Gaining an Unbiased Perspective in Judging One’s Own Actions and the Actions of Others

It is much easier to spot faults in others than in oneself. The New Testament of the Bible relates a parable directly on point: “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote that is in thy brother’s eye” (Matthew 7:3-5).

We tend not to have a very clear and unbiased view of our own issues and limitations. For the most part, our faults remain invisible to us and we tend to believe in an inherent “rightness” to what we think, say and do. However, there are also individuals who tend to obsess over their own shortcomings to such a degree that they actually over-emphasize them and become somewhat paralyzed psychologically due to the faults they perceive within themselves. Both extremes are the result of internal bias in our perspective that needs to be addressed.

Additionally, when we try to judge the actions of others, we are not always in possession of all the facts, and may actually be observing things from a perspective that does not do justice to the entirety of the situation. Our own biases and preconceptions may creep in, and our mind may ‘fill in’ missing data with our own experience, just making our judgment of others even more suspect.

It is a general truth of psychology that as long as one is immersed in and within the frame of a particular viewpoint or understanding, one cannot actually see clearly the limits and terms of that frame. In order to get a clearer view, the individual must be able to step away from that identification and take the standpoint of a neutral and unbiased witness, to whatever degree possible at any stage.

Sri Aurobindo observes: “To recognise one’s weaknesses and false movements and draw back from them is the way towards liberation.”

“Not to judge anyone but oneself until one can see things from a calm mind and a calm vital is an excellent rule. Also, do not allow your mind to form hasty impressions on the strength of some outward appearance, nor your vital to act upon them.”

“There is a place in the inner being where one can always remain calm and from there look with poise and judgment on the perturbations of the surface consciousness and act upon it to change it. If you can learn to live in that calm of the inner being, you will have found your stable basis.”

Sri Aurobindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, Calm — Peace — Equality, pg. 12