Building on the previous reading on awareness balanced by loving-kindness vs. knee-jerk tendencies towards judgement:
“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently…The ground of not causing harm is mindfulness, a sense of clear seeing with respect and compassion for what it is we see…It’s a lifetime’s journey to relate honestly to the immediacy of our experience and to respect ourselves enough not to judge it.” — Pema Chodron
From Pema Chodron’s When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times