[Unknown Member]

May 12, 2014 Round One: I spent the past few days out in the countryside again. The environment is very conducive to practicing stillness and meditating.

This Step advises against judging others. I am to see that I can learn from everyone, even those I do not appreciate. There are people I resent. Is judging the same as resenting? It is easier not to judge people on a wider spectrum, people in general, or individuals who are not in my personal orbit. It is easy to think I don’t judge, when I probably do, because judging is an ingrained habit. What does it feel like not to judge? I think I don’t judge, because I am willing to see that people act out of ignorance, they can’t help it. They are without Knowledge, so how can they know what to do and how to act? Like it says in Step 207 – “how can a person not fail if Knowledge is not available to them and they are not available to Knowledge? They are bound to fail, but this is not a reason to judge them. When they finally get around to entering into relationship with Knowledge, they too will understand the error of their ways.”

I do not really understand how those I resent and those I do not find virtuous can be beneficial to me, apart from showing me how I do not want to be, showing me the contrast between people who recognize Knowledge and those who do not.

However, I appreciate what it says about when I judge others, I am judging myself. This I understand. I do not wish to judge myself, so I will not judge another. If I do not find fault with myself, I cannot find fault with another.

Originally Posted by Adria (another Steps student on the Free School Forum):

“What I learned today is that through me not being judgmental I bring healing – to my family, friends, difficult situations I encounter everywhere.”

Wow, Adria, yes, this is so true! I realized this is my experience too.

And yes, I too agree that “being in judgment is sometimes kind of habitual” – it is a hard habit to break, because it comes so naturally. It seems to me that it is part of the human makeup to judge, rather than not judge. So much unlearning is required to get out of the judgment mode.

June 30, 2015 Round Two: I still judge to some degree, probably without even realizing it. I still agree with what I wrote the first time—it is part of human nature and ingrained, a habit that is barely noticed most of the time. I think that having an ego and being in a body make it inevitable that judgment pervades. But I also have a strong sense that everyone is different and has their own traits and foibles, so I accept rather than criticize and judge. I also think that people often do the things they do out of ignorance. I do not use the word “ignorance” in a derogative way, but in the sense of “knowing no better.” How can a person be judged for not knowing any better? It is better to lift the veil of delusion, take the blinkers from one’s eyes, try to see behind the shroud that covers the mind to gain a glimpse, albeit fleeting, of the truth.

May 28, 2019 Round Three: This a perfect Step in light of the landlord’s arrival yesterday. I will not judge him, even though I do not like him and do not find him virtuous. He is in my life for a reason, he is showing me the power of Knowledge, he has made my life here possible, I have immense gratitude, so why is he such a thorn in my side? Why is he so difficult to tolerate? He needs us to be here though, he couldn’t manage or live here on his own without out, so really he is exploiting us – that’s what niggles me. He did not invite us here out of the goodness of his own heart, but because he had an ulterior motive. But he got us to where we need to be. So I will not judge him, but thank him for the opportunity offered. Actually I am just going to ignore him as much as possible, stay out of his way and engage with him as little as possible. I just want to go about my business without looking over my shoulder. I will treat him as though he is invisible. I will keep to myself and keep quiet. Then at other times I feel compassion for him. He is nearing the end of his life, no one welcomes him or needs him, and all he is trying to do is spend the last years of his life in an environment he loves.

I did my Steps practice and journaling during the 20-min meditation practice during the second day of the Steps Vigil. Robert hosted again this year and provided an amazing quote from Life in the Universe, Chapter 10. The Power of Knowledge. It spoke straight to my heart.

“Despite the restraints and the difficulties of life in the Greater Community, it is a magnificent creation. What can be seen and experienced there is marvelous. It is nature on a grand scale. It is life expressing itself through an unbelievable panorama of forms and expressions. It is something that will move you deeply, for at a certain level, you are connected to this greater reality, this greater panorama of life. The wisdom that can be gained from the Greater Community is immense and immensely practical and relevant to everything you do and everything you will need to do in the future. The spirituality of the Greater Community is The Way of Knowledge in its purest, most essential form.

“This is a source of inspiration because this reminds you that you are greater than your mind or your body, that you have a greater purpose in life and that the events of your life will give you an opportunity to experience and to express this purpose, which would never arise under more quiescent and normal circumstances. Your connection to life beyond this world, which is innate within you, is part of this purpose. You have only to be patient and take the Steps to Knowledge to allow the pieces of the puzzle to come together, as they most surely will. Yet if you are reckless and impatient and try to fill in all of the spaces yourself, you will not see the picture that is waiting for you to discover.”

And Marshall said yesterday during the opening broadcast that Steps to Knowledge comes from where we have come from. We have come from beyond this world. We are only sojourning here because we have a role to play in humanity’s evolution. This so resonates with me.

[Dave]

324

I will not judge another today.

This is a great lesson. But you need a key to really unlock it. To not judge is to not attack/ project. The question is this: Why is it important that we do not judge or attack? The answer is the Law of the Mind of course. “Perception is a mirror, not a fact. It is your state of mind reflected outward.” [And then back to you.] (ACIM) “You will teach what you will learn.” “Giving and receiving are the same in truth.”

“Do not judge, or you will be judged. 2For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1

And the Step: “To the extent that you look upon another with judgment, you will judge yourself. You do not want your judgment upon yourself, so do not judge another.”

You get the point. And it is this way in our dreaming existence because there are not two; the dual world is a fiction. There is only One, and you’re It. “If you attack a brother, you always attack yourself first.” (ACIM)

“Being angry at someone is like holding onto a hot coal and expecting the other to get burned.” Buddha, I think.

Look at all of the different ways of saying the very same thing. This is what I call the common thread that runs through the genuine mystical teachings of the world. Once you begin to see the common thread you can’t unsee it. The ability to pick up on this also helps us to discern what material has value and what doesn’t.

The Step goes on:

“Learn to see. Learn to hear. Learn to look.”
Learn to filter your perceptions through the Mind of Spirit. When we do this:

“There is not one person in the world who cannot give you something beneficial if you will not judge them.”

There is power here, for when you have learned that it matters not what the world brings into Awareness, perceived correctly, it is always to our benefit and points toward awakening. Learning to perceive the world in this way IS the awakening.

“There is not one person in the world who, through their accomplishments or their errors, cannot confirm the importance of Knowledge and cannot demonstrate its need in the world.”

Coming to see there isn’t anyone or anything in this world; no situation and no event that isn’t for you and for your peace is the beginning of a perception that is wholly unified. With this is the understanding that a unified perception is true perception or, at least, truth-ish perception.

With this new perception you are beginning to see, to hear and to look upon a world with a vision that offers peace, wholeness and completion. This is your practice. This is the preparation. This is the training of the mind away from attack and judgment and toward forgiveness and total acceptance. In the Steps we are taught that when we see error / attack, we need only view this as a “need for Knowledge.” In the Course we are taught “this is a call for help.” Of course these are the same. Both teachings present a simple shift in our perception that is miraculous in their results.

The Step goes on:

“The world in truth is demonstrating everything that this preparation is providing for you, if you will but look upon the world without judgment or condemnation.”

The term preparation must be understood. Preparation is the process of awakening; the unwinding of the egoic construct of self; it is the training of the mind. And to do what? To relinquish attack——Judgment.

Now listen to this: Your projections or judgments are inextricably linked to your personal mind (ego.) You cannot judge without an ego and you can’t sustain your ego without judgment (attack/ projection.)

So what happens to the ego when you have trained the mind to give up attack / judgment? Well, the separated self-construct begins to fade. “You” begin to fade. Your past begins to fade. Your fear begins to fade. And as it fades there is awakening.

Be still.