benefit for himself first of all, and afterward, he thinks about benefit for others, whether this is financial matters, well-being, or net pleasure. In spirituality, I ask not for myself. I want to participate in the life of the Creator. This participation is intended entirely for bestowal. For the sake of this, I activate all of my desire to the maximum possible level. Everything else I temporarily keep “locked up” under the restriction.

Question: So, how is it necessary to ask for a loan like this for the goal of bestowal?

Answer: This is called ascent, a request for correction (MAN). From the Creator, I request power to be able to examine, to correct, the deed itself. I want Him to do this, as it is written: “Be clothed in me and perform the deed of bestowal.” It is like an infant asks for help from his mother or simply cries, and the mother comes and helps. The entire problem is to turn into a “crying infant” internally. And it takes time to learn this….
[105531]
From the 4th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/19/13, “The Peace”

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The Prayer Of Many For All Of Humanity
The Language Of Communicating With The Creator

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Question: Baal HaSulam explains that if parents treat their son with absolute love, the son will inevitably begin to hate them instead of returning their love since he won’t worry that the parents will stop loving him. What about the Creator: Will we also begin to hate Him when we discover His absolute love for us?

Answer: We have to reach absolute love towards the Creator in our spiritual work, meaning regardless of whether we receive pleasure or punishment from the Creator. Our spiritual growth is based on developing love while feeling a growing feeling of repulsion until it reaches absolute hate, meaning feeling that the Creator hates us more and more while we develop a growing absolute love towards Him, in order to work in faith above reason.

Thus we can understand why the Creator has created in us desire in which we feel pleasure or pain. But we have to rise above that in a new feeling of bestowal, and then our attitude towards the Creator becomes totally independent of His love since we establish our attitude above the feeling of hate, according to the principle “love will cover all sins.”
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Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart
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Filed under: Inner Work, Love, Q&A, Spirituality - No Comments →