It’s easy to hate Donald Trump. The mogul presidential candidate has been widely characterized by the media, political analysts, and voters as a narcissistic, bigoted, racist, misogynistic blowhard. Mental health professionals have diagnosed him as emotionally immature with personality disorders. Editorials by some of the most conservative newspapers have warned that a Trump presidency would spell disaster for our country and the world. Almost daily the candidate spews attacks, judgments, pejorative labels, and gaffes. A less qualified candidate there never was. "Down with the Donald, up with anyone else!”

But wait. . .

Could there be some hidden value in the Trump candidacy, an opportunity that hardly anyone recognizes?  Behind his dark disguise and penchant for faux pas, could the man be offering a huge gift to the populace of America?

If you have done some self-exploration, you understand that everything we see represents something that lives in our mind, and we tend to project our perceived shortcomings onto the outer world. We behold and fight evil outside us to avoid the evil we believe is inside us. We judge, attack, and fabricate separations to defend our shaky self-image. Everyone we hate is a scapegoat of the sins we seek to disown. Could the Donald be serving us as a massive projection screen we can use to heal ourselves?

Let’s take a closer look at Mr. Trump’s widely-discussed shortcomings as revealed through his platform, business reputation, and, more specifically, during last week’s presidential debate: Donald Trump (1) Wants to build a wall from the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico to keep Mexicans from infiltrating America; (2) Wants to ban Muslims from entering the country; (3) Has labeled women “slobs, dogs, and pigs,” and denigrates women who are overweight; (4) Has stiffed numerous contractors who have worked for him; (5) Denies, twists, and distorts facts to serve his purposes, and fabricates unbelievable tall tales, such as “Ted Cruz’s father was linked to the assassination of JFK”; and (6) Denied that Barack Obama is a United States citizen.

During the recent debate, Trump (7) Did not listen to his opponent or the moderator’s questions and went off on irrelevant tangents; (8) Interrupted Hillary Clinton 51 times in 90 minutes; (9 )Bragged that he did not pay taxes because “that makes me smart”; and (10) Blamed his poor performance on a faulty microphone.

Now here’s the gold available to each of us, if we have the courage to dig for it: Ask yourself, “Do I exhibit any of the behaviors for which I judge and criticize Donald Trump?” I asked myself this highly confrontive question, and found some startling answers, as you might if you consider: (1) Do you build physical, emotional, or psychological walls against people you fear will infiltrate and undermine your world? (2) Do you harbor judgments and prejudices, spoken or unspoken, against people of a different religion or culture than your own? (3) Do you negatively label members of the opposite sex, and/or judge people who are overweight, including your own body? (4) Do you ever not pay workers or attempt to pay them less than their work is worth? (5) Do you filter facts presented to you, choosing the ones you prefer and discarding ones you don’t? (6) Do you make up stories to support the case you favor? (7) Do you ever not listen to people speaking to you? (8) Do you ever interrupt people while they are speaking? (9) Do you avoid paying taxes or effort to pay as little as possible? (10) Do you blame people, events, and things for your shortcomings?

If you answer these questions honestly, you may see, as I did, that Donald Trump is not just a big blowhard; he is a big blow-up doll who embodies pieces of all of us. He is the archetypical bad guy who demonstrates and even exaggerates the “sins” we all own but wish to purge from ourselves. As much as we hate to admit it, Trump is the us that we wish we weren’t. What we hate in him we hate in ourselves. In that sense, he serves us well as a mirror to face our own limiting beliefs, prejudices, and shadows, and grow beyond them.

Does this mean we should just overlook the candidate’s faults and vote for him? Hardly. A majority of voters believe the man is extraordinarily unfit for the office of President, and would do immense harm to the country and the world if turned loose. Money, it turns out, is not a substitute for integrity. This is not an article about national or world politics. It is a call to use the world we see as a fulcrum to achieve personal transformation, which leads to world transformation. It is always more attractive to find fault with others and want to fix them or get rid of them than to transform ourselves. That’s how Hitlers are created. By stark contrast, consider Gandhi’s advice: “Be the change you wish to see.”

Beyond being a catalyst for personal transformation, Donald Trump represents a segment of the population who resonate with his beliefs. As a nation we are deciding what we stand for, and what is acceptable behavior for human beings if we plan to get along with each other and heal a sorely troubled and divided world. This election is not between candidates; it is between intentions. Do we keep building walls and pushing people away, or do we join and accept?  (Every single person in this country who is not a descendant of a Native American is here because we allowed immigration.) Do we need to put down the opposite sex, or do we honor its members for their contribution to our lives? Can we listen to each other and learn from what others are saying rather than just waiting to make our own argument or interrupt to do so?

Donald Trump has come to save us from our sins. Not by electing him, but by using his example to grow beyond our own narrowness, and choose a nation and a world that values compassion over judgment, service to community over self-aggrandizement, and honoring all of our relationships rather than attempting to dominate or destroy them. 

Alan Cohen is the author of The Grace Factor, and the new bestseller A Course in Miracles Made Easy: Mastering the Journey from Fear to Love. For more information about Alan’s programs, free daily inspirational quotes, online courses, and weekly radio show, visit www.AlanCohen.com.