Three Stages of Enlightenment

There are three ways of life on the ladder of enlightenment:

One is life upon a wild beast. But the inner self is awake, and that innerness is joined by a great light from Above, so that eyes stay on the road, with mind, words and limbs working together to reach their destination. There are many levels to this rung, but all are within the reach of every person.

Then there is a person in whom burns a holy fire of desire for the Oneness of the Infinite Light. With this fire, he overwhelms the fire of earthly passion, until it is diminished to no more than a faint flicker. This again knows many levels, but all within the realm of the tzaddik—something not every person can reach in a single lifetime.

There is also an ultimate point: Where the fire of earthly passion becomes itself a G‑dly force. Then there will not be any more darkness, for we will have revealed how all darkness shines. This is the stage of a time to come, but it will sprout from the seeds of our struggle with darkness in the here and now.