Passing the First Stage of Spiritual Development

In order for us to reach this goal of creation, there are two successive stages in a person’s path. The first entails suffering and ordeals until a person frees self from egoism. But once we have passed that first stage and gotten rid of all personal desires, once we are able to direct all thought to the Creator, then we may begin a new life, one full of spiritual joy and eternal tranquility, as originally conceived by the Will of the Creator at the beginning of creation.

Kabbalah Can Free You from Selfishness

We need not follow a path of complete self-denial to the extent of being satisfied with a slice of bread, a sip of water and a rest on bare earth as if to accustom our bodies to renouncing egoism. Instead of forcibly suppressing our physical desires, we have been given Kabbalah, the Light of Kabbalah, which can help each of us get rid of egoism, the root of all misfortune.

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Egoism Stands in the Way of Our Spiritual Advancement

We can only enter the spiritual world, the dimension of altruistic bestowal and love if we get rid of our inherent egoism. But in order to get rid of our we have to become sick of it, we have to start hating it.

The Creator purposely placed our world, with all its misery, between Himself and us. He did this to help us realize that we must get rid of egoism, since it is the cause of all our suffering. To remove suffering and to sense the Creator, the Source of all pleasure, is only possible if we sincerely desire to rid ourselves of all egoism.

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The Meaningfulness of Hopelessness

Prior to creation, the Creator alone existed. The process of creation begins when the Creator singles out a certain part of Himself in order to endow it, in the future, with certain different characteristics. By endowing this part with a sense of its own self, the Creator essentially “ejects” it from Himself.

This endowed part constitutes our “I.” The distance of the endowed part from the Creator is the disparity in characteristics between the Creator and this part; it is perceived as “concealment of the Creator.” Since this part cannot sense the Creator, there is a void between it and Him, generated by the part’s egoistic characteristics.

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Spiritual Advancement Is in Our Hands

In spirituality our progress depends on the degree of similarity we achieve with the Creator. In order to yearn for that similarity we need at least a minimal perception of His qualities that we can aspire towards to.

Furthermore, the more importance we assign to perceiving the Creator, the stronger the perception will be, until it becomes part of our being. Luck (mazal in Hebrew) is a special manner of Providence that we cannot influence in any way. But it is dictated from Above that we, as individuals, are responsible for trying to change our own nature . Afterwards, the Creator will evaluate our efforts in this direction, and eventually He will alter our nature, as well as elevate us above our world.

Therefore, before we make any efforts, we should realize that we cannot expect the Upper Forces, luck, or some other special treatment from Above to intervene on our behalf. Rather, we must begin by fully recognizing that if we ourselves do not take action, we will not arrive at what we desire.

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The Revealed and Hidden Picture of the World

If everything happens according to the Creator’s Plan, then what good are our efforts? As a result of our own work, based on the principle of reward and punishment, we acquire from Above an understanding of the Creator’s Rule. We then rise to a level of consciousness where we clearly see that it is the Creator who rules everything and that everything is predetermined.

First, however, we must reach this stage, and until we do, we cannot determine that everything is in the hands of the Creator. Also, until we reach that stage, we cannot live or act according to its laws, for this is not how we understand the world to operate. Therefore, we can act only according to the laws of which we are aware.

Only when we have put forth efforts based on the principle of “reward and punishment” do we become worthy of the Creator’s complete trust. Only then do we have the right to see the true picture of the world, as well as the way it operates. And when we arrive at this stage, and realize that everything depends on the Creator, we long for Him.

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