The real work begins once the point in the heart opens up. In Kabbalah, the focal point is the intention. Desires create our thoughts, but intentions give them direction. This, in turn, creates our actions and ultimately our whole reality. Using the study of Kabbalah, you can concentrate on developing intentions that affect reality in a way that elevates you to experience the Upper World, the Creator.
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Spiritual Sparks
For man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
—Samuel 1, 16:7
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In the science of Kabbalah, the thought is the intention, because it is its progenitor. In a regular life, thought is the considerations made by the desire to receive. The desire to receive in and of itself isn’t bad—that’s how you and I were created, and when used correctly it is beneficial to us and to the Creator. The intention in which we use our desire is where we must focus our attention.
In simple words, we must become aware of why we do what we do, what we want to get out of it, and whom we want to please by experiencing pleasure—ourselves or the Creator. This intention will then create a work plan, a thought, and the thoughts will determine our whole reality. So the only part that needs mending in reality is our intentions. That’s why Kabbalists say that what you do doesn’t matter, only what you aim to achieve by it. The following section will elaborate on that.
Coupling with the Creator
The intent of the Creator from the start was to make the desire complete. However, this happens only when your intent resembles the Creator’s attribute of bestowal by your free choice. This requires transforming your will for self-enjoyment into the will to please the Creator. And the Creator is pleased when you acquire His qualities.
When you acquire this intent, the desire to enjoy becomes equal to the Creator’s desire to give. You bring yourself to perfection by the correct use of your only attribute: the reception of pleasure. This is a change in intent, a change in the aim of your actions and not your actions themselves. Changing the intent of one’s desire involves three phases:
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Avoiding the use of desire in its original form.
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Isolating from your desire to enjoy only those desires that you can use in order to please the Creator.
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Correcting the intention of the worthy desires and achieving sameness with the Creator in those desires. In Kabbalah, this is called “coupling with the Creator” or discovering the Creator.”
In spirituality, you turn away from looking at the picture of reality you are born with. Instead, you get to know the forces that paint the picture. You get to know the artist. You acquire the ability to connect to the forces that create the picture, and ultimately to govern those forces. You begin to understand how reality is made.
This goes for society as a whole as well as for individuals. Today, many among us have already completed Levels 1-4 and are now embarking on Level 5, the spiritual level. This is a time when people will want to know what they are living for. Our next chapter will explore key points in the evolution of Kabbalah and their congruence with the history of humanity.