Judge for Yourself

The world as we perceive it, is a conglomerate of judgement. Everything we experience through our senses is based on a judgement, made mostly collectively. As babies we are told what is good and what is bad for us; "health professionals" are insisting that we learn things the right way. In America there is currently a debate running about whether or not it is a good idea to "force" babies to sleep separately from their parents, and this touches upon the very essence of our cultural knowledge of good and bad. Our collective notion tells us that there is a right and a wrong way of using feeding implements, of cleanliness, of education, of social and sexual behaviour, and so on. We don’t question whether the individual fits into those rules, we just force them to comply via a system of punishment and reward. And so we "learn" right from wrong, good from bad. But by whose standards?

Who is to say which of the numerous world cultures has got it right or wrong on living? How should we, as humans, conduct ourselves? How can we build a world based on non-judgement? And if we can, is it advisable to do so?

But of the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat.

And yet, ever since that day we have done nothing but eat the fruit from that tree; and ever since that day we suffer from the distinction between good and evil. However, aware of this we are not.

Everything we "learn" is based on a judgement. This is a chair, means that anything resembling this shape is judged to be a chair and therefore has a certain function, which we are supposed to learn and adhere to. You have to brush your teeth after every meal or else….., means that unless you do so, you are judged to be responsible for tooth decay which will inevitably happen. Smoking causes lung cancer, means that as a smoker you will die of lung cancer, and as a non-smoker with lung cancer you are allowed to be very angry with the Higher Authority for not sticking to the rules. It is sad to notice that virtually all statements that we make are judgements and have no value in real life, and consequently causes us a great deal of sorrow and pain. Any statement that is not true everywhere all the time is most certainly a result of our intake from the "wrong" tree.

Our words are judgements and our actions are judgements in so far that they are reactions to something else that happens around us. You are tall, raises the question "By whose standards: the Pygmy’s, the Hutu’s, the dinosaurs?" Imprisonment should be abolished, from whose point of view: the victim’s, the perpetrator’s, the Government’s finances? Every single issue that we encounter in our lives causes divisions within the community; from environmental protection, to animal rights, human rights, religious beliefs, health advice, education and whether or not post office stamps should be self-adhesive. There is no human organisation or body that can separate the different opinions into an everlasting "right" and "wrong" category. The fact that these different opinions exist and always have existed, indicate that they can not be separated because there is no real "right" or "wrong". No matter how bizarre you might think certain views or rituals are, they are all OK. Somewhere, somehow there must be a reason for these to exist. Maybe we don’t understand the reason, but that doesn’t necessarily make it wrong. Usually, however, we judge things we don’t understand, to be "wrong", thus creating our own divisions. If we were able to accept everything as being OK, we would have no disagreements with anything or anybody. This doesn’t mean that we have to adopt everything under the sun, but we could allow it to remain there — for whatever purpose it was put there — without having to condemn it. It is only our own very limited point of view and subsequent judgement that makes it "wrong".

If, as we have just seen, this is so deeply ingrained in our world, how can we make the necessary changes that will bring about the Great Revolution? Again the answer is, start with yourself. Do not expect the world to understand or even tolerate your non-judgement, but try to be aware of each judgement you make. Try to listen to yourself; try to look at your own actions; try to become aware of how much is just a point of view, and a limited one at that. It makes people feel better when they believe that "everybody" thinks the same; but unfortunately that is only another mass judgement based on keeping out the evidence we don’t want to hear.

These judgements are made every second of our life, since everything we experience is linked to the belief that what we see, feel, and hear is real, implying that if we can’t see, feel or hear it, it doesn’t exist. The way we experience our world is a learned one and that is the only way we can see, hear and feel the world. If we had been shown to see things differently, the world would indeed look different to us. We should not judge. And if we start to become aware of how our lives are based on constant judgements, we then have the opportunity to stop and allow other possibilities to enter our sphere. We then take our lives into the realm of infinite possibilities; but that is another story.

Do not do to others what you do not want them to do to you.

If you want others to stop judging you, stop judging others and most of all stop judging yourself. However, do not stop judging others in order to gain the cessation of them judging you; only stop because you feel it is just. Do not expect any rewards or favours. Your reward is that you are contributing to the journey the human race is undertaking. We are going back to discover which is the "tree of Knowledge of good and evil", so that we can stop eating it’s fruit.

Non-judgement, tolerance and acceptance will help to open eyes to a new world. Every hut is a palace; every crust of bread is a feast; every heart is the house of Love.

Dr Patrick Quanten MD

May 1997