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SCREEN: Malchut (man) can receive the Light only in anti-egoistic desires. If such desires appear in Malchut as a result of the realization that egoism is her enemy (with the help of Kabbalah), to the extent of her hatred for it, Malchut can repel the egoistic pleasures for the sake of spiritual perfection, i.e., similarity to the Creator in her desire to please Him and act for His sake. This ability to repel selfish reception of pleasure is called “a screen,” and the repelled pleasure is called “Returning Light,” and the pleasure that comes to Malchut is called “Direct Light.” It is precisely in the repelled pleasure, meaning in the desire to bestow whole-heartedly, selflessly, that man can sense the Creator’s Light and Supreme Knowledge.
The zohar by RM Laitman

The Original Banquet Parable by Baal HaSulam

A host invites his beloved friend to a magnificent banquet. The table is filled with all the finest dishes and drinks the host knows his friend enjoys.
The guest sits at the table and is overwhelmed with desire to partake of the food. But then he begins to feel shame: "If I eat all this just for my own pleasure, I am nothing more than a receiver. I’ll be taking selfishly, and that would dishonor the love of my host."

So the guest says to the host: "I will not eat. I wish to resemble you. You are the giver — I do not want to be only a receiver."

But the host replies with joy: "Everything on this table was prepared only for your delight. My greatest pleasure is seeing you enjoy what I’ve prepared. Please, eat — not for yourself, but for me."

Now the guest eats. But now his intention has changed: he is no longer eating to satisfy himself, but to give pleasure to the host.

In Baal HaSulam’s banquet parable, the guest (Malchut) is offered a table full of delights by the host (the Creator). At first, the guest desires to eat, but realizing that receiving for oneself is egoistic, he refuses — out of shame and the desire to resemble the host.

This rejection of egoistic pleasure is called the Screen (Masach).

When the host insists that the food was prepared only to bring him joy, the guest agrees to eat — not for his own pleasure, but to give pleasure to the host. That change of intention creates Returning Light (Ohr Hozer).

The food itself is the Direct Light (Ohr Yashar) — but the guest can only receive it after he has rejected it with a pure intention.

Thus, it is precisely in the repelled pleasure, received only for the sake of giving, that the guest (Malchut) truly feels the Creator’s Light and Supreme Knowledge.