Letting Go of Judgment
How does it feel when you meet someone and what comes immediately to you is, “I don’t like this person.” Are you then able to listen to this person and hear what they have to say? When your mind is made up about someone or something, do you feel everything is black and white, and it can’t be any other way?
Hello everyone and welcome, my name is Mary Slocum. Today we’re talking about letting go of judgment.
First, though, I’d like to invite you to support the podcast by becoming a member via Patreon. Your support will allow us to continue our work on the podcast. And, as a thank you will receive member-only content —musings and little talks about mindfulness and guided meditations. Join here. And, thank you.
Judging. We all do it. We judge whether something is helpful or harmful and whether we like it or not. We judge others’ characters and whether they are good or bad. We judge whether someone is worthy of our attention. We judge whether we approve or disapprove of another’s actions. We judge ourselves—many of us caught in the endless rumination of the inner critic. We do a lot of judging.
We judge from that place of conditioning that has created mind habits, attitudes and perspectives. These are narrow and partial. The judging mind is trying to keep us safe. It is trying to keep us from making mistakes and being taken advantage of. It’s doing the only thing that it knows. And, it causes suffering. Sometimes it shames, blames, and belittles. Sometimes it closes down so that only one angle—one way of thinking— is visible and available to us. The judges mind can make us miss out because we simply don’t see or understand.
And, when we step back and out and drop down into our clear, open, spacious, loving, grounded and curious essential nature, judging drops away. We can still make decisions about what feels right for us—what aligns with our inner values, but we do it from a clear and open perspective. We do it by choosing among alternatives. We do it with wisdom and compassion.
I hope you enjoy the show, and as always, I am grateful to you, my audience, and I am also grateful for the people behind the scenes who make this podcast possible.
Allie Allen for logo and podcast cover design;
Gorgias Romero for original music, audio engineering and production;
Bill Rafferty for technical web support; and
Margaret Haas for announcing the show.
Be well. Be mindful.
RESOURCES/CREDITS
Dass, Ram, “Ram Dass on Self-Judgment,” https://www.ramdass.org/ram-dass-on-self-judgement/ Accessed on August 10, 2022
DISCLAIMER
The content in the podcast and on this webpage is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to constitute or be a substitute for professional medical or health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice and guidance of your health professional.
