We are taught to not judge other people, but how can we control this when we see educated, wealthy people harming others?
Here’s where we have to be really clear with ourselves, on an emotional level, on a spiritual level and on the level of being effective in bringing about positive change in the world. If I sit here and judge someone else, whether it’s something superficial and silly—‘Oh, that person’s really ugly/stupid’, or on a deeper level—‘God, that person is really not very spiritual, they are eating meat/telling lies/cheating’, my judgement helps no one. In fact, it causes harm. It harms me first, because now instead of seeing connection and oneness, my mind sees separation. I see you and I judge you, and it fills my mind and heart with negativity.
It also harms you because we’re energetic beings, and even if I don’t say, ‘You’re ugly/stupid/a cheater/not spiritual’, it will impact you, affect you. Our thoughts are things. Thoughts go out into the world as energy, and they impact and hurt people. Also, it doesn’t benefit the world. No other humans, animals, trees or water are saved because I’m judging you.
So we need to stop judging, for my sake, for your sake and for the world’s sake. A lot of mental time and energy is used up in making judgements, which means I’m not doing anything productive with that time. How many of us have ever been in a situation where somebody says or does something, and afterwards, all we can do is think about it, working away at it in our minds, over and over again? Now it’s harming us, harming that person, and stealing my time and energy from actually doing something that benefits the world. This is why we should not judge.
But, the second aspect is, just because we don’t judge, we are not supposed to sit back and allow violence and destruction to occur. Whether it’s destruction of the environment, racism, prejudice, violence against women or something else, we are supposed to stand up and act, but we don’t need to judge. We simply need to be aware that what is happening is not right, and without judgement, criticism or negativity, be able to intervene in whatever way we can with awareness and clarity. That could mean suggesting to someone that they act in a different way, or teaching, helping and encouraging someone. In such situations, we are called to act. We are called to use our initiative, ability and sight to bring about a change for the better in the world. But if we’re judging, then all we do is bring forth negativity.
So we see it, and in whatever way we are able, we try to change the situation, to protect the land, the water and the people. It is up to us to do that. But we will be much more effective at knowing the right way to act, the right thing to say, if we’re not caught up in the mental throes of judgement.
We’ve all been in situations where we’ve done something wrong and been criticized for it. The criticism hurts us, and it does not make us want to do the right thing. All the criticism does is hurt our hearts. We know this from being on the receiving end of it. When we make a mistake and someone says to us, ‘You’re stupid, bad, worthless’, we feel horrible. We don’t feel empowered to change, nor energized to find a new way, nor act in a different manner. We feel like crawling into a hole and crying. Thus, when we are on the other side, when we see somebody doing something that we know is not right, we have to remember that ultimately our goal is to improve the situation, not to hurt that person, not simply to lose our temper. We may be right, but being right does not give us the right to hurt people. Therefore, first, we get out of a place of judgement, and then, we are able to see the most effective way of communicating this message, so that they are empowered and energized to change for the good. That’s the best thing we can do—for people, for animals, for the land, for the whole planet.