As we advance through life, it often seems that we move from one dead end to another. Yet these apparent dead ends are not obstacles meant to stop us. They are stages of development. Each step creates within us new desires, qualities, and inner properties that prepare us to discover the meaning of life.
The meaning of life exists. It is not hidden because it does not exist, but because we have not yet developed the senses necessary to perceive it. At first, we do not see, feel, or even know how to formulate the question correctly. However, as we continue our ascent, struggling and advancing much like a small child learning to climb step by step, we gradually develop both our intellect and our feelings. Through this process, we become capable of understanding what life is truly leading us toward.
Then something remarkable happens. We begin to sense that the meaning is not waiting for us at the end of the journey. It is revealed between the rungs themselves. It emerges within the process of growth, in the effort, discoveries, disappointments, and renewed aspirations.
People often ask whether there is a final rung, an ultimate endpoint. It exists somewhere far beyond our current perception, but practically speaking, it loses its importance. Why should it matter when we begin to feel that the ascent itself is life? The process becomes the fulfillment.
Life is found in overcoming disappointment, in finding strength after every setback, and in continually refining our understanding of the goal. Without these challenges, we would have no direction, purpose, and no way to distinguish a true goal from a false one. Through each step, we grow, develop, and create ourselves.
At a certain stage, we are no longer driven merely by the desire to escape difficulties or reach some final destination. Instead, we begin to derive pleasure from the journey itself. Between the rungs we discover wisdom, harmony, and clarity. We start to perceive the intelligence and purpose embedded in the entire process.
This is where a deeper attainment begins. Through the very structure of the ascent, through the way each stage is arranged, we gradually come to recognize the One who designed it all. As it is written, “From Your actions I will know You.” By observing how these rungs were created, how they correspond to our development, and how we were created specifically to rise above them, we begin to attain the very upper force that created and sustains us, the force of love and bestowal, the Creator.
Based on KabTV’s “News with Dr. Michael Laitman” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on April 27, 2026. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.