on judging

MUSING ON JUDGMENT:

A lot of people write, "I don't judge people." Sounds amazing. For myself, I'd be happy to strive for two smaller things:

1) being aware of my judgments arising.

2) not acting (automatically/autopilot/immediately) to my judgments.

This goes both for positive judgments and negative judgments. So, both "that's awesome" and "maybe you shouldn't do that"... trying to cut both out.

It is possible to watch the judging mind. It is possible to watch judgments form, morph, and dissolve. And eventually, it is possible to use judgments for justice, healing, and caring. And not just for the instant dopamine hit of being in the right, being the judge.

(From 2018)