76) It is written, “Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord, and who shall stand in His holy place?” All the people in the world do not see why they are in the world. They do not observe so as to know for what purpose they are living in the world, and the days go by and never return. And all those days that people live in this world rise and stand before the Creator, for they were all created and they are real. And how do we know that they were created? Because it is written, “The days that were created.”
77) And when the time comes to depart this world, they all approach the High King, as it is written, “As David's days to die drew near,” and it is written, “As Israel’s days to die drew near.”
78) When a person in this world does not watch and does not consider why he is alive, but considers each day as walking in a void, when the soul departs this world, she does not know which way it is being lifted. This is so because the way up to where the illuminations of the high souls shine—the Garden of Eden—is not given to all the souls. Rather, as one draws upon himself in this world, the soul continues to walk after she departs him.
79) If that person follows the Creator and desires Him in this world, later, when he passes away from this world, he follows the Creator, too, and is given a way to rise to the place where the souls shine due to the craving that his desire followed every day in this world.
80) Rabbi Aba said, “One day, I came across a city that was one of those that were in the east, and I was told of that wisdom that they knew since the old days. They found their books of wisdom and presented me with such a book.
81) It was written in it that according to the direction of a person’s desire in this world, he draws upon himself the spirit from above, similar to the desire that had become attached to him. If his desire aims for a sublime and holy thing, he draws upon himself that same thing from above downward.
82) And if his desire is to cling to the Sitra Achra, and he aims for it, he draws that thing to himself from above downward. And they said that drawing something from above depends primarily upon the speech, the act, and the desire to adhere. This draws from above that same side that had clung to him.
83) And I found in the book all those deeds and worships of stars and idols, and the things that are needed to worship them, and how the desire should aim in them in order to draw them to themselves.
84) Similarly, when one wishes to adhere to the holy spirit above, it depends on the act, the speech, and on aiming the heart to that thing, so one will be able to draw it from above downward and to adhere to it.
85) And they said that a person is pulled out when he leaves this world by what attracts him in this world; and he is attached and attracted in the world of truth to what he had been attached and attracted to in this world. If it is holiness—holiness; and if it is impurity—impurity.
86) If it is holiness, he is pulled to the side of holiness. It clings to him above, and he becomes appointed as a servant to serve before the Creator among all the angels. He so adheres above and stands among those holy ones, as it is written, “And I will grant you access among those who are standing here.”
87) Similarly, if he clings to impurity in this world, he is pulled to the side of impurity and becomes as one of them, adhering to them. These are called “damagers to people,” and when one passes away from this world, he is taken and submerged in hell, that same place where the impure ones who have defiled themselves and their spirits and then clung to them are judged. And he becomes a damager, as one of those damagers of the world.
88) I told them, “My sons, the words in the book are close to words of Torah. But you must stay away from these books lest they will divert your hearts to these works and to all those sides it mentions here. You might stray from the work of the Creator.”
89) This is so because all those books mislead people, since the sons of the east were wise and inherited this wisdom from Abraham, who gave to the sons of the maidservants, as it is written, “But unto the sons of the concubines that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts,” and afterwards, they were drawn in this wisdom to several directions.
90) But the seed of Isaac, the share of Jacob, is not so, as it is written, “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac.” This is the holy share of the faith to which Abraham adhered, and it is from this lot and from this side that Jacob came. It is written about it, “And behold, the Lord stood above him,” and it is written, “But you … My servant, Jacob.” For this reason, one must take after the Creator and always adhere to Him, as it is written, “And to Him shall you cling.”
91) It is written, “Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord?” It is also written, “He who has clean hands,” who did not make a statue and whose hands were not made coarse by what he does not need. His hands were not defiled, and he did not defile the body with them, such as those who defile themselves with their hands. And it is written, “And a pure heart,” meaning one who did not draw his desire and his heart toward the Sitra Achra, but followed the work of the Creator.
92) “Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood.” It writes, “His soul,” but it is read, “My soul.” “My soul” is the soul of David, the side of faith, Nukva of ZA. His soul is the soul of a real person, and this is the difference between the text and the reading. Thus, when a person passes away from this world and his soul departs with good deeds, she will be rewarded for them with walking among all those holy ones, as it is written, “I shall walk before the Lord in the lands of the living.” Hence, he says, “Because he has not lifted up my soul to falsehood, he will be blessed by the Lord.”