“A Path Of Torah And A Path Of Suffering”

Whether we like it or not, we are obligated to go through all stages of development. It is impossible to skip something, but it all depends on the approach with which we come to each subsequent stage. However, each stage is necessary because it develops our feelings, mind, recognition, awareness, and freedom of choicethat lets us reach our goal in a mature way.

There are two ways: the path of light and the path of suffering, two forces that operate upon us and develop the recognition of evil in us. Recognizing evil means not blindly following one’s animal, primordial nature, but each time choosing an increasingly higher definition, higher law, higher principle, and passing it to the next degree, that is, deciding what is closer to the Creator, to expansion, understanding, recognition, and adhesion with the upper force.

A person constantly struggles between his animalistic, corporeal nature, which wants to fully define his egoistic behavior, and the spiritual principle according to which adhesion with the Creator, connection, unification, attainment of the integral nature and love one’s neighbor as oneself are the higher values.

We were given the freedom of choice in order to choose this good idea instead of corporeal egoistic pragmatism, but egoism is very close to us and it controls us. That is why it is so difficult to see and understand the need for spiritual development every time. Corporeal egoism clouds our eyes and does not allow us to see any benefit in what is beyond the scope of the animalistic body.

That is why it is so important to organize the right environment for yourself. Only it can help us exit ourselves a little and look at ourselves from the side in order to attract the returning light, that is, to make ourselves take the medicine that will change us. Of course, it is impossible to do it yourself. Only the environment convinces us to take the medicine from the outside, in contradiction with our nature, in the struggle against it by faith above reason, moving forward drop by drop and manifesting freewill.¹

Darkness always is revealed before the light. It is still so dark in the world that it does not even understand that it is darkness, but thinks that it is supposed to be this way. No one wants to agree that we are in the darkness in all areas of our life. How many people are mistaken in believing that today’s democracy and liberalism are an advanced form of existence? Liberalism itself is not at all bad, but the problem is that it cannot be implemented under these conditions.

That is this way in everything, “the advantage of the Light is revealed from within darkness.” The more we feel the darkness, the more we will reveal the light. Therefore, each stage consists of descents and ascents, days and nights. The world is already awakening, but it is still in darkness.

The coming year will be very dark. But this is a good development because we realize that the end of our corporeal development has come and we will stop chasing after the values ​​that ruled the world for thousands of years. Humanity tried everything: communism, fascism, socialism, liberalism, democracy, and so on and gained experience in everything.

Now the world is facing a completely new development. The main thing is to understand that our only enemy is egoism. If we change our egoistic nature, we will correct our entire life. As if we have a computer with billions of various details that are all correct, but are processed by the wrong, corrupted program. It is necessary to change the program in order to connect all these details, draw conclusions, and correctly implement it.

It all starts with a recognition of evil. Until we correct the nature of a person, all the wisdom and knowledge accumulated by us will remain useless and will even harm us. In this case, it is better to sit and do nothing.

Any egoistic undertaking ends in failure. Each revolution started with enthusiasm, with hope for improvement at least for some at the expense of others: either yellow, like in France, or red, like in Russia, or black, like in Germany. However in time it becomes clear that all these movements are egoistic and usually based on the hatred of one group of people toward another.

The problem is always in the ego of man, which exists in his foundation. The more developed is the country, the more egoism rules in it. Until we correct egoism, it is better to do nothing, because everything will turn out to be detrimental to us.²From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 12/31/18, Writings of Baal HaSulam, “The Freedom,” Title “A Path of Torah and a Path of Suffering”