The Crucial Point of the Inner Quest

by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook

Is it possible that I will not find what I seek, at the time that my search wells from the depths of truth?

And what do I seek if not myself, my true essence—not my physical or spiritual garments, all of which are acquisitions, which come and serve the essence? If my essence, my essential being, is beyond me, how will any of these devices help?

That is the crucial point of the inner quest, which requires true might so that a person may be strong as he engages in it.

And that constant endeavor to find my essence is also at the root of finding the existence of the entire Jewish people and of humanity in its broad sense, and of finding all existence in its inner sense and in its breadth.

And that is the gate of Hashem to finding the eternally sought: the God of the universe, the Source of all quests, for Whom every spirit yearns, and without Whom there is nothing to seek.

Behold, that search is the purest and most wholehearted quality. It harasses the spirit and seizes all inner spiritual proclivities, making them unable to find their path as long as the fundamental position of what one is essentially seeking is not based upon the spiritual foundation that incorporates all the movements of life.

To this end comes the entire wealth of Torah learning, all intelligent activity, and all spiritual awakening in its multitudinous movements in life—in a human being and in the world.

“Fortunate are all those who wait for Him.”
Chadarav