We All Have Blind Spots

Mindfulness practice is the practice of one hundred percent honesty with ourselves. When we watch our own mind and body, we notice certain things that are unpleasant to realize. As we do not like them, we try to reject them. What are the things we do not like? We do not like to detach ourselves from loved ones or to live with unloved ones. We include not only people, places and material things into our likes and dislikes, but opinions, ideas, beliefs and decisions as well. We do not like what naturally happens to us. We do not like, for instance, growing old, becoming sick, becoming weak or showing our age, for we have a great desire to preserve our appearance. We do not like someone pointing out our faults, for we take great pride in ourselves. We do not like someone to be wiser than we are, for we are deluded about ourselves. These are but a few examples of our personal experience of greed, hatred and ignorance.

If we do not have hatred in us we will not be concerned when someone points out our shortcomings. Rather, we will be thankful to the person who draws our attention to our faults. We have to be extremely wise and mindful to thank the person who explicates our faults so we will be able to tread the upward path toward improving ourselves. We all have blind spots. The other person is our mirror for us to see our faults with wisdom. We should consider the person who shows our shortcomings as one who excavates a hidden treasure in us that we were unaware of. It is by knowing the existence of our deficiencies that we can improve ourselves.

James's comment: Before my mindfulness practice I was a very prideful person. Very judgemental and full of hate (mostly for myself as I have learned through meditation). I was constantly feeling the victim and that was a phantom that I was chasing as it slowly lured me into the living hell of a hungry ghost. Nothing satisfied me (even when I "won" an arguement).

I have since been much more able to see myself as no better or worse then anyone or anything else which has allowed me to let go of the insane notion of separateness. Of course I still struggle with such things. However, my mindfulness practice has given me the tools to sit back and watch the endless negative thoughts and see them as attachments to ghosts rather then hard truth to cling to and worship as reality.

Clinging to such views only made me more unhappy since I could not change other people (and the world--now that's pride for ya!) as I felt that I had to accomplish. It allowed me to see that I am not separate from anyone or anything else and I am now much more able to see how my faults and positive traits affect other people. I am the weaknesses I saw in other people and I am also the love and goodness that I saw in other people whom I thought were so much "better then me." I am so very thankful to have found the Dharma. Thank-you for helping me to see some of my "blind spots." And on I walk.

-Peace to all beings-