NON-RESISTANCE, A.K.A., SELF-ACCEPTANCE

I can read, study, ponder righteous stuff till my face falls off, but until I accept myself just as I am feeling criticized for being, I will know no peace. I will blame you, I will inventory you, I will pick up mud and sling it in my own face…at you.

It is a hard fact but invariably true that the criticism I am hearing from you is self-criticism…it is in my hearing, in my interpretation of what I am hearing, wherein my problem lives.

We get upset with her. We fuel our upset by obsessing over what we need to say/do/think/be to correct him...to change them. Therein lies our Velcro, our (aptly named) Crazy Glue. Our freedom is 100% in our accepting the self that we are hearing criticized...which brings the understanding that acceptance does not make it true or untrue. We are simply not resisting the criticism as we hear it...and naming it "You."

Wherever people differ from you and aren't shy about letting you know it, don't run away. Move closer to them. (Eknath Easwaran, "Words to Live By," October 1.) There. That is non-resistance, a.k.a., self-acceptance.

Thank You.