Do Spiritual People Tend to Be Calmer?

Calmness and harmony, as they are usually understood, are actually not good states for a person advancing spiritually. Although the ultimate purpose of creation leads toward harmony, for a person who is already directed toward the higher goal, a state of calmness can evoke an inner aversion. They cannot tolerate stagnation. Therefore, if we wish to spiritually advance, we should not strive for calmness as a goal in itself.

A person must pass through many different states. But the correct aspiration is not toward rest, not toward inner peace as stillness, but toward proper movement toward the goal of creation, a state of adhesion with the upper force of love, bestowal, and connection that created and sustains all life. Such movement constantly renews itself, gives rise to new sensations, and brings ever-deeper fulfillment. Life, in the spiritual sense, is not calm; it is dynamic.

At the same time, the upper force of nature, a force of absolute love and bestowal, is indeed in a state of complete rest. But this rest has nothing to do with inertia or passivity. The upper force is unchanging. It relates to everyone with constant infinite love. In physics, a body that moves in a uniform, straight line—without acceleration or alteration—is considered to be at rest, because no force acts upon it to change its state. This is what is meant by rest in spirituality.

Kabbalists, however, are in the opposite situation. They must constantly change and advance, become filled, and then increase their inner acceleration. Therefore, they do not need rest. In Kabbalah, movement without acceleration is not considered movement at all. A person can come to Kabbalah lessons every day, perform the same actions year after year, and yet make no spiritual progress.

Progress exists only where there is acceleration, i.e., where we constantly push ourselves to renew intention, deepen connection, and increase the speed of our inner development. That is what we must strive for, not calmness, but continuous, accelerating movement toward the life’s final goal: a state of equivalence of form with the upper force of love and bestowal.

Based on the Virtual Kabbalah Lesson with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman on January 14, 2018. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.

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