Platinum Author
Insight is a wonderful thing. It comes from Essence. Judgment is not a wonderful thing, and it comes from the ego, without exception. These two things, insight and judgment, often follow one after the other: Insight turns into judgment. The ego often co-opts insights and other communications (intuitions and urges to act) that arise from Essence. It takes a lot of diligence to not fall into the trap of ego-inflation because you suddenly know, or see, something you didn't see before. A natural elation arises when you discover something, and then the ego comes in and takes credit for it.
What a funny duality lives within human beings. You bounce back and forth between Essence and the ego more or less, even after awakening. This is natural. And although you might as well accept this, because this is the way it is, the more conscious you become of the movements of the ego, the more free you can become of suffering and of causing suffering to others. Judgment causes suffering for yourself and others, so that is a reason to become more conscious of judging and where that is coming from. You can accept that this bouncing back and forth goes on, while at the same time, become more conscious of what is happening and how it's happening. Waking up is really just a matter of becoming more conscious of what the egoic mind is telling you and how the ego is operating. Once you are more conscious of the ego, you can choose to not go along with it, and then the suffering ends, for yourself and others.
How does insight turn into judgment? This happens most often when the insight is about someone else. You often are able to see someone else's weakness or how someone else is caught in the ego. This is much easier to do with others than with yourself. An insight is helpful if it leads to acceptance (e.g. "He's impulsive, but I love him anyway"), but an insight isn't helpful when it leads to a judgment that is either kept to yourself or shared with others or with the person who is being judged. When an insight results in acceptance, that is Essence; when an insight results in judgment, that is the ego.
No matter how wonderful an insight is, if it is held as a judgment within you, it will harm your relationship with the person it is about. And if that judgment that is disguised as insight is shared with others, it will be harmful as well. Even if that insight is shared with the person you are judging in hopes of helping that person, it's likely to be harmful because that person hasn't asked for it. Insight that isn't asked for is often received as criticism, and most people don't or can't make use of criticism. Criticism usually activates their ego and causes them to become defensive or offensive. Criticism and judgment have no place in relationships. They hurt you to hold them, and they hurt others and the relationship to receive them.
The ego will try to convince you otherwise. It will tell you that the other person should know, that it would be helpful, but it rarely is. That is the pretense the ego uses to perpetuate its superiority game. Judgment is the weapon it uses to prove it is right and superior and someone else isn't. This isn't a game that ultimately feels good to anyone, and relationships can't survive for very long when this game is going on. They may not even survive one bout of judgment.
Insights are given to you by Essence to heal you, to evolve you, to point the way to greater love and wisdom. They can do that, or they can be harmful. Seeing the mechanism by which the ego twists insights into a negative force in the world rather than a positive one will allow you to use them for your own good and the good of others rather than do the opposite.
About this Author
Gina Lake is a spiritual teacher who is devoted to helping others awaken and live in the moment through her books, online courses, and intensives. She is the author of eight books, including Loving in the Moment, Embracing the Now, Radical Happiness, Living in the Now, Return to Essence, What About Now? Anatomy of Desire, and Getting Free. The focus of her writing and teaching is on helping people be in the present moment and live the happy and fulfilled life that is possible and on shedding light on the programming that interferes with awakening to one's true nature. She is also a gifted intuitive with a master's degree in counseling psychology and over twenty years experience supporting people in their spiritual growth. Her website offers information about her books, free e-books, book excerpts, a monthly newsletter, a blog, and audio and video recordings: http://www.radicalhappiness.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gina_Lake
