“Don’t judge. Don’t compare.”
Dark aspects of our personality (in our shadow) that we reject are projected onto others to convince ourselves that it’s their fault or their problem, and not our own. One of the reasons humans have failed to create a sustainable community is that we don’t take responsibility for our behavior.
“We could not treat other people violently if we believed them to be ‘just like us.’ Our natural compassion wouldn’t allow it. … The mistake we all make in P-B is to project our own individual shadows and our collective shadow instead of becoming conscious of where our afflictive emotions (our reactions) are coming from and then, most importantly, take responsibility for them.”[i]
Native Son (1940), a novel and play written by Richard Wright, illustrates that projection blinds both African Americans and whites; they only see the threatening other and not the humanity beneath the color. “When talking to Bigger, Mary … implies that there is an alien, foreign aura to black Americans, that they are somehow a separate, essentially different class of human beings.”[ii]
American author Jim Marion reminds us in Putting on the Mind of Christ (2000) that projection keeps us locked in P-B. “Since anything we judge against even in the worst ‘sinner’ is a part of ourselves that we are rejecting, we cannot afford to judge anyone or anything. As long as we judge we keep our consciousness locked in dualism.”[iii]
Marion continues: “Note the radical type of love of which [Meister] Eckhart writes: ‘There are no judgments of any kind here, for God’s love does not judge (John 8:15). To get to this level, therefore, all judgments, including moral judgments, must be surrendered.’ That is because in judging others [projecting blame] we automatically judge ourselves.”[iv]
“Let us be still an instant, and forget all things we ever learned, all thoughts we had, and every preconception that we hold of what things mean and what their purpose is. … Be innocent of judgment, unaware of any thoughts of evil or of good that ever crossed your mind of anyone.”[v]
Insight #66 comes to us from Brugh Joy an American medical doctor and author. In 1974 he contracted a life-threatening disease, gave up his medical practice, began to meditate, and 6 weeks later discovered his illness cured. In 1979 he published: Joy’s Way, A Map for the Transformational Journey.
“Don’t judge. Don’t compare. Release the need to know why.”
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Additional Reading:
- Projection, The ABC’s of Simple Reality, Vol 2
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[i] Henry, Roy Charles. “America: Black and White—The Darkness and the Light.” Art and Simple Reality, Vol 2. October 2021, p. 134.
[ii] Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York: Sparks Notes, 2002, p. 71.
[iii] Marion, Jim. Putting on the Mind of Christ. Charlottsville, VA: Hampton Roads, 2000, p. 211.
[iv] Marion, Jim. Putting on the Mind of Christ. Charlottsville, VA: Hampton Roads, 2000, p. 211.
[v] A Course in Miracles © Text. “Chapter 31. The Final Vision. The Simplicity of Salvation.” (Farmingdale, New York: Coleman Graphics), published in 1975, by the Foundation for Inner Peace, Mill Valley, CA, pp. 602-603.
