By Jeanne Jess
Today I wish to talk about a subject we discussed lately in one of the meditation groups.
When we walk the spiritual path, we sometimes arrive at a point where we wonder, why we feel blocked. We observe that after long periods of spiritual practice, daily meditation and discipline, we sometimes do still not feel that inner peace we were looking for. We may wonder why we still experience those old human emotions. One possible reason for this is called “the habit of judgement”.
In our western civilisation and culture, the habit of judging others is cultivated everywhere – and only a few people are conscious about the many different negative effects this habit has. The habit of judging others is the main reason for emotional discord on many levels….
We can practice the greatest meditation techniques for hours, every day – but as long as we continue to judge others, we will not find inner peace or harmony. Judgement and criticism are forms of rejection – and that is the opposite of acceptance. As long as we cultivate those forms of rejection, we are not living in loving acceptance with people around us. This is hindering our inner peace.
The habit of judging and criticizing people around us is the tool that sabotages every progress on the spiritual path. Judgement and criticism is the voice of the ego. And it needs a lot of discipline and self-observation to discover how many negative emotions are unconsciously created, that are based on judgements and criticism.
We find examples for these negative emotions in all areas of daily relationships with others: somebody disappointed us, did not fulfill our expectations or made us feel bad ourselves – what is the reaction? We immediately start judging and criticizing the other person, with plenty of negative labels. And this is where we are losing track of our spiritual progress. As long as we continue to put negative labels on others, we will not be free. We first have to remove those labels we put on people around us and learn to see their Divine Self.
The greatest temptations for judging others is in situations when one person has hurt us, as example in a love relationship. How fast do we then take out a box filled up with all kind of labels of criticism, proving ourselves how bad the other person is. And these kinds of moments are exactly the points where we are sabotaging all our wonderful efforts done on the spiritual path. The risk is great that we find ourselves more bitter than ever before, lost in self-pity and ego-drama.
We cannot expect that Divine Peace and Divine Love are entering into our being, as long as we continue to judge and criticize others. As long as we see others as “not good” or “not right” or “not ok” and put negative labels on them, we are fooling and sabotaging ourselves and our spiritual path.
There are plenty of spiritual teachings explaining us the lesson of “non-judgement”. But it is not enough to read and to understand that. We have to DO it and to LIVE it, in all areas of our daily lives. Many of us are good in this half-way: we have come to a point where we do not speak out criticism anymore. But what about our inner emotions and thoughts? They too create these energies….. and what do you think is coming back, when one sends out those types of energies filled with criticism and judgements?
Sure, this is easier said than being done. We all have people in our lives who have hurt us, disappointed us or betrayed us. And maybe there are people who feel the same about us, that we too have made mistakes. Now, if we wish them to forgive us, to no longer judge us or criticize us, we should do the same. And then, we set the intent to be more careful, more respectful and more conscious in future.
It helps us to make a conscious choice and to let totally go of ALL our judgement and criticism we have about people in our lives. To see them simply as Divine Beings, beyond their outer appearances. This will give freedom to them, and also freedom to us.
So, instead of judgement and criticism, we now have to choose acceptance, unconditional love and forgiveness. For these are the qualities of feelings that are going to give us inner peace, harmony and freedom.
And then, there is one special person we need to stop judging or criticizing, one who really needs our unconditional love and tender acceptance: ourselves. So often, too often, we are our own worst critic. Real self-love is free of any judgement. True Love is the absence of judgement. See yourself as the wonderful and adorable Divine Being that You truly are….
If you are experiencing these things in your personal life and you would like to get a better understanding – feel free to contact me for an online coaching session with skype. http://www.jeannejess.net
Divine Blessings and Divine Light to You,
Jeanne Jess