OK, I am about to pass judgement and a mindless to behold. But, before I let my mind to have its mental diarrhoea, it would be good to reflect on this action. "I know that" are extremely dangerous words and before I lose more opportunities in my life, let these quotes guide me towards forgiveness to make improvements to my happiness and peace of mind.
The act of judgement is an act of pride. It involves looking to our own store of knowledge, putting together a few facts, figures or fancies, and coming up with some sort of answer or solution to a given problem or situation. All too often it is the wrong solution or answer, and because of pride, we refuse to correct course.
Judging others is an act of monumental pride - enormous pride, stupendous pride, galling, astonishing, fantastic pride. This should be understood. When you render judgement on another, you have taken upon yourself an awesome responsibility for making the correct judgement. Because, after all, your judgement is not necessary.
All things, big and small, invite your judgement. The condition of the weather, political matters, the taste of your food, a television program - at every moment of the day, something or other is inviting your judgement of it. And so often, and so willingly, you render it, without being aware of the consequences, without taking care of the responsibilities entailed.
You judge, and then to make matters worse, you believe in your judgement. You've looked at the evidence, you've made a judgement - it must be right! There couldn't possibly be any other conclusion to arrive at but the one your've chosen, could there?
What you don't see, don't understand, is that your judgement leads to suffering - your own suffering. It does not touch the person judged; he or she is free of you and your thoughts and your judgements. You cannot change their behaviour by even a hair's breadth by your judgement.
And I love the words of Cheshire Calhoun:
In social life, there are unending opportunities to find other people boring, disagreeable, repulsive, stupid, sleazy, inept, bigoted, lousy at selecting gifts, bad cooks, infuriatingly slow drivers, disappointing dates, bad philosophers, and so on. The civil person typically conceals these unflattering appraisals, since conveying them may easily suggest that one does not take others' feelings or the fact that they may have different standards to be worth taking into consideration or tolerating.
You see, I am only human and I have splintered mind. Today, as it rains (again), which has been almost every other day since we move in, the impression that I got about staying in Reiki Sanctuary is one of solitude, magnificence and abundance. The exact phrase when I started this blog.
Nonetheless, it can be unfair to evaluate Reiki Sanctuary based on the rain as this natural downfall may not be representative. My master used to tell me, "why shun the rain when it is supposed to be water from heaven?" He walks in the rain and as the water gifts upon his head, he takes in the abundance. In my general tendency, and in my confirmation biasness, the rain can make one sick. It results in my judgement that his action, by contrast, is overlooked. For that matter, his interpretation discounted.
Now, the rain has become a self fulfilling prophecy. Perhaps, I am forming my master's impression - a behavioral confirmation in ways reflective of what I want Reiki Sanctuary to be. Afterall, we cannot deny that water constitutes an intrinsic part of our daily life and we just could not survive without it. Amongst its countless benefits, rainwater can be a detox - instant cleansing and purification, experience.
I love the rain. It is nice to see the falling rain and the breeze as it brings along. Just looking at it is very therapeutic. There's freshness around. Here, in Reiki Sanctuary, I can touch it. I can smell it. We let the windows opened even when it rains hard. Somehow, the rain does not stream into the house. The only window that we need to close is the one at the balcony. When we were in Hertford, the windows must be, or rather it was always, closed and it separated us. We blocked each other.
I don't avoid the rain anymore. Infact, it does not bother me much if it rains cat and dog. The rain is, somehow, something that many of us avoid at times. It ruins hair-dos, wets shoes, makes clothes unwearable, gets us cold. Whatever the reasons we choose to provide, we have tried to stay out of the rain at different times in our lives.
The beauty about Reiki Sanctuary is through the open window. She brings to bear courage. She nurtures an open mind. She invites the Universe to come through, day and night. Hertford, in all her essential being and illuminative ways, was somewhat scarcely reactive. Perhaps, it was a gestational period for the conception of bigger things ahead.
Am I ready for all things new? I wonder. As for now, there are things (of the past) that I still dearly want.
And, it is still raining now ..