Judgments Are Alright
How many times have you heard it said, “don’t be so judgmental”? Or, “I’m not a very judgmental person”?
I’ve heard it, have said it myself, and have worked at trying to “fix” the tendency. And guess what, I keep on judging. It’s what we do. It’s really the attachment to the judgment that is so painful. Through teachings of the Dharma and the guidance and learning I have gotten through other teachers and teachings, I began to awaken to the concept that ah-ha, judgments (even seemingly “negative” ones) are a key part of human mental process, they are the buried treasure that helps us know 1) what we like and do not like at any given moment and 2) where we are holding onto hate.
Ever notice how some judgments are super fleeting and others are quite steadfast? Ever notice what those judgments are really saying about what resentments we have? Those resentments are the things that we walk around with and they are the parts that really cause us and others hurt. What fertile land there is in the awareness of our judgments instead of pushing away and ignoring them?
Witnessing, allowing and inspecting is a very different way of being and so much more loving than casting a negative judgment (tsk, tsk…you’re BAD for thinking that, for not liking that, for desiring that).
Negatively judging our own judgment is yet another form of close-mindedness and a self-mutilating form of not letting ourselves into our own hearts—not loving ourselves and not being present with WHAT IS.
Being judgmental, yes, it hurts sometimes but not in the way so many of us have understood it. It hurts us more, the one having the judgment, not to look deeper at the gift within the judgment. Once acceptance comes, and the road may be short or long, our judgments won’t own us anymore. We will be freer.
Rescue your judgments,
Amy
