Constantly Judging

Quite often we tend to view the world through our likes and dislikes. Upon encountering something agreeable to our mind or body, we deem it good; if it counters our personal likings and beliefs, we judge it negatively. More often than not, we judge sub-consciously and are unaware of the damage we do to ourselves. Imagine a referee at a basketball game -- he has to continuously differentiate between right and wrong. Now imagine being a referee at every instance of life; wouldn't that be tiring? But if it really is so counterproductive, why do we judge at all?

We judge when we can't accept. If we can't accept someone's success, we try to blemish it by passing a negative judgement; if we can't accept someone's anger or some other personality trait, we try to demean his/her character; similarly, if we have a craving for praise, we favorably judge those who ask us for advice. Judging an action implies a certain sense of pride in one's own convictions and comes with the excess baggage of defending yourself to your own ego. Accepting an action, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily mean that you approve of it, but rather that you are in control of the situation.

If we become more accepting of what we encounter, we would reduce our tendency to judge others; we wouldn't consider people righteous or immoral, proud or humble, dumb or smart, weak or strong. Devoid of our judgements, we would be able to simply love all beings without expectations and with utmost sincerity. We would smile at everything that life offers. As we meditate, we practice accepting and thereby take a step towards reducing our judgments and increasing our appreciation of all life.