Hello All,

Release the harsh and pointed inner voice.

It’s just a throwback to the past,

and holds no truth about this moment.

Let go of self-judgment,

the old, learned ways of beating yourself up

for each imagined inadequacy.

Allow the dialogue within the mind

to unfold without judgment,

and you will know the true wonder and miracle

of your own being.

Dana Faulds

To ensure survival, our minds evolved to quickly judge so we could rapidly identify danger, responding automatically with flight, fight, or freeze.  We also needed to quickly evaluate a food source before it escaped.  Being judgmental comes naturally.  But this automatic judging habit can cause unnecessary suffering. 

Jon Kabat-Zinn identified non-judging as one of the foundational attitudes of mindfulness.  It is center stage in his operating definition of mindfulness: Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally.  The invitation is to observe our inner and outer experiences as an impartial witness, without automatically labeling things good/bad, right/wrong, successful/failing, worthy/unworthy.

Non-judging is cultivating the ability to notice when judging arises (it will constantly), observing the judgement itself as just another passing thought (there’s a judging thought), and refraining from automatically believing or following it.  The practice is to allow sensations, thoughts, emotions, and situations to simply be as they are in the present moment.

If you wish to know the truth,
then hold to no opinions for or against anything.
To set up what you like against what you dislike
is the disease of the mind.

Indeed, it is due to our grasping and rejecting
that we do not know the true nature of things.

Xin Xin Ming 

But we must hold opinions, make decisions, exercise judgement, right?  Yes and no.  The practical solution to a non-judgmental life is to cultivate discernment.  Judgement is a decision, not a process; it is a hard line drawn in the sand.  Judgement begins with a conclusion, often not considering alternatives or possibilities. “This is good.” “This is bad.” Judgement gives us the final answer, closing off receptivity and understanding.

Discernment is not a decision but a process. It’s soft, pliable, openly accepts new information, and allows space “to never hurry through the world but walk slowly, and bow often.”  Discernment responds with love, rather than reaction, facilitating appropriate choices to benefit ourselves and others. 

Discernment brings clarity and true perception, whereas judgment merely serves the illusion of separation.  Judgment is an action of the mind.  Discernment is an action of the heart.

 Be curious, not judgmental.

Wonder awhile, listen, allow yourself to not know.

Not judgmental—not “I know what this means,”

not imagining the worst,

not coming to hasty conclusions.

Be here, not there. Be now, not then.

Anonymous