Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 145

What Is the “Taste of Dust” in the Work?

We feel the taste of dust every time we are in the left line, which is opposite the right line. For example, we get up in the morning and immediately feel that we want money. But we need to get up and study, and we sense this as a taste of dust. It might be that this same desire for money expresses itself in wanting to run and earn a lot of money to attain luxuries and pleasures, and instead, we need to sit and study.

The meaning of “taste of dust” is that we do not see or feel any possibility of enjoying through the desire we had yesterday or through the desire that occasionally awakens in us. We do not feel that opposite this desire there is something illuminating, tempting us, that could delight us.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 144

Why Do We Feel No Taste in Spiritual Work?

If we were to spiritually progress according to the same pattern in corporeality, we would prefer spirituality because it is better for us, or immediately afterward we would prefer corporeality, because it is better. We would thus increase both within our will to receive.

However, if we have faith in those who have already attained spiritual fulfillment, who advise us that it is worthwhile for us too, and convince ourselves that in this world we can taste only fleeting pleasures anyway, and that it is better to yearn for spirituality, we join a group engaged in Kabbalah and begin to learn from them how to be fulfilled by spirituality instead of toiling in vain chasing the pleasures of this world. We perform brainwashing on ourselves and intensify our desire for spirituality.

Does this mean we think “in order to bestow”? No, we constantly imagine that spirituality will give us something, just as all pleasures give us something. This is called growing in Lo Lishma. How do we move from Lo Lishma to Lishma? It is with a special remedy (Segula), because we cannot think for the sake of the Creator by ourselves.

We should not deceive ourselves otherwise. That is the reality. We each think only of our own benefit, and beautiful, elevated words do not change that. We are built in such a way where we think only about ourselves. Not only do we think, but we are truly programmed and structured so that our whole body, brain, hormones, discernments, every cell, and everything at all levels, from mechanical movements to biological ones, move solely in the direction of self-benefit. This is ingrained in our nature. We can say “in order to bestow,” but we will act only for our own benefit.

Therefore, only through a special remedy do we move from Lo Lishma to Lishma. The remedy was given to us by the Kabbalists in their books, and because we are engaged in what the Kabbalists wrote, and they wrote about the spiritual world, we are truly engaged in the concept of the giving of the Torah. The giving of the Torah is the means from above through which we can prepare ourselves to cross the barrier to the spiritual world.

That is, the constant growth of our desire is only one part of the picture. Our desire grows from desires for animalistic pleasures, to money, to honor, to knowledge, and finally to Godliness. But as we approach Godliness, there is a special addition: not only does one desire replace another, but the desire for Godliness needs to acquire an additional form called “in order to bestow.”

It does not matter whether a desire is positive or negative. All kinds of desires grow continuously, from the lowest state to the highest that is revealed in us. If, for instance, our soul has one ton of desire, we are shown only a part of it at a time, one gram, five grams, another ten grams, another twenty grams. It is as if each time a slightly wider opening is made in our box of desires, and we feel more and more desires.

The desires already exist within us. They are simply revealed slowly, and each time they appear as stronger and greater desires. We grow from below upward, from this world up to the end of correction, in the absolute measure of desire. However, besides this, if we want to grow beyond the specific plane called “this world,” the desire must be directed not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of the Creator.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 143

What Is the Difference Between the Size of the Desire and the Coarseness of the Desire?

Size and coarseness are the same thing. Both grow. Therefore, it is written, “Whoever is greater than his friend, his inclination is greater than his,” or that after the ruin of the Temple, the taste of intimacy remained for those who serve the Creator. Intimacy is the foundation of all pleasures. That is, those who serve the Creator are those who work on themselves to increase their desire for the Creator, and accordingly, their other desires also grow. They constantly grow against each other until the end of correction. Also, failures are always given to us according to our ability to correct them.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 142

Is the Point in the Heart the Coarsest Desire?

The point in the heart is not the coarsest desire. The new spiritual desire is higher than worldly desires because it leads us to study Kabbalah. It causes us to awaken from our sleep, to leave our warm bed, and to care less about worldly, earthly matters. What does this mean? It means that the desire for spirituality is greater than the other desires, but only at the moment when it is given from above.

Later on, we are given free choice, and from that point, we must begin to examine our desires and prefer the spiritual desire over the others. This means we must grow the point in the heart over the desires of the heart. But then the bodily and worldly desires start to rise again. Fatigue and frustrations return, both in the point in the heart and in the heart itself; they oppose each other, and we start running back and forth between them.

Thus, some people leave the framework of study for a month or two, a year or two, and then return. Some experience many different states even in a single day, which is called “the catapult.” We are thrown into the turmoil of bodily and human desires, then flung back into spirituality, again and again. And through this, we grow. It is not like we grew throughout human history, through previous reincarnations, where the goal was merely to expand desires for this world. Instead, now we grow a desire for the next world in opposition to desires for this world. In other words, now we grow a desire for the Creator in opposition to desires for physical pleasures, money, honor, and intellectual pursuits.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 141

Is the Desire for Spirituality, the Point in the Heart, the Greatest Desire?

Yes, the desire for spirituality is the greatest desire for us who begin to develop, even someone who lived 5,000 years ago, or 1,000 years ago, it does not matter when. All of humanity is in a state of development. What is development? It means that desires grow and expand.

For example, 50 years ago, it was hard to find a variety of goods at the grocery store. You could buy bread, milk, and maybe one type of yogurt. Today, you walk into a supermarket and an enormous range of products is spread before your eyes, in every color, flavor, and size, with low-fat and high-fat options, and local and imported products. Such variety never existed before. This gives us an idea of what development means.

Desires constantly grow, and they also divide into countless detailed categories, more than one could ever imagine, which provide many nuances. Today, we can distinguish among 50 types of food and know exactly which one we want. It is almost madness, but that is how it is. Look at how many distinctions can be made even within a single category of food, and it is the same with every aspect of life.

Why does this happen? It is because the will to receive is constantly in a process of development, demanding greater and more diverse fulfillment. According to this growing need, we receive new thoughts and ideas about how to satisfy ourselves with a variety of items. Suddenly, we realize that there is a new “socket” or gap in our desire that can be filled with another flavor, another item.

Therefore, we develop until all the beastly or animalistic desires, more or less, become familiar and understood. Then, a new desire becomes introduced: the desire for spirituality. This desire is called the “point in the heart,” and it is positioned against the animalistic desires. Now, they start to develop against each other. At this point, we begin to feel a split. We feel like a pendulum swinging between these two forces without understanding where it will lead or how it is happening.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 140

Are the Disturbances, the Klipot, Greater Than the Desire for Spirituality, for Kedusha?

The desires within us are always balanced one against the other. Why? It is because the goal is to advance us. The closer we draw to the purpose of creation, that is, the closer we approach the Creator and are filled by Him, the more disturbances we are given, so that our path will be more efficient.

It is exactly like how a child who studies in a higher grade is not given problems meant for a lower grade. If they were to engage in lower-level problems, they would regress. They must be given a difficulty level that they are capable of, and even a bit more, so they will have to exert themselves and find a solution through their own strength, and thus grow into the next level beyond where they currently are. Otherwise, they would stagnate and remain at their current low level.

You can see this with people who, after completing their studies and beginning to work, spend their entire lives doing the same thing without advancing themselves further. For example, a person learns to calculate and draft buildings, and then spends their whole life only calculating and drafting. They remain on the same level and do not grow; they become still-like.

In contrast, there are those who constantly learn. How do they learn? They take on problems that are beyond their current ability and seek solutions. In fact, all learning is based on this principle: giving a person problems larger than their current capabilities so that they seek and discover solutions. Through this search, they grow and become scientists and researchers. The same applies to Kabbalah, which is a science like any other, and it follows the same principles.

Therefore, we are given the left line, the Klipot, the disturbances, at least according to the strength we possess from the right line, and even a little more. This is how we see that we are incapable; by experiencing failure, we come to recognize that we need to find a connection with the Creator. Ultimately the goal is not merely for us to overcome the left line and then move to the right, and again to overcome the left and move to the right. If that were the case, we would never leave our will to receive. The goal is that through the movement between right and left, we will acquire a new nature. Otherwise, we would remain as we are in this world.

A different nature can only be attained if we long to acquire the Creator’s nature. This means that we cannot solve the problem through our own strength; we must receive additional strength from the Creator. Therefore, we need to enter into the left side, the Klipa, time and again, recognize that we are incapable, experience failure, and then—at first unconsciously, and later consciously—turn to the upper force, the Godly power, and draw additional strength from there.

Our desire, longing, and brokenness are the vessels that receive additional strength from the right. We thus need the Klipot, for without them, we could not receive additional strength, additional qualities, from the right side.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 139

Chapter 14. The Desire for Spirituality

The Creator created the will to receive in accordance with His purpose “to do good to His creations,” to bring the will to receive to a state of perfection. For “doing good,” according to the Creator, means to do so perfectly, like Him. Anything less than perfection is not considered true goodness. Only the Creator is perfection.

In order to bring the created being to equivalence, to such perfection, it is necessary for the created being to want to become corrected, to change, and to bring the state that is opposite to perfection to ultimate perfection. Perfection is achieved only from its opposite, as “the advantage of light out of darkness,” as “there was evening and there was morning.” From a vessel that feels deficiency, the filling is sensed, and from a felt lack, delight is perceived. We cannot understand or attain anything except from its opposite.

The essence of delight, the essence of light, is the Creator. To attain and feel Him is only possible through having the opposite form. This means that the nature of the created being must be opposite to the nature of the Creator in order to enjoy the state of perfection, the degree of the Creator. Therefore, the breaking of the vessels takes place. Through the breaking of the vessels into the will to receive of the created being, which is “existence from absence,” qualities of the Creator (“existence from existence”) fall in. Therefore, we acquire desires for fulfillments, which necessarily come from the Creator.

The way to reach the purpose of creation begins from the lowest degree where we have basic bodily-animal desires for food, sex, and shelter, which are desires found also in animals. We long for them even when living alone. Next, we develop human-social desires for wealth, honor, and knowledge, which society instills. Only after we more or less know, recognize, and fulfill these desires, do we reach desires called “spiritual desires,” which neither body nor society can fulfill, only the Creator can.

There are thus three stages of the desire’s development. The development begins by fulfilling animal and human desires, known as “desires of this world.” We begin to talk about a human being only from the moment when spiritual desires awaken, desires that can only be filled with the upper light, with the Creator, with the sensation of the Creator. These are called “desires of the world to come,” the spiritual world.

We who develop a spiritual desire, where the desire for spirituality is conceived, work to develop and fulfill this desire against all other desires. We work on the point in the heart, the desire for spiritual fulfillment, against all other bodily and human desires. We labor against these opposites with all of our might, using the society, the study, and inner searching. We want to grow and nurture the point in the heart, the desire for spirituality, against all the other corporeal desires.

If we complete this work (and we do not know when that will be), we long only for spirituality, day and night, in a state described as “until it does not let me sleep,” and we only fulfill the other desires out of necessity for basic existence, not as luxuries. If all of these conditions are met, it is a sign that we have finished our work in this world, and then we are given a new degree: the level of work is raised. Instead of the general bodily desires in the heart, we are given desires called Klipot.

Opposite the point in the heart, instead of the expanded point, we are given the feeling of the Creator. Now, instead of a heart filled with animalistic and human desires and a small point with a vague longing for spirituality, we receive a new heart, a Klipa within which is Kedusha. The Klipot are various thoughts and desires against the Creator, against His unity, collectively called “Pharaoh.” Kedusha is the desire and yearning for the Creator, the soul. The relationship between Klipa and Kedusha is like the relationship between the heart and the point in the heart at the level of this world.

Thus, we continue our work. Our whole connection, life, and yearning becomes directed toward the Creator, while Pharaoh (the Klipot, the disturbances) constantly resist them. Yet, as it is written, “Pharaoh brought the children of Israel closer to their Father in Heaven.” It is precisely through these disturbances, through the Klipot, that we strengthen and magnify our connection, yearning, and desire for the Creator.

When we complete the work, the end of the work is called “the end of correction,” we enter a state where all our desires are completely corrected in accordance with perfection and Godliness, and we become fully filled with the upper light. These are the differences between the degrees of this world and the degrees of the next world, between the beastly soul and the Godly soul.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 138

Why Do Man and Woman Together Bear Male and Female Offspring, and Not Each Their Own Kind?

Man and woman together bear both male and female because each degree includes both aspects. Through their coupling, they produce the next degree. In the next degree, there is again a split between male and female, two opposing sides, “a help against Him,” until they find a correction where they cling together, and through their adhesion, they give birth to another degree, the next state. In every new state that we enter, we discover these two opposing elements of male and female, and begin to unite them.

We find within ourselves the discernments called “woman” (female desires). We correct these desires toward the goal, which is an act called “male.” “Male” refers to the Creator within us, the bestowing part. We make a coupling (Zivug) between the two, and thereby give birth to their next state. In the next state, we go through the same process. These are the inner reincarnations we undergo. We can sit in a lesson for just a few hours and go through thousands of reincarnations, from generation to generation, parents to children, and it all carries out within us.
From a Talk on the Article “If a Woman Inseminates,” 6/8/2002

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 137

What Is the Concept of “The World of Atzilut” in Our Work?

We perform various scrutinies regarding the purpose of creation and our relationship with the Creator. We try to integrate the many disturbances we encounter into “There is none else besides Him.” This is the work: against all kinds of disturbances sent by the Creator, we must return to the awareness that “There is none else besides Him.” Everything is sent from above so we will connect to the Creator.

However, from this work, we still see no benefit. We struggle to act, but cannot. We constantly battle internally, encounter various screams and blows, become disappointed and exhausted, and disturbances keep coming.

After we complete a certain portion of this work, an illumination comes from above. We receive help to connect to the idea of “There is none else besides Him” above all of our efforts. This is called the matter of “the world of Atzilut,” where there are no disturbances. “All judgments are removed from it.” The judgments descend from under us. Our heart and mind become clean, and for a few moments, we can adhere to “He and His Name are One.” This is called “Atzilut.”

This feeling spreads within us, and we realize ourselves through it with all of our prior efforts, after gathering all discernments into one, over all disturbances. It is not yet the end of correction, but it is a state toward it.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 136

What Is the Meaning of “Animal Food” and “Human Food”?

Each spiritual degree is nourished according to its stature. Animal food is vegetative. Human food is both vegetative and animate because the human belongs to the speaking degree. What distinguishes a human from an animal? Their degree. Baal HaSulam says that human food is processed from wheat, while animal food consists of raw grains and the wheat itself.

He explains this well in Sifra deTzniuta from The Zohar: A person comes to a city (“city” refers to the world of Atzilut) and sees that everyone there is eating various breads and pastries. He looks at the foods, and people offer him: “Taste.” He tastes and finds the foods very delicious. Then he asks, “What are these foods made from?” They answer: “From wheat.” And he is astonished: “I have never known foods like this, because my whole life, like an animal, I ate only raw wheat.”

The person reached the “city,” Atzilut, and saw that foods are sold and eaten there, but they are processed differently. They are called “human food.” Only a human can prepare such foods, by processing wheat with “water” and “flour,” which symbolize the discernments of Hassadim and Hochma.

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