A Great Potential
In light of what we’ve just said about growing desires and scientific progress, we can now begin to see our current situation from a spiritual point of view. In the past, people were not as mean and egoistic as they are today.
The gradual emergence of the Reshimot accounts for the change. When Reshimot of smaller desires appear, they don’t seem like such mean desires. Today, however, the last and most egoistic Reshimot are appearing.
But this is not a bad thing. It’s a lever for greater achievements. If we play our cards right—if we funnel these ferocious desires into the only constructive direction there is, the sky (or shall we say, heaven) is the limit.
Wishing for the King’s Daughter’s Hand
We can’t control which desires surface, but we can control what we do with them once they do. People still want money, power, and knowledge. But people are also getting frustrated and depressed because underneath the surface, the foundation of all those desires is spiritual. People want to control everything, they want to know everything.
Granted, most of us don’t feel those desires. But we have them nonetheless because it’s human nature to want everything. The only reason that we don’t feel them is that we’re realistic enough to know we will never have them, so we subconsciously prohibit them from surfacing.
In Kabbalistic terms, this is called “A man does not wish for the King’s daughter’s hand.” Even so, knowing that I can’t have the king’s daughter doesn’t mean that deep down I wouldn’t like to. Thus frustration arises.
But the truth is that even if I did have the king’s daughter, I wouldn’t be satisfied. A desire that great really stems from the spiritual. It can be completely satisfied only through spiritual means.
If we direct these desires toward the root from which every desire and every pleasure comes, then we will experience the satisfaction of these desires immediately after we experience the desire itself. It would be like a never-ending chain of desires and pleasures endlessly linked.
What would we do then? Delightfully ride the wave.
Selfish to the Core
We don’t have to worry about the kind of desires that surface in us. Deep within, we are all potential criminals of the worst kind you can imagine. But that doesn’t mean that we have to act on those desires. Most of us don’t.
But if we acknowledge those parts of ourselves, if we can begin to realize that we’re that selfish, that’s a very good start. We can then really start a change in ourselves and in the world around us.
No good thing ever came out of another good thing. Good things always grow out of crises because crises are opportunities for change. It is simple mathematics to see that because the present crisis is the worst, the opportunity for growth and for progress is greater than ever.
How to Start the Change
Now we’re left with just one question: “What do I need to do?” That’s the beauty of Kabbalah. You don’t need to do anything, you need to think. Every now and again, hook up with Kabbalah, read something about it, watch a lesson on the video, talk about it with friends. That’s enough to begin the change.
Nature created us egoists, and nature will change us. But for the change to happen, we need to want it to happen. That’s all we need to worry about—wanting to change.