Q: The spiritual world is a world of altruistic desires. Our world (this world) is a world of egoistic desires. One who puts a screen over the desires of this world and acquires altruistic desires of the world of Assiya will never be able to want the sensations of “for oneself.” If that is the case, how can we ever climb to higher worlds?
A: Everyone has private desires that were given to them from Above in order to feel them in this world. These desires can be measured for quality and quantity. When we can restrict them (avoid using our desires only for ourselves), that is when we cross the barrier, the gateway between this world and the spiritual world.
The ascent to the higher degrees comes after we acquire a screen - after the correction of the intent to receive for ourselves, over the new and greater desires to enjoy. Afterwards, these desires are used as much as possible, as long as the intent is to give to the Creator, to enjoy for Him. By doing so, we bring Him as great a pleasure as He brings us.
You’re right. If one has nothing to correct, one cannot rise. If one altered the aim on the new desires from ”for me” to “for the Creator,” only then can one ascend.
The ascent is the receiving of a new egoistic desire and its correction. It is the alteration of the intent from “for me (shells)” to “for the Creator (holiness).” The measure of the ascent corresponds to the intensity of the corrected desire.
Once a person has been given a desire with the intent “for himself” and has corrected it to an aim “for the Creator,” that person rises to a higher spiritual degree. The old desire, however, is replaced with an even greater new desire with the intent for himself, and again the intent must be corrected. That is how we progress.