There is nothing to take personally. Nothing. Even if a diatribe is directly targeted to you, it is not for you to take personally.
I have said before that everyone lives in his own world. The world seen from another window is different from what is seen outside your window. Even as there is Oneness, no two human beings see the world the same. Everyone sees through his or her own eyes.
Whoever may be letting you have it, he is really talking to himself and in a manner that has nothing to do with you. Even if you did say or do something that another is up in arms about, you are being set-up. You are a handy target. You are in front of him at the target range, and he is at practice. Sometimes We could call the world the target range. Some days you have been hit a lot.
It is a very practical thing to not take things personally. Even if you are a child who is being spanked, do not take it personally. Even if the spanking is entirely unfair, it is not to be taken personally which is another way to say it is not to be taken as all-important.
You are on a journey. We can say that, in life, you are climbing to Heaven. You rise to Heaven.
When you take everything personally, you keep yourself tied down to where you have been. I am telling you how to rise, one good way to rise, not the only one. The struggle, whatever it might be, when you enter into it and “fight back” or whatever, you are kept at that state. Literally, it’s necessary to rise above the level of the fray. Climb the ladder and, from above, what do you see? Do you see insult that you might refute, or do you, in the final instance, see something for you to see differently?
One thing for you to learn is to not take even a personal assault as an offense. Your vision is rising. It is great vision and wisdom, you are learning. You can do it.
Even if a car hits you, unless you’re a gangster or what, you know the car didn’t set out to hit you. If you can be that gracious to a car, then be as gracious to another fellow human being who, in truth, may not be any more conscious than the car. He’s in a fog. One thing he is trying to do is to right what he sees as a wrong. Right or wrong is beside the point. The point is never right or wrong.
If you must have a position, let it be: “What can I do to remove this tension?”
You notice I didn’t say: “What can I do to defend myself?” It’s a given that there is something the other person isn’t getting, and it’s a given that there is something you also are not getting. You are not to be in this situation as a defender. A defender is really an attacker, perhaps inverted but an attacker nevertheless. And, so, if you defend, and another attacks, what you have are two attackers. It is not in your best interest to retaliate in kind.
What you really want is to climb another rung on the ladder. To do that, you have to rise above the fray. Rising above is worth going for. As you rise, your so-called opponent may rise a notch with you. You are looking out for his welfare as well as yours. You are bringing peace to the situation and ultimately the world. Where is an enemy then when you have grown taller than his offense?