You are here: Articles About Spirituality :: Judgment
Judgment
It is not our job to convert anyone to our beliefs or to judge another human for theirs. Why? We are all constantly growing. That means, what you are today, may not be what you will be tomorrow, so when are you "right" enough to dictate to another human being how THEY should be? If you do this, it is only your ego speaking, not truth. Every single soul on this entire planet has a spirit, and subconsciously or otherwise, is on their own private path to enlightenment. For any of us to decide that we know what is right for another human being is not the best path for our own journey. Who is right? Who is better? In one instance we may criticize others for their apparent lack of spirituality or virtues, and then later find out that they too have wisdom and depth. Our paths are perfect for our individual life, worry about your own, not another's. Now, if you set an example, and they seek you out, then share (not convert!) your experiences. We shouldn't seek pupils, for we are all students in life.
Do you know what beliefs are? They are merely our personal interpretation of life. This does not mean we are necessarily right either. With this being the case, when we judge people, it is based on our projected beliefs not the Truth. What we see is what we believe to be true, but they will see a different "big screen" of reality. We are not in the position to see accurately as we let our past fears and expectations intrude into our present experience and cloud it further still with anticipation of expected events in the future.
I myself meet people of all levels of awareness. Do I care any more or less for one who is more spiritual than one who is less? This is the principal of unconditional love (and judgment is not present with unconditional love). To judge or to base your love on conditions of your fellow man is not unconditional love. Instead of thinking of your peers as inferior or superior, think of them as students on the very same road you are on. Love them, don't judge them.
If someone tries to tell you that you would be better suited to follow their path, then listen kindly to what they have to say, but follow your own heart, not theirs. They may not know that you have to endure a particular event in order to learn a lesson. No matter what someone is doing in life, it is for a reason. And if what we do is viewed as a "mistake" the truth is that it is really just a lesson disguised. We all have a starting point and cannot be any further ahead than what we are ready for.
People often judge as a reflection of their own personal misery. When we criticize or judge others, we are usually very unhappy and looking for faults in others to make our own less apparent or bearable. Also, I have noticed that people who judge are usually self righteous, but not from Life experience, but from the lack of it.
Not too many things are emotionally more painful than being the recipient of someone else's adverse judgment.
Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
- John 7:24
And righteous judgment is no judgment at all.
"Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man."
- John 8:15
Judgment shows our lack of understanding that:
All things are connected
All things have purpose
All things have polarities
I belonged to woman's group for a very short time several years ago and an observation of judgment was made. A young woman in the group stated that her brother had lived a life of chasing women, lying, and deceitful behavior. Her brother had just formed an attachment with a woman who actually was having a positive impact on him. She then died suddenly. This so affected the brother that he realized his own mortality and decided a change in his behavior was called for. He was now, as she described him, "a new man." She then announced that "This was a horrible thing and I wouldn't wish it on anyone!" So I said to her, "But your brother is a changed man, would you take this lesson and growth away from him?" She didn't know how to answer that. She judged something she didn't understand. The brother chose this event at a level he was not aware of. This was a lesson that was meant to unfold for him. Ịt is something most of us cannot understand, and therefore are inadequately prepared to judge.
We never know fully someone else's life purpose, thoughts, motives, and lessons and for that matter, we do not even know our own. We judge all these events in our life as "good and bad" but it still goes back to "connection, purpose and polarities."
How do you know what light is? How do you define yourself? You know you are you by seeing what you are not. You see your physical self and its apparent separation from another. You know light because you've seen the lack of light (dark). You think you know good because you've seen evil. But if I took away your body, dark, and evil, then you would know nothing of light, separation and good. You absolutely need the opposite to fully know what something is. All things are described in relation to another. Light is described as not being dark. Up is described in relation to down. We have to have these relations (polarities) so we can experience and understand things. So to judge that one is good or bad is missing the point entirely.
In terms of good and evil, I am not talking moral indifference. Of course hateful behavior is not in-line with positive behavior and spiritual growth but if we were all perfect, we would not be here! God is perfect and created us. If It created perfect beings, then It would just have re-manifested itself so what's the point? The point is to create something that is an illusion of what it is not, so that it can work itself back to perfection and realization. This is the grand experience of our soul. To purposely forget our perfection so we can go through the miracle of self-realization all over again. So where can we start to judge this miracle of forgetting and remembering? We cannot.
The irony of judgment is that it is often the judge who lives out their own judgment. Twice I have heard the righteous cries of two married women who swore up and down they would never have an affair, and anyone who ever did was absolutely a terrible person. Both went on to have affairs and left their husbands to remarry. They lived their own judgment. They commented later they just didn't realize how circumstances could create decisions they thought they were incapable of making. So were they wrong to have an affair? Well that is not for me to judge! The point is that they specifically had to live the lesson so they could realize that judgment of others is not for them to make.
Judgment also prevents us from achieving self-love. If we are harshly judging others, then I guarantee that you are doing it to yourself as well. And when you judge yourself, you create self-hatred for the perceived "mistakes" you've made.
People love to throw the ultimate hate judgment question at me and that is Hitler. But remember, it was Hitler's judgment that the Jews were inferior (just as it was once Christian's judgment that people not following their path should be burned at the stake, and it was the judgment of the white man that darker skinned people were inferior resulting in slavery and human oppression). Our judgment leads to misery at many levels. I use Hitler as another pointer on what is the opposite of love. The opposite of compassion, mercy, and good. I use it as something that I do not want for myself in my remembering process. It is the ultimate lesson on why judging is not to be done. But we all have free will, just as he did, and the world witnessed him taking judgment to the highest level. Let that by your lesson on judgment.
Search this site:
Latest spiritual experiences:
Comments:
Loading comments....