Evolution Of Desires, Part 2

Historical Periods and the Development of Desires.

Question: From a historical point of view, we can break down the evolution of human desires according to historical periods. Supposedly from 35,000 BC to 4,000 BC, the inanimate level of human desires developed. These are basic desires like food, sex, family.

Then, 4,000 years ago, starting with the growing egoism in Babylon and approximately until the 5th century, the development of the vegetative level of desires, mainly desires for wealth took place.

From the 5th to the 15th century, merely a thousand years, the desire of the animate level developed—for power, and from the 15th to the 20th century, there was a development of the human level of desires—for knowledge.

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by the development of both individualism in people and of spiritual desires. That is, people already want to attain their root.

How are all these desires divided into inanimate, vegetative, and animate within one person?

Answer: It depends on the nature of a person, on what level of egoism prevails in him or her. After all, all these desires are of various egoistic levels: inanimate, vegetative, animate, human. Depending on the power of egoism in each of these components, a person is more inclined to either animate satiation or vegetative, inanimate, or human fillings.

Question: We see throughout history how our desires are constantly growing. They grow both in a person and in all of humanity. What is the reason?

Answer: This is due to the fact that we must achieve the maximum quantity and quality of desires in their widest variety. We must evaluate, weigh, find out their purposefulness in us, how it works, why, what for.

In order to be not just executors of these desires but to be able to control them, to take possession of these desires, to rule over ourselves, to reach a level higher than ourselves, so that by controlling our desires we would achieve maximum freedom from them and the ability to control them according to some kind of higher, reasonable decision.
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From KabTV’s “Basics of Kabbalah” 12/3/18