Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 156

When Do We Despair of Our Own Strength?

We come to despair of our own strength only after going through all incorrect searches. We aim our “rifle” at various states and things, and only afterward do we arrive at the correct state, where we truly feel this sense of despair. However, this comes only after all other states.

We need to pass through all such states, and there can be thousands of them. We do not know how many thousands, perhaps there could be billions of states, and through their mutual inclusion within one another, they all exist within us.

However, if we receive good support from the environment, we go through them without even sensing the pace at which they are passing.

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Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 155
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 154
Talks about the Steps of the Ladder, Part 153

Aside from obtaining the full measure of the will to receive, giving one all the material one needs for one’s work, this is the degree that brings one to Lishma [for Her sake]. It is as our sages said (Pesachim 50b): “One should always engage in Torah and Mitzvot Lo Lishma [not for Her sake], as from Lo Lishma, one comes to Lishma.”

One should take every measure suited to come to Lishma, for if one does not strain for this and does not achieve Lishma, he will fall into the trap of the impure maid (Baal HaSulam, Introduction to the Book of Zohar).

If a person wishes to move from his current state (1) to the next state (2), he must understand what he is striving for. In the first state, he must be able to feel the second state and desire it above all other possible states that may present themselves to him. If he truly desires the second state more than anything else, he evokes a force called the light that reforms, which transfers him from the first state to the second.

This transition does not mean that the fulfillment within me changes: “Previously, I knew one thing, and now I know another. Previously, I felt one way, and now I feel differently.” No. The action of the light produces a different result: previously, I thought according to one system, and now my system of thinking has changed. Previously, I felt according to one system, and now my system of feeling has changed. Through the light that reforms, it is not the content of the mind and feeling that changes, but the mind and feeling themselves. That is how I pass into the next state.

Therefore, already in the first state, a person does not really want to change the fulfillment. That is not what matters. What matters is that the feeling and the mind themselves change. He wants them to become bestowing rather than receiving.

Question: How can one imagine this new pattern?

Answer: It comes through effort and contemplation. Time also plays its role. But if you do not want the process to take a long time, hasten it!

There are two states: the current first state and the next second state. In each state I have both feeling and mind. In both states there is fulfillment, but in the first state the fulfillment is bad, while in the second it is good. I rise above both of them and ask for a new vessel, a new feeling, and a new mind. I ask not for a different fulfillment, but for a different heart and brain.

This is how we advance by faith above reason, from separation to adhesion. What matters to me is not whether the fulfillment within the vessel is good or bad, but what I do above it by raising Ohr Hozer (reflected light).

Question: What is the difference between asking for fulfillment and asking for a new feeling and mind?

Answer: The intention. I change my intentions.

Question: But by nature, the desire wants fulfillment. How can it switch to a different request?

Answer: Through the Ohr Makif (surrounding light), which returns to the source. Through the Torah.

Question: Do I know what I am striving for, or do I simply want something new?

Answer: I know. After all, I am working with my desire. I must at least have some understanding of what bestowal is.

Question: What is the actual process of moving from the first state to the second?

Answer: A change in attitude from oneself to the Creator.

Question: What exactly happens to my mind and feeling during this transition?

Answer: It all depends on what is more important to me. The mind and the feeling are me. The light acts upon me and changes my priorities.

I cannot change myself on my own because I will truly know myself only at the end of correction. For now, I am only somewhat familiar with the “animal” in which I live but not with my true self. I must come out of that “animal,” separate myself from it so that it stands beside me, and only then begin to work on myself. Only then will I begin to know who I really am.

Question: According to what Baal HaSulam writes here, does that mean not everyone will attain the intention of Lishma?

Answer: Anyone who has a genuine attraction to the wisdom of Kabbalah already wants, at least inwardly, to change himself. He may not yet realize it or understand it, but he is already prepared for it. Such a person possesses an inner demand and is not willing to remain as he is. He seeks a true transformation.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 3/21/13, Baal HaSulam, “Introduction to the Book of Zohar”

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Question: Can it be said that as we advance faith above reason becomes faith within reason?

Answer: Faith above reason never becomes faith within reason. We are speaking about a world that we do not feel. It seems to us that what takes place there can be described by concepts familiar to us. Faith above reason, the quality of bestowal, spiritual qualities, all of these have absolutely no connection to what exists within us now.

Faith above reason will never be felt within reason. This work of Bina and Malchut remains forever. Malchut can never change. The desire to receive remains exactly as it was created. It loves to enjoy receiving, and its fulfillment is the Creator, the light. One can change the form in which it is used, but not the desire itself.

Therefore it is forbidden to address the desire to receive, to suppress it, or to try to change it in any way. Do you want to use it differently? Fine. Give it a different direction; determine for what purpose it will be used. But the desire itself remains exactly as it was.

The point is that the difference between Klipa (impurity) and holiness is not in the actions themselves, but in the intention behind the actions. Rabash gives the following example. A person is cut with a knife. If it is for the person’s benefit, it is called an operation performed by a surgeon. But if it is for one’s own benefit, it is called murder. Yet the action itself remains exactly the same.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

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Question: We perform various actions in order to fulfill our desires. How should we relate to these desires?

Answer: We do not focus on the desires themselves; rather, we seek the source of the desires because that is where our correction lies. One who remains within one’s desires remains within their animal nature. One will never find fulfillment, peace, or correction in that state; there is no way out of it. There is nothing within the desire itself; it is empty.

If you want to fulfill a desire, you must turn to its source and not remain immersed in the desire. “The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh.” This is what those do who constantly look inward at their desires. The Creator gives us a sense of emptiness within our desires that leads us to ask: “What is the source of pleasure? Where is fulfillment?”

Accordingly, we should strive toward fulfillment by thinking about Him, not about our emptiness. We should not suppress our desires, dwell on them, or remain attached to them. Rather, we should rise above them and establish a connection with the source from which they can be fulfilled.

I cling to the upper one. By doing so, I do not detach myself from reality or from the desire to receive; I simply understand that the answer is not found within reality itself. This is a very logical, precise, and scientific method. It is not without reason that it is said that the wisdom of Kabbalah encompasses all sciences; those are not empty words.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 6/10/26, Rabash, “What Is Above Reason in the Work?”

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