Personal attacks are rooted in poverty.

They are launched from an ego that seeks a cheap, sugar-like “high” and feeling of superiority from the harm inflicted on the recipient.

There are few greater signs of ignorance than the use of a personal attack—or attack of any kind, not just the overtly violent kind.

Personal attacks never solve the problem they are trying to solve. In most cases, all they do is inspire retribution and further cycles of pain and violence.

You know you are coming along not only because you attack less but because you lose the ability to feel attacked.

Spiritual practice helps to dissolve your personal sense of self, which further helps you to become lighter — less dense — and so not as entangled with the material reality you can see, touch, and hear.

An enlightened mind, in the presence of a personal attack or negative judgment, listens to it first and foremost.

“You are the most selfish, irresponsible person I know.”

As the saint was once a sinner, he or she will be able to find truth in this statement.

The enlightened mind understands that being the most selfish, irresponsible person is needed for a time (how else to learn selflessness and responsibility?)—it does not recognize fault in the judgment because it sees no essential difference between fault and virtue. Both have important roles to play.

As such, the enlightened mind cannot become offended. Instead, it transmutes the negativity of the attack and reflects understanding back to the attacker, which is not only disarming but also has the power to create a life-changing transformation.

It’s not even enlightened. It’s commonsense.