76. Rabbi Aba opened the discussion with the text, "Who shall ascend into the mountain of Hashem? Or who shall stand in His holy place?" (Tehilim 24:3). Come and behold, no man is aware of the reason for his existence in the world. MEN DO NOT SEEK TO KNOW THE PURPOSE OF THEIR LIVES ON EARTH. As the days pass by WITH NO RETURN, they rise up and stand before the Holy One, blessed be He, as they were all created AND HAVE ACTUAL EXISTENCE OF THEIR OWN. How do we know that they were created? Because it is written, "The days were created" (Tehilim 139:16).

77. And when the days depart from this world, they all approach the Supernal King, as it is written, "And the days drew close for David to die" (I Melachim 2:1), "...and the days drew close for Jacob to die" (Beresheet 47:29).

78. When a person is in this world, he is not aware of nor does he look for the reason he was created. For him, every day is considered as if it passes by in emptiness. And when the soul leaves this world, it does not recognize the path through which it is elevated, because the path that leads up to the place where the luminous sublime souls shine, WHICH IS THE GARDEN OF EDEN, is not shown to all souls. After it departs from him, THE SOUL follows the same way that person followed while in this world.

79. Come and behold, if a person is drawn after the Holy One, blessed be He, and longs for Him while in this world, then later, when he departs from this world, he also follows THE HOLY ONE, BLESSED BE HE. And he is shown a path to climb that rises upward TO THE PLACE WHERE SOULS SHINE. IN OTHER WORDS, it follows and continues the same path that his desire followed and longed for each day while in this world.

80. Rabbi Aba said, One day, I came upon a town that belonged to the children of the East. They shared with me a part of the wisdom that they knew from antiquity. Then they searched for books of their own wisdom and gave me one.

81. Inside this book, it was written that according to the intention of a person's desire in this world, he draws a spirit from above upon himself similar to the desire that he clung to. If his desire is to achieve something holy and divine, then he draws the same from above and brings it down upon himself.

82. If he wishes to cleave to the Other Side, and is intent upon it, he draws the same from above down and brings it upon himself. They used to say THAT TO DRAW SOMETHING DOWN FROM ABOVE depends mainly on speech, deed, and the wish to cleave to it. This is how that certain side that he cleaves to is drawn down from above.

83. And I have found IN THAT BOOK all the rites and ceremonies for worshipping the stars and constellations, as well as what is required to worship them and how to direct one's will toward them in order to draw them closer.

84. In the same manner, for whoever desires to cling to the Holy Spirit above, success depends on the act, words, and the intent of the heart, so that he may succeed in drawing it down upon himself so that he may cling to it.

85. And they were saying, Whatever path a person follows in this world is the path along which he is drawn when he leaves this world. And whatever he clung to and pursued while in this world, he clings to in the World of Truth - if to holiness then to holiness; if to impurity then to impurity.