To Enjoy Ourselves Or To Give Joy?

The force of faith comes from a special illumination that opens from above. The light of faith gives a person faith, meaning the force of bestowal. Just as now, naturally, according to the formula implanted in me, without hesitating, I constantly think about myself, so will I begin to think according to the inverted formula, about the benefits of others, that is, ultimately about the benefit of the Creator.

I understand that the Creator depicts all the details of reality that I see in front of me so that through them I could come to true bestowal to the Creator. My friends, allies, and enemies, different characters that poison my life and conversely, support me, all the inanimate nature, plants, animals, and humans, are just actors in the great theater called life. They are all controlled by the upper force of the Creator with the sole purpose that through them I will connect to the upper force.

Faith is the Creator Himself; He is called the “God of faith.” When this light is revealed, then under the influence of its illumination, I begin to act according to the instructions of this force. And when the light is concealed, I act contrary to it, like Pharaoh, the evil inclination. In fact, there are only two forces, both the front and back sides of the Creator, that are playing with me.

The entire world are the details of the Creator’s game with me; as much as I can connect them, I come closer to the Creator. All the calculations are directed only to the Creator, my intention is directed only to Him; all the rest are just the means. However, without these means it is impossible to reach the Creator, so I must treat them exactly the same way as I treat the Creator. Then these means, along with me, will turn into the matter, the desire, by which I adhere to the Creator.

The light of faith is the surrounding light that returns to the source and brings the force of bestowal to the heart of a person. It is the only thing that we need; there is nothing else to wait and hope for. If we attain the light of faith, then with its help we will be able to ascend to the level of bestowal, exit the desire to receive, and start working with it altruistically. The whole Torah is to correct the intention from “in order to receive” to “in order to bestow.”

The desire to enjoy remains as it was created by the Creator. The only question is what gives us pleasure: to enjoy ourselves or to give joy to others. This is the whole difference between the nature of receiving and giving. It is not the desire that changes, not the matter itself, but rather the intention that is inverted by the reforming light.¹

My ability to bestow is determined by the light of faith that I receive. Therefore, the use of my desire expands and I see what can be done with it. If I work with it in order to bestow, the world suddenly becomes transparent to some extent. The more of my desire I use to bestow, the more transparent the world becomes.

After all, I see the world through the desire to receive. If the desire is egoistic, the world is very limited, closed. The intention in order to bestow opens an opportunity for me to see what is beyond my narrow animalistic interests. Now I think only about things that are good for my animal. The reality I feel in this perspective is called this world: food, sex, family, money, honor, and knowledge. However, if I expand my perception, I see a different life.²
From the 1^st part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 4/20/19, Shamati “What Is Greatness and Smallness in Faith?”