From Animal To Man

When studying the wisdom of Kabbalah, we need to understand that we are on the animate level; as it is written: “All are like animals.” The still, vegetative, and animate levels exist in us. And the level of human level that we need to build within us is a degree of similarity to the Creator.

So far I do not know who the Creator is since I lack properties similar to Him through which I would be able to recognize Him and imagine who He is. This is why I am still considered to be on the animate level. After all, how do I differ from an animal? I am just slightly more egoistically developed. And the “human” level means “similar to the Creator” (“man” – “Adam” comes from the word “similar” – “Adameh”).

The Creator is the quality of bestow, the force of bestowal, while I am an absolute receiver. This is why I have nothing from Him except for a tiny “spark from above” that is enrooted in every man from birth. When it awakens, one begins to feel a strange uneasiness, a desire for something higher than the animate level.

And then I come to a group where people study Kabbalah and I begin to hear that there is a possibility to become human, like the Creator.

This is a very drastic change that we can make in ourselves. Imagine the difference between an animal and a human in our world. A man’s life is so much more difficult than the life of an animal, say a cat! In addition to the common animal needs like food, sleep, and sex, man also has desires for education, culture, and comprehensive development. The cat does not know any of these things.

But in order for us to develop something similar to the Creator, we need reason, sensations, and strengths that we do not have. After all, the difference between an animal and a human in our world is no more than a small difference in the development of two egoistic beings.

While the Creator and I are two opposite forms, and I do not have the slightest idea of what else I need in order to become like Him. I cannot even imagine what it is like to be like Him, to rise above time, movement, space, and our entire reality.

It turns out that we need to acquire certain strengths, understanding, reason, and experience that we do not yet have. So far I exist like an animal. But there is a “spark from above” in me and I can develop it so that I will suddenly discover all these different properties, reason, and sensations in it, which already belong to the level of the Creator to the level of man (Adam) in me. This spark is developed with the help of the Upper Light.
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From the Daily Kabbalah Lesson, 8-10-10