Catching up on some back issues of the Buddhist mags, I came across this very insightful little essay by a Teacher in Trungpa's lineage ... on taking personal blame or praise with Wisdom ...

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Love Me, Hate Me
Thursday, February 3, 2011 At 1:17PM
Praise and blame are like echoes that don’t ultimately exist, explains Rose Taylor. But we still have to know how to work with it.

If you know that all the many utterances of praise and blame
Are sound-emptiness, unborn,
Like the sounds of guitars, echoes, and thunder in the sky
Then all attachment and aversion to these sounds of praise and blame
Will be completely pacified.

—Unchanging Sky’s Beautiful Melody, Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche

As conveyed in this verse, the Buddhist teachings on genuine reality tell us how praise and blame are merely empty sounds with no true existence. In essence, they are no different. We are able to distinguish the concepts of praise and blame only by contrasting each with its opposite—each depends on its opposite for its own definition. They do not have any independent identity in themselves. These sounds of praise and blame are merely unborn sounds, like echoes reverberating or thunder rumbling in the sky.

This can be quite difficult to remember when we are faced with praise or blame. Our minds are easily carried away with the alluring sounds of praise and disturbed by the harsh sounds of blame. So it is useful to examine the relationship between them, develop skillful methods for working with them, and investigate their ultimate natures.

more here ...

http://www.thebuddhadharma.com/web-a...e-hate-me.html