The Discrepancy between Man’s Nature and the Nature of the Creator
“A wild ass shall be turned into man” (Job 11:12), because when one emerges out of the bosom of Creation, one is in utter filth and lowliness, meaning a multitude of self-love that is imprinted in him, whose every movement revolves solely around himself, without a shred of bestowal upon others.
Thus, then one is at the farthest distance from the root, on the other end, since the root is all bestowal without a hint of reception, whereas the newborn is in a state of complete self-reception without a hint of bestowal. Therefore, his situation is regarded as being at the lowest point of lowliness and filth in our human world.
Baal HaSulam, Matan Torah [The Giving of the Torah], Item 12
Although the will to receive is a mandatory law in the creature, as it is the essence of the creature and the proper Kli [vessel] for reception of the goal of the Thought of Creation, it nonetheless completely separates it from the Emanator. This is so because there is disparity of form to the point of oppositeness between itself and the Emanator, as the Emanator is complete bestowal without a shred of reception, and the creature is complete reception without a shred of bestowal. Thus, there is no greater oppositeness of form than that. It therefore follows that this oppositeness of form necessarily separates it from the Emanator.
Baal HaSulam, “Preface to the Wisdom of Kabbalah,” Item 13
Evil, in general, is nothing more than self-love, called “egoism,” since it is opposite in form from the Creator, who hasn’t any will to receive for Himself, but only to bestow.
Baal HaSulam, “The Essence of Religion and Its Purpose”