The Fourth Brahmavihara

In week # 4 we discussed the 4 attitudes or" brahmaviharas" that Patanjali gives us in the Yoga Sutras. We spent time looking at the last one as this one we believed was the most challenging.
These attitudes are a way to begin "cleaning up our social relationships" and a preliminary step to clearing the mind. The 4th attitude is "Remaining impartial to the faults and imperfections of others". (Yoga Sutra 1.33). Donna Farhi says,"Our spiritual fitness can be tested only in relationship to others". She says, "What we refuse in ourselves, we refuse in others". In other words what we refuse to see and accept in ourselves will make us intolerant of the same in another.
Think of the last time you were critical or harsh with your judgement toward another. How does that manifest in yourself? A good question to ask sometimes is just "And how am I that too?"