There is not enough time in our lives to do good things, let alone bad. Spending time doing something that creates misery for others is a foolish way to live.

When you awaken, you know how many things you need to correct in your life and how much apologizing you need to do. The delusion of you being a good person is over, and there’s a lot of atonement to do for selfishness and cruelty.

Those spending time in criticizing others show that they aren’t awakened and they aren’t spiritually sensitive enough to know that they are working against the laws of the universe.

What you do to others will be done to you eventually; so spending time criticizing others leaves one open to criticism in the future. There are so many personal faults to correct, yet some people spend time searching for the faults of others.

Usually those who have their gaze turned towards the errors of others are blind to the gross errors in their own conduct. Would they be aware, they would know that there are so many personal deficiencies to set straight that there’s absolutely no time to search for them in others. And yes, I do not say that we should be blind to the errors of others, but criticizing particular individuals in public is a foolish thing to do unless one is perfect.

If some error one is in is obvious, it’s okay to simply give a general lecture of why this is an error and how it harms us, and how to correct it. There’s no need to pick some person to put the blame on, because everyone has deficiencies of character, so nobody is in a position to judge another.

The more you grow, the more you realize how imperfect you are. Then the finger-pointing at others ceases, and you only point the finger at yourself. This is where you can change things for sure. Change yourself, and the world will learn from your example. You cannot change others, as they first need to want to change themselves before any real shift can happen.

Some people are very sensitive to criticism and by pointing your finger at someone you are not helping your human brother or sister, but may be the cause of their fall. So it’s best to teach how things should be done, rather than picking someone to put a blame on.

There is a saying in my language, which is quite difficult to translate, but it’s along the lines of one pot laughing at another for it being black from fire, yet not realizing that it’s in the same condition. This is always the case with people who criticize others, them usually being even darker in soul than those whom they choose to slander. As Jesus said:

Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

How true that is.

We don’t know where the person in error is coming from. There’s no need to hinder their progress by putting an obstacle of ourselves on their path of development. We don’t help by pointing out their faults as then we simply make their progress slower. It’s best to simply teach about the dangers of that error rather than naming someone who engages in it. Should they be open to personal progress, such a lesson could truly benefit them without any character assassination.

We don’t know what motivates the people that are in some error, and we don’t know at what point of their soul progress they find themselves. Maybe that error is teaching them something. When they learn the lesson, they will no longer engage in it. Just blaming someone for it helps no one; but teaching about the dangers of some error and how to overcome it can be of real help, if a person is ready to change and progress.

Sometimes I am allowed to experience how it feels to be in another person’s shoes. This comes through dreams or spiritual experiences, and this may be experienced by people on a certain stage of spiritual progress.

When you know exactly the motivation behind the actions of someone, you automatically become compassionate, because you know the reasons they act in that particular way. You also know that it’s very likely that you would act in the same way, should you find yourself in the same circumstances. But if you do not know what it’s like to be in that person’s skin, it’s unwise to judge him or her, because the judgement is likely to be very wrong, based on a personal opinion only.

Some people simply don’t think like most, and the words they say or actions they take might be done from a good heart, whilst the masses would think it springing from evil. This can be illustrated, for example, by Michael Jackson lowering his child from a hotel balcony for the public to feel closer to it, whilst the public interpreting it as gross carelessness.

I’m neither for nor against his actions; I’m simply giving this incident as an example of how something done from good intention can be completely misunderstood. Our hearts will be our judges, so if the intention is love, the heart won’t condemn us, whether the masses are for or against what we do.

There is an insidious trend today of dehumanizing celebrities and brutally criticizing them as though they are unfeeling automatons. They are also humans, and they feel as much as we all do. So criticizing a celebrity as an example of some error again shows the disconnection from humanness, the lack of spiritual sense and compassion, and the ignorance of where that celebrity is coming from.

It’s very easy to pick celebrities as targets as they are so visible, but it’s important to understand that they are feeling humans also, and that they are as much in pain from being criticized as any of us are. You can understand that by watching intimate interviews with them, and them talking about the criticism that they receive.

And although they will have to experience greater hurdles because of their fame, we should not be used as puppets of nature in such a way. As Jesus said,

It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!

It’s important to develop compassion in this area as the media so much dehumanizes them that the public thinks of them as unfeeling machines. We should develop our compassion as much as possible, as this helps us to connect with our human nature rather than keeping ourselves compartmentalized and unfeeling.

Celebrities embody excesses in vice and virtue and are simply representing the trends taking place in humanity as a whole. By observing their lives we can understand those trends and learn from them. We can understand what is beneficial to do and what we should avoid.

Picking one celebrity as a punching bag doesn’t benefit anyone; you simply set a bad example for others to follow, hurt the celebrity should he or she hear your criticism, and set in motion the law of cause and effect which will bring you criticism in return.

To summarize, there’s really no time to criticize others because there’s a lot of work to be done with our own selves. When you are perfect, you can judge others, but I don’t think anyone can be truly perfect in this world.

So it’s best to focus on perfecting yourself, and if you see something wrong being done by someone, it’s good to teach others about the harm of that error, but there’s no need to pick some human brother and sister to judge, as none of us are perfect enough ourselves.

Hi, I'm Simona Rich, the author of this site.

I'm from Lithuania, though most of the time you'll find me somewhere in Asia.

I write about spirituality and self-improvement, and consult on those topics.

Let's connect on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. My bio is here...