Is your backyard clean?

"Clean up your own backyard." 

"If you point a finger, make sure the other four aren't pointing right back at you"

"Practice what you preach."

"Those who spend time looking for faults in others, usually make no time to correct their own."

As I was cleaning my apartment today, these phrases were bouncing around in my head.

What do they mean?

Basically, before casting judgement on others, make sure you have no faults.

Day to day this is a practice hard to keep to with events that occur that can trigger you and before you know it, you're judging someone about the clothes they're wearing, the food they're eating, their driving, or many other things.

So, what can we do to try to stop casting judgement on others?

There are a couple of different practices I utilise to help me day to day with this.

The first practices are a Hawaiian technique called Hoʻoponopono, the second practice is the Reiki precepts learned when studying the first level of Reiki.

Hoʻoponopono

Hoʻoponopono is a Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness. The work translates into English as correction or to make things right. By chanting the prayer over and over again, we cleanse ourselves of guilt, shame, ill will, bad feelings, or traumatising memories, that help to keep us focused on negative thoughts, which are often what is behind the triggering behaviour that causes us to cast judgement on others.

How I like to use the prayer or chant, is by focusing on an event throughout the day that upset or angered me, then focusing on the event find the trigger point within me and recite the phrases in a concentrated manner for 10 to 15 minutes.

The first phrase is about repentance.

"I'm Sorry"

The second phrase is about forgiveness

"Please forgive me"

The third phase is about gratitude

"Thank you"

The last phrase is about love

"I love you"

The Reiki Precepts

The second technique I use are the Reiki precepts. What I love about the precepts, is they are recited each day before you go about your day. I like to recite them after my morning meditation, and sometimes I will use them throughout the day in times of stress to bring me back into centre.

The precepts are an integral part of the Reiki practice and are learnt during level 1 or the beginner course of Reiki. They are a rule or principle prescribing a course of action or conduct.

The precepts start with the words for today only, and this is to keep the practitioner's mind on the here and now.

The precepts are:

"For today only,

I will not anger,

I will not worry,

I will be humble,

I will do my work honestly,

I will be compassionate to myself and others."

By utilising both practices I am able to remember at the end of the day none of us know what is going on in another person’s life, each person has their own path and with that path comes many lessons, and barriers that we all need to overcome, let us judge less and show more compassion in the world.