Judgmental Mind

This subject is one that I completely enjoy discussing with people because it helps to open the individuals mind to who they really are. It helps to take people outside the proverbial box that is so often spoken of in our society. It is judgment that actually places us in this confined mental space putting us in the box. Before we continue I would like to ask you several questions about you and life in general. Do you truly know you or do you know how you judge you to be? Do you know your friends or do you know how you judge them to be? Do you truly know your partner? Do you know life or how you are judging life? I fully realize that most of your initial answers are going to be yes but the truth in the answer to these questions is mostly no. Does this surprise you? I have had the opportunity to ask many people this question and the majority of the people were not only somewhat indignant at first but they said yes they did but after our conversations they realized that all they truly knew was how they judge things to be including themselves. These are powerful questions to consider if one is seeking empowerment, consciousness, and spirituality.
To begin this let us determine where a judging mind comes from and then let us explore why we even do it. Then we shall take a look at the above questions to see how they fit to assist in opening your mind. Where does our judgment actually come from? They arise out of and from what has been termed as the small self or the ego based mind. What is an ego based mind? This type of mind is based in physicality or materiality and is not spiritually based. Interestingly enough the vast majority of people who claim to be spiritual and even religious can be very judgmental when it comes to people, circumstance and life. We honestly believe that we must do it when in actuality it is something that is unnecessary and here is why. I find something else that is interesting and that is it is amazing at the number of people that believe in the idea that there are no coincidences in life that everything has a purpose. If this is true then how may a person judge when things are simply unfolding for us in our lives. The thing that I find also very interesting is when things are going good then there is less judgment going on except that you are simply judging it as things are good. When things are not we tend to judge more because we are being physically based but in actuality this is true in both scenarios.
When we mostly reside in our egos then we tend to judge more often. Why do we live here? It is our conditioned nature that has allowed this. We have gotten here because we strive only for the material world and societies. We strive to be better than the next person while we downplay them in the mean time. What it appears is that we simply misuse the ego by striving for the lower nature in most instances instead of reaching for the higher divine nature. If we were to strive for the later then a judging mind would simply disappear and the ego would be more divine, after all it has the ability to swing both ways. People are talking about how the ego is a dying thing when this is simply not the case in fact we could not live without it because this is our creative power. How could Michael Angelo have painted what he did? All great minds have great egos but what truly makes them great is in the use of the ego to power the mind to great heights by using the power of the ego in creative directions as we each could if we were to so choose. The way that we operate with it at the present is simply about power and control.
If we were to apply this wonderful tool to higher purposes it would not taunt us in the manner that it does. It is simply in control and not us. It is your mind and your ego so why not simply focus it on your dreams and allow the creative power of the ego to guide you to that dream. It will but not as long as you live in the judging nature of the ego. Free your self of this box that surrounds you. Here is the funny thing. In the Far East they teach the law of the mirrors in their teachings of Karma. This law is about how we judge things to be in a very real sense. In essence here is the crux of the idea; to see something in another person or in life it must be within you first or it simply would go unnoticed. Allow me this example; if you judge someone to be, let us say arrogant, then this simply is life attempting to show you that you have the propensity to carry this inside you. It is our judging minds that blind us to this level of true reality. I realize that most of you may not agree with this idea yet it is thousands of years old and has proven itself time and again. Judging is this simple in that how we see life is how we judge our very own selves simply because it does not match us so we judge it accordingly and this is why we operate more times than not as though we were blind.
Here is how we may remove this character trait from our lives. First learn to see life as it truly is and not as it isn’t which is what judging does for us. If there are no coincidences then life simply just is what it is and no judgment is placed. How may we judge if there is no good or bad to it? The second idea is by being present in any given moment. What do I mean by being present? The best way to explain what is meant by being present is simply always keep your mind where your body is located no matter where you are or what you are doing. Keep your mind right behind your eyes. At first this is not an easy task but with practice it becomes a very natural thing to do. There is no judgment in the present there is only the moment in which you are living in. The mind of the human is the only part of us that is seldom present and the mind is where the ego resides and this is the tool that is always passing judgment. But being present will virtually eliminate the improper use of the ego thereby blocking a judging mind from operating in that manner. Consider this for a moment our emotions do not have the ability to drift into the future nor the past and our soul is not small enough to judge life so it is the mind that is the key in operating free of judging. I love to ask people to take just one hour out of a day and do not judge anything. You will find it difficult because we are so used to operating in judgment. If you judge something in that hour then begin again and so on until you can go for a complete hour. It will change you forever especially when you realize how much easier your life will become.
Now let us look at the original questions that were asked of you when we began this article. The first one; Do you know you or how you judge you to be? For those of you that are truthful and realize that you know your judgment of you good for you. This is actually not a ridiculous question and here is why. Do you criticize you for any reason? If so this is simply harsh judgment and nothing more. Do you downplay you at times? This also is the same thing. Do you have self worth issues? These are all the same examples. You see if you do not judge yourself then you are able to realize that you are perfectly different from every one else and this is true normalcy so never compare you to another. Do you seek people to agree with you? Do you feel uncomfortable if they do not agree with you? Do you need people to like you? These all fit into the same category in life. It is all of these things that will never empower you in fact they will drain you from the feeling of ever being empowered. You see as suggested above if you stay in the present then what you acquire is presence in all that you do thusly being empowered and free of judgment at the same time.
Let us now look at the next of the questions that being do you know who your friends and partner truly are? Again most will say yes but let us look into this idea also. Why do we have the partners that we do or the friends we select? The truthful answer is simply because they agree with us and with our views for the most part. The second thing is that more times than not they judge the same way that we do. They see the world in the very same manner. Let’s look at agreement and disagreement for a moment because they both have their basis in a judging mind. In a world that is filled with nothing but individuals to agree or disagree is very easy to do yet we all in essence have different experiences than every one else. Our experiences are unique to our selves only so what is there to agree with or for that matter disagree with? We honestly believe that this is possible when in reality it is not due to our differences and here is where these two ideas are an illusion and why they are in the realm of judging. We may only view life through our experiences and when we hold tightly to them they are the cause of how and why we judge what we do in our lives. So how may we end the idea of judgment? This on one hand is not so difficult but the journey to that end may be because it requires objective observation. Here is the first key and that is that there are no coincidences in our world there is only cause and effect. We create what we experience and if this is so there simply are no rights nor are there wrongs because of the idea of personal creation all we actually have is the experiences and an opportunity to learn and make corrections as we learn. There are no wrong experiences nor are there any right ones there is only experience. If we like what the experience is then it is right and if we do not like the experience then it is now wrong. No it is simply experience to allow us growth in our reality and nothing more. If we judge the experience then we actually become blind to the experiences and ultimately to life and to our selves by judging. Life simply is what it is our personal creation so see it for what it is and this simply takes practice and nothing more. If we desire to shift life simply see it differently and objectively.

Bio:
Steven L. Hairfield, Ph.D.
Steven spent many yeas as a monk in India and Nepal studying the Tibetan Buddhist traditions with Eastern Masters. He has an M.A. in Religion and Theology and a Ph.D. in the field of Metaphysics. He works as an intuitive life coach and is an author of many books with the latest one entitled A Metaphysical Interpretation of the Bible. www.hairfield.com

InnerCircle Publishing - The Power of Thoguht - Dr. Steven Hairfield