As we are made, looking out from our senses, and not looking in at ourselves, we only see other people’s faults and to balance the account takes a life-time of work and insight. We all have pictures of ourselves; we are all, in one way or another, smug. Let me give you the dictionary definition of smug. The word is derived from a German word meaning to dress up; smock, smuggle, and so: “to be scrupulous in keeping up the appearance of respectability, to be absurdly self-satisfied and complacent.” One thing is quite certain, and that is that the more sincerely we observe ourselves and what is in us, the less smug we shall be. And from this it follows that we shall be less satisfied to think that we know what the other person should be like. So we shall judge less and in consequence be able to put ourselves in another person’s position more easily.
You will remember the two examples of praying in the Gospels—the man who prayed thanking God he was not as other men, and the man who beat his breast and said he was a sinner. Which of these two men do you think would best be able to externally consider ? And which of those two men would you rather be judged by? There is a saying in the Work that you must have heard more than once, that unless you begin to realize your own nothingness, you cannot do this Work. You will not jump to catch the rope let down from above to save you. But all this takes time: and we must take the Work, stage by stage, in our gradual understanding of it. No one can outstrip himself—that is, his level of being. As being alters, so does understanding alter.
Maurice Nicoll, “Internal Considering and External Considering” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 1, p. 268-269).
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: Observe one moment of smugness in yourself.
What to Notice:
Feeling certain about another person’s faults.
Inner satisfaction at being right.
Comparing yourself favorably with someone else.
A judgment that strengthens your picture of yourself.
Work Effort for Today:
When judging another, stop for a moment.
Acknowledge a similar manifestation in yourself.
Do not feed the feeling of superiority.
Return to self-observation.
Remember: See your own sleep before seeing theirs.
For Your Reflection:
We only see other people’s faults.
It’s remarkable how quickly my attention goes outward when something irritates me. Yet the moments that have softened me most have come from seeing, even briefly, the same tendencies in myself. That doesn’t excuse anyone else’s behavior, but it changes the quality of my response. Judgment loosens its grip, and another person becomes a little easier to understand. Perhaps that shift is one of the quiet fruits of sincere self-observation.
How does this show up in your own experience? Join the conversation in the comments below.
