Red String Mania
October 31st - November 6th, 2004
During the past few weeks, front pages of newspapers, leading stories on the evening news, and even television sit-coms (“Will & Grace”) have been discussing the Red String. This is in response to the release of my latest book, The Red String Book: The Power of Protection.
The conventional wisdom on the Red String is that it protects us from receiving the Evil Eye. The truth is it protects us by helping us to stop giving the Evil Eye to others. This widely-held misconception is what led me to write this book.
When something bad happens in life, it is instinctive to turn our gaze upwards and plead with God - ‘how can you do this to me?’ However, the great kabbalists throughout history have strongly disagreed with this notion. They teach that in fact we are the causes of our chaos, pain and suffering.
According to Kabbalah, 99% of the chaos in a person’s life is caused by the Evil Eye.
The Evil Eye is what happens when we look with jealousy, judgment, and hatred upon what someone else has. The scary realization is that we do not have to be an “evil” person to bring about “evil eye.” Unfortunately we all do this albeit unconsciously, often, without realizing the consequences.
And here’s how it works. The world is strategically arranged so that all the people in our lives-from our closest friends to our most casual acquaintances; from our dearest family members to strangers who pass us on the street-share similar negative behavior to our own. They mirror us so that we can have the opportunity to see what it is that we need to proactively change about ourselves.
However, we either don’t know this or if we have learned it, we forget. So what happens is the moment we choose to give into the thoughts of criticism, envy and hatred, we are pulling the trigger on ourselves. In other words, once we cast the Evil Eye on someone else, we open the door for the Evil Eye and the forces of reckoning to come upon us.
Why? The simple rule of the universe known as the boomerang effect - what goes around comes around.
So, it’s up to us to take care of ourselves. It always will be. Part of why we judge others is that we doubt that we can have what the other person has. We don’t have certainty that the Creator wants the same success and happiness for us.
This week, your mission is profoundly simple. Every time you are looking at someone and thinking, ‘why don’t I have that’ or ‘I don’t like this person,’ do these two things.
1. List three things in your life that you appreciate
2. Remember that what you don’t like about another, is something you dislike in yourself.
This week, by concentrating on appreciating what you have, instead of looking what others have that you don’t, you will neutralize your envy, defuse your jealousy, and put an end to all of your justified acts of judgment so you can protect yourself and others from your own Evil Eye.
Have a great, judgment-free week!
All the Best,
Yehuda Berg