Why it Is Necessary to Experience the Evil of Our Egotism

“Better is he that is ignoble and has a servant, than he that plays the man of rank and lacks bread.” This verse the evil inclination because it always complains against people. And the evil inclination raises man’s heart and desire with pride, and man follows it, curling his hair and his head, until the evil inclination takes pride over him and pulls him to Hell.

Zohar for All, VaYishlach [Jacob Sent], Item 16

Should we also feel that state of Hell? And how do Kabbalists know about it? They experienced it themselves. After all, it is impossible for one to discover anything if not through experience. So do we all have to be in Hell? Apparently, we do.

We always sink into the evil inclination first, and only then discover what it truly is. At first, we do not see that it is evil. If we did, we would not get into it. At first, it is appealing, shining, glittering, and wonderful. Thus, our egoism deceives us.

Reaching States of Being Able to Scrutinize Our Egotism

Here The Zohar speaks of a person who scrutinizes the various parts in one’s soul. He must be entangled, and out of that entanglement he must come down to a state of Hell. That state exists in every degree, and it is said about it, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Ecclesiastes, 7:20). only when one is in that state can one scrutinize the evil that lies within, and discover how much one is losing because of one’s evil, how impotent one is, when it comes to doing something with oneself without the help of the Creator.

We should remember that each word that was written by Kabbalists is based on their own personal attainment, for “What we do not know, we do not define by a name or a word.” The authors of The Zohar experienced all those states in themselves. Let us hope that we, too, will obtain these states. After all, they are part of the road to discovering the truth.

From Concealment to Spiritual Revelation

These three sons of Noah are the persistence of the entire world … and from these the whole earth dispersed, for all the souls of people come from them because they are the meaning of the three upper colors in Bina, the three lines…

When the river that stretches out of Eden, Zeir Anpin, watered the garden, the Nukva [female], it watered her by the power of these three upper lines from the upper Bina, and from there the colors spread—white, red, and black…

And when you look in the degrees, you will find how the colors spread to all those sides, right, left, and middle, until they enter below, in Malchut, as twenty-seven channels of doors that cover the deep.

Zohar for All, Noah, Items 302-303

The more we can resemble the light, meaning its quality of giving and love, the more we will connect to it and discover its channels of bounty. In fact, even now we are in the world of Ein Sof, but it is hidden from us by all the worlds—Haalamot [concealments]—that exist within us, in our desire, because it is in contrast to the quality of the world of Ein Sof.

Making Our Egotism Similar to the Properties of Spirituality

The twenty-seven letters, with the five final letters of Malchut, are twenty-seven channels that bring the abundance to it. They have been made into doors to cover the Dinim in Malchut, which are called “deeps.”

Zohar for All, Noah, Item 303

We ourselves are the ones who are building these channels and the doors above them. Once, these doors open a way for the light, and once they close it, like valves that open and close to the extent of our similarity with the light. our efforts should be aimed at only one purpose—to make all our qualities resemble the spiritual qualities and receive light in them.

To the extent that we make the egoism in us similar to the light, we will discover within us the qualities of the Creator and the thought of creation. There is a special part in The Book of Zohar, called Safra de Tzniuta [Book of Humbleness], which talks about it. This is also why it was said, “Wisdom is with the humble” (Proverbs, 11:2).

“Why You Need to Discover Evil Within Yourself to Advance Spiritually” is based on the book, Unlocking the Zohar by Dr. Michael Laitman.