The Difference Between Fear and Awe

Question: Is it normal for a person to study Kabbalah out of fear?

Answer: A person does everything from fear. People build muscles, earn money, organize mafia, fortify an army, etc., all out of fear.

Comment: For example, religious people fear that, G-d forbid, they might violate a commandment.

My Comment: Of course! All religions hang on the fear of punishment, whether in this world or the next.

Question: And what would the difference be in Kabbalah?

Answer: In the fact that you want to attain all of this. Attainment comes at the expense of getting rid of one’s egoism.

Therefore, you start developing fear not for yourself, but for the ability to bestow to others, to fulfill them, to bring them to a state of actualization. That state is no longer called fear, but awe.

Question: That must be even worse, to fear for others?

Answer: Of course, it is worse. As you start acquiring seven billion of “your children” in the world. Before, you feared for yourself, and now, for an additional seven billion. That is the state of the Creator.

Question: So what are we moving toward?

Answer: To the fact that we will enjoy the perfection of this system.
[214091]
From the Kabbalah Lesson in Russian 5/21/17