When I hear criticism or judgment, I don’t spend much time analyzing the person who is criticizing me. That doesn’t interest me very much. Instead, I turn inward. I dive into my heart and ask myself, How does this criticism affect me? Is there something within me that still needs healing? Is this something I should bring into a Theta Healing session, or is my heart completely at peace?
For example, I have heard people from other countries criticize the Latvian language. One of them was German and was making fun of the way we pronounce certain words. I found it amusing because it came from someone whose native language has words like Schmetterling. I looked honestly at how his criticism affected me and realized something simple: I did not choose the country where I was born, and I did not choose my native language. It is simply what it is. Once I saw that clearly, the criticism passed through me without leaving a mark.
Another example happened in India shortly after I met my Guru. I had known Him for only a few months and was still unfamiliar with all the unwritten rules that people carried in their minds.
During one darśan, I bowed to my Guru along with everyone else. As He walked past, the edge of His robe touched me. The woman standing next to me immediately scolded me, saying that I should have been more careful and not touched the Guru.
I reflected on what had happened. The reality was that I had not reached out to touch Him—He had simply walked by, and His robe brushed against me. The only way to have avoided that moment would have been if the earth had opened beneath me and swallowed me, but since that didn’t happen, there was nothing I could have done differently. Once I saw the situation clearly, there was nothing left to carry emotionally.
My personal view is that praise and criticism are two sides of the same coin. If we become attached to praise or afraid of criticism, we remain dependent on other people’s opinions.
Criticism can become one of our greatest spiritual teachers if we are willing to use it honestly. Instead of asking, “Was that person right or wrong?” I ask, “What is happening inside me right now?” If there is pain, defensiveness, or insecurity, then I have found something that can be healed. If my heart remains peaceful, then the criticism simply passes by.
For me, both praise and criticism are opportunities to know myself more deeply. The goal is not to avoid either one, but to remain rooted in the peace that does not depend on other people’s opinions.
And if you discover that criticism still brings up pain, fear, anger, or the need to defend yourself, you can gently dive into your heart through a Theta Healing session. There, you can uncover the beliefs and emotions beneath the reaction, bring them into the light, and allow them to heal. Sometimes criticism is not our enemy—it is simply showing us where healing is still waiting to happen.