26 Jan The mirror we avoid
The Sultan was walking in his garden when he tripped over a blind mystic sleeping beside a bush.
The mystic instantly awoke and shouted out, ?You clumsy oaf! Have you no eyes, that you must trample upon the sons of men??
The Sultan?s companion, who was walking with him, shouted at the mystic, ?Your blindness is equalled only by your stupidity! Since you cannot see, you should be doubly careful of whom you are accusing of heedlessness.?
?If by that you mean?, said the mystic, ?that I should not criticize a sultan, it is you who should realize your shallowness.?
The Sultan was impressed that the blind mystic knew who he was and he asked, ?Why should a Sultan have to listen to criticism from you??
?Precisely?, said the mystic, ?because it is the shielding of people of any category from criticism appropriate to them which is responsible for their downfall. It is the burnished metal which shines most brightly, the knife struck with the whetstone which cuts best, and the exercised arm which can lift the weight.?
Most of us would struggle to live without a mirror. We need it to comb and style our hair, to co-ordinate and match our clothes and to see what we look like on the outside. There is another mirror which lets us have an objective view of who we are not just on the outside but also the inside. It is a mirror many of us prefer to cover up and avoid. That mirror is other peoples criticism of us. It is us as seen reflected through other peoples eyes, especially people who have no vested interest in making us look good.
There is a story about the Buddha’s disciples running to him in a state of distress. They tell the Buddha that some of the people in the nearby village are saying unkind things about him. The Buddha tells his disciples “Calm down and listen to what they say, some of it may be true”. Meditation cultivates a calm mind and allows us to listen and learn things we may not rather know about ourselves. It also gives us the tools to address our faults and weaknesses when we learn of them. To grow and mature emotionally and spiritually we need to find the strength to look without flinching at how we are seen through others eyes. We can then aspire towards self-actualization which will be the subject of the next blog.
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