We should know the final goal that we are destined to reach, and that the ego develops within us in order to reach that goal. However, it develops within us in order for us to make correct use of it, and then we can consciously progress toward the final goal that is in front of us. In other words, we need to understand and inquire about the purpose of creation.
What is the purpose of creation? It is for us to resemble nature on the level in which the ego is in control, because the ego actually brings us out of nature’s still, vegetative and animate levels. It makes something very strange out of us where, on one hand, we control nature, and on the other hand, we depend on nature.
Here we have a problem. What were we given such a big ego for? On one hand, the ego is supposed to elevate us above everyone. On the other hand, we see that the ego’s development leads us to the lowest and most ignoble states.
At such a juncture comes the wisdom of Kabbalah that explains how we should use the will to receive, the ego, in a very special way. On one hand, we feel a desire to suppress and control everyone, but on the other hand, we have to work on it the other way around where we suppress and control ourselves.
We then see this ego as a help toward the higher state to which we aspire. It is as if it wants to put us to death, to push us into struggles and to control everyone. We see that it is bad for us and so we take it and control ourselves. This control over our ego elevates us above our ego and ties us to nature. We then reach a state where we truly become superior masters, like nature itself, by wanting to control the ego. We even become greater than how nature created us, because nature created us in an ego, as it is written, “I have created the evil inclination,” and we rise above the ego to a higher degree, that of nature itself—the force that created the ego.
Here, we are discussing the ego as the force of reception and separation, a force that makes us wish to enjoy ourselves at the expense of others; and we describe nature as the limitless force of love, bestowal and connection. So when we discuss rising above the ego to a higher degree, we are talking about how we become similar to the altruistic force of nature. Doing so leads us to host a combination of these two forces within us, the natural egoistic force and the higher force of nature, which we develop above it. We then reach a vision of the world from one end to the other—seeing and feeling everything, and that we control everything in the direction of benefiting all people and nature.
Based on the video “How to Navigate a Big Ego” with Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman. Written/edited by students of Kabbalist Dr. Michael Laitman.
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