It is easier to see what I don’t like about myself in others
Saturday 31st May, 2025
Last Sunday, at a meeting of the Religious Society of Friends, a woman spoke. She spoke about the violence within her, not all the time, but present nonetheless. She continued that the positive to it is that it lets her know what others feel, and as she seeks to manage it, she can also speak to others who, like her, struggle.
Earlier, there had been a session on peacebuilding and references were used such as ‘The Far Right’. I was thankful that a number of friends spoke to say such labels are not helpful, as if we label others, others label us.
I have come to a place, influenced by the teachings voiced by Krishnamurti, that “I am the world, and the world is me”. Whatever exists in the world exists in me. If we say “them,” we delude ourselves into thinking that what we don't like about them does not exist in me.
I am reminded of a Krishnamurti gathering last year when we were sitting in a dialogue group. We were discussing the problems of the world when I felt the need to bring it back to myself and said, “I am… whatever the subject was. ” Now this was an international gathering, so you may have thought that was not the right thing to say, but as most understood the teaching, they knew I was trying to recognise what exists without, exists within.
I have found it freeing to accept that what I don’t like about others reveals what I don't like about myself. It is just easier to see it in others.
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