Our car, home, shoes, clothes, job, appearance, ethnicity, neighborhood, etc. makes us feel inferior or superior to others. The concept of being inferior or superior to another is ingrained in our awareness from childhood through adult hood. The parent child relationship implies the parent is superior to the child. Teacher child relationship implies the same as does employer employee, government & citizen.
Men are paid more than women in the workplace and women are perceived as less capable than men by many. We judge one another based on our material possessions, financial status and appearance. Many are perceived as inferior or superior based on their academic achievements and ethnicity.
We spend thousands of dollars on enhancing our appearance through various surgeries in an attempt to make ourselves appear prettier to our peers & to ourselves. We are more concerned with what others think of us than what we think of ourselves. Think about this; other people’s opinions of us matter more to us than our own! Our circumstances control our moods and we are suspicious before trusting.
Sex, money and possessions are the fuel of the ego. What is ego? Ego is basing your identity on form. What is form? Form is all things material including people. Next time you are at a traffic light and as people pass by your car while walking across the intersection, observe them without labeling and judgment. The next time you see an insect avoid naming it. The next time you participate in a sport play for fun not to win. The next time you walk through the forest; observe the trees without naming or labeling. The next time you hurt yourself, avoid telling friends and family. How do you benefit emotionally by telling them? If you are able to bandage your own wound and proceed with your day why talk about you stubbing your toe?
The next time a person speaks rudely to you in traffic, avoid judging them. Focus on your breathing and remain nonjudgmental. The next time your child spills a glass of juice on your favorite white carpet, say nothing. Get a cloth and clean it up. What benefit is there in focusing on the past and future by judging and criticizing. It will be much easier to cover the carpet before hand or have them eat or drink at the dinner table.
The next time you are working out at the gym and a man or woman walks by you any they are in exceptionally good shape, say or think nothing. Do not allow or embrace the inner voice that says you are fat, inferior and out of shape. Or if you are in better physical shape, do not allow the inner voice to compare or judge the other person.
When you perceive others as equal no judgment is placed on them and no judgment is placed on you. Judgment exists in the realm of inferior/superior. Breaking free from the conditioning of seeing ourselves as superior or inferior starts with self observation.
As soon as you meet a new person, observe the judgments that surface. If we meet an exceptionally tall person, control the impulse of saying, “wow you are tall” and the assumption that he cannot drive a Jetta or that he must play basketball. The next time you see a person who society would categorize as obese, avoid labeling them as such and see them as your equal. The next time your young niece or nephew visits, avoid perceiving them as inferior to you. You may not say consciously, “you are inferior”, it comes through your actions. See them as your equal.
Remember difference does not imply inferior or superior. What make adults different from kids are our size, acquired academic knowledge and capability. Avoid perceiving yourself as superior or inferior for any reason. This is true equality. Those that judge another are the ones assuming the inferior role. The one that compares him or herself to another is the person that places him or herself below all others. If we continue to give in to the emotions of anger, violence and hatred we put ourselves below all others. When we are able to walk through the forest without picking off a leaf from a branch we are acting from our essence. Before you picked the leaf or flower it was living and thriving. You picked the leaf or flower to satisfy your own needs or wants.
The next time an insect enters your home, capture it without killing it because it is your equal. This takes practice but worth the effort. The next time you are at the grocery store and you encounter rudeness, avoid judging and criticizing, because this response comes from the same place as the rudeness.
When you are feeling depressed and decide to share your feelings with another, discuss your feelings with that person without judging, criticizing and blaming others. Speak about you and your feelings only. When things do not go your way, avoid blaming it on something or someone. When you buy a new car, home or material possession avoid calling people to tell them. If your car gets stolen, or you lose a material possession, do not shed a tear or lose sleep. You are not the item nor is the item an extension of you. It is merely something you have or use for superficial enjoyment. All form is temporary as is attachment thereto. The ego says my possessions are most important and I will do anything necessary to protect them because through my material status I base my identity. We strive to protect our sense of self for no good reason other than to be seen in a certain way. If you witness an accident on the way home avoid the urge to gossip and tell others. If your wife or husband has an affair, remain calm and present. The thoughts and emotions of inadequacy, gloom, anger and depression originate from the same impulse as the infidelity. If you are at the grocery store and the worker says to you please come to my register and everyone behind you can follow, do not feel more important because you are all equally important. If your teacher gives you extra attention and praise, remain calm and present. Remind yourself and others you are all equally important and valuable.
When tough times come your way, accept what is and move forward. Focus your attention on the present moment. If you have lost your job that you have worked at for 30 years, silence the inner voice of complaints. The event has already occurred. Remind yourself there is meaning in the moment which you may not see. The benefit of the experience will only come when you stop fighting against the situation. Accept what is and become aware of the synchronistic events that you have been overlooking. Remind yourself that you are not your job, money or retirement. You have based your sense of self on your work. The awakening has occurred. Feel grateful and prepare for greater things.
We achieve great success and strive to become “the best” in our field. Becoming the best automatically makes everyone else the worst. Track stars are labeled, “fastest man in the world” even though only a handful of men have raced. Our capitalistic society fosters competiveness. Through this we say one product is better than the other. One company is better than the other. We compete to see who will become the most successful company. The gauge of success is who can make the most money. The one that makes the most money will be perceived as the best, superior to all others.
We base our confidence and sense of self worth on our achievements & possessions, none of which add any value to who we are because confidence, self worth, inferior & superior are mental concepts. They are figments of our imagination. They are only real in the realm of form. They are nothing more than empty calories. When you engage in conversation with someone for the first time, most people will ask your name and occupation because most people base their identity on these things. Be careful when describing what you do to earn money. If you say, I am a lawyer or I am a garbage man, you are basing your entire identity on this role. It would be best to say, I work as a lawyer or I work as a garbage man to earn money. When a person asks you “what do you do for a living”, I answer I breath air.
Are you willing to take the vow of total and complete equality? Are you willing to live without judgment and labeling? Your relationships with others will improve greatly once you align your human perceptions with spiritual truths. If you encounter a homeless person and you say to them I am your equal, you are not saying you are homeless as they are. You are referring to their essence not their form status. Base your identity on your essence, strive to judge and label nothing and know one. Recognize that money is not the root of all evil. Evil originates from ego. Ego says I am better than you or I am worst than you. I am more important than you because I am prettier. I am better than you because of my car, house, job and possessions. Ego says if you do not listen or do what I say I will grow frustrated and angry and insult, judge or injure you. Ego places all importance on self and all others second, thus the origin of the superior inferior mindset.
In order to see and treat others as your equal we must first commit today to no longer label and judge. Embrace this idea without judging it. If you say, “easier said than done” you are judging the idea, if you say I cannot do this, you are judging your efforts. Embrace the idea without any response. The next time you are in traffic practice observing cars without labeling them Toyota, Honda, Chevy, Van, Bus, etc. See them as vehicles. The next time you drive the bus home, see all people as people, instead of allowing your mind to judge & label everyone based on your individualized and collective perceptions. The path to breaking the cycle of reincarnation starts here.
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