This call is twin to the precept Hate Arrogance! How good it would be if this admonition, too, were needless! By worldly measure there are, it is true, differences between one man and another, but on the level of the soul everyone is equally splendid. Therefore the man who sees the soul can esteem everything and everyone on spiritual grounds and, starting from himself, sees in everyone the one and eternal identity.
As a rule, man falls into two errors: he overrates his own good qualities and is unwilling to forgive the weaknesses of others. Unhealthy self-justification often feeds on the frailty and troubles of others; we feel stronger when we see others as weak. Yet if we consider ourselves superior, it is hard to be friendly.
Long ago the virtuous Yudhishthira and the warlike Duryodhana were given a task by the wise. Yudhishthira had to find a man baser than himself, Duryodhana one more excellent than himself. The two youths set out, and when they returned, the wise put the question to them squarely: had their mission succeeded? Duryodhana burst out:
– I could not do what you charged me with! Whoever I met – one weak, another base, a third lazy – I found none more excellent than myself, I'm sorry!
Yudhishthira, too, spoke sorrowfully:
– I did not succeed either. Wherever I went, I met excellent people, one more modest, another wiser, a third more just than anyone else. I'm sorry, I found no man baser than myself.
Undeniably, it is hard to measure a man at his true worth, ourselves included. Let neither groundless partiality nor, on the contrary, groundless prejudice guide us with regard to others, and let us not judge ourselves on the grounds of groundless pride or of an equally groundless faint-heartedness. A clear-sighted man discovers himself in everyone, and so he has no reason to belittle others. How pitiful it would be to make up for my own lack of self-confidence by belittling others! There exists a rather curious transaction: buy a conceited man for what he is worth, and sell him for what he thinks he is worth! And here, plainly, it is not a matter of trading in human beings, but of a marketplace of virtues, of an authentic judgement of worth. It is said that pride goes before a fall. And that is better avoided. Spiritual clear sight is at the same time seeing with the eyes of compassion. Even among many shortcomings one must discover the tiny virtue, for if this little light is given trust, it gains ground. Conversely, though someone may have many good qualities and only a few shortcomings, if he is given no trust, his shortcomings will come to rule him.
That is to say, this call is not only a defensive avoidance of excessive haughtiness, but the active practice of esteeming and helping others. In this sense it is a spiritual practice, a conscious search for value rather than an unconscious search for faults. Esteem for others is not a matter of contrived humility, but of authentic self-knowledge, and of sincere respect and high regard. No one likes to be patronised, to be looked down on. Yet enduring such situations is useful, for it helps us refrain from behaving in this way. Do not give another what you would not want for yourself.
Peter denied Jesus three times, and yet he became the foundation stone of the Church. He who has himself erred is more lenient, more understanding towards the weaknesses of others. Faults and shortcomings we must probably accept, in others and in ourselves alike, but we are under no obligation to agree with them!