“Man is enslaved in all his motions,
shackled in iron chains
by the views and manners of others,
who are society”
That is what the great Kabbalist, Rav Yehuda Ashlag,
known as Baal HaSulam, explains in his essay, “The Freedom”
We may think we have everything, but everything no longer satisfies us.
We are still playing the game and chasing transient goals, which we envision as pleasures such as money, honors, and power. After all, what else is there to do in this life?
We look at each other and thoughtlessly follow the current trend. We say to ourselves, “If I behave like everyone else, I’ll feel good.” Then, we choose a certain vague, agreeable goal and chase it, hoping to escape the emptiness.
We must be constantly preoccupied or the eternal questions will haunt us: “What am I living for? What’s happening with my life?”
But sooner or later, the point in our hearts will awaken and we will not be able to focus on mundane issues.
Suddenly, we will understand that this chase was prearranged in order to distract our minds from what is most important.
As long as we closed our eyes to avoid truly seeing, we could run along with the crowd.
But we have exhausted our strength. While everyone else is still racing, we have dropped out. It is simply not appealing anymore; in fact, we find it pointless.
Our will has deepened so much, it no longer allows us to settle for mundane goals. This is when we begin the quest for a higher goal.