Q: When I feel myself in ascent, when I feel a purpose in the spiritual work, do I have to remind myself that the revelation of the Creator is only in my corporeal vessels, and start looking for deficiencies in that state in order to avoid falling?
A: An ascent is meant to be a springboard to rise even higher, not to descend. Read a lot and as regularly as possible to find in the texts what you could not see before. Do not, under any condition, enjoy the feeling of the ascent itself. Instead, control yourself, and along with the feeling of the ascent remember the very cause of the ascent and the contact with the source of that state.
The whole difference between the first and last conditions of creation is in man’s sensation of the Creator. It is like the example of the host and the guest: the guest takes what’s been prepared for him, but he doesn’t feel who gave it to him. Only the feeling of the giver differentiates the two situations.
That is why we must try not to get disconnected from thoughts about the Creator when we meet with obstructions. The disturbances that He sends us are all in order to strengthen our relationship with Him.
The minute you forget about the Creator and focus only on the sensation of pleasure at your situation, you will begin to decline because the pleasure will be for yourself and not for the advancement.
It is not self-affliction, but rather a learning process meant to link the cause and consequence together. You can learn the rest from the article, “There is None Else Beside Him.”