The Question That Demands An Answer

Baal HaSulam writes in the "Introduction to the Study of  the Ten Sefirot," Item 2: "...that there is one famous and painful question which is asked by everyone on earth: 'What is the meaning of our life?'" This question pushes aside all other questions and doubts regarding the study of Kabbalah, since the years of our lives are so costly to us and bring about so much pain and suffering. Will our lives just come to an inevitable end? Who enjoys them, or to whom do I bring enjoyment?

We see that our life ends without any benefit or result. The more humanity develops, the clearer we understand this. Therefore, disappointment and depression are the foremost problems in the world today.

Many people throughout the generations have tried to answer this eternal question, but it still stands before us in all its strength and bitterness, catching us off-guard, burning in our minds, and shaming us to dust. After all, this question cancels out our very "I," and man cannot consent to this since it touches upon the root of his soul.

If this did not concern our eternal essence, we could escape this question by turning off our minds with drugs or antidepressants. However, the question about the meaning of life does not pertain to the years of our corporeal existence.

The question, "For what was I created?" comes from my core and directs me to my initial root, from which I can learn the reason for my existence. However for the time being, we manage to be subdued, without thought, by falling into the well-known trap of giving in to the flow of life.

We try to fool ourselves in every possible way, but it is becoming more and more difficult to exist according to the sequence: birth, school, university, job, children, old age, and death. We have no choice; in order to solve this question, I need to substitute the environment which helps me forget and hide the question concerning the meaning of life, with an environment that will help me expose it and answer it as quickly as possible.

 -from the 3^rd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 5/24/10