When others criticize you, there are two things to think of. First, “That’s the way they look at me and that’s what they see.” Give them that freedom. They may not see the other, better side. Feel sorry for them. Leave it at that.
The other thing to think about is, “Yes, that person is like a mirror. Through him or her I see my defects.” You go in front of a mirror to clean the dirty spots from your face. In the same way, this person is revealing your dirty spots. Thank the person and work on it. Then you will even look for criticism, because you can get help from that. If people don’t criticize you, you will never know your own defects. If you see it in this light, you will never be angered by that. But if the mirror continues to show your dirty spot and you become defensive and punch it, you lose your mirror, you lose your fist and you still have the dirty spot.
-Excerpted from The Golden Present, by Sri Swami Satchidananda
