After writing the blog about Enlightenment, I have been thinking a lot about judgment. While I was writing the blog, I realized it held some fundamental truths for me. The biggest being that to release judgment is a huge step towards enlightenment. So, as I do, I began thinking about all the ways judgments affect my life. I realized judgment affects pretty much everything I think. Some are more important than others. For instance, when I decide what I want to eat for breakfast, I am weighing the different food choices against what my body seems to desire and then I make a judgment/decision as to which food best suits me that morning. Many decisions are judgments. These judgments are only important in whether I am attached to the decision. If I am attached, then maybe I need to consider why that decision/judgment is so important to me and whether I release whatever is causing the importance.
Other judgments, which rank a little higher in importance for releasing, like getting rid of “stuff” around the house and on our property, how to schedule my time, what extra curricular activities I choose, and whether I schedule time for me are more in line with judgments that tell me about myself. What do I value? What has a higher priority in my life? Do I put myself first or last? Why do I have so much “stuff?” Why do I fear getting rid of some things and not others. Why do I feel the need to make certain purchases? What do I need vs. what do I want? What do I mean when I say I want to simplify my life? What is my ideal life? How does it look? What does it feel like? How much can I let go of in my life? Can I live in such a way that I can leave my home, rent it to another, and then come back and be happy with what I find? The more I can release and be happy means both a life that is simple and a release of judgment.
The other thing that seems to go hand-in-hand with releasing judgment is to be more forgiving. I am doing really well with forgiving others. I need more forgiveness for myself. I realize that finding more forgiveness for myself means I will judge others less so there will be less need to forgive for others. I’ve always been very hard on myself so forgiveness for myself has always been difficult. I’m improving. I realize we all do the best we can at any point in time. I find I spend a lot of time in the past because I’m busy thinking about how I could have done things differently. I don’t desire to live in the past. I must forgive myself for decisions and actions, in the past, so I can live in the present.
Judgment and forgiveness. Two big ideas. I can see where forgiveness may be the larger issue. If I can find forgiveness for myself in all things then I’m more likely to be non-judgmental which means less need for forgiveness. Of course, recognizing where I am judgmental helps me realize where I need to implement more forgiveness. It’s a process and I forgive myself for being judgmental about my progress to Enlightenment being less than immediate.