Who are you judging anyway?

We have all experienced judgment at some time in our lives.

I think most of us have very clear memories of when another’s judgment has wounded us. Not so clear perhaps are the memories of our own instances of judging.

The old adage goes, “judge not that, ye be not judged.” And the addendum to that is, “for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged.” Pretty much sounds like what most of us think of karma: what goes around, comes around.

I read an interesting thought about judgment the other day. Suppose I stop and consider that my criticism of another doesn’t just go out into the ether and come back to haunt me, but rather, suppose those thoughts never “go” anywhere at all. Since the subconscious mind cannot distinguish between subject and object, those thoughts stay right where they are – in my own mind – and act on me instantaneously.

If I am to embrace the feeling of Oneness, then in the subjective, we are all One. My criticism, insult or denigration of another surely then must affect me. A new reason to guard my thoughts?

Every one of us has heard some variation of the idea that when we judge another we are simply judging ourselves.

Suppose the reality is that I never even get to judge anyone else? The minute I have those judgmental thoughts, I am only judging me.

This idea has firmly planted in my mind what I call a “circuit breaker.”

The last week or so, I have experienced an instant, “stop” as I am formulating the judging thought. It has moved me to now view someone I was about to condemn as “interesting,” rather than with a negative thought. The moment I think of someone as interesting, my conscious mind begins to look for an explanation of what is so interesting. It gives me an opportunity to observe the person I was about to judge through a more compassionate lens and invariably allows me to accept them without the judgment.

Obviously, this is a big shift in my life. Try it on for size for the next couple of days and see of it doesn’t make you feel better about everyone around you. But more importantly, you will feel better about yourself.