Egoism Is Finally on the Verge!

Question: In "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah" Baal HaSulam writes that in our world the receiving desire materializes in its entire, adequate, desired form. What is it desired for?

Dr. Laitman's Answer: For correction. Otherwise why would it need to descend down the ladder of the spiritual worlds? Moreover, on the lowest level it went through life cycles over and over again until taking on the adequate form in our time. Even in our world the development happens "according to schedule," and now in the 21st century we are starting our ascent back up. Our current state is the desired, adequate form.

This point was instilled in us from the beginning of creation and we had to reach it. Now is exactly the beginning of man's or creation's birth. Until now there was no creation. There was just desire, which developed according to a set program in order to reach a specific state where a point of freedom emerges, the point of our independence.

Question: We are talking about a fully formed egoistic desire, but the "desired form" sounds like a positive thing.

Answer: Of course, this is a positive state. That is exactly how the Torah defines the deadly egoistic desire that has accumulated its full might. This is where creation begins because now it can form, express, and sense itself.

As long as a person doesn't feel that he is evil, completely opposite to the Creator, as long as he doesn't realize the entire horror of being in this position, he won't be able to work on himself. Therefore, in the boundaries of the process of correction, this is a good state because it leads to the formation of a human being.

However, if you suppose that "goodness" is when you feel good, fine, go ahead and feel good. But this is purposeless. In a goal-oriented state a person feels his opposition to the Creator, and this is exactly what motivates him to act.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 05/24/11, "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"

“This World” Is Not “Our World”

Question: In "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah" Baal HaSulam writes that the desire for pleasure, which formed in its final form, is in "this world." What is "this world?"

Dr. Laitman's Answer: It's precisely what is written there: the state of the "receiving desire which has formed in its final form." In reality there are two things in existence: Light and desire. Everything else are just names for these forces.

When the receiving desire undergoes changes, it finally reaches the lowest state called "this world." This is a spiritual notion, which is why we differentiate between it and "our world," in which we exist for now on the animate level. Only a person who feels that he is at the last stage, in the final form of the egoistic desire, determines his location as "this world." This can already be called spiritual attainment in some sense because a person is aware of where he is according to the spiritual coordinates. But a "person from the street" does not live in "this world" yet, but still in his own world.

From the 4^th part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 05/24/11, "Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah"