Faith in the Creator’s Ability to Change Us

Free will is the personal, independent decision of human beings to choose that the Creator should rule over us rather than Pharaoh. The power of Pharaoh consists of demonstrating to us the rewards we can receive. We clearly perceive the rewards that can be gained from our egoistic actions; we comprehend these rewards with our reason, and see them with our eyes. The result is known from the start; and is approved by society, by the family, by the parents, and by the children.

Hence, the body asks Pharaoh, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice?” (Exodus 5, 2), meaning, “What do I gain from work like this?”

We are thus correct when we see that it is impossible to advance against our own nature. But advancement itself is not the ultimate goal, but only the act of having faith in the Creator’s ability to change us.

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Relinquishing Control of Ourselves to the Creator

Our natural war centers on gratifying our egoism and on seizing greater gains, like all wars in our world. However, the meta-war—the war against our own nature—focuses on relinquishing the domain over ourselves to the “enemy”—the Creator. The meta-war attempts to surrender the entire territory in our minds and hearts to the control of the Creator, so that the Creator could fill the territory with Himself, and conquer the entire world, both the little world of the individual, and the greater world as a whole, and endow all creations with His qualities, but in accordance with their will.

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Our Habits Turn into Second Nature

People in general are raised in agreement with their egoistic natures, including observing the commandments of the Bible, and they continue to automatically uphold the notions they acquired from their upbringing. This makes it unlikely that they will ever depart from this particular level of connection with the Creator.

Thus, when our bodies (desire to receive) ask why we are observing the commandments, we reply that this was how we were brought up; it is the accepted way of life for us and our community. With upbringing as our base, habit has become second nature, and we require no effort to perform natural actions, since they are dictated both by body and mind.

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Assessing Progress Along the Spiritual Path

Our path is to lead us to a gradual alteration of our qualities until they are exactly like those of the Creator. The only quality of the Creator that defines His Essence is the complete absence of any trace of egoism.

This is followed by the lack of any thought about oneself, or one’s condition and power—a lack of all that comprises the essence of our thoughts and our aspirations. But since we exist in this world in a specific outer covering, we must care for the bare essentials to maintain this casing. This is not considered to be a sign of egoism.

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It is written, “A person is like a tree in the field.” A tree can be planted in a field that is blessed by the Creator, where it will be watered by rain and warmed by the sun whenever it needs. Or the tree – the person – can be planted in infertile, dry land, where the person will not be able to grow. Or, even if he grows, he is like a wild tree that does not bear fruit.

When it comes to spiritual development, a person determines his own place. His attitude to the books, the teacher, and the friends is able to change the soil and the sun, the moisture conditions, and all the other conditions needed for his growth.

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