How Do We Come Into the World

The Creator removes from Himself a tiny part (so to speak) and implants in it selfishness. This « universal » selfishness then breaks smaller selfish parts. Thereafter, a progressive reintegration of those parts causes the creation of the Upper Worlds, Atzilut, Briah, Yetsira, Assiah. The purest "fragments" are used for the creation of the highest spiritual worlds. Later, the most selfish desires, the very heart of creation, the Malchut of the Endless World brings about the creation of the soul of Adam, the first man. Then, after the sin of Adam, again the spark of Godliness, trapped in selfishness subdivides itself again into smaller and smaller fragments, that form our souls.

Beginners who study Kabbalah often do not perceive how the world is ruled. They ask whether actions depend on our choice or on the Creator? Before a man can launch a project he must be convinced that his actions have consequences. Yet after succeeding, « paradoxically », he must understand that all depends solely on the Creator. If we think this way, we will progress correctly.
There are things, which can only be felt, not explained. The incarnation of the spiritual in the material is difficult to describe in words. Modern science may justify itself, but how can the process by which one world takes the shape of another be explained? Kabbalistic explanations are only possible up to the point when Adam's soul is fragmented. This is not because Kabbalists do not wish to provide more explanations, but because the explanation pertains to what a man feels and cannot explain.
Selfishness is such a powerful spiritual force that the thought of getting rid of it hardly ever crosses our mind. In order to know ourselves we need to look at ourselves from outside, to feel something different other than ourselves, to compare ourselves to something outside of us.
Surrounding objects are perceived because they are made up of the same selfishness. Otherwise they would remain invisible. Selfishness takes many forms. Its most restricted form is the one that can only perceive itself. This is the perception that man has in our world. We are so selfish that we can only perceive ourselves.
When we "grow" a little bit, our selfishness reaches beyond the limits of our world and we begin to perceive the Creator. Our selfishness becomes spiritual. Our desire is no longer based on physical or worldly pleasure but on spiritual enjoyment brought by the light of the Creator.
Man is only animated by conscious or unconscious desires. Our reason is given to us in order to help us make sense of and achieve all our desires. Hence man cannot rise above his desires. Motivated by his desires and emotions, man first directs the course of his actions and becomes conscious of them teleological only afterwards after the choice.
How does he indeed become conscious of an event, which takes place? In reaction to man's actions the Creator manifests by degrees, His almightiness in order to give man a more aware retrospective awareness of the consequences of his actions. Even remembering our way of acting depends on the Creator. He will teach us the meaning of our actions by responding to us, giving us pleasure or suffering according to our merit or guilt.
Our education is therefore a process, which unfolds every second, but it cannot make us correct ourselves in any way. We only need to become aware of our selfishness and how helpless we are when we confront it. The Creator looks after everything which is not part of this awareness. The more man advances on a spiritual path, the more he moderates his self-esteem and the more he understands his true nature. As the Creator unveils himself, man gradually realizes what he actually is with respect to the Creator.
When we realize this, we progress along the spiritual path. Imagine a person who has achieved 99% of his correction. The remaining 1% that is not corrected appears much bigger than the previous 99%. The "small chaff in the eye" seems enormous.
Our actions and our study enable us to become aware of the Creator and of ourselves. When man realizes his absolute insignificance he despairs. He does not see the Creator and the whole world seems dark to him. If while in this dark state, a man bears in mind that the spiritual source of all this is nothing but the Creator of whom he can ask things and upon whom all matters depends, he will become aware of his spiritual link with the Creator. He will then cease to despair. He will understand that these seemingly negative conditions are sent temporarily from above and that they are unavoidable.
The way we connect ourselves to the Creator does not matter to him. The most important is for man to understand that He exists. The Creator sends desires so that we can react to Him and grow spiritually.

Kabbalah Course - Perception of Reality - Lesson 3 - Imbalance

By Michael Laitman, Ph.D

There is no matter in the upper worlds. There are only desires, forces and thoughts. Despite advancing technology we are in a terrible imbalance. We have learned how to replace body parts, but we have neglected the forces inside of man. Reality is a single thought which never changes. The similarity between two opposite points is the beginning of the path. Question: How does a person balance himself between matter and spirit? He does not know. He learns out of investigating reality that there are five worlds. The lowest one is ours, the material world, and all the other worlds are spiritual, where there is no matter like here; only desires, forces and thoughts. If in our world it seems to us that we can control substance, whoever elevates even one level above our world already understands that substance is a result, or an effect that we cannot control. The example is that all is inside the person; how to get married, where to work, what one's profession will be; all is sealed inside, and already present. If you want to change anything, you have to elevate to a level which is above you, where all of these codes have been prepared for you and installed in you from above, the same way in which they descended into your body. Then, when you get to the root, from there you can change things. But in our state, in our life, you will never be able to change anything. Look at everyone. One may be poor, rich, strong, healthy, wise, and still unable to do anything with his life. Talk to the old people, ask them. See what they say - life has gone by, and no one can control matter. We are now in a completely opposite situation, in which the entire world, with all of its technology and economies and everything else is in a complete misunderstanding of how to develop further, and what to do, how to manage, and how to be saved. It is a terrible situation, the furthest possible from balance. So how does controlling substance help us? It does not, because matter is only an effect. This means that as long as we do not acquire the knowledge and the power to be and to change something at a level which is a bit higher than matter, we will not have a moment of peace; and the world will seem worse and worse in every generation. If we elevate onto the level of the forces activating the world, then from there we will be able to balance and change the world. You can call it spirit, and since when we do not see our clothing, it is called Ruach. Take a person; peel off his flesh and bones, and what would be left? That which you cannot see with your eyes, smell with your nose, you cannot taste it, but that is actually the person. Flesh we already know how to replace, implant and manufacture. We can replace everything in a person and the person will still remain. Our problem is that we do not know that power which is inside of the person. Also we do not know the forces that act on this inner person from the inside. We are not familiar with them. In the world of the surrounding reality we relate to substances that are still, vegetative and living. We do not relate to the acting powers. Whoever rises to the level where he sees the forces in reality and in human beings is in control. This is what has to be achieved. Every disaster and dreadful occurrence, everything that is with us in some way or another, and the lack of satisfaction with life is all in order to push us to elevate a little and control reality. Humankind must attain it. The Kabbalah says that eventually everyone will attain it. Question: If all is predetermined by the thought of creation, what is the point of even trying to change anything? The thought of creation is to bestow upon its creatures. Reality is a single thought which does not change. It is a thought of bestowing, giving, and goodness. If we do not relate to it in this same way, which includes all of reality, we enter a state of imbalance. We suffer according to the extent of this imbalance. We do not realize it, we do not feel it, and even when we hear it we ignore it. If we could feel that this is so, we would change. Our problem lies in opening our eyes so that we can see that this is so. The wisdom of Kabbalah helps the person to see. When you see, would you place your hand in a fire? Would you jump off the tenth floor? You would not do it if, by avoiding it, you would benefit yourself. So our problem lies in seeing what is now concealed. The difficulty is in opening the eyes. The way in which you will go through all of the stages and when you will surpass them is not written. You can attain balance with the benevolent thought of creation and enter this spiritual Nirvana, true benevolence, perfection and eternity simply by being constantly in a non-stop adventure. I can do it now or I can suffer ten more incarnations. That is the difference. Once the point in the heart opens up in a person, then an account opens up as well; the person's account with the point in the heart. Anyone whose point in the heart still has not opened is living as a beast in the meantime. He truly has no free choice; he lives the way he lives, the way he was born, according to his hormones and genes, advancing and eventually ending his life. This is the same way we were in the previous incarnations. The moment you are given a point in the heart, meaning a divine part from above, you are given a point of reference from a state opposite to yours. At this point you can compare it with your heart, that is, all of your attributes, and compare them with this point which comes from a state which is completely opposite to you, from the external reality - that thought of giving. Then you can already make the comparison and learn what you need to equate yourself with, or what you are attracted to. Before the person receives the possibility of doing this he simply lives in one nature, his own nature, as a beast. Only when people can discern between these two states do they sense something wrong, something uncomfortable. The person does not know what it is and cannot find an answer in this world, because this point is located in the external reality, which is at a higher level. So from the moment people are given these two points that are already inside of them, accordingly they begin to ask, and to demand, and from that moment, they are considered to have a choice. The moment you receive another point, an external point from the spiritual world, the upper world, you are attracted to a certain direction and you must investigate it and move forward. You become one of the few people that can change their destiny. Those who have not received this point cannot change their destiny. Is it possible to awaken the point in the heart? The point in the heart exists in everyone and if it does not come out in this incarnation, it will be awakened in a subsequent incarnation. Like with us, five or ten incarnations ago I did not aspire to change reality and to become in balance with it, and to advance to something unknown, spirituality. But from the moment the point emerged, I desired it. Is it possible to take children and young people and awaken this point in them before it emerges? It is almost impossible. It means that people must reincarnate until this point awakens in them.