Why do I want something more or different than what everyday life offers? Kabbalah phrases this question like this: How does the desire for the higher force emerge?Humanity has developed over many lifetimes; first resembling beasts, with desires only for food, family, sex and shelter; then developing through stages of wealth, power, honor and knowledge.

At the first stage of development, desires for food, family, sex and shelter are a person’s only desires. Even a totally isolated individual has these desires and tries to fulfill them. Desires conditioned by society’s influence (desires for wealth, power and honor) emerge at the next stage.Afterwards, the desire for knowledge appears. Sciences flourish as we set out to discover where everything comes from, to find our roots. This desire for knowledge, however, still only resides within the framework of our world.

Only at the next stage does a human being desire to know the real source, one’s essence—the meaning of life. “Where do I come from?” “Who am I?” “What am I?” These questions cause discomfort and trouble a person.

Courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Wq917ucGaE