Learning not to judge

Here's a paragraph from The Feeling Buddha by David Brazier. It points out the problem with trying to make ourselves special or different:

When we are able to see our own negativity clearly we will be less complacent and we will not stand in judgment over others. We will know that we too have all the seeds in us to be every possible kind of saint or sinner. We are not made of different stuff from the people we might choose to scorn. To be proud of ourselves while devaluing others is simply self-deception. If we have some special talent or some particular virtue, then we have it for a purpose, which is to benefit the world. If we see it as a platform from which inwardly to assert our superiority, we defeat our real purpose immediately.

Humility is an important aspect of meditative practice. That means not thinking we are less than others and not thinking we are more than others but simply being willing to take our place as a member of humanity - simply one of others. It has been aptly said that humility is not thinking less of ourselves but rather thinking of ourselves less.