Is Man A Spiritual Being Or An Animal?

Question: What is a person? Is it a spiritual being or an animal?

Answer: It depends on the person in question. If we are talking about a person in our world, then, in principle, this is an animal that is triggered by an egoistic instinct. At every instant, he explores what is good for him, and tries to do only this. In this respect, he or she is no different from animals except for increased desire.

Our world is built on the desire to enjoy, and a person has a higher desire than others. Therefore he basically conquered the world. At the same time, this desire belittles him the most because it does not work for his benefit. In general, we do not go beyond the animal world.

There are four levels of nature: inanimate, vegetative, animate, and human. Man is the next level of our development, when we begin to rise above our egoistic desire to the opposite altruistic desire and can see nature, the world, and the forces that rule our world from above.

That is when we are called “Man” from the word “Adam” meaning “like the Creator.” The Creator is the whole universe with all its integral forces.
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From KabTV’s “Fundamentals of Kabbalah” 5/24/20