The Mountain of Gold
The mind of a person that craves money is locked on money 24 hours a day - making more and accumulating more. As such, the lust for money is a stronger lust than eating and sex…
Translated by Rabbi Lazer Brody
The Tale of the Lost Princess Part 33 from The Garden of Yearning
Afterwards, he awoke, and asked the servant, “Where am I in the world?” So he told him the whole story – that many soldiers had passed there, and that there had been a carriage, and a woman who wept over him and cried out that there is great pity on him and on her. In the midst of this, he looked around and saw that there was a scarf lying next to him. So he asked, “Where did this come from?” The servant explained that she had written upon it with her tears. So he took it and held it up against the sun, and began to see the letters, and he read all that was written there – all her mourning and crying as previously mentioned, and that she is no longer in the said castle, and that he should look for a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls, “There you shall find me…”
The princess informs the viceroy that she’s no longer in the first castle and that he must now search for a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls – there he’ll find her. The mountain of gold and castle of pearls metaphorically indicate our current exile – the exile of lust for money. Today, the Shechinah and emuna have fallen to an abyss in the lowest depths of the kelipot, the darkness of evil and impurity. This is what’s known as the fiftieth gate, or lowest level of spiritual impurity, since the lust for money includes and encompasses every form of idolatry. Indeed, there is no idol worship more spiritually devastating than the lust for money. Rebbe Nachman’s imagery of the mountain of gold and the castle of pearls represents “Idolatry” – the worst form of idolatry.No generation in history has been so driven by the demon of money chasing as this generation. Few are those who don’t suffer from the lust for money. In Rebbe Nachman’s “Tale of the Master of Prayer”, the master of prayer says that the lust for money is the worst of all, for it’s almost impossible to uproot, as explained there.
Why is the lust for money so severe? All other lusts and bodily appetites such as the craze for eating or the preoccupation with sex are also damaging, and require massive effort to break free from them. But, there are times when a person doesn’t think about them. For example, one who lusts for food doesn’t think about food after a heavy meal. At that time, it’s possible to discuss other things with him, such as faith and teshuva. Even those that succumb to a lust for sex don’t think about their carnal drives 100% of the time.
But, when a person suffers from a lust for money, his mind is locked on money 24 hours a day. The moment he opens his eyes, he thinks about money, how to make money, how to accumulate more money, and so forth. All day long, he focuses on money. At night, he twists from side to side in bed thinking about money, dreaming new schemes of obtaining more money the next day. Such a person doesn’t have a free moment to listen to anything about Hashem, the soul’s needs, or spirituality.
When someone tries to speak to the money chaser about the ultimate purpose of life, the words fall on deaf ears and a hermetically-sealed heart. At best, the money chaser will listen politely for a few moments and nod his head. But, nothing will penetrate; the money chaser will think, “Hey, time is money? Why waste time on silly philosophical discussions when I can be making more money?!”
The Truly Rich Man
We therefore see that the mountain of gold and castle of pearls is the tikkun of this generation. In other words, our task is to break free from the chains of monetary lust. We do this by developing our trust in Hashem, by minimizing our material needs, and by being satisfied with what we have to the point that we feel like we live on a mountain of gold and in a castle of pearls that lack nothing, and contain all the riches in the world.
As long as we lack the emuna, trust, and happiness that impart the feeling that we live on a mountain of gold and in a castle of pearls that lack nothing, we won’t be able to rescue the princess. Rebbe Nachman teaches that obtaining genuine emuna is impossible without shattering one’s lust for money (see Likutei Moharan I:13).
So he left the servant behind, and went to look for her alone…
Here, the viceroy climbs another rung up the spiritual ladder. He leaves his servant behind – in other words, his basic animal soul – and proceeds to search for the princess. Here, we learn that the viceroy has cleansed himself of all animal drives and bodily appetites to the point where he is no longer concerned with his basic animal soul. The viceroy has uplifted his material aspirations to the loftier level of spiritual aspirations, yearning for emuna and the redemption from spiritual exile.
From this point on, the viceroy’s search takes on a new dimension. As soon he turns his back on the mundane and material, shedding the drives of the flesh, his search becomes steadfast, perseverant, dedicated, and focused. Nothing stands in his way as he courageously overcomes all obstacles. Even obstacles that come from formidable individuals fail to confuse or disorient him. He continues on his way until he finds the princess.
And he went for several years searching, and he composed himself, thinking that certainly a mountain of gold and a castle of pearls would not be found in a settled area, for he was an expert in the map of the world. So he went to the deserts. And he searched for her there many years…
Time and again we see how the different stages in the search for the princess require years of hard work. From here we learn that the search for emuna is a step-by-step process that requires patience, commitment, and perseverance. In spirituality, there are no instant results. Moving up the ladder of Divine service is a slow and lengthy process. We also see how in each new stage, the viceroy “composes himself” in personal prayer…
To be continued.
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