Developing a Need for the Creator

The Zohar is considered by many to be a moral teaching based on Kabbalah, since it is written in the language of the commandments, prescribing what an individual should do. It is clear that by defining the book of Zohar in such way, people attempt to deny its mystical, concealed essence.

The authors of the Zohar have written this book, which deals only with the composition and the operation of the spiritual worlds, in a deliberately scholastic and legalistic language. This was intended to leave no doubt in the readers’ minds that the main purpose of Kabbalah is not the wisdom itself, but the “dispenser of the wisdom.” In fact, the main purpose of Kabbalah and of the spiritual laws is to develop our need for the Creator, and for us to wish to come closer to Him in the qualities of the soul.

Obstacles That Are Veiled Opportunities

All the obstacles that we encounter in our path towards the Creator, in order to enter the spiritual realm, are actually signs of our drawing closer to the Creator, to the gates of the spiritual. This is because there is no situation that is further removed from the Creator than when we do not think at all about the existence of the spiritual realm, or are incapable of wanting to experience it.

When we feel distant from the spiritual realm, this is because the Creator has let us become aware of our true state, and in this way awakens in us a desire for closeness to Him. And if these feelings of distance from the Creator were not awakened within us, we would have no chance whatsoever to begin to draw close to Him.

Therefore, these feelings of distance are a sign of beginning to draw closer. And so it goes throughout the entire path of one’s advance towards the Creator: we constantly experience all types of obstacles. In reality, these obstacles are nothing other than the Creator helping us by awakening in us feelings of anger and dissatisfaction with our present state, to cause us to request Him to change it.

Focusing On a Single Desire

All of the obstacles that we must overcome in drawing closer to the Creator are necessary for getting used to following the path of being distanced—recognizing our egoism and separation from the Creator. Still, this feeling should not really alter our actions.

Instead, we should recognize in advance that this feeling reveals our true state, and that the previous state was no better than the present one, although there was no awareness of this fact at the time. And so it goes, until we stop focusing on our concerns about our condition, and replace them with thoughts and desires concentrating on a single desire: to care only about how the Creator looks upon us.

This desire should determine all our actions and thoughts. And what the Creator wishes to see in each of us becomes clear as one studies Kabbalah and follows all the directions of the spiritual laws in order to reach this ultimate goal. Then all the spiritual laws become a tool for unification with the Creator.

The Benefit of the Creator’s Concealment

Until we begin to measure all of our actions and thoughts against the desires of the Creator, we are actually measuring all the actions against the desires of others who impose their will upon us, thus defining our thoughts and actions. Never are we free to act on our own.

Either we are influenced by others who determine our behavior and actions, or our thoughts and actions are dictated by the Will of the Creator. Never can we act in absolute freedom. The concealment of the Creator from us is done for our own benefit.

Just as in our own world every object not fully explored attracts us more than an object thoroughly examined, so the veiling of the spiritual world is indispensable to induce us to heighten our desire to nurture a sense of importance of attaining the understanding of the spiritual world.

Building a True Desire for the Creator’s Revelation

We are never truly able to comprehend the greatness of the Creator and the spiritual worlds that constitute a partial Revelation of the Creator. But precisely due to His concealment, or the extent to which the Creator grants us a sense of concealment and distance, our desire to perceive the Creator becomes aroused, as well as how important it is to strive to understand that which is concealed.

On the other hand, the degree of concealment is determined by a particular person’s need to attain that which is hidden. Thus, one gradually becomes aware of how important it is to reach that which is concealed, until one begins to feel removed from the object of one’s passionate desire.

“How to Develop a Desire to Reveal the Creator” is based on the book, Attaining the Worlds Beyond by Dr. Michael Laitman.