Who Are You Pointing Your Finger At?

I was recently blessed with a blatant example of finger pointing and the blessed teaching in this act. When we point our finger at someone, it is crucially important to be aware of who we are actually pointing our finger at. There is a beautiful teaching that says, “When we point our finger at someone, there are always 3 fingers pointing back at us!”

After a recent weekly study group gathering, a relatively new participant, and devout Christian, came up to me and shared their dissatisfaction that the gathering had begun with another participant chiming a Tibetan Singing Bowl during the opening meditation. This disgruntled participant shared that the playing of the Tibetan Singing Bowl was an ‘idol’ (i.e., a distraction to connecting with Source/Divine) and had no place at the gatherings. Furthermore, the new participant shared that he felt the playing of the Tibetan Singing Bowl would be confusing for other participants and detract from the teachings shared during the weekly study group gatherings.

The very next day an interesting article came into my email ‘inbox’ from a spiritual-oriented news-feed. The article was about a Christian monk who was on an extended retreat in a Buddhist monastery. The monk recounted his difficulty with accepting some of the rituals of the Buddhist community, including the “incessant chiming and playing of bells and bowls and the praying to statues of Buddha.” The monk went on to criticize the Buddhist faithful for worshipping “idols” like bells, bowls, and Buddha statues, and denounced the practices as “a distraction from direct union with God.” Toward the end of the article, however, the monk revealed how he was graced with the awareness of his judgements and that he too had his own rituals and idols he placed before God, including the worshipping of his faith tradition’s prophet, Jesus. The monk knew that if he called for someone else to drop his/her idols, he would have to drop his.

Will the relatively new participant at the weekly study group gatherings have the same awareness as the Christian monk in the Buddhist monastery? Time will tell. The new participant may have indeed been concerned that other participants would be confused by the playing of the Tibetan Singing Bowl, but is it possible that they themselves were the confused one, and were merely projecting their confusion onto others?

And so it is with finger pointing, we are only ever pointing a finger at ourselves. Any grievance expressed toward another is merely a projection of a grievance toward ourselves. Look carefully at what you accuse the ‘other’ of doing, and you will find that you are accusing yourself.

Robert Meagher has been ordained as an Interfaith Minister and certified as a Sacred Attention Therapy (SAT) Therapist. Robert is the Founder and Spiritual Director for Spiritual Guidance and Co-Founder of the Center for Human Awakening.