Our world presents things to us in a manner that is often illusory. Take money, for example. It is one of the most desired objects in the world.
Why is there such a lust for money? It would seem that people are driven to acquire money because having money offers a person opportunities that he or she might not have otherwise. Money enables a person to purchase what he wants. Money is the face of opportunity.
But opportunity itself is a cover for something deeper - freedom. A person who has no opportunities is severely limited. Opportunity brings freedom, the absence of boundaries. The essential truth behind the lust for money, is the desire for freedom.
Kabbalistic thought teaches us that a desire for freedom is inherently a desire to connect to God in His infinite state. All of Creation is formed in a bounded, narrow world. The soul desires to return to its source in the broad swaths of infinity. The pining for infinity is the essential truth of all of Creation. As this truth makes its way down through physical manifestations it transitions from infinity to freedom, from freedom to opportunity, and from opportunity to money. Money, while really the face of all these lofty ambitions, is then presented as an end to itself, as if the money has intrinsic value and is not merely a means to an end.
The result ends up turning the entire paradigm upside down. Instead of money being the face of freedom, it becomes the face of servitude. Rather than achieving their desired freedom, people become enslaved to their belongings, and the more one owns, the more he has to be concerned with lest he lose what he has. This leads to a lack of joy and relaxation, and to a loss of a true feeling of being alive. Not only has the external face lost its inner meaning and become an end in its own right, but it has achieved the opposite of the intended result. Instead of inner freedom, there is tiresomeslavery. The person has now lost both worlds, the inner as well as the external. Money that does not lead to a happy state of relaxation is worthless. It is a like a person sitting along in a golden palace. Not only does the gold surrounding him offer no comfort, but it emphasizes the absurdity of his situation.
Why is there such a lust for money? It would seem that people are driven to acquire money because having money offers a person opportunities that he or she might not have otherwise. Money enables a person to purchase what he wants. Money is the face of opportunity.
But opportunity itself is a cover for something deeper - freedom. A person who has no opportunities is severely limited. Opportunity brings freedom, the absence of boundaries. The essential truth behind the lust for money, is the desire for freedom.
Kabbalistic thought teaches us that a desire for freedom is inherently a desire to connect to God in His infinite state. All of Creation is formed in a bounded, narrow world. The soul desires to return to its source in the broad swaths of infinity. The pining for infinity is the essential truth of all of Creation. As this truth makes its way down through physical manifestations it transitions from infinity to freedom, from freedom to opportunity, and from opportunity to money. Money, while really the face of all these lofty ambitions, is then presented as an end to itself, as if the money has intrinsic value and is not merely a means to an end.
The result ends up turning the entire paradigm upside down. Instead of money being the face of freedom, it becomes the face of servitude. Rather than achieving their desired freedom, people become enslaved to their belongings, and the more one owns, the more he has to be concerned with lest he lose what he has. This leads to a lack of joy and relaxation, and to a loss of a true feeling of being alive. Not only has the external face lost its inner meaning and become an end in its own right, but it has achieved the opposite of the intended result. Instead of inner freedom, there is tiresomeslavery. The person has now lost both worlds, the inner as well as the external. Money that does not lead to a happy state of relaxation is worthless. It is a like a person sitting along in a golden palace. Not only does the gold surrounding him offer no comfort, but it emphasizes the absurdity of his situation.
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