Judgemental vs Discerning

[Astral_Anima]

This is an email I received recently. It's about judgment vs discernment and I thought it was rather interesting and thought I'd share it with you all. Lemme know what you think XD

-Astral

 

***POPULAR QUESTION***

 

I'm starting to get good at seeing the ego-based patterns in

people; detecting 'the nonintegrous' and people who are not

trustworthy, not fundamentally honest and integrous.

 

This makes me worry that I am becoming judgmental.

 

 

>>>COMMENTS:

 

The ability to see who is integrous or not does not really

occur fully until the mind becomes silent. Obviously you

can tell that the homeless guy is probably nonintegrous

because he's dirty, homeless, and mentally ill, so it's

obvious. But you still don't get the full meaning of the

big, juicy, adult word 'Nonintegrous' and its profound

significance until perception disappears and Reality

shines forth.

 

Discernment and judging are decidedly not the same thing. To

know that a certain chemical is poisonous does not mean one

has to attack or vilify it, but simply avoid it via the

wisdom of caution. Similarly, a lion will gladly kill and

eat you; this does not mean one needs to judge and condemn

all lions as "evil." A lion is simply being what it is.

 

Discernment is clinically-detached and has compassion.

(Compassion is the refusal to suffer based on incorrect

notions, limiting beliefs, fallacious ideologies, and

dualistic perception.)

 

Discernment does not condemn others, people, places, things,

etc. -- it simply avoids them out of humility and the

respect for one's life.

 

If there is a crack in the sidewalk or a hole in the ground,

discernment simply walks around the hole, while judgment

yells at the hole and tries to get it to become a 'non-hole'.

 

Discernment accepts others as they are, while judgment

rejects, resists, condemns, hates, and seeks revenge.

(Judgment wants to "win", be "right", and gain "good

feelings" in the process.)

 

Discernment simply Witnesses and Observes quietly, standing

back to silently appreciate the beauty; it refrains from

getting over-involved in things or with people on a 'solar

plexus' or emotionalized level. Rarely do Saints speak

about what they see in others, unless they have

consciously come to them and asked for it.

 

Discernment is inclusive of the Totality of All That Is,

while judgment tries to exclude.

 

Discernment accepts that the infinite field of

consciousness/awareness loves everyone equally, for

consciousness and love are one and the same thing; judgment

holds onto and clings to the kindergarten notion that

unconditional love is "not fair."

 

Discernment can observe the ego's in others and be thankful

that one is being shown the true nature of karma.

 

Judgment represses one's own ego, pretends that it isn't

the same as the ego of others, goes into denial about it,

and then projects itself out onto others.

 

Judgment arises out of the guilt and shame of having

an ego.

 

It believes the ego/mind/personality/intellect and

associated animal-instinctual drives are 'the me' and

therefore personal. It then condemns itself and others,

using labels such as "sin", "evil", "wrong", or "immoral."

 

Discernment simply Witnesses the collective animal ego from

Compassionate understanding, rather than condemnation or

guilt. As guilt dissolves, there is no more need to project

one's "dark side" out onto the world or to try to change

the world "out there" because, when seen for what the

ego/mind really is, the world itself is really "in here"

(i.e., perception).

 

Spiritual Discernment sees that the ego is actually

impersonal; not because it read that in a book, but

because Spiritual Vision has Revealed it is the truth.

 

Discernment is one thing; judgment is quite another. The way

to get off judgmentalism is to simply accept that your own

ego/mind is inherently 'animalistic' and therefore greedy,

lustful, paranoid, prideful, and ignorant. By accepting the

downside of the ego and refusing to identify with it as

'the me', it then becomes like a cute (and highly

entertaining) pet.

 

The way to earn Spiritual Discernment is simple, but

requires great dedication and discipline. One has to

devote every waking moment of existence to being

a servant of the Lord rather than a servant of the ego.

 

*Whole audience instantly unsubscribes*

 

 

Thanks for your question.

[Otis]

I think this is a very good distinction.

 

I have one small comment:

 

Discernment is one thing; judgment is quite another. The way

to get off judgmentalism is to simply accept that your own

ego/mind is inherently 'animalistic' and therefore greedy,

lustful, paranoid, prideful, and ignorant. By accepting the

downside of the ego and refusing to identify with it as

'the me', it then becomes like a cute (and highly

entertaining) pet.

I'd phrase this differently, because all the adjectives it gave the 'animalistic' ego were kinda judgmental of animals. Gotta stand up for our animal friends. I'd say: "your own ego/mind is inherently 'animalistic' and therefore ruled by pleasure and suffering."

[Marblehead]

Hi Astral,

 

Just wanted to point out that there is nothing inherently wrong with making judgements.

 

TTC, Chapter 54, Lin Yutang:

 

Therefore:

According to (the character of) the individual, judge the individual;

According to (the character of) the family, judge the family;

According to (the character of) the village, judge the village;

According to (the character of) the state, judge the state;

According to (the character of) the world, judge the world.

How do I know this is so?

By this.

[johndoe2012]

"Living from the Heart" by Nirmala is all about this, including practical exercises.

 

Not easy, but I think with practise comes mastery