Monday June 26, 2017
What the sayer of praise is really praising is
himself, by saying implicitly,
‘My eyes are clear.’
Likewise, someone who criticizes is criticizing
himself, saying implicitly, ‘I can’t see very well
with my eyes so inflamed.’
Jelaluddin Rumi (1207–1273)
So, in effect, all our judging—positive and negative alike—is about ourselves! It has become a commonplace in the interpretation of dreams to say that every element in the dream represents something in oneself. This is easy enough to accept. But it is harder to accept when someone wants to apply it to our waking life too! I feel attacked if I’m asked to believe that everything I’m saying is only about myself.
But just because it may not be true 100% of the time, nor to the full degree, I should not reject the truth in it. It may be true 50% of the time, or 80%—or even more! Isn’t that enough to make it a useful insight and a useful check on my tendency to judge everything?
“Do not judge and you will not be judged,” said Jesus. “The measure you give is the measure you get.” This already puts the spotlight on the judge in each of us, suggesting like Rumi that our judging has more to do with ourselves than with the truth of things.
What or whom do you hate? Look again now. This time don’t look at the object or the person you hate, but at the hate itself. What is it about? And what are the things and who are the people you approve of? What are you really approving of? What is it about?
