{"id":13118,"date":"2025-12-22T23:47:35","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.kabbalah.info\/?post_type=book&p=13118"},"modified":"2025-12-22T23:48:03","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T23:48:03","slug":"chapter-4-breaching-the-balance","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/www.kabbalah.info\/en\/chapter-4-breaching-the-balance\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 4. Breaching the Balance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

O Man! Seek no further for the author of evil; thou art he.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jean Jacques Rousseau, The Creed of a Savoyard Priest<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For man is the cruelest animal.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man is the Only Animal that Blushes. Or needs to.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark Twain, Following the Equator<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Except for the human ego, all of Nature\u2019s elements operate according to the law of altruism. They are in balance with their environments and create harmonious systems. When the balance is breached, the organism begins to disintegrate. Thus, the ability to reconstruct the balance is a necessary condition for the existence of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, the body expends its entire protective power on maintaining the balance. When we speak of a strong body or a weak body, we refer to its ability to preserve its balance. Preserving the balance requires each element to act altruistically regarding the system it is part of, and which provides the basis of Nature\u2019s comprehensive harmony and perfection. If a certain element does not abide by life\u2019s principle of altruism, it thus breaches the balance. These two terms\u2014altruism and balance\u2014are therefore intertwined by way of cause and effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In all creatures but man, there is a \u201cbalancing software\u201d that makes them perform whatever is required to maintain balance at any given moment. Other creatures always know what to do, and hence do not stumble upon uncertainties or unfamiliar situations where they are unaware of how to behave within the new environment. They are not free to act at will, and are therefore clearly unable to change Nature\u2019s balance. Human Beings are the only creatures in whom this balancing software is not <\/em>installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because Nature does not instill in us sufficient knowledge or instincts to exist in balance with Nature from birth, we are uncertain of how to behave correctly in human society, i.e. how to be in balance with the people around us. The balanced state is also the happiest\u2014a perfect state where everything runs harmoniously, without the need to create resistance or erect protective walls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The absence of a balancing software takes our social evolution in an egoistic direction, and this has intensified with each passing generation. In consequence, the way man tries to satisfy his desire to enjoy does not take others\u2019 existence into consideration. We do not aspire to bond with others altruistically, as is done in Nature, and consequently, we do not know that it is in so doing that we will find the perfect joy we so crave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we look within, we will find that we truly consider only our own existence. All of our relations hips with others are simply aimed at improving our own state. To improve our lives by even the slightest bit, we agree to see those for whom we have no need disappear completely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other creature but man can plunder its surroundings. No other creature can derive satisfaction by oppressing others, drawing pleasure from their suffering. Only man can experience satisfaction at another\u2019s sorrow. There is a well-known maxim that states that it is much safer to walk next to a satiated lion than next to a satiated human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The egoistic goals that have grown in us from generation to generation, often at the expense of others, are in sharp contrast to Nature\u2019s fundamental aim: to give each and every element an optimal existence. This is why human egoism is the only detrimental force in the world, the only force that tips the balance in Nature\u2019s overall system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his essay, \u201cPeace in the World,\u201d Baal HaSulam writes, \u201cThe equal side in all the people of the world is that each and every one of us stands ready to abuse and exploit all the people for his own private benefit with every means possible, and without taking into consideration that he is going to build himself on the ruin of his friend.\u201d And he adds further: \u201cman \u2026feels that all the people in the world should be under his own government and for his own private use. And this is a law that cannot be breached. And the only difference is in the choices of people. One chooses to exploit people by attaining the lower desires, and one by attaining government, while a third by attaining respect. Furthermore, if one could do it without much effort, he would agree to exploit the whole world with all three together: wealth, government, and respect. However, he is forced to choose according to his ability and capability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is interesting to see that to pave the way to a peaceful life we must first thoroughly understand our egoistic nature. In fact, says Baal HaSulam, it is no coincidence, and it is irreproachable, that our egoism is intensifying. It is happening to show us precisely how far off we are from the general law of reality, the law of altruism, which is at the basis of our lives, and to induce us to correct this distance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the intensification of the ego is to make us acknowledge the opposite orientation of our egos, which want only to receive for themselves at others\u2019 expense, from Nature\u2019s comprehensive force, whose quality is altruism, love, and sharing. From here on, we will relate to our oppositeness from Nature\u2019s force as \u201cimbalance with Nature,\u201d or simply, \u201cimbalance,\u201d and to acquiring the quality of altruism as \u201cbalance with Nature.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WHAT GIVES US PLEASURE?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

As we have said above, our desires are divided into physical existential desires, and human social desires. We will now focus on the human social desires to understand what causes imbalance in our relationships with others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human social desires are divided into three primary categories: desires for wealth, desires for honor and sovereignty, and desires for knowledge. These categories symbolize all the nonphysical desires that can surface within us. They received the name \u201chuman social desires\u201d for two reasons: a) These are desires that one \u201cabsorbs\u201d from society. If we lived alone, we would not want these things. b) These desires can be realized only within a society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To be precise, we should say that what is required for existence is called \u201cphysical,\u201d and anything beyond it is called \u201chuman social.\u201d We can monitor how we use each desire for something that goes beyond what is necessary for sustenance. And actually, this is why such desires evolve in us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within each of us is a different blend of human social desires, and this blend changes during our lives. One may have a greater desire for wealth, another for honor, and a third for knowledge. Each of these represents a different kind, or level, of desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n