Judgements are the wall of protection that we put up to insulate our shame, our hurt, our lack of worth. They insulate us from the truths of our esteem and our value- how those who surrounded us were conditional and sometimes not kind- that if we just had the realization that we were "right" then we would only have to look externally rather than within.
The unexamined life is the safer life, but it is not the more peaceful one.
It is laced with hazards, obstacles and land mines that we must keep navigating in order to justify our viewpoints and our opinions. It is a game of not being able to open the mind for fear that the shaky and weak foundation upon which we have built our lives will crumble to the ground. That the lies we have told ourselves, of separation, of hate, of discourse and chaos, are untrue-- that the truth is we are all the same, we are one.
And if that is true and you are me and I am you, than whatever you do, I am capable of, whatever your thoughts, I could have them too, whatever your pain, it exists within me as well.
Then my judgement of you, is actually of me.
That whatever and however I use my judgement to represent my superiority and separation of your act is now nonexistent, that I am no longer protected from the heinous possibilities of this human condition. I am capable of all the evil that I try to reprimand with this protector we call judgment. Now I have no more excuses, no more choice but to hold your choices in hand and listen-- and try to understand.
As a society where did we fail you? Where did things go wrong for you, my friend? When did you start feeling as if this was the only way to validate your existence, your pain, your loss? How did this start filling the void of your suffering?
This act that I try to separate from in order to provide safety for my soul is nothing more than a mirror image of me. It is an example, a story, an experience from which I can learn, stretch and grow-- or shrink, shreek and turn away. We each get to choose. The examined life or judgement.