The Unfolding Stages of Spiritual Perception

Faith above reason allows us to perceive our greatest enemy (the one who stands in our way of attaining goodness) precisely by reason. We can sense and perceive evil only to the degree that we believe in spiritual pleasure above reason. Objectively, there is nothing else but the Creator, but this realization occurs on the highest level of Kabbalistic perception.

Until that time, however, we perceive ourselves in this world as well. In the process of gaining perception, we come to understand what is: (1) the Creator (2) the First creation (3) creations (4) the pleasure that the Creator wishes to bestow upon His creations.

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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.

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A Spiritual Point in the Heart

One who wants to experience the true taste of life must pay special attention to the spiritual point found in one’s heart. Everyone has a point in the heart. However, it does not generally show signs of life and does not illuminate, and because of this, we are not aware of it.

In such a situation it is called a “black point.” This point is a seed of a soul. The characteristic of this point is altruistic, because it is a seed of the future vessel of the soul and its Light, a portion of the Creator.

However, in its initial state it is hidden from us, since we do not appreciate it, and for this reason this state is called “Galut (exile) of the Shechina” (the Divine Presence). Such a state of the soul is called a “point.”

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Matching the Creator’s Intentions and Actions

In spiritual sensations, there is no self-deception, such as a pretense that a righteous person does not want to receive pleasure for one’s own sake. In earning levels of righteousness, one will, with the help of the Creator who replaces our egoistic nature with an altruistic one, truly refuse all egoistic pleasure and aspire only to benefit the Creator.

But when a righteous person realizes that the Creator receives pleasure only when His creations are delighted by the pleasures emanating from Him, pleasures that are not belittled or destroyed, that person is once again forced to turn to egoism. This time, however, there is a different goal: to experience pleasure for the sake of the Creator.

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Motivated by the Desire for Pleasure

The only thing that we are comprised of is our desire to be pleased.

All our physical and mental potential, all our capabilities, and all our progress are for the sole purpose of letting us receive pleasure from various objects, which we continue to invent, find, and consider necessary, fashionable, or acceptable. This is done for the sole objective of being able to constantly receive pleasure.

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