Judgements

Ektaji explains judgement is a preconceived notion harbored in our minds about ourselves and others. Life keeps changing; similarly, situations, people and things also keep changing. Holding on to judgements affects our personality in various ways. By introspection and self-contemplation we can develop a skill to let go of judgements about ourselves, people, situation and things. On the contrary, the mind by its very nature holds on to the negative aspects. This in turn makes our karma bag heavy.

Transcript

What is a judgment? What is a judgment? He is like this. She is like this only. This is like this only. Oh this situation in my life is like this only. A preconceived notion that I have harbored in my mind is a judgment. Is there any judgment in your mind right now? Why? Why is there no judgment right now? This is the purest state of mind. When you go into meditation, Into kriya, Your mind gets erased for some time. As if from a blackboard somebody erased everything. And that is where you experience that calmness, Quietness. After some time you will get up from here, You will go out, You will start talking to your husband, Your wife and everything comes back. So all that was erased suddenly starts appearing again. Have you noticed? It is like a recording. Perfect. So this little period of rest allows me to experience the true state of my mind. The calm state of my mind. And in this calm state of my mind I can see truth or reality as it is. So let's look at the reality of judgments. We make judgments about ourselves first, Don't we? Big labels we have. I am like this. I am an angry person. I am a smart person. I am an intelligent person. Oh, I am a duffer. Don't we have such labels about ourselves? Just because I did something in 2011, Again in 2012, Again in 2013, Again in 2014, Again this year. Oh, I am like this only. Useless. It is not going to change. What have I done? I have formed an impression about me and I have kept it in my mind. No, It is like this only. No, I am telling you it is like this only. I have made it rock solid. But I change. When I am in my calm state of mind I am not angry. Right now are you angry? Are you mean? Are you shrewd? Are you cruel? Then why these labels? Recognize it was a particular situation that evoked certain things in me. I am not an angry person. Drop these labels that you have for yourself. Acceptance begins at home first. Accept yourself as you are. So drop these judgments that you have about yourself. This is an easier thing. I am ready to excuse myself. Most of us are very ready. Yes. Let go. When it comes to a judgment about you, About another person, What happens? No, No, No. He did this to me in 2012, Again in 2013, Again in 2014. I am not going to trust him in 2015. Doesn't this happen? But just like I let go of something that I did, Why can't I do that to him? So bring to your mind that other person about whom you have this judgment. You know, Right now thinking about him, Your smile went away. He is having a wonderful Sunday morning, Probably still in bed, Not even bothered about you. And you sitting here just thinking about him. Takes your smile away. Are you seeing this? Your judgment takes your peace of mind away. It's not bothering him or her. This is my own mind and the impressions are in my own mind. And I am responsible for harboring these impressions. Not he or she. They did something they did whenever they did. Let it go. Let judgments about somebody be like air. If there is fragrance in the air, It comes and does it last? It goes away, Right? If there is some foul smell in the air, Does that last? That also goes away. Make your judgments like air, As light as air. Then they will not leave a foul smell behind. When you make your judgments rock solid, They are sitting in your own mind. This is what is happening. This is a negative judgment about me that I am harboring. This is a negative judgment about the other person that I am harboring. And there are negative judgments about objects. For example, You went to Mariano's, You bought apples and they were rotten. You let it go the first time. Second time again you go to Mariano's, You pick and choose your apples. This time it should be good. Again they were rotten. What do you form in your mind now? I am never going to buy apples from Mariano's. Always rotten apples. Is it true? You just bought off season, Some bad luck with some farmer, It's okay. No, But I held on to that impression and never again bought apples from Mariano's because they are always rotten. I give you a very simple example. Objects is money. He has this money, I have this money. Objects is cars, He has this car, She has this car. Judgments about objects. When you make these judgments, The impressions are forming in my own mind. And I am letting them become heavier and heavier and heavier. And I become a person who is really judgmental in life. I am not any more light. I don't take things as they are. Have you noticed life keeps changing? Situations keep changing. Even that other person in your life is not the same. But you want to believe, No, He is a liar only. He did this, He is like this only. This makes me very angry. This does not leave me as a light person. So recognize this, My judgments are affecting me only. Are affecting my personality, My own mind, My own emotions. And then the internal environment creates chaos. And this reflects in my external environment. The kind of a mind I have, That's what I am going to throw out through speech and action. And that's what I am going to create around myself. So recognize this one little judgment can create drama in my life. So let it be like air. Let it come, Let it go. If it's perfume, Let it come and let it go. If it's a foul smell, Let it come, Let it go. Drop. Be ready to embrace change. Because everything is changing. Everyone is changing. On this path, Everything is really tough. That is why you need to be brave to walk this spiritual path. Yes? A judgment is to recognize, Oh this is the enemy, I need to save myself. After that what I start thinking, Every approaching person is my enemy. Now I have made a mountain out of ammonia. Are you seeing this? Recognizing where that fine line is. And not tripping over to the other side is a skill. A skill that you can develop on this spiritual path by self introspection, By self contemplation. If you treat knowledge like entertainment, Oh you clap very nice, She spoke beautifully. It's of no use. Yes? But actually contemplating on this, Working on your own self, Recognizing, Oh I have judgments about her, About him, About him, About him, Let me drop, Let go, Let go. He is also changing, He is also changing, She is also changing. I am also changing. Let go. Working on myself, Moving from the rock solid heaviness to the lightness of the earth. That is a skill. So start working on that skill. So the final thing of this is dropping the judgments towards other people, Even about myself or about objects and situations created by these people and objects. Again and again and again recognizing this I am making my karma bag heavy. This is nothing but your karma bag. These are negative signs created by judgments. That should happen for both good and bad. Yeah, Of course. I am just giving you an example of negative. The mind sticks to the negative, No? The mind does not remember positive. You say, Oh you are looking so pretty, Your white dress is pretty, Your hair is pretty, But you tell me, Oh you have a crooked nose. What will I remember? Crooked nose. I will not remember pretty dress, Pretty hair, Pretty face. I will stick on to the crooked nose. So recognize this thing. Judgments are created in my mind and I hang on to the negative ones and make them rock solid. It is my job to let go of the negativity and move on towards positivity. Somebody is like, Other person is like, Is breaking your trust or is doing bad continuously. So how do you not judge when you are with the person? Work on it, Of course. Accept the situation it is bad. Work on the person. But you don't know whether, You know, What that person's karma is towards you. If something negativity is coming towards me, It's also my previous karma exchange with this person, Right? So if he has something that he has to return to me, It will happen how much ever he also goes in knowledge. So best is, I just keep a calm mind. Let the exchange get over. Every karma has an expiry date. It will get over. So homework for this week, Drop judgments. Let go. Yes? Jai Gurudev!