Chapter 2.6 – Discovering Spiritual Properties

In order to start perceiving the spiritual world, we must acquire spiritual attributes. But what does "acquiring spiritual attributes" actually mean? And how can we acquire them? People who discovered the spiritual world tell us that looking from the outside, they see the nature of our world as a manifestation of pure, unadulterated egoism. This means that every thing in our world is based on ego – the inanimate nature, the plants, animals and people. In all the incidents and in every degree there is only one law – total pursuit of self-indulgence according to the intensity of the egoism in each object or creature.

Because our every thought and act is based on a single resolution to receive as much personal pleasure as possible in any given situation, that and only that constitutes the essence of our nature. Hence, it is simply impossible to even unite the atoms into molecules, maintain an existing form, or develop physical bodies and a human consciousness, without the pursuit of some egoistic goal.

Even if we think that the reason for one's action is to benefit one's fellow man, after we analyze the reasons behind it, we will find that there is nothing but a disguised egoistic ambition, a sophisticated form of egoistic exploitation. And because our nature is absolute egoism we are only able to discover and feel external stimulus that correspond to our internal egoistic attributes.

The collective picture of the external stimuli that we feel with our egoistic attributes is called “our world.” That is all we can feel with our egoistic attributes. In fact, it is not our sensory organs that are egoistic, but the heart that stands behind the senses, our ambition to derive the maximum pleasure from all these sensations. If there had been an altruistic heart behind these senses instead of an egoistic one, we would be able to retrieve completely different information with the exact same senses. That would have been the picture of the “next world,” or the spiritual world.

But while being in the spiritual world, we would still be able to see the picture of our own world. This is because we do not stop living in this world and we do not leave to enter a different physical dimension, but simply add the collective picture to our perception of this world. We begin to understand the reasons and the consequences to every thing that happens to us, and to distinguish the spiritual forces behind the physical bodies in our world.

One who is in the spiritual world begins to see the roots that influence reality, formulate the events of this world. Finally, the person begins to see and understand the reason and the purpose of existence.

Those who are still unable to feel and see this picture have only to believe that this possibility exists. A Kabbalist cannot describe and convey personal spiritual sensations to people who cannot see it for themselves. But if we take the counsel of a Kabbalist who has already passed this way, it is real help for any person who seeks an outlet to the spiritual world.