Judgements
I have recently been involved in a a spate of threads where opinions have become obvious by the OP and the contributors. In full disclosure, I am as guilty of providing judgement as any one of you - a simple search in my threads and responses will confirm that point. However, I read two books on the plane over the past 28hours. Neither are directly tied to addiction/alcoholism both however, have to deal with spiritual practice (Awareness and Mindfulness for Beginners). I find my recovery is broadening beyond the scope of simply not drinking and I am starting to take a hard look at the conventions and construct of my ideals, most of which I now believe are preprogrammed by others that I have adopted (brainwashing I guess). Anyhow, I thought this passage highlights the negative impact judgement has on learning:
Do you want to change the world? How about beginning with yourself? How about being transformed yourself first? But how do you achieve that? Through observation. Through understanding. With no interference or judgment on your part. Because what you judge you cannot understand.
When you say of someone, “He’s a communist,” understanding has stopped at that moment. You slapped a label on him. “She’s a capitalist.” Understanding has stopped at that moment. You slapped a label on her, and if the label carries undertones of approval or disapproval, so much the worse! How are you going to understand what you disapprove of, or what you approve of, for that matter? All of this sounds like a new world, doesn’t it? No judgment, no commentary, no attitude: one simply observes, one studies, one watches, without the desire to change what is. Because if you desire to change what is into what you think should be, you no longer understand. A dog trainer attempts to understand a dog so that he can train the dog to perform certain tricks. A scientist observes the behavior of ants with no further end in view than to study ants, to learn as much as possible about them. He has no other aim. He’s not attempting to train them or getof awareness settles on your darkness, whatever is evil will disappear. Whatever is good will be fostered. You will have to experience that for yourself.
But this calls for a disciplined mind. And when I say disciplined, I’m not talking about effort. I’m talking about something else. Have you ever studied an athlete. His or her whole life is sports, but what a disciplined life he or she leads. And look at a river as it moves toward the sea. It creates its own banks that contain it. When there’s something within you that moves in the right direction, it creates its own discipline. The moment you get bitten by the bug of awareness. Oh, it’s so delightful! It’s the most delightful thing in the world; the most important, the most delightful. There’s nothing so important in the world as awakening. Nothing! And, of course, it is also discipline in its own way.
Mello, Anthony De (2011-08-31). Awareness (p. 38). The Doubleday Religious Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.