ME said:

quote:

Political and sociological criticism are necessary; personal criticism can be done by each individual for themselves.

I think personal criticism is possible only if one is aware that there are areas of improvement...or as the song you mentioned, that one is willing to listen to your insides.

quote:

Yes, when we see something we don't like in someone else, it is a good opportunity to address those issues in or own psyche.

I agree that there are times that I stopped myself short of saying something and recognized 'ooops...hmmmm' and was then aware of something I needed to work on. And I was thankful of the opportunity to do so.

What I just cannot get around is the premise that whenever we criticize someone it is because we ourselves have that trait.

Why is the opposite not just as valid? It is logical for me that perhaps some criticisim is entirely non-self-identifying (to the person 'expressing criticisim') because it is so against one's principals.

ie I cannot stand how some people here treat their animals so cruelly (beating, neglecting them, not respecting their needs etc). Our dogs are family...we love them dearly and are very aware of their needs. It is very saddening what we witness at times.

Yes, I am highly critical of that (on a personal and political level), vocalize it and write about it. And I support the local animal shelter.

I am also intolerant of drunkeness and highly critical of this (also on a personal and social level) ...but I myself drink possibly the equivalent of a bottle of wine in a month on average...and most of my younger years, drank zero alcohol in any form. I am pro-moderation and not comfortable with excesses nor did I grow up with it. When I witness it, I cannot help but loose respect/be disappointed for him/her which is most people's reaction.

And yes, I am critical of my sf for being selfish and very miserly/stingy (as I mentioned he is a taker not a giver). My mother and I are generous people. I have experienced generosity in life as well and am grateful each time I am on the receiving end.

I think everyone has examples such as these and more where that which they feel justified in criticising, is simply because it is so against their grain and not because it mirrors something.

I accept both premises, but I cannot get around the 'flat one law' of whatever you criticise is because you yourself lack in that area - everytime. I think there are two parts to this law.

I suspect it intrinsically has two parts to it but that the 'mirror' part is the one that gets greater attention (because it can be such a revealing experience) and is the one highlighted over and over again in teachings.

Or it just could be that the problem lies in the terminology like mentioned in earlier posts...and that in reality it is different -but related - areas we are talking about. LOL

quote:

(originally posted by Tosca) What I just cannot get around is the premise that whenever we criticize someone it is because we ourselves have that trait.

Why is the opposite not just as valid? It is logical for me that perhaps some criticisim is entirely non-self-identifying (to the person 'expressing criticisim') because it is so against one's principals.

ie I cannot stand how some people here treat their animals so cruelly (beating, neglecting them, not respecting their needs etc). Our dogs are family...we love them dearly and are very aware of their needs. It is very saddening what we witness at times.

Yes, I am highly critical of that (on a personal and political level), vocalize it and write about it. And I support the local animal shelter.

Tosca, what a GREAT question! I often asked myself the same thing until I understood the principle of vibration/attraction as well as what Gregg Braden teaches and the great Hawaiian Kahunas understand: that we are all interconnected as in a hologram. If you try to cut apart a hologram, you will find that each fragment contains the whole. This means that if any part of the whole is out of whack (ie, your stepfather) that somewhere, there is a piece of you that is out of whack, even if it is not obvious, and that little piece of you needs clearing. By healing/clearing yourself, even if you can't see it, either by using BLAST or the Ho 'oponopono prayer (I'm sorry, Please forgive me, thank you, I love you) you heal EVERYTHING around you. You will be BLOWN AWAY by what happens, because as you raise your own vibration as you use this technique, you raise the vibration of everything around you. You will also find as you practice this that your intolerance gives way to compassion and understanding. And it even works for politicians. For example, I used to fel sick to my stomach every time I listened to the lies our President said over the radio. After doing the prayer while visualizing him, I feel compassion. And I used to have a chip on my shoulder the size of a football field-I mean EVERYTHING pissed me off about man's inhumanity to man, animals and the planet. This is no longer true, because as I did the prayer, I myself was transmuted. The quote below is from an earlier reply.
Please see my latest post on Happy News May 5, 2008and look at how my mother,a Taurus, and bull-headed, stubborn critical of everything and everyone and in short very very fearful, changed and is changing as a result of this.

quote:

(originally posted by Ancient Soul)My understanding of Ho 'oponopono is that we are all connected to EVERYTHING around us by The Thinking Stuff, or as Gregg Braden calls it, The Divine Matrix. Thus, each fragment of ourselves contains the whole of creation. Therefore, as we heal ourselves, we heal everything around us.
One can then conclude that if there is disharmony around us, that disharmony without is mirroring the disharmony within. So in essence, yes, it would make sense that if you never had a mean thought about her in the first place, maybe she would never have gotten ‘the facts’ jumbled that then ‘forced’ her to accuse you of wrongdoing. But her reaction , just like my husband's "meltdowns" mirroring my own anger (that I wasn't even aware of right away),were mirroring discordance in your essence. SO... all these instances that are experienced are a grand opportunity to heal ourselves;to see where clearing of ourselves is needed. Sometimes for me it's a 24 hour a day job!

Thank you for the lovely comment about my jar, and I absolutely LOVED your website also, as I am a BIG fan of fine cuisine.

Wow, Julie. Presented from this aspect it is coming clearer. There are times when one can understand the words of a philosophy, but the meaning hasn't entered yet. I think it is seeping in

When one learns along the way that we alone are responsible for our choices, actions-reactions, it is a hard chew to look at it from a holistic view where, somehow, I am in part 'also' responsible for someone's character/actions.

This will take a long think. But I will work on it.

In the case of my sf, I would be dishonest if I said 'I love you' because that is no longer there. That has been worn away over time. On a pan-humanity view, yes then he is included in the love I have for humanity. But not as a person. So I will try the BLAST (Have to look it up, forgot about that since long ago!)

I enjoyed reading about your 'Happy' experiences at the link you provided. I should think you were really speechless about your mother!

Thanks again for your input!

Well! I gotta say I love you all and I love your posts. Please forgive me for not mentioning every little detail and commenting. Frankly, I agree with you all. If we all lived together in one big house we would be such a very loving family and we would uplift each other to the point of bliss. I love you! Please understand that I do never, never condone child molestation. Nor do I accept it. And should there ever be a law that would make it a capital offense I would not fight against that law. I do feel that criticism is separate from the execution of judgment. In other words if I were an executioner whose responsibility it was to inject the lethal dose, I would not have to blast the murderer with cruel comments. Sometimes society has rules that perhaps we would not personally originate but we live in our own particular society and thus we are subject to these rules. Punishments are not necessarily good nor bad. They just are and every situation is experienced according to environment, genetics, hormones, seratonin levels, health and thoughts. None of these things can be totally isolated from the others. And if capital punishment is imposed on me or anyone else we must ask ourselves if death is really such a big deal anyway. I see death as a cure all in which anything can be cured. I do not believe in a 'lights out' condition. I believe we are travelers and continue learning for a very long time in a sphere in which there is no time. And a child molester has in most cases been molested him/herself and so in vindicating the child by punishing the predator we are not curing the problem. Still a person who pays for a crime has not necessarily lost anything and in fact when a person gets away with a crime without suffering the penalty it may be detrimental to the person committing the crime. I guarantee you I will never be the one to pull the switch on an electric chair. But I have never been around a murderer and I doubt that in my lifetime I will be involved in any close way to such a crime. I say all this to let you know I do not believe in people getting away with things, not even myself but I do not believe that anyone will ever leave this life without growing by any experiences they may have here or without growing by all experiences they have here and that includes the murderer and the child molester. I am sorry I talked so much about this but it was brought up and there are insidious crimes that are committed all around us. But the good always prevails. And the good that happens happens 1000 times as often as the bad. So, life experiences we go through here will always make us better in very many ways. And another issue I feel strongly about is animals. Animals deserve to be protected. I have a dog and two cats that I love dearly. I am working on loving the mean spirited person as well. I know that when someone speaks an unkind word that is apparently directed at me that there are many ways of looking at the situation. For one thing, I know that I have rage. I did not always know that there was rage inside of me. It was always a quiet rage that only occasionally manifested in the form of a brief bout of anger(non physical). When I learned that the rage existed I knew why it was there and I am able to continually heal that rage. Now, when I am blasted by a mean spirited person I think to myself that that person could possibly be the one to pull me out of a burning building somewhere, sometime in the future. It could happen. Sometimes people treat us badly and then under just the right circumstances become our personal savior on some level. This whole thread is enormously important because our abundance of money is directly tied to relationships.
hugs,
Pete Casanova

Greatings fellow travelers on the SOGR highway!

I have been involved with living life and havn't been reading or replying to posts much lately! One thing that I have found is that the more time that I spend living my life the less time I spend thinking about how other people live their lives. Part of everyday is involved with other people who I may or may not agree with but I find that everyting is open for discussion.

Thanks to SOGR, SOBW and other heros of mine I have discovered that there is no right or wrong, no black or white, just various shades of gray. I have found that if I am critical of someone else I also have to be critical of myself, I am as imperfect as they are. I have stopped being critical of my self or others!

I'm dedicated to being a student and a teacher for the rest of my life, my subjects are peace, health and prosperity. A big part of my learning and teaching is understanding my family, my friends, my neighbors, people in my community, people in my state, people in my nation, people in my world!

Julia, I agree that you are a great teacher!

Tosca, I'm really happy to read your posts again!

Tom,
This is what living life on a 'zero mistakes' basis is all about. We gotta dance like no one is watching and love like we've never been hurt.
Pete