Take a look at the world around you. The buildings, the cars, even the chair you’re sitting on. It’s as fully physically expressed as you are and it all exists because someone desired it. This applies to you too. Everything we see exists as the product of desire. It is a powerful creative force, and nothing can be created or received in our reality without it. However, for all the ways desire brings fulfillment to our lives, it can also bring despair, especially when our strongest desires are not arriving. Either way, examining our desires can lead to a deeper sense and understanding of ourselves.
Everything we see exists as the product of desire.
The kabbalists teach that our capacity for desire is our vessel. The bigger the vessel, the greater the blessings we can draw into our lives. If we want more blessings, we need a bigger vessel and to build a bigger vessel we have to increase our desire. What I mean by desire has nothing to do with physical cravings or passions, but a desire for a true connection to the Creator. Kabbalah is a verb, it literally means to receive, and if we are not constantly growing our desire to connect to the Creator, and thereby growing our capacity to receive blessings, then we are not accomplishing our purpose in this world.
Kabbalah is a verb, it literally means to receive, and if we are not constantly growing our desire to connect to the Creator, and thereby growing our capacity to receive blessings, then we are not accomplishing our purpose in this world.
At the core of every desire is the craving for this connection. But, when our ego is involved, as it often is, our intentions can become muddied. There are always two forces at work in the world at all times. The first is the positive force, the Light of the Creator, which is a feeling tone of sharing and of giving. The second is the negative force, our ego, which is a feeling tone of lack and selfishness. This is a duality that is a natural and necessary part of life and we are, at every minute, operating from one or the other. This also applies to desire. The desires we have are born of either wanting to connect to the Light within us, or from wanting to fulfill egoic wants and needs outside of us.
Let’s say someone dislikes their current job and desires a new opportunity. Does this desire come from wanting new challenges and a way to expand themselves and reveal their greatest potential? Or is it coming from not feeling valued or appreciated, or wanting more notoriety and higher status? One of these desires is positive and expansive, the other is negative and limiting. However, both offer the same amount of possibility. Upon further examination of this desire, the person wanting to expand has an opportunity to further experience their capabilities. The person wanting to feeling valued and appreciated now has the opportunity to learn how to value and appreciate themselves first. Either way, the desire for a new job brings about a chance to know ourselves more fully and a chance to love ourselves even more, if we seek it.
Rav Ashlag, the founder of The Kabbalah Centre, posed the question, “What is the greatest gift we have in our lives?” The answer, in a word, is desire. The essence of our very souls is desire. If we wanted for nothing, we would never fulfill our purpose. This is what is meant by having a desire being a vessel. It literally carries you through your life. Beginning to see each desire as a gift and a chance to connect to that powerful source within you can change your entire life and the way you live it.
The essence of our very souls is desire. If we wanted for nothing, we would never fulfill our purpose.
If there is a desire in your life currently that seems elusive, ask yourself why you desire it. Is it a new relationship? A new opportunity? A vacation? Examine the desire and find what is driving the vessel. Is it an inner, intuitive guidance? Or is it a fear or limiting belief about yourself that you are hoping to heal through an outside circumstance? Whatever the desire and whatever the answer, the potential for healing and receiving is the same. Our desires are gifts that are here to help us grow and to realize our specific purpose. Whether it is a desire that quickly manifests or one that eludes us, each one arrives only to help us.
Examine a current desire that you have. Where does it come from? What would it mean to you to have this desire manifest?
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