What We Have To Do...

[cedar_grove]

Moon and sun rule the sky above.
Here on earth, the goddess rules.
Here on earth, the seven goddesses.
O goddess, pure and cherished one!

We sing sweet songs over and over,
inventing pleasing rhymes for her.
Oh, our songs are so sweet that she
forgives us anything to keep us singing.

--Sri Lankan song

We must let go of judging this world if we are to truly understand the goddess' truth. We cannot pick and choose, controlling life so that we only see what is pleasant to our prejudices.

Going along hand in hand with viewing things negatively, which I was speaking on yesterday, is the tendency to judge what we see... who we see... and apply our own prejudices to those things and people whose existance and whose lives touch ours. This one is a hard one... as passing judgement on all that we see is far too easy. Passing judgement on other people is something that we are in many respects taught and expected to do... mostly by our peers if not our parents, and the communities we move in.

How do we resist the temptation - curb the urge to jdge others by our standards and accept others, and their actions for what they are; to show compassion and understanding? And how does this change us as a person?

I suppose the easiest way to do that is to put yourself in their shoes... at least as best you can. It's what I try to do, but then to do that you also have to be able to use empathy, and let go of the very prejudices you're trying to avoid. It's... a bit of a minefield. There's a certain abandonment of self, I think, required.

A bigger question perhaps is how far should you take this non-judgementalism? I remember some time ago being extremely worried about what I would do, how I would manage if I were ever called for jury service. I always had the question in my mind: Who am I to judge another person? Well of course the inevitable happened, and I was called for jury service, and ended up sitting on two cases, one of Child Abuse, the other, picked at the last moment, which extended my service, was a murder trial. Think maybe the universe was trying to teach me something?

Am I still uncomfortable - yes, I suppose a little, but I think I learned that one can still be compassionate toward others even when they have committed crimes that have hurt someone... that it is the behaviour you condemn, not the person. That you seen to help the person by providing opportunities for them to make restitution, even if only in their soul or character. Of course this is the ideal, and sounds kind of fluffy to me even as I write it... The reality is those offenders probably would not have reformed in Britain's prison system, few do... and yes, I know that they too are judgements I am making - sweeping statements, though sadly the truth. Still the advice to 'criticise the behaviour, not the child/person' is the best way to deal with being as non-judgmental or compassionate as you can.

On a not entirely flippant note: I can't help but think of Michael Kenmore in all of this, from Stargate: Atlantis, and that adds a whole other dimension to all of this, that I'm not even going to go in to here... just that I couldn't help but think of him, as I'm typing up my notes.