Fourteenth Talk: Right and Left Sides
Introduction to the Book of Zohar:
"And now we will reveal the opportunity to comprehend the fourth investigation. If the system of impure forces is so diametrically distant from the holiness of the Creator that we cannot even imagine it, how is it possible that they manifest and descend from the holiness of the Creator itself? And moreover, the Creator Himself executes and maintains this.
To clarify this question we have to understand the essence of the impure forces and know that this immense Will to Receive is the essence of the souls' existence from the standpoint of their creation. It is because they are ready to receive all the light with which the Creator intended to delight the creatures. This light did not remain in the creatures. For if it did, they would be detached from the essence of the Creator forever.
The correction of the reason, because of which the properties of creation are distinct from the properties of the Creator, He put upon the creatures themselves. For help, He made all the worlds and separated them into two opposing systems: the four ABYA worlds that are holy; and the four ABYA worlds of impure forces. Later, in the holy worlds, He instilled the desire to bestow and annulled the desire to receive for one's own sake, giving it over to the four worlds of impurity.
Thus, He separated them from Himself and from the entire system of holiness. That is why egoistical desires are said to be dead; and all wicked ones that follow them are called dead while living. This is because the Will to Receive that is imparted in them is opposite to the properties of the Creator, and separates them from the Life of Lives. They are diametrically opposite to the essence of the Creator, who receives nothing and only bestows. Egoism has nothing of bestowal in it, - only the desire for self-delight. And there cannot be any bigger contrast. We know that the spiritual distancing starts from the most insignificant difference and ends with their absolute, polar contrast."
If creatures are diametrically opposite to the Creator, how can the Creator support and nurture them? The Creator made the creatures, with properties that are so completely opposite to those of His, in order to instill in them the mission of correcting themselves. To help in correction, He created the system of two opposite worlds, which have to service the creatures. He who advances on the right side (holiness – the will to bestow) is said to be alive and righteous. He who advances on the left side (uncorrected desires – egoism), accordingly, is called dead and wicked. All these states apply only in relation to the spiritual, when the light is either inside of the Kli – the inanimate, vegetative, animated level, or extracted from it – on the inanimate level.
When we say "wicked" we mean people who already revealed the Creator, entered the worlds of BYA, and are on the path of 6000 levels towards the Creator; and by doing so, work for the sake of bestowal. But occasionally, it happens that they receive for the sake of reception, and fall into egoism. They have to pass through both of these states on each level. The state "wicked" compels a person to turn towards holiness, thus correcting the properties of the left line. But the more egoism one corrects at a certain level, the bigger is the portion that he gets on the next one. Then again he performs the same actions, ascending the spiritual ladder and correcting the recurring portion of egoism. The spiritual states are much sharper and deeper, but the strength to withstand them is greater as well.
Each time, from all the desires, we choose whatever gives us greater pleasure. This system is implemented in us from above and is unchangeable. However, we can change the intention, that is, turn the direction of our delight towards the Source, from which this delight is coming to us. Most important is for us to feel the Source!
The Will to Receive is not egoism yet. If I want to receive because the Creator gives this to me, and by receiving I delight Him, this is treated as bestowal. But if it makes no difference to me who gives me pleasure, and even if I know that it emanates from the Creator, but I accept everything only to receive maximum pleasure, then these are uncorrected desires. We are way below the state of impure forces, meaning the desires that are not corrected yet.
The worlds of holy and impure forces complement each other, so to speak. Spiritual progress is impossible without either of them. A person exists between them in the middle part – Tifferet. And only this place is neutral. Above it is the holiness, and below it – impure forces. There is nothing to correct in holiness; impure forces cannot be corrected. Only in the middle line – Tifferet – can we tie the upper and the lower parts, and correct it.