The Mote and the Beam



The Mote and the Beam is a parable of Jesus given in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 7, verses. The discourse is fairly brief, and begins by warning his followers of the dangers of judging others, stating that they too would be judged by the same standard. The Sermon on the Plain has a similar passage in.

Narrative
In the Wycliffe and King James versions bibles, the word mote refers to a speck, and the beam is a wooden plank or log.

A modern English version is as follows:

In the King James Version, the first two verses use plural "ye" and "you", and the next three verses use the singular "thou", "thy" and "thine" to the individual. ( was translated "thou" after using "ye" in .)

Interpretation
The moral lesson is to avoid hypocrisy, self-righteousness, and censoriousness. The analogy used is of a small object in another's eye as compared with a large beam of wood in one's own. The original Greek word translated as "mote" (κάρφος karphos) meant "any small dry body". The terms mote and beam are from the King James Version; other translations use different words, e.g. the New International Version uses "speck (of sawdust)" and "plank". In 21st century English a "mote" is more normally a particle of dust – particularly one that is floating in the air – rather than a tiny splinter of wood.

In the analogy, the one seeking to remove the impediment in the eye of his brother has the larger impediment in his own eye, suggesting metaphorically that the one who attempts to regulate his brother often displays the greater blindness and hypocrisy.

A proverb of this sort was familiar to the Jews, and appears in numerous other cultures too, such as the Latin proverb of later Roman days referenced by Athenagoras of Athens, meretrix pudicam.

Mindfulness and Non-resistance Interpretation
Eckhart Tolle interprets Jesus Christ's teachings as being centred on Mindfulness and Acceptance. To judge something as good or bad is to enter into the world of dualities, and this creates psychological, or spiritual, tension. Tolle interprets "Judge not, that ye be not judged" as that if you categorise something or someone negatively or positively, you affirm that its opposite polarity must also exist, and so resistance, conflict, suffering, sin, become possible.

In The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment Tolle says:

"To relinquish judgment does not mean that you do not recognize dysfunction and unconsciousness when you see it. It means 'being the knowing' rather than 'being the reaction '' and the judge."

Relinquishing judgement is, in this sense, about not imbuing reality with dualistic concepts that distract you from the singular reality of the present moment.