Have you ever observed yourself in moments when you are looking at another in disgust, superiority, discrimination?
Judgement entails the need to condemn another for a wrong, a error or misperception. When we truly sit to think about the implications that judgement has, we can become clear on why we often result to it. In many ways, judgment has been useful to us for millennia. Through this we have been able to choose the strongest, most enduring choices, decisions and partners through judging characteristics which has enabled us to live on earth cohabitating will all other forms of life for billions of years. Judgement in survival is useful because it enables us to tune into self-preservation, which is the root for maintaining one’s livelihood. The ego naturally tunes into self-preservation as the first response to maintaining life. And so judgement, has been extremely integral to all of life as a means of regulation, jurisdiction and survival.
In the battle of egoic consciousness, judgment has its pros and cons. Though judgement is beneficial in terms of safety, life or death and self-protection, in excess it becomes a means to further perpetuate egoism which teaches a master class in the idea of separation. What is meant by this is that the ego seeks to maintain a personal identity by separating itself from everything on the “outside”. Think about it – when we see’s items, food, places, people, it witnesses each of these things as “outside”. And more commonly, when the ego perceives God, it also begins to categorize this Being as separate and outside of itself as well.
The ego loves separation because it can then attempt to individualize itself, following its own path in selfishness resulting in bending its will. Never mind being accountable for others or the collective, the ego wants to maintain this separation so that it can preserve the “self”. In this separation, the ego uses numerous tactics to further emphasize its need for self-preservation, greed and independence.
So why does the ego want to remain separate?
This question is one that I ask myself in moments when judgment arises. We often believe that we have all of the right answers with a resulting clinginess to these very understandings because they feel right for us. We will then characterize these heart feelings as “truth” as they become reinforced through behavior and life experiences. The problem with the issue of truth is that, if this lies as a feeling-tone relationship, then one person may have a different feeling of our truth which leads them to one of their own. We are all each different versions of one another, with differing experiences which contribute to the formation of our individual character. This becomes a mercy and a blessing from God who is the ultimate Source and Creator of each of these life and thought forms. But this mercy becomes a detriment when we forget the miracle that life truly was created as.
Judgement comes as a result of witnessing another’s truth and through a lack of resonance in our own being, we reject it. Never mind the fact that that this may be a plausible truth for someone else’s experience, we cannot face the discomfort that often comes with the acknowledgement that we do not have all of the answers. And in being so wrapped up in the egoic need to be right, when another believes something that is contrary to our own, it becomes an attack on our perceived truth.
The most beautiful and intricate trait that God has given humans is the ability to perceive. We have been blessed with the talent of taking in information, applying it to our own previous knowledge, testing that information through new experience and then deciding its validity. In this same way, belief is cultivated through series of logic, experience and blended with faith. But this skill becomes harmful when it allows for us to generate arrogance. When we walk around believing that we know everything, that we are right, we know better than someone else – we place ourselves on the highest pedestal believing to speak for God Himself. If we are each connected to The Creator, then who has more access to Him than another? Who has more right to The Creators knowledge and wisdom for their life’s journey? Are we not all equal in shape, size, worth and form? Who then is more right than the other?
The truth that we each are afraid to acknowledge is that we do not know everything. We truly barely know anything. There are so many answers that we are unsure of and that perhaps we will never have knowledge of. None of us know what is waiting for us when we pass, nevertheless what awaits us the next day. All we can do is follow through with what is true for us, having faith and belief that we are taken care of when we follow our heart. And in this practice of following our hearts, we utilize discernment and connect with higher truths – leading us to a path where everything in our lives begin to seamlessly align.
We do not need all of the answers of the universe, yet if we can use our hearts discernment to tune into what is true for us then we can let go of judgement and see each journey as unique reflections of the One Creator and exist in a space of peace, mutual respect and harmony.
Regardless of so called “differences”.
Genuinely Jannah 