Talk: Are We Part Of The Judgment Club?

This is a conversation that tackles why are we attracted to the expectations and gray zones of judgment from the negative bias of the mind, which assumes we are already free & perfect. It is a topic of high importance if we aim to be real and happy.

Transcript

You you you you another wonderful day to continue the practice the meditational practice and and very often our attitude prevents the practice from being clear or focused our attitude which So very often is caught within the dynamics of many other situations whether those dynamics be other thoughts people's thoughts situations that arise physical situations that get in the way and distort So distort our focus so that we are focused on many things rather than clearly focused on the meditational attitude Which is so very powerful when applied in everything in All in all ways not just while sitting in meditation,

But also in life And so easy to get caught by situations It's almost easier to get caught by situations that are around us than to discern those situations and be clear that those situations even though That they are relevant because they're there They aren't as important as our attitude or the energy that we put into life or put into things that happen around us or our activities But so easy so easy also to fall into judgment and I notice today more than ever Judgment is such a major aspect of all things politics,

Culture And so many other things that happen around us even our own sort of personal perspective Very often is colored by judgment so the meditational attitude that we Are so inspired by and is our intention to apply in everyday living sometimes just gets set aside as judgment comes up to the surface.

It's very interesting the other day Someone showed me a book and the book is written by the Pope It's interesting because I didn't know he wrote books But apparently this book was written by the Pope and it was all about judgment And I think the title was something like who am I to judge?

It's a very interesting perspective to To look at you know why why are we so attracted to judgment?

And why is that such a very major part of our culture religious?

History even and still today the religious dogma seems to be so full of judgment And it's almost like judgment creates a exclusive club and this is not just found in religions or cultures around the world,

But it's also found in In the way that we Look at each other.

It's found in our personal sort of interaction and communication and it's so difficult to come back to Happiness which is of course part of the meditational experience and we have certain expectations that come out of such judgments.

Sometimes these judgments aren't even So obvious sometimes we we create these expectations out of judgments that are happening as a response to situations around us without even A state of awareness that says oh this this is a judgment.

It's very easy if you're dogmatic And you say no,

It's black.

No,

It's white and black and white There is a very strong contrast between the two colors.

So it's obvious That there is such a judgment happening,

But when you enter into the more Sort of subtle realm of gray zone the gray zones I call them then it's very difficult to see that these expectations that are being created within the mind actually color the manifestation of our experience because it's almost as if those judgments are out of life.

I mean who's going to go around and say to themselves and to everything else and everyone around Everything is perfect.

Everything is perfect.

You know,

I don't have anything to worry about of course We're going to some people say discern,

But I would say discern is the most important thing But I would say,

You know judge on a certain level and experience is good.

Oh today was a wonderful day for me That's also a judgment yesterday.

Well was a real struggle.

I had so many problems It's a judgment.

How do we know that Something is good or something is bad unless we have An attitude or a Perspective that sometimes falls into judgment discernment is very very different discernment means that you look at two things equally There is no good.

There is no bad.

You're just seeing things as they are.

You're not judging them.

That's a very freeing attitude in meditation in the meditational practice But also in just everyday life.

So even if it looks To your mind and to your feelings.

It looks like Something is black or something is white You just you observe it from the space of mindfulness awareness where there are no Expectations you're not oh,

It's black.

So then this is the situation the clouds are Overwhelming me.

It's really difficult day.

It's a difficult day today So then the expectations create that sort of reality and we somehow fulfill that predicament That we were expecting even if that expectation is on a subconscious level So it's it's so very interesting to look deeper into this and perhaps this is why the Pope and many others and today are speaking about truly being to truly practice spirituality to truly practice the state of compassion and means that we have to drop drop all those judgments that So very often have been part of our communication with it within these different cultural perspectives or social perspectives So very often has been part of our evolution and our history in the past.

And so it's so very easy to fall into these expectations And to expect the same to happen again.

What if we Came back to a state of happiness because happiness means that there are no expectations You don't expect to be happy when you're happy You are either happy or you are struggling with a situation that comes out of judgment So if you don't have expectations,

Then you come very much more easily back to this moment That's what meditation is all about coming back to the present rather than to have expectations that are very often Part of a future perspective or lost in in the past.

So if we drop our sort of perspective that we create within a future time frame or One that we get caught by from the past we drop those expectations We just come back to this moment.

Even if this moment Is just what it is.

It's not bringing about a state of happiness.

It's not that this moment is Full of all the joys and all the bliss that you can expect out of this moment say it's just a moment You know,

There is nothing really going on If you drop the expectations you become more real to this moment and see The more real you are to this moment the more present you are to this moment more easy It is to practice the state of presence where Awareness is part of your interaction and communication with the world rather than your expectations So if you are simply aware,

Then you're aware of the many potentials within this moment.

It doesn't mean That this moment will be blissful in every moment that you experience comes out of such bliss but it simply means that you let go of the energy that you put into expectations that judgment that expectation that is perhaps so connected to the past or so connected to the belief system that one has about the future that Happiness is impossible because the space is already full of so many other things so many expectations so many connections to all sorts of modes of thinking and belief systems and Personal responses and cultural responses and social responses to Situations that may not even be real they just be thought about because such an expectation creates A momentum within thinking where we expect because we're thinking about something we expect Something out of that thought so if we're thinking in negative way We expect a negative and then because we're expecting a negative We see the negative and because we see the negative or connect to the negative that's around then we expect more of the negative So it's so very subtle the energy of judgment It's so very subtle it sets in motion a whole Momentum that creates a whole manifestation That then becomes the reality that we seem imprisoned by but meditation is not about this meditation is about really being so so clever at the way that you look at life that and I mean clever not just in an intellectual way But clever in the sense that you you just observe everything you just look at things without falling into the little trap of getting caught by one aspect of your thinking and you're just observing everything as Manifestation happens as the thoughts manifest themselves And you breathe in You breathe in deeply and you just it's not your you're not breathing in or relaxing the body because you're tired or fearful of the next thought or the expectation that comes out of the next thought you're just Observing things from the state of presence awareness where you come back to this moment and it's interesting because then the complexity of your experience isn't simplified by your expectation or a desire or need that comes out of that expectation I want to be happy because today it's so really such a day for me.

I want to be happy so that expectation is being fed by your judgment and so the want It is built upon this foundation that is far removed from the flow of this moment It's caught in future perspective That then very often creates frustration and creates unrealistic modes of communication within the experience of meditation See if you're realistic about meditation,

You don't start building those funny castles in the air You don't start thinking.

Oh,

Yes,

I would love this and wouldn't it be great You just you honor this moment for what it is and you're happy because this moment is presenting you with so much more than what you were able to think about a moment ago because a moment ago you were thinking about all those beautiful castles and expectations of how they would make you happy Oh,

Yes,

When I have this then of course,

I'll be so happy and you can almost begin to imagine celebrating your happiness because when whatever it is you desire or whatever it is you need fulfills that expectation then you think And that's the key to meditation you think you'll find happiness That's the game we play for the rest of our lives We keep hoping that the next moment will create a thought that will satisfy the mind so that it stills enough to just enjoy the moment,

But we know that as we activate this thinking process that comes out of judgment or comes out of judging one thing against another or creating these unrealistic references that in the end We are far removed from the simplicity of this moment.

That's what meditation means you're just come back you simply come back to this moment and without Fighting yourself or fighting your thoughts or fighting your feelings.

You just embrace this moment as it is And that naturally allows you to drop judgments.

This means that you begin to work with energy the flow of energy that is happening in this moment And there is so much energy in this moment.

It's almost like a Vibration that you can sense you can sense this when you come back We'll relax the breath and you come back to just state of awareness that observes things rather than gets attached to them We can almost feel the vibration of energy moving into our Meditational consciousness so as we still doesn't mean that you disappear into your state of oblivion doesn't mean as you still your mind from all those thoughts and all those things that are going on and that You sort of end up being a zombie No,

Actually what happens as you still your mind is that you connect to the vibration of Inner flow as well as the vibration of the life energy that is the vibration and around you the vibration that of life you begin to see colors in a Wonderful way you begin to smell and taste and your senses become heightened by the fact that awareness is part of Your meditation experience of this moment rather than caught in the next one and the expectations of the next one so then the energy begins to vibrate and fills the stillness with a completeness with a sense of expansion that allows you to celebrate this moment and Celebrate this moment so intensely that There is very little space for anything else there aren't gaps or and empty spaces that create a state of separation your Energy begins to fill those spaces with a state of aliveness and so meditation leads to happiness and happiness leads to State of Fulfillment the state of There Aren't even words to describe a state of just completeness,

But it's not completeness that It's not the type of completeness that the mind wants so very often we fall into this Questioning which of course comes out of judgment is this it?

Am I really meditating am I really in touch with the vibration In within me am I really in even though this smells good or even though the colors are beautiful Even though the sunset is amazing is this really it the mind creeps in very slowly because judgment is so very much part of our evolution so very much part of The structure of the mind this is how the mind has evolved not out of discerning,

But out of creating this judgment of good or bad very often The negative bias which is part of the brain that is used to Formulating these judgments sees things as a problem meaning that we see negativity So we we say to happiness wait a moment There is a problem that I need to resolve now and this problem is really important So you wait just and I'll get to you in a moment in the next moment.

No don't worry next moment and then Of course,

You know as we begin to think about all these situations I'm very busy here.

Can you wait for a day?

You know and you begin to speak to your mind in this way,

Of course not in words,

But With an attitude and that's not a meditational attitude That is a mundane attitude of stress.

So when you're stressed about all the little problems that you're facing and Just being alive is a problem in itself because the body is Needing to be alive and this means that there are all sorts of situations that we have to face we bump ourselves we are but we get sick and we we begin to worry about other people getting sick and bumping themselves and I don't know what and We forget the simplicity of Of meditational attitude because we're so caught in a very important part of our brains the neocortex that's Busily busily trying to sort out things so that we don't suffer but that idea is built upon suffering meaning that we acknowledge that suffering is a Major aspect of our lives and so it's very difficult to breathe and relax.

We may sort of Say okay for now.

I'll sit and breathe and relax just so that it's a little bit easier It's nice to sit and breathe and relax now Oops I'm not sure if I can relax That deeply because that thought just disturbed my relaxation I just remembered that little problem that I thought I could get away for From for like the next 10-15 minutes.

See it's a whole game It's a whole game And the only way to come back to deep Relaxation is to come back to this meditational attitude,

Which means that you drop expectations.

Okay,

There is a problem Don't worry about it Everything is okay There is there are situations don't Spend all your energy and your life force In there caught by that situation just observe it doesn't mean that you can't be discerning doesn't mean that you stop thinking Just means that your attachment to the next moment Is dropped so that you give space to this moment to reveal itself within your meditational attitude and practice So today as you breathe in breathe out and let go of all those little things That can disturb your celebration of this moment Look at the expectations that you've created subtle or otherwise And just drop them for a moment as you focus awareness You bring awareness To this beautiful moment and notice beautiful things even Notice the beautiful things even in in the situations that are obviously not beautiful And notice how as you do this as you put this into practice as you Allow this meditational attitude to take form Notice how the energy within you Very powerful energy within you begins to transform everything as you focus not on the expectations But on the manifestations that are possible when you are in a state of deep relaxation in a state free of expectations in a state Meditational attitude that is very focused on allowing the vibration the healing vibration within and around you to come back and present a new perspective to your mind And so your mind then is freed from the old freed from the yesterday or from the tomorrow And gently without you even realizing comes back to this moment As you breathe in and breathe out without even knowing you recognize that you're here honoring this moment honoring the energy within this moment And without even realizing you notice that that creates an inner peace and inner stillness That not only frees you of judgment,

But that also frees you of the consequences of judgments the history of judgments and the manifestations that happen because of judgments What I'm speaking about is so subtle so very much part of our structure as you energetically begin to connect to the inner and outer energies within stillness within this meditational attitude things become so clear and obvious the inner wisdom recognizes that In this moment Not only are you free but you are perfect Thank you You You You

Reviews

That was incredibly enlightening. So much clarity received through this wonderfully worded talk. Thank you, Tony 🫶

Worth listening to again and again. Important stuff but definitely takes practice. Lots of it! 🙂🙏