Judge Not

“Judge not lest ye be judged.” I was thinking about that yesterday, and decided to do a Google search to see if I could come up with the right chapter and verse for it. I did (it’s Matthew 7:1), but in the quest, I came across a discussion on a message board that seemed to sum up many people’s issues with such a statement. Here’s the line that got my attention: “The inability to ‘pass judgment’[and to] know what is good or bad is the loss of personal values and human morality.”

I’m sure that the person that originated that statement meant it as an indictment of modern culture and sees it as an indicator of serious moral and spiritual decline. I wonder, though—could there be a more duality-oriented comment? And since duality is the realm of good and bad and personal values and morality, and conflict, I wonder if the blurring of morality and the seeming lack of ability to determine “good” and “bad” is, perhaps, less an indicator of moral decline, and more an indicator that the duality pendulum is beginning to come center again. What looks like something going wrong, may not be at all. As I stated in Recreating Eden, what appears to be something “bad” may not be if seen from the highest possible perspective, something that is impossible to have unless you are God-realized, which is dependent on being at the highest possible frequency—which is impossible if you are in judgment! We can judge something as wrong, but what does that actually do? Judgment always takes us out of perfect alignment with Source and reduces our frequency. When our frequency is lowered, our wisdom quotient is decreased.

The entire human family is addicted to the habit of judging—if we ever broke the addiction, we’d be out of duality and back into Oneness. Perhaps that’s what is actually occurring—I’d certainly like to think so! Yes—I know I’m very optimistic! Or, as Swami Beyondananda might say, I’m an “optimystic.” But the fact that the line between good and bad is blurred might just be…not bad…but good, speaking in duality terms, of course! Speaking in non-duality terms, it is clearly a part of the Plan.

Of course, the real issue I see is not that people have lost their ability to judge, but that so many people seem to have lost their ability to attune with their inner guidance. THAT is what I believe is our true “moral compass.” Morals and ethics are human creations, but God In Us can tell us the capital “T” Truth about any situation and steer us far more accurately than any mentally fabricated rules. Perhaps the waning of judgment will spark the resurgence of attunement with the voice of God sounding within us. Sometimes, we have to wander so far away from home, we are impelled to return. I believe that is what is going on with the “moral decline” people talk about. There is a line in Recreating Eden that says, "Maybe the Creator wanted to see just how misaligned and how far away from the core of Itself Its constituent parts could move before they were catapulted back to center. Maybe." Maybe, indeed.

Now, back to the statement, “Judge not lest ye be judged.” I wondered at the esoteric meaning of that, and what I determined is that what it means is that when you are judging, you are in the realm of judgment, and judgment is what goes on in that realm. Confused? What I mean to say is that you subject yourself to judgment when you play in the realm where judgment is part of the game. When you opt out of that realm and refuse to judge, you rise in frequency where judgment can’t occur—if someone judges you, you are completely unaware and unaffected by it. Try 15 minutes of non-judgment. It may not be as easy as you think! We tend to define ourselves by our comparisons and judgments, and when we let go of them—or try, we have the sense that we’re going to evaporate. That would be ego freaking out—ego is the very part of you that is in charge of keeping you feeling compartmentalized and separate. Ego is completely reliant on judging. So when judgmental thoughts come up, seek a higher orientation. Instead of “she’s so ugly,” transfer your judgment into “she’s one of the infinite expressions of God.” Until you get to the place where judgment doesn’t even enter your mind, it helps to shift your thoughts upward out of the comparison place into the truth statement place. Judge not lest ye be judged.

Now, down from my pulpit. I’m so happy to welcome Rick back home tonight! He’s been gone since Monday, on a trip to Upstate New York to look at colleges with daughter #2, and I missed him! We're planning a little half-day trip to the mountains tomorrow to celebrate his return. Yay!