It will take me time to unpack this one and I don’t have much time now, so let’s begin with some ideas.
Jesus said, don’t judge so you don’t be judged. This is a hard one, particularly for someone coming out of Judaism, where judging (God’s judgment) is so entrenched.
Our mind is designed to judge. The egoic mind is immersed in the pairs of opposites. There are no absolutes and for there to be a good there has to be a bad. For there to be a safe (a big one for the ego) there has to be an unsafe so we can contrast thins. Certainly useful when an animal is coming your way and you need to elucidate if you can eat it or if it is going to eat you, but what about judging others, and let’s go to the real subtle one, I am not talking about judging if someone is going to hurt me or not, again, when it comes to safety, I believe (it might need more thinking) the mind has a valid role. But what am I doing when I judge if someone is intelligent or not, beautiful or not, clever, serious, responsible (this is a big one for me), well dressed, educated, sophisticated, etc. Here I am not fearing my safety (or could it be), then why do we do it?
The first answer that comes to mind is to position myself in an one-up position. That much seems clear, every time I judge other, I put myself in the position of a judge, that by its own nature and role is above the other. So I get instant gratification, I am better than him/her, more intelligent, beautiful, etc.
Now, why would I want to be one above the other? Aha! It seems like fear is lurking in again. I need to believe that I am better so I am not worse than the other. Is that right? Sound right. Since I am not fully convinced of my own value, an strategy to protect myself is to make all those around me less-than. As the old saying goes, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man rules.
