Despite the temptations surrounding him, Yosef maintained his composure and never once raised his eyes. Given his circumstances, this was an immense challenge. He was a young man betrayed and rejected by his own family, stranded alone in a foreign land with no hope of returning to his homeland. With no one to talk to and no ties to the teachings and traditions of his father's home, he had the freedom to veer away from his father's path and follow his own.
There were so many people vying for his attention, ready to do anything for him. Would it have been so bad to throw a glance at his crowd of admirers? Many would have succumbed to a temptation like this one, but Yosef remained steadfast in his commitment to guard his eyes against anything contrary to the will of Hashem.
Yosef's resilience and unwavering determination to protect his kedusha elevated him to a very lofty level. So much so, that he is the only one among the Shevatim who's so often referred to as "Tzadik" by Chazal, indicating the great virtue he earned for guarding his sanctity.
Guarding one's senses is one of the main gateways to achieving higher levels in kedusha. The Ba'al Shem Tov taught, and it is quoted in Chasidishe Seforim, that, parallel to our five physical senses, we possess spiritual senses that enable us to perceive and connect with matters of ՐՈՈՆՂՉՔ.
However, to access these spiritual senses, one must first purify and sanctify his external, physical senses. Only through this process of protecting one's physical senses can one enable his internal, spiritual senses, thus achieving lofty levels. The Ba'al Shem Tov writes that it can even lead one to approach the level of prophecy such is the spiritual level we can attain through purifying our physical senses.
In essence, a person's ability to perceive spiritual matters is directly linked to the level of effort invested in refining his physical senses. The more the physical senses are sanctified, the greater their ability to enable us to achieve kedusha and a deeper connection to Hashem.
(ՁՒՔ"Ո ՔՒՔՔ ՂՄՒ ՈՄ Ճ)