What is Judgment?
Judgment means to judge an action.
You cannot judge an action of an inanimate or a non-living object, or a non human object. You cannot judge a poor dog. It barks when it is afraid. You can’t judge a tree. It is also alive but even if a tree falls on your head, you don’t say, “this is a bad tree, it fell on me”. You know that it has no such idea.
When we think of human beings, even by accident, if I give you a blow, because I am shifting from the chair, you will think, “this fellow is my enemy, he must have hit me deliberately”. Sometimes it may be deliberate also, but a tree doesn’t deliberately hit you. When the wind blows, bamboo may fall and you might get a scratch, but it cannot say, ‘oh here she comes, let me scratch her’. Human beings can do this though.
Judgment is, therefore, based on human actions mostly.
Judgmental means to say “He’s a bad person”. Or “a good fellow”. So this judgment becomes both ways. Sometimes wrong, “good” judgments, sometimes wrong “bad” judgments, but all judgments are conclusions drawn by our mind. Actual fact we may not know.
Is there a way of living without judgment? Why should we judge somebody?
If by repeated interaction with somebody you have found that person is detrimental to your growth in any way, then you can avoid, but don’t judge. Don’t say bad things. Circumstances will be forcing them to act in certain ways. We need not judge.
As long as, to judge is not condemn, then it is okay, actually, to survive in life. It should not be a condemnation. And also even if you judge somebody by some action, at some point, keep your mind free to see if maybe he or she will change. You cannot permanently fix the image which we have through one experience or through a few repeated experiences.So allow that change factor to remain in suspension.
What is the meaning of discrimination?
In the spiritual books and teachings discrimination is to be able to distinguish between what is permanent and what is impermanent.
Even that meaning of discrimination as far as the spiritual journey is concerned, is distinguishing between what is permanent, and what is impermanent.
On the spiritual journey, you begin to move, step by step, little by little, and you discover that everything we know of is impermanent. Anything that is known, is impermanent. The mind gives continuity to it but it’s not permanent. It is temporary.
From there, then the next logical question is, if it is temporary, if it is here today, gone tomorrow, comes and goes , and passes, if it is not permanent, then will it be considered true? If something is true, then it has to be true for all times. The truth is, it is not true for all times so it cannot be true. This is the meaning of discrimination from the point of your spiritual journey.
Therefore, one begins to understand the impermanence of the whole thing, and begins to wonder if there is anything permanent at all.
The spiritual books declare yes, there is something permanent which is an eternal witness to all that is not. And this witness also disappears after some time. At least to the eyes who don’t see it.
There is something from which this whole thing comes and goes. That ground is real. But that which comes and goes is not. It’s impermanent. Not unreal. When it is there it is quite real, not unreal (e.g., a Tulsi plant) . But it is impermanent. This you have to distinguish between. Don’t get the feeling, or get into the wrong conclusion that this Tulsi is unreal. It is not unreal. It is quite real. But it doesn’t last. It is impermanent. So today it may be here. Tomorrow it is not there. Therefore it is unreal. Not that when it is there it is not unreal.
This is the wrong interpretation of the Theory of Maya actually. When you say everything is unreal. Everything is not unreal. It is real, but it is impermanent. It doesn’t last. It’s not permanent. But when it is there, it is quite real.
If it is not real, what are you fighting against?
– Sri M
