All Who Dismisses, Dismisses His Own Flaw

How does the distribution between what is inside of me and what is outside of me help me with my spiritual development?

It is known that every mother always sees her children as the smartest, most beautiful, and successful kids in the whole world. On the other hand, if we observe her attitude towards the neighbors' kids, we will obviously see a totally different attitude. In fact this phenomenon exists in every one of us-the attributes that belong to us get a different outlook, one much less critical than attributes outside of us are scrutinized with. Even if I hate certain characteristics in me, laziness, flattery, shyness, etc., I try to give them some sort of excuse: "no choice", "it's part of me," or "I will have to put up with it," etc.. However, when I see these characteristics in others, in those that are outside of me, it is met with eruptions of anger and great hatred. These characteristics are magnified when they show up outside of me, to the point that I want to tear them out of their place.

The Wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that all of reality takes place within a person, and that it is divided in to "internal" and "external." What is felt as internal are usually desires, thoughts, tendencies, attributes, and physical and emotional sensations, and what is felt as more external are others.

In that case, why was reality divided into "internal" and "external," "I" and "others;" if everything is really taking place inside of me?

Because in what is "outside of me" and doesn't belong to me, I have a natural tendency to discover negative attributes, and to treat in a more critical matter, a "cleaner" matter. On the other hand, the attributes that belong to me, for the most part I try not to expose in this manner, the interaction with others helps one understand and clarify the negative attributes in him in a sharper and more powerful way. With experience, man reaches the conclusion that, "all who dismisses, dismisses his own flaw"-all the attributes that are despised by him out there, are in fact inside him.

The wisdom of Kabbalah tells us that the division into these two forms, of relation to internal and external, are to allow a person to reveal the true property of the Creator, the property of love and bestowal, through revealing man's opposite properties-the property of reception for oneself. His attitude towards what is "inside him" suits the property of reception in him. On the other hand, his attitude towards what is "outside him" suits his attitude to the property of bestowal.

Man's inability to love what is outside him like himself, reveals to him the gap between him and the Creator who loves and bestows to all without any thought of Himself. This brings him to the request to be released from the shackles of the property of self-reception. In this way he acquires a new property, and discovers with it, a new reality in which all people are connected in one desire and in love for one another.