Forums IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ Beyond Human The Kabbalah Perspective

You may look at this & think "I haven't got time to read that!". I originally was a little skeptical when I first found the material recently myself. But personally, I'm hooked on it now. Basically regardless of your Religion &/or spiritual beliefs, I think this is one worth anyone's while reading. Simply because it does offer a fresh perspective that does make a lot of sense, if you actually take the time to thoroughly read & comprehend the words from the writer’s angle. It's both fascinating & mind opening material, trust me

If any of you do make the effort to read the following 14 pages, please feel free to share your thoughts. They'd certainly be welcomed. Hope you enjoy...

Thanks

Matt

Here goes:

Our Relationship with the Creator
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Preface

Who am I and what do I exist for?
Why was I born?
Where did I come from?
Where am I heading?
Have I already been here? Will I return here?
What is my role in the universe?
Can I really learn to know myself and those around me?
Is it possible for me to understand the reasons for everything that happens to me in my life?
What are the reasons for all the agony and suffering in the world , and is it possible to prevent it somehow?
Can I attain complete fulfillment in this lifetime, and if so how?

The single answer to all these questions is attaining the perfection of upper world, which is filled with pleasures. This is the essence of the wisdom of Kabbalah, which provides a practical method for understanding the goal of creation and our purpose in life: achieving tranquility, eternity, and unbounded joy while still living in this world. In this manner a person takes control over his life and transcends the boundaries of time and space.

Our goal is to assist you embark on the first stages of the path to spiritual ascent and attainment of the spiritual realms.

Rabbi Michael Laitman

Chapter 3: Spiritual Path

The need for the perception of the Divine makes us spare no effort in attempting to solve all of nature's mysteries, leaving no stone unturned either in ourselves or in our environment. But only the yearning to perceive the Creator is true, since He is the source of everything and, above all, He is our Creator. Therefore, if a human being existed alone in this world, or in other worlds, the search for the self would inevitably bring each human being to the search for the Creator.

There are two lines in perceiving the Creator's influence on His creations. The right line represents the personal Providence over each of us, regardless of our actions.

The left line represents the Providence over each of us depending on our actions. It stands for the punishment for evil deeds and the reward for good ones.

When a person chooses for himself a certain time to proceed along the right line, that person must tell himself that everything in the world happens only because the Creator wants it to happen. Everything proceeds according to His plan and nothing depends on the person himself. From this point of view, the person has neither faults nor merits. His actions are determined by the aspirations that he receives from the outside.

One must therefore thank the Creator for all that one receives from Him. Moreover, realizing that the Creator leads one to eternity, a person can develop feelings of love for the Creator.

To move forward is possible with a proper combination of the right and left lines, exactly in the middle of them. That is, a person can advance only along the line that is exactly halfway between them. Yet even if he begins to advance from a correct starting point, if he doesn't know exactly how to continually check and correct this, he is sure to deviate from the correct path.

Furthermore, if one makes even the slightest deviation at any point along the journey, then, even if the person continues moving forward, the error will increase with every step. Consequently, the person will get further and further from the set goal.

Before our soul descends into this world it is a part of the Creator, a tiny element of Him. This element is known as the root of the soul. The Creator places the soul into the body so that the soul can elevate the body's desires when the soul rises and merges with the Creator again.

In other words, the soul is placed into the body (meaning a person is born into this world) in order to overcome the desires of the body and, despite them, to ascend, even during the person's lifetime, to the spiritual level that the soul possessed before it descended into this world.

In overcoming the desires of the body, the soul ascends to the same spiritual level it descended from, experiencing far greater pleasures than it had in its initial state when it was part of the Creator. At this point, a tiny element is transformed into a whole spiritual body, and is 620 times greater than was the original element, before it descended into this world.

Thus, in its complete state, the spiritual body of the soul consists of 620 parts, or organs. Each part is considered to be a spiritual law or spiritual act (mitzvah). The light of the Creator or the Creator himself (which are the same) that fill every part of the soul is called Torah.

When one ascends to a new spiritual level, it is called fulfilling a spiritual law. As a result of this elevation, new altruistic aspirations are created and the soul receives the Torah, the light of the Creator, or the Creator himself.

The true path to this goal proceeds along the middle line. This implies combining three concepts into one: the human being, the path to follow, and the Creator.

Indeed, there exist three objects in the world: the human being, who is striving to return to the Creator, the path which one needs to follow in order to reach the Creator, and the Creator, the goal toward which a person is striving.

As has been said many times, there is nothing that truly exists except the Creator, and we are but His creations, endowed with a sense of our own existence. An individual comes to realize and perceive this clearly in the course of his spiritual ascent.

All of our perceptions, or rather, the perceptions we see as our own, are but responses to the Divine acts produced in us by Him, i.e., in the end, our feelings are only what He wants us to feel.

As long as a person has not yet achieved a full comprehension of this truth, he sees not one, but three separate concepts: the self, the path to the Creator, and the Creator himself.

However, once a person has reached the final stage of spiritual development, once he has ascended again to the same level from which the soul descended, only this time instilled with all of his desires corrected, can that person receive the Creator completely into his spiritual body? That person also receives all of the light of the Creator, and the Creator himself. In this manner, the three objects that once existed separately in a person's perception of the self, one's spiritual path and the Creator merge to become a single entity: the spiritual body filled with light.

Therefore, to ensure that one proceeds correctly, a person must conduct regular checks as one advances on the spiritual path. This will assure that one strives for all three objects with an equally powerful desire from the very outset, irrespective of the fact that the three objects are perceived by that person to be separate. From the outset one must work to blend them into one; at the end of the path this will be apparent. They are in fact apparent now, even though a person is not able to see them yet, as such, due to his own imperfection.

If a person strives for one of the three objects more than for the others, that person will immediately deviate from the true path. The simplest way to check whether one remains on the true path is to determine whether the person is striving to comprehend the characteristics of the Creator in order to become one with Him.

If I am not for me, then who is for me? And if I am only concerned with myself, then what am I? These contradictory statements reflect the attitude of a person toward his own efforts to attain a set personal goal. On the one hand, a person must believe that there is no one to turn to for help but himself, and act with the certainty that his good deeds will be rewarded and his evil deeds will be punished. In other words, an individual must believe that his own actions have direct consequences, and that a person is the builder of his own future. But on the other hand, he must say to himself, "Who am I to be able to defeat my own nature by myself? Yet, no one else can help me either."

Providence of the Creator

If everything happens according to the Creator's plan, then what good are a person's efforts? As a result of a person's own work, based on the principle of reward and punishment, that person acquires from Above an understanding of the Creator's rule; he rises to a level of consciousness where he clearly sees that it is the Creator who rules everything and that everything is predetermined.

First, however, a person has to reach this stage, and until he does, he cannot determine that everything is in the hands of the Creator. Also, until he reaches that stage, he cannot live or act according to its laws, for this is not how he understands the world to operate, i.e., a person must act only according to the laws of which he is aware.

Only as a result of a person's efforts based on the principle of "reward and punishment" does he become worthy of the Creator's complete trust. Only then does he have the right to see the true picture of the world, as well as the way it is operated. And when he arrives at this stage, despite the fact that he sees that everything depends on the Creator, he longs for the Creator.

One cannot oust selfish thoughts and desires from one's heart and leave it empty. Only by filling the heart with spiritual, altruistic desires instead of selfish ones can one replace the old aspirations by the opposite ones, and in this way obliterate egoism.

A person who loves the Creator is sure to feel revulsion toward egoism, since that person knows from personal experience of the harm caused by egoistic manifestations. However, the person may not have the means to rid himself of it and will eventually realize that it is beyond his power to oust egoism, since it was the Creator who had endowed His creations with this quality.

An individual cannot rid himself of egoism by his own efforts alone. But the sooner he realizes that egoism is his enemy and his spiritual exterminator, the stronger will be his hatred of it. Eventually, this will bring the Creator to help that person overcome the enemy; in this way, even egoism will serve the purpose of spiritual elevation.

It says in the Talmud, "I created the world only for the completely righteous and for the complete sinners." It is understandable why the world would be created for the absolutely righteous people, but it is not clear why the world was not also created for those who are neither absolutely righteous nor absolute sinners. Was it really worth creating the entire universe just for the absolute sinners?

A person inadvertently perceives Providence according to the way it affects him: he sees it as good and kind, if it is agreeable to him, or as harsh, if it causes him suffering. That is, a person considers the Creator either good or bad, depending on how he perceives this world.

Thus, there are only two ways for human beings to perceive the Providence of the Creator over the world. They perceive the Creator, and in this case life seems wonderful to them, or they think that the Creator's Providence over the world does not exist, and then they assume that the world is ruled by the forces of nature. Though a particular person may realize that the latter scenario is unlikely, it is the person's emotions, rather than reason, that determine his attitude toward the world. Hence, observing the disparity between his emotions and his reason, the person starts considering himself a sinner.

From his understanding that the Creator wants to give us benefit and good, he realizes this is possible only by drawing closer to the Creator. Thus, if he feels distanced from the Creator, this is perceived by him as "bad," and then he considers himself to be a sinner.

But if a person feels himself to be evil to such an extent, that he necessarily cries out to the Creator to save him, asking the Creator to reveal Himself so as to give him the power to break out from the prison of his egoism into the spiritual world, then the Creator helps him instantly.

It is for this form of human condition that this world and the higher worlds were created. Having reached the levels of the absolute sinner, a person has the possibility in this world to cry out to the Creator and eventually rise to the levels of the absolutely righteous person.

A human being can only become worthy of perceiving the Creator's greatness after that person has rid the self of all conceit and has come to realize the impotence and the lowness of his personal desires.

The more importance a person ascribes to a closeness with the Creator, the more he perceives Him; he becomes better able to discern the various nuances and manifestations of the Creator in his daily life. This deep, impressive awe gives rise to the feelings in his heart, and as a result joy flows in.

A person sees that he is in no way better than those around him, and yet that person also sees that unlike him, the others have not earned the Creator's special attention. Moreover, other people don't even realize that the possibility of communicating with the Creator exists, nor do they really care to perceive the Creator and understand the meaning of life and spiritual progress. On the other hand, it is not clear to him how he merited a special relationship with the Creator: in that he is granted, if even just occasionally, the possibility to concern himself with the purpose of life, and his bond with the Creator. If, at that point, he can appreciate the uniqueness of the Creator's attitude toward him, then he can experience boundless gratitude and joy.

The more he can appreciate individual success, the better he can thank the Creator. The more nuance of feeling he can experience at each particular point and instant of his contact with the Creator, the better he can appreciate the greatness of the spiritual world that is revealed to him, as well as the greatness and might of the omnipotent Creator, finally resulting in a strengthened confidence, with which he will anticipate his future unification with the Creator.

Contemplating the vast difference between the characteristics of the Creator and of the created beings, it is easy to arrive at the conclusion that they can become compatible only on the condition that the created beings would alter their absolutely egoistic nature. This is possible only if a person nullifies himself as if he does not exist; therefore, there is nothing that will separate him from the Creator.

Only if he feels that without receiving a spiritual life he is dead (as when life has left the body), and only if he feels he really wants spiritual life, can he receive the possibility of entering this spiritual life, to breathe spiritual air.

Realizing the Creator's Rule

How can a person rise to a spiritual level of the complete eradication of all self-interest and concern for himself? How can the aspiration to devote himself become the only goal of his life, so much so that without attaining this goal, a person feels as if he were dead?

Rising to this level takes place gradually and is processed in the form of feedback; the more efforts a person makes in the quest for a spiritual path, both in studying and in emulating spiritual objects, the more convinced he becomes of his utter inability to achieve this goal by himself.

The more the person studies the texts that are important for his spiritual development, the more confusing and disorganized the material appears to him. The harder he tries to treat his instructors and peers better, if he is indeed advancing spiritually, the clearer it becomes that all his actions are dictated by egoism.

Such results follow the principle: Force him until he says, "I do." A person can rid himself of egoism only if he grasps that egoism causes death by holding him back from realizing true, eternal life, filled with delight. Developing a hatred toward egoism will eventually lead to the liberation of the self from egoism.

The most important aspiration is the desire to give himself fully to the Creator by realizing the Creator's greatness. (Giving himself to the Creator means to separate from his "I.") At this point, an individual should decide what is a more worthy goal to attain: transient values or eternal ones.

Nothing that we have created remains forever; all is transient. Only spiritual structures such as altruistic thoughts, acts, and feelings are eternal. Therefore, by striving to emulate the Creator in his thoughts, desires and efforts, a person is in fact building the edifice of his own eternity.

However, dedicating yourself to the Creator is only possible if you realize the Creator's greatness. It is the same in our world: If we consider someone great, we will be glad to be of service to that person. Moreover, we may even feel that it is really the other person who has done us a favor by accepting something from us, rather than the other way around. By accepting the favor, the other person seems to have given to us rather than to have taken from us.

This example demonstrates that an inner goal of an action can alter the external form of a mechanical act-giving or taking-to its opposite. Therefore, the greater the praise of the Creator in his eyes, the more readily will he give all of his thoughts, desires and efforts to the Creator, while feeling that in fact, he is getting something from rather than giving something to the Creator. He will feel that he is being given an opportunity to render a service, an opportunity that is only bestowed upon a few worthy ones in each generation. This can be further clarified by the example provided in the following short play.

The Dining Table
translated by C. Ratz and G. Kaplan

Act One

In a brightly lit house with spacious rooms, a pleasant-looking man is busy in the kitchen. He is preparing a meal for his long awaited guest. While hovering over the pots and pans, he reminds himself of the delicacies his guest is so fond of. His joyous anticipation is very evident. With the moves of a dancer he fills the table with five different courses. Next to the table there are two cushioned chairs.

A knock on the door, the guest enters. The host's face brightens at the sight of the guest and he invites him to sit at the dining table. The guest sits down and the host looks at him fondly. The guest looks at the delicacies in front of him and sniffs them from a courteous distance. It is apparent that the guest likes what he sees, but expresses his admiration with a tactful restraint, not letting on that he knows the food is meant for him.

Host: Do sit down, I've made these things especially for you because I know how much you like these particular delights. We both know how familiar I am with your taste and dining habits. I know you're hungry and I know how much you can eat, so I've prepared everything exactly the way you like it, exactly to the amount that you can eat it all without leaving a crumb.

Narrator: If there were any food left when the guest is satiated, both Host and Guest would be unhappy. The host would be unhappy because that would mean that he wants to give his guest more than his guest wants to receive, the guest would be disappointed at not being able to fulfill the host's wish that he would consume the lot. The guest would also regret it, if he were already full while there were still more delicacies left over, but had no more room in his stomach to enjoy it. It would mean that there weren't a sufficient amount of desire for pleasure.

Guest (solemnly): Indeed you have prepared exactly what I'd like to see and eat at my dinner table. Even the amount is just right. This is all I could ever want out of life, to enjoy this. If I were to have all that than I would probably receive the ultimate divine pleasure.

Host: Well then, have it all and enjoy it and thus delight me.

The guest begins to eat.

Guest (obviously enjoying and with his mouth full, yet looking somewhat troubled): Why is it, that the more I eat the less I enjoy the food? The pleasure I get puts out the hunger and I enjoy it less and less. The nearer I get to be full the less I enjoy my meal. And when I've received all the food, I'm left with nothing but the memory of the pleasure, not the pleasure itself. The pleasure was there only while I was hungry. When the hunger faded away, so did the joy. I've received what I so wished for and here I am left with neither pleasure nor joy. I don't want anything anymore and have nothing to bring me joy.

Host (a little resentful): I've done all I could for you to enjoy. It isn't my fault that the very receiving of pleasure extinguishes the sensation of delight because the yearning is gone. In any case, you're now full of what I have prepared for you.

Guest (defending himself): By receiving all that you've prepared for me I can't even thank you, because I've stopped enjoying the abundance you've given me. The main thing is that I feel you have given me while I have given you nothing in return. So the outcome is that you've caused me to feel shame, by thoughtlessly manifesting that you are the giver and I'm the taker.

Host: I didn't show you that you're the receiver and I'm the giver. But the very fact that you've received something from without caused you to feel you were receiving from me, despite the fact that kindness is my nature and I want nothing more than to have you accept my food. I can't change that. For example: I grow fish. They don't care who feeds and nourishes them... I also tend to Bob, my cat; he too couldn't care less whose was the hand that fed him. But Rex, my dog does care and he will not take food from just anyone. People are built in such a way that there are some who receive without sensing that someone is giving them, and they just take. Some even steal with no remorse! But if a person has a developed sense of self, he feels the giver and it awakens in him the awareness that he is the taker. That brings with it shame, self-reproach and agony as a result.

Guest (somewhat appeased): But what can I do to receive the pleasure on the one hand and on the other, not perceive myself as the taker? How can I neutralize the feeling within me that you are the giver and I'm the taker? If there's a give and take situation and it brings this shame in me, what can I do to avoid it? Or that perhaps you will act in such a way that I will not feel like the receiver! But then that's possible only if I'm unaware of your existence (just like fish) or if I sensed you but did not understand that you are giving me (like the cat or an underdeveloped human).

Host (narrowing his eyes in concentration and speaking thoughtfully): I think there's a solution after all. Perhaps you'll perform an act upon yourself that will neutralize the sensation of reception within you?

Guest (his eyes light up): Oh, I've got it! You've always wanted to have me as your guest. So, tomorrow, I will come here and will perform the reception in such a way that will make you feel not as the giver, but as the receiver. I will still be the receiver, of course, eating all that you've prepared, but I will perceive myself as the giver.

Act Two

The next day, in the same room, the host has prepared a fresh meal with just the same delicacies as the day before. He sits at the table and the guest enters, wearing an unfamiliar, somewhat secretive expression on his face.

Host (smiling brightly, unaware of the change): I've been waiting for you. I'm so happy to see you, do sit down.

The guest sits at the table and politely smells the food.

Guest (looking at the food): All this is for me?

Host: But of course! Only for you! I would be so happy if you were willing to receive all that from me.

Guest: I don't really want it all that much.

Host: Well that's not true! You do want it and I know that for a fact! Why won't you have it?

Guest: I can't take all that from you. It makes me feel uneasy.

Host: What do you mean uneasy? I want so much for you to have all that! Who do you think I've prepared this for? It would give me so much pleasure if you were to eat all that.

Guest: Perhaps you're right, but I don't want to receive those dishes!

Host: But in fact you're not receiving a meal, you're doing me a favor by sitting at my table enjoying what I have prepared. After all I've prepared all that not for you, but because I so enjoy your reception from me. That's why your consent to eat would not be reception on your part, but you'd be doing me a favor. You'd be receiving all that for me! On your part it will not at all be taking, but rather giving me great joy. It turns out that it's not you who is receiving my meal, but rather me who is getting great joy out of you. You're the one giving to me, and not the other way around.

The landlord imploringly slides the fragrant plate in front of his reluctant guest. The guest pushes it away. The landlord again slides it near his guest, and again he's being turned down. The landlord sighs and his whole appearance speaks of his desire that the guest would accept the food.

The guest takes the posture of the giver who's doing the host a favor.

Host: I implore you! Make me happy.

The guest starts to eat, then pauses to think. Then he starts again, and again he pauses. Each time the guest pauses the host encourages him to continue. Only after some persuasion does the guest continue.

The host keeps shoving new delicacies in front of his guest, each time begging him to please him by accepting them.

Guest: If I can be sure that I'm eating because it gives you pleasure and not because I want it, then you've become the receiver and I've become the one giving you pleasure. But for that I have to be sure that I'm eating for your sake alone and not for mine.

Host: But of course you're eating only for me. After all, you sat at the table and wouldn't taste a thing until I proved to you that you're not just eating, but rather rendering me great joy. You've come to give me pleasure.

Guest: But if I were to accept something I had no initial desire for but that you had just offered me as something to accept, I would not enjoy the reception and you wouldn't receive the joy of watching me willingly accept your offering.
It turns out, that you can receive pleasure only to the extent that I enjoy your offering.

Host: I know exactly how much you like this food, how much of each dish you can eat and according to that I've prepared these five courses. After all, I know your desire for this and that dish and not for any other thing in your life. The knowledge of how much you enjoy it evokes the sensation of your pleasure in me. It creates a pleasure in me that you enjoy my dishes. I have no doubt that the pleasure I get out of you is well founded.

Guest: How can I be sure that I enjoy only because you want me to and because you've prepared all that for me? How can I be sure that I shouldn't turn you down, that by receiving from you I will actually be giving you joy?

Host: Quite simple! Because you totally refused my offers, and only after you were sure that you were doing it for me, you started to accept. After each bite you take, you feel you're doing it for me, you sense the joy you bring to me.

Guest: If I think, each time I receive, that I'm doing it for you, or else I would refuse to take, by joining the intent to do it for you, along with the reception from you, I get rid of the shame and take pride in rendering you pleasure.

Host: So eat it all! You want it all, and thus you'll be giving me every bit of pleasure you can!

Guest (eating with pleasure and finishing every last dish, but then he's still not satisfied): So now I've eaten it all and enjoyed it. There is no more food to enjoy. My pleasure has gone because I'm not hungry anymore. I can't bring any of us any joy right now. So what do I do next?

Host: I don't know. You've given me a comprehensive pleasure by receiving from me. What else can I do for you, so that you'll enjoy again and again? How can you want to eat again, if you've eaten it all?! Where will you get a new appetite?

Guest: True, my desire to enjoy has turned into a desire to bestow to you, and if now I can't enjoy, how can I bring you pleasure? After all, I can't create within me an appetite for another five-course meal.

Host: I have also not prepared any more than you desired for. I've done everything on my part. Your problem is: "How can I not stop wanting more, as I receive more and more."

Guest: But if the pleasure doesn't satisfy the hunger, it isn't felt as pleasure. The sensation of pleasure comes from the satisfaction of the need. If I weren't hungry, I couldn't enjoy the food and hence could not have bestowed to you. What can I do to remain in constant want, and constantly render you joy by receiving new pleasure?

Host: For that you need a different source of want and a different means for satisfaction. By using your hunger for the food and joy from it, you put them both out.

Guest: I've got it! The problem is that I prevented myself from feeling joy if I felt you to be the benefactor. I refused to such an extent, that the whole meal was laid down before me, yet I couldn't accept it because of the shame. That shame was so intense that I was willing to starve, if only to avoid feeling the shame of being the recipient.

Host: But then, once you were convinced that you weren't receiving for yourself, you began to receive for my sake. Because of that you enjoyed both the food and the pleasure you were rendering me. That's why the food should be in accordance with your will. After all, without pleasure from the food, what pleasure could you render me?

Guest: But it's not enough to receive for you, knowing that you enjoy me. If my pleasure comes from your joy, than the source of my pleasure is not the food, but you! I have to feel your joy.

Host: I'm totally open about it.

Guest: Yes, but what does my pleasure depend on? It depends on you; the one I'm giving pleasure to. That means that my pleasure depends on the extent of my desire to bestow to you; that is, to the extent that I sense your greatness.

Host: So what can I do?

Guest: If I knew more of you, if I had a more intimate knowledge of you, if you really are great, then your greatness and almightiness would have been revealed to me. Than I would enjoy not only giving you pleasure, but I'd also be aware whom I was rendering pleasure to. Then, my pleasure would have been proportional to the disclosing of your greatness.

Host: Is it up to me?

Guest: Look, if I give, it's important for me to know how much I am giving and to whom. If it is to beloved ones, for instance my children, then to the extent of my love for them I am willing to give to them, because by that I myself enjoy. But if someone off the street comes to my house I'm willing to give him something, because I sympathize, that is I feel the agony of another, or that I hope that when I'm in dire need I will be helped in the same way.

Host: This principle is what lies beneath the whole concept of social welfare. People realized that if there was no mutual assistance they would all suffer, that is they would themselves suffer when they become the needy ones. Egoism forces man to give, but it is not true giving. It is simply man assuring himself of his future.

Guest: I think this kind of giving is not even something we can take into account. All our generosity is nothing more than camouflaged reception. The satisfaction of oneself and one's dear ones.

Host: So how can I give you pleasure that is more than the pleasure found in the food?

Guest: That is not up to you, but to me. If the person coming to my house were not a common person, but a very important personality, I would receive greater pleasure in giving to him than to an ordinary person. That means that your pleasure depends not on the food, but on who prepared it for you!

Host: So what can I do to make you respect me more?

Guest: Because I receive, not for my benefit, but for yours, that is I'm giving you, the more respect I have for you the more pleasure I will get knowing whom it is I'm giving to.

Host: So how can I deepen your esteem of me?

Guest: Tell me about yourself, show me who you are! Then I could get pleasure not merely receiving the food, but also knowing who is giving it to me, knowing with whom I have a relationship. The smallest portion of food received from a great figure will be worth a much larger amount of pleasure. The pleasure grows in proportion to how great I consider you to be.

Host: That means that for the pleasure to become great I must open myself up and you must develop a likeness of me in you.

Guest: Exactly! That is what creates a new hunger in me - the desire to give to you grows in proportion to your greatness and not because I want to escape the sensation of shame, because the shame won't let me satisfy my hunger.

Host: That way you begin to sense not the hunger but my greatness and desire to render me pleasure. So in this you start to fulfill not the appetite, it's not what brought you to me, but my greatness and the desire to please me?

Guest: And what's wrong with that? I can receive pleasure from the food many times more than the food itself can actually give, because I add to the hunger a second desire-a will to bestow to you.

Host: That too I must fulfill.

Guest: No, that will and its fulfillment I create in myself. For that I need only to know you. Reveal yourself to me and I will create within me a craving to bestow to you and will receive pleasure from the giving and not from the elimination of shame.
Host: What will you gain from it, aside from the fact that your pleasure will increase?

Guest (clearly hinting that that's the point of it all): There's another major profit: If I create in me a new will apart from the inherent hunger, I become the master of that will. I can always increase it, always fill it with pleasure, and always bestow to you by receiving pleasure.

Host: Doesn't its filling up just as the hunger, lose that will?

Guest: No, because I can always create within me a greater impression of you. New wills to bestow will constantly arise, and by receiving from you I will carry out these wills. That process can go on indefinitely.

Host: What does it depend on?

Guest: On constantly discovering new virtues and your greatness.

Host: That means, that for constant self-indulgence, so that even by receiving selfish pleasure the hunger will not cease, but rather increase by that reception, a creation of a new hunger must be formed: the will to feel the giver.

Guest: Yes, in addition to receiving the pleasure (the delicacies) a sense of the giver's greatness is developed. The discovery of the host and the delicacies become the same. That the pleasure itself creates an awareness of the giver, that the giver, the food and the attributes of the giver are one and the same.

Host: It turns out that at first, what you subconsciously wanted was the revelation of the giver. For you this is in fact a filling up and nothing else.

Guest: In the beginning I didn't even understand that this was what I wanted. I only saw the food and thought that that was what I wanted.

Host: I did it on purpose! So that gradually you would develop your own independent will that you would supposedly create yourself, so that you would fill it by yourself. That means you were taking the place of both guest and host simultaneously.

Guest: Why is it all built like that?

Host: For the purpose of bringing you to completeness. So that you will want each thing in totality and will attain maximum fulfillment. So that you'd enjoy each will and so that the pleasure would be bound by nothing.

Guest: So why didn't I know about it to begin with? After all, all I saw around me were objects I desired, without suspecting that what I really wanted all that time was you.

Host: It's specifically done so that from a situation in which you weren't feeling me you'd by yourself come to me and would create that inner will on your own.

Guest (bewildered): But if I create that will within me, where are you in the picture?

Host: It is I who created the simple egotistical will in you to begin with. I develop it by constantly surrounding you with new objects of delight.

Guest: But what is it all for?

Host: For the purpose of convincing you that no chasing of any pleasure will satisfy you.

Guest: I can see that: The minute I get what I want, the pleasure I get is instantly gone, and again I long for something, either bigger or altogether different. Thus I'm in a constant pleasure hunt, but never quite attain it, because the minute I get my hands on it, it slips away.

Host: Precisely for that reason you develop your sense of self and attain the awareness of the futility of this type of existence.

Guest: But by the time you developed in me the picture of what's happening, I would understand the meaning, the purpose of all that was taking place!

Host: That picture is revealed only once you are totally convinced of the purposelessness of your egoistical existence, you become aware that a new form of conduct is required. You need to know your root and the meaning of your life.

Guest: But that process lasts thousands of years. When does it end?

Host: Nothing is created needlessly. All that exists is there for the sole purpose of bringing creation to knowing a different form of existence. That process is slow because every little desire should spring up and be recognized as unworthy of use in its preliminary form.

Guest: And are there many such desires?

Host: A great many! In direct proportion to the pleasure you will receive in the future. But the pleasure from receiving the food doesn't change. You can't eat more than one lunch a day. The volume of your stomach will not change. Therefore, the amount that comes from me and is received by you doesn't change. But by dining at my table in order to please me, that very thought creates in you a new will and a new pleasure, apart from the pleasure for the food. That pleasure is measured in size and power, that is quantity and quality, according to the amount of pleasure you get from dining at my table in order to please me.

Guest: So how do I increase my desire to receive pleasure for your sake?

Host: That depends on your appreciation and respect for me. On how great you consider me to be.

Guest: So how can I increase my appreciation of you?

Host: For that you simply need to know more about me. To see me in every action that I make. To observe and be convinced of how great I really am. Convinced that I am almighty, merciful and kind.

Guest: Then show yourself!

Host: If your request stems from a desire to bestow to me, I will reveal myself. But if it stems from a desire to please yourself by seeing me, I will not only refrain from disclosing myself to you, but I will hide myself ever deeper.

Guest: Why? Is it not the same for you whichever way I receive from you? After all, you want me to enjoy. Why hide from me?

Host: If I disclose myself entirely, you will receive so much pleasure at the eternity, almightiness and wholeness of me, that you will not be able to accept that pleasure for my sake. That thought will not even cross your mind and you will later feel ashamed again. Besides, because the pleasure will be perpetual, it will, as we've seen before, eliminate your want and again you'll be left drained of will.

Guest (finally realizing): So that's the reason that you hide from me, in order to help me! And I, for some reason, thought that it was because you didn't want me to know you.

Host: My greatest wish is that you'll see me and be near me. But what can I do if then you'll not be able to sense pleasure… wouldn't that be the same as dying?

Guest: But if I am unaware of you, then how can I make any progress? It all depends on how much you show yourself to me.

Host: Indeed, only the feeling of my presence creates in you the ability to grow and to receive. Without that sense you just swallow everything up and immediately stop sensing any pleasure. That's why when I appear before you, you feel shame, the sensation of the giver, a will to receive the same attributes as the giver.

Guest: So reveal yourself to me as soon as possible.

Host: I will, but only to the extent that you will benefit from it, although I'd always like to show myself to you. After all I hid myself on purpose, so as to create conditions of free choice for you, to act and to choose how to think independently of my presence and so there wouldn't be any pressure on the part of the host.

Guest: So how do you reveal yourself to me?

Host: I do it slowly and gradually. Each degree of disclosure is called a World. From the most hidden degree to the most exposed.

The End

From here it follows that a person's main objective is to elevate the importance of the Creator in his own eyes, i.e., to acquire faith in His greatness and might, since this is his only possibility to escape from the prison of personal egoism, and into the higher worlds.

As mentioned earlier, a person experiences extreme difficulty when he decides to follow the path of faith and to abandon all concern for the self. The resulting feeling is one of isolation from the whole world. He is suspended in nothingness, without the support of common sense, reason or prior experience to support him. It is also as if he abandoned his own environment, family, and friends for the sake of being united with the Creator.

The reason for such a sensation is a lack of faith in the Creator, i.e., a lack of sensing the Creator, His presence and His rule over all creation. One feels an absence of the object of faith.

However, once an individual begins to sense the Creator's presence, he is ready to submit himself fully to His power and to follow the Creator blindly, always prepared to nullify himself completely to Him, disparaging his intellect almost instinctively.

For this reason, the most important problem confronting a person is how to perceive the presence of the Creator. Therefore, it is worthwhile to dedicate all of our energy and all of our thoughts for the sake of the Creator; immediately, when such a feeling emerges, the person aspires with all of his soul to cling to the Creator. This feeling about the Creator is called faith!

The process can be accelerated if he considers this aim important. The more important it is to him, the faster he can achieve faith, i.e. the perception of the Creator. Furthermore, the more important he views the perception of the Creator, the stronger the perception will be, until it becomes ever present in him.

Luck (mazal in Hebrew) is a special manner of Providence that a person can in no way influence. But it is dictated from Above that a person has the responsibility to attempt to change his own nature. Afterwards, the Creator evaluates the efforts exerted by a person in this direction, and eventually alters the person's nature, as well as elevates him above our world.

Prior to the time that a person makes any effort, he should not rely on the Upper Forces, luck, or on some other special treatment from Above, in the hope He will intervene on his benefit. Rather, he must begin with a full recognition that if he alone does not take action, he will not arrive at what he desires.

However, once he completes some task, or engages in study, or exerts any other effort, he should reach this conclusion: Everything that he has achieved as a result of his efforts would have come about anyway, even without exerting any effort, since the result has been predetermined by the Creator.

Thus, the individual who yearns to comprehend true Providence, must early on try in all aspects of his life to combine in himself these contradictions.

For instance, in the morning one should start one's daily routine of study and work, leaving behind all thoughts of the Creator's divine rule over the world and over its inhabitants. Each person must work as if the final result depended only on him.

But at the end of the day, under no circumstances whatsoever should he allow himself to imagine that what he has achieved is the result of his own effort. He must realize that even if he stayed in bed all day, he would still arrive at the same result, because that result has been predetermined by the Creator.

Therefore, a person who wants to strive to live a life of truth must, on the one hand, obey the laws of society and of nature just like everyone else, but on the other hand, must also believe in the Creator's absolute rule over the world.

All of our deeds can be divided into either good, neutral or evil. A person's task is to elevate his neutral deeds to the level of the good ones by combining in his mind the performance of the deeds with the awareness of the Creator's absolute rule.

For example, a sick person, while quite aware of the fact that his cure is completely in the hands of the Creator, should take the medication prescribed by an established physician and must believe that the doctor's skill will help him overcome his ailment.

But having taken the medicine in strict accordance with the doctor's orders and recovered, he must believe that he would have recovered anyway because it was in the Creator's plan that he be healed. Therefore, instead of thanking the doctor, he must thank the Creator. In this way, the person converts a neutral act into a spiritual one. By repeating this procedure in regard to all his neutral acts, the person gradually spiritualizes all of his thoughts.

The examples and explanations given above are issues because, as mentioned, they may become serious stumbling blocks on a person's way to spiritual elevation. The problem sometimes becomes greater because he thinks he understands the principles of Divine rule. He will concentrate his energies, artificially, on strengthening his belief in the omnipresence of the Creator instead of working hard on himself.

Often, in order to demonstrate faith in the Creator, or simply out of laziness, one assumes even before starting to work on oneself that all is in the Creator's power; one's efforts are not needed. Moreover, one shuts one's eyes and relies on blind faith alone. One eludes vital questions about real faith. By avoiding answering these questions, these individuals rob themselves of the possibility to progress spiritually.

It is said of our world, "Thou shall earn thy bread by the sweat of thy brow." However, once a person has earned something, it is hard for him to admit that the result did not depend on his hard work or on his abilities; rather, it was the Creator who has done it all. He must strive by the sweat of his brow to strengthen his faith in the Creator's absolute rule.

But it is in the attempts and endeavors to understand the contradictory nature of Divine rule (which seems contradictory because of our blindness) and from the clash between these contradictory and perplexing strategies, of what exactly is required of us, we will grow and experience new spiritual sensations.
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