Drawn by an Opposite State to Spirituality

The Creator’s goal is to bring us to the state of likeness to his own state. This goal is imperative for each of us and for humanity in general, whether we want it or not. We cannot possibly desire this goal simply because we can only perceive all pleasures, and find redemption from all suffering, by unifying with the Creator.

The suffering is sent by the Creator Himself to push us forward, to force us to change our environments, habits, actions and outlook, since we are instinctively ready to free ourselves from suffering. Furthermore, we cannot experience pleasure without first experiencing suffering, just as there can be no answer if there were no question; no satiation if there were no hunger.

Thus, in order to experience any sensation we must first experience its opposite. Therefore, to experience the drawing power and love for the Creator, we must experience the exact opposite feelings, such as hatred and alienation from ideas, habits and desires.

How Big Is Your Desire for Spirituality?

No feeling can be born out of a vacuum; there must be a definite desire to attain that feeling. For instance, a person should be taught to understand, and thus to love, music. An uneducated person cannot grasp the happiness of the educated one, who after strenuous efforts discovers something new that was being sought for a long time.

The desire for something is known in the terminology of Kabbalah as a “vessel” (kli), since specifically the feeling of lack is a necessary condition for pleasure to fill it. The magnitude of the pleasure one will receive in the future depends, of course, on the magnitude of the vessel.

Even in our world, we can see that it is not the size of the stomach, but the desire, the sensation of hunger, that determines how much pleasure will be derived from food. The level of suffering from the absence of what is desired determines the size of the vessel, and this in turn determines the amount of pleasure to be received.

The pleasure that fulfills the desire to be gratified is known as Light, because it endows the vessel with a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction.

Therefore, a desire must exist that is so strong that one suffers by its lack. Only then can it be said that the vessel is prepared to receive the abundance that the person so waited for.

The Development of an Infinite Desire

The purpose of the creation of impure forces (desires), known as Klipot, is to create in a person a desire of infinite magnitude. If not for the desires of Klipot, we would never experience the urge for more than the basic needs of the body.

Thus, we would remain on the child’s level of development. It is the Klipot that compel us to search for new pleasures, since they constantly create new desires that require fulfillment and that force us to develop.

The Transformation of Impure Desires

The attainment of the qualities characteristic of the world, Atzilut, is known as “the resurrection of the dead,” since in this manner we transform all the impure (dead) desires into pure form. Prior to the world of Atzilut, a person, as if moving on two rail tracks, can only alter the desires to opposite ones, but cannot transform all the desires into pure ones.

Upon entering the world of Atzilut, we can correct past desires, thereby reaching higher stages of spiritual elevation. This process is known as “the resurrection of the dead” (desires).

Of course, resurrection in this case does not refer to our physical bodies. They, like those of all other creations that populate this world, will disintegrate once the soul departs from them, and have no value without the presence of the soul.

By rising into the world of Atzilut, reaching spiritual perception the physical existence becomes obsolete as we continue our existence in another, eternal dimension.

“The Way To Build an Unshakable Desire for Spirituality” is based on the book, Attaining the Worlds Beyond by Dr. Michael Laitman.