Q: Can other people see that I’ve become more egoistic, even though the changes are within me?
A: Everyone is born perfect, meaning we all initially have everything we need for correction and development. We are like a seed of wheat, containing all the information that is destined to develop. All that is left is to nourish the seed so that it reaches its potential.
That principle also drives man’s character, his worldly traits, and his spiritual traits. Man’s soul first appears as a tiny spot, a “point in the heart.” After the study of the Kabbalah, it swells to the proportions that have been set for it in advance, and becomes a whole Partzuf.
All the evil that is now apparent in man was there before, only concealed, because he didn’t have the necessary readiness, the strength and the need for correction. Because of that, the evil begins to show during the study of the Kabbalah.
Within everyone around us is also that evil, but we are so blind to it that not only can we not feel it, but some of us even regard ourselves as righteous. When the time of correction comes, we will all discover our true natures, and only through our corrections will it be possible to attain the Creator.
When we discover our evil traits, we get irritable and dissatisfied because we don’t want to feel that way about ourselves. But other people don’t understand what is going on with us, and will never link it with the revelation of evil because they have never experienced that process themselves.