Kabbalists discovered that our desires for pleasure evolve by 5 stages:

1) The first, and most basic desire, is the desire for food, health, sex, and family. These are necessary desires for our survival.

2) The second stage is the aspiration for wealth. Here we think that money guarantees survival and a good quality of life.

3) The third is the craving for honor and power. Here we enjoy controlling others, as well as ourselves.

4) In the fourth stage appears the desire for knowledge. Here we think that having knowledge will make us happy.

5) But only when the fifth, and last stage of desire appears, we become attracted to an unknown “something” that is beyond us. Here we feel that connecting to this unknown “something” can bring us greater and lasting enjoyment, and we search for ways to make this connection. This desire for something higher is called “the desire for spirituality.” more…

Taken from “Kabbalah in Our Times: Spirituality, Kabbalah and the 21st Century” in the “What Is Kabbalah?” environment of Kabbalah.info

VIDEO: Rav Michael Laitman, PhD explains the process of evolving desires:

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