There is nothing good or bad in the quality of reception itself. However, the Creator purposely created the condition that makes us feel shame from reception.

There is no reason for the shame: It is an independent creature. There is the desire to receive pleasure and the desire to bestow; He bestows, I receive, so what is so horrible about this? On the contrary, does a baby feel ashamed that the mother feeds him? He brings her pleasure by eating! And in the same manner, the Creator receives pleasure by giving us pleasure.

Then why can’t I just enjoy from receiving from Him? What else do I need? Let Him just give me more desire and more fulfillment, and I will be an obedient baby that accepts everything that the mother wishes to give it, thereby bringing Him delight!

After all, in order to bring contentment to the Creator, I don’t need to bestow to Him. He created my desire Himself, and He can do anything I desire. And I will desire everything He gives me since this is how I was created. Then let Him fill this nature that He created, my desires, and we will both feel well. We will delight in each other!

Everyone knows how much pleasure a mother experiences when her baby eats well and falls asleep peacefully in her arms. I agree to be this baby! What else does He want from me?!

We don’t want anything else; we wish to remain babies in the arms of Mother Nature. However, the Creator does not agree with this; He wishes to raise us to His level. And, therefore, the “shame” does not come from the fact that I receive from the Creator. The shame is not from receiving; it is from the disparity of our qualities.

It is not shameful to receive from Him since He created me to be a receiver, and this is not what we correct. We correct the separation between us, meaning the opposition of our aspirations, only to become equal.

Therefore, Baal HaSulam writes (TES, Part One, Histaklut Pnimit [Inner Reflection]) that “shame” is meant only for the most elevated souls. When they reveal that the Creator is bestowing and they are receiving, they discover the abyss between them and feel that they need to correct precisely this disparity.

Like in our world, where there are things that some are ashamed to do while others are not, here too, we need to achieve a particular level of spiritual correction in order to begin to feel shame. And it is not felt prior to that.

To the extent that a person ascends higher and begins to experience shame, the Creator treats him differently, in a more demanding manner. Hence, it is written that “the Creator finds fault as thin as a hair in regard to the righteous,” and all calculations are carried only in regard to shame. When we feel an intention to bestow against our desire to receive, this difference, delta, gives birth to a feeling of shame.

Meanwhile, in our world a baby eats and feels no shame, and this doesn’t change as he gets older since this desire is instilled in him by nature. Yet in order to become “adults,” we need to work on ourselves instead of waiting for nature to do it.
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From the 2nd part of the Daily Kabbalah Lesson 11/30/10, The Study of the Ten Sefirot

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