Choosing the Right Path in Life
One of the most fundamental questions that beginners ask can be phrased in the following manner: “If the Creator wanted, He would reveal Himself to me; and if He did so, then I (my body—egoism—my present dictator) immediately and automatically would agree to replace my egoistic acts with altruistic ones, and the Creator would become my dictator.
“I do not want the freedom to choose my own actions. I believe that the Creator is correct, that the best thing for me is not to think about my own gain. Only then will I truly deserve. But I cannot change myself. So let the Creator come and do that for me, since He created me in this manner, and only He can correct what He has done.”
The Creator could certainly give one a desire and feeling for the spiritual, the so-called “awakening from Above.” However, if the Creator did so, then we would never be able to escape the dictatorial rule of the egoistic desire to gratify ourselves, and then we would be forced to work for the sake of pleasure without a free choice.
Such work is not considered to be done for the sake of the Creator, but instead for the sake of receiving pleasure. The goal of the Creator is to induce us to choose the right path in life of our own free will, thus justifying His actions in creation. We can understand this only when we are completely free from egoism, regardless of personal pleasure.
The Conditions for Achieving Spiritual Progress
For this reason, the Creator formed a condition essential to spiritual elevation: the acceptance of faith in Him and His fairness as our Supervisor. Given the above, our task amounts to the following:
1. To believe that there is a Ruler to the world.
2. To recognize that, although for us faith may not be important, the Creator specifically chose this path for us.
3. To believe that we must follow the path of “giving,” and not the path of “receiving”.
4. To believe, while working “for the sake of the Creator,” that He accepts our work despite how it may look in our eyes.
5. To pass through, during the process of self-development, two categories of “faith above reason”: a) proceeding with faith above reason because we have no other alternative; b) choosing to follow the path of faith above reason, even if we become sufficiently knowing so that we no longer need to rely on faith above reason.
6. To know that if work is done within the grounds of egoism, then the fruits of all success, which in our imagination we hope to reach, go towards our own pleasure. However, when a person loves the Creator, all benefits will be joyously handed over to Him, and all the fruits of his efforts to others.
7. To thank the Creator for the past, because on this depends the future, since one’s degree of appreciation for the past, for which one thanks the Creator, is equal to one’s appreciation for what is received from Above. We are then able to preserve and retain the help received from Above.
8. To carry out the primary work—which is mainly in advancing along the right line—with a feeling of completeness. The individual is happy even with a small connection that exists with spirituality.
One is happy to have deserved to receive the desire and abilities to do even the slightest in the spiritual realm before the Creator.
9. To advance also in the left line. However, thirty minutes per day are sufficient in order to reflect on how much one prefers the love of the Creator over self-love.
To the degree that the person recognizes any lacks, to this measure one is required to pray to the Creator about these feelings, that He should draw one closer on the true path that specifically combines the two lines.
In the work itself, we must concentrate our thoughts and desires in a specific order:
1. To learn the ways of the Creator and the secrets of Kabbalah, so that this knowledge can assist in fulfilling the Creator’s Will. This is the individual’s main goal.
2. To long to completely correct one’s soul, and to return it to its root—the Creator.
3. To long to recognize the Creator, and to cling to Him with the recognition of His perfection.
Trying to Give the Creator Pleasure
The Creator is in a state of absolute rest, as is the person who achieves the goal of creation. It is clear that this state of rest can only be appreciated by someone who has previously been in conditions of movement, toil and work. Since what is being referred to here is “spiritual rest,” clearly the intention is that the person’s movement, toil and work is also spiritual in nature.
Spiritual work consists of striving to bring pleasure to the Creator.
All our work begins precisely when our body (desire to receive) opposes the work, which is without any self-benefit. This is because it (the body, egoism) does not understand the implications of altruistic work, and does not feel any reward in it.
Great efforts are required from us to withstand the justifiable (in principle) complaints of the body.
What do we receive in return?
By balancing the contrasting qualities of the Creator and the creatures, in between we start sensing them understanding the purpose of creation, His initial thought.
“Tips to Speed Up Spiritual Development” is based on the book, Attaining the Worlds Beyond by Dr. Michael Laitman.
