“From the Ancient Wisdoms to Quantum Physics,
It's All About the Energy!”
Opinion vs. Judgment©
Dennis L. Dossett
(All Rights Reserved)
As we near the end of 2019, around the world we seem to be surrounded by more diversity of opinion than ever before, and most of it appears to be accompanied by judgment. The world is full of angry people blaming “the other guy” for their particular woes and generally accepting little if any responsibility for their situation. I’m sure it is no different than it has ever been, but it seems worse nonetheless; perhaps it’s just “the media” (you know, the “other guy”) that keeps rubbing our noses in negativity and blame. Not to say that there isn’t blame to go around, but that is just an opinion. It becomes judgment when we make it “personal”—when there is no room left for tolerance of other opinions and all of “those guys” are either inherently “good” or “bad” depending on whether they happen to agree with our own favored opinions. And most of us are in a very deep rut. We’ve been at this for how many millennia now? As I see it, the only way out is to think deeply about a quote I used in last month’s blog:
• “You and you alone are the creator of what you want in your life. You can create abundance or lack. However, if you have much deep subconscious patterning [habits] from the past, it needs to be removed before you can move forward.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #223, March 2, 2009)
Yes, old habits die hard. In short, we—each of us, individually—have created this mess by accepting old habits from from this life and from past lives regardless of culture or era. The past becomes the present which becomes the future in a seemingly never-ending cycle. The only way to change who we have become is to change who we are, right here and right NOW. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Well, until we actually act on it, nothing actually changes. So, where do we start?
Maitreya repeatedly said and wrote that “Everyone is entitled to their own truth,” which is why he also taught that “There is no truth.” In other words, everyone is entitled to their own opinion—their belief—which is their truth. But he also repeatedly admonished that we must learn to speak our own truth. Not to do so invites a host of emotional, mental, and physical problems which are entirely avoidable and which also inhibit soul growth. At present there certainly seems to be no dearth of people speaking their truth—or perhaps shouting their truth might be more accurate—in an effort to badger those who disagree with them into their way of thinking.
That’s not quite what Maitreya had in mind. He indeed taught the we must speak our own truth, but “quietly and clearly—with love.” The “debate” (war?) certainly isn’t quiet, it is often muddled with demonstrable half truths and outright lies, and “love” is out of the question even if it were considered. And even if “love” is out of the question for most of humanity, we could go a long way forward as a species if we simply learned to communicate with respect.
• “Until each soul can learn respect for others—whether it be for their belief, their partner, or the color of their skin—humanity will not have peace in the world. Respect is one of the most foremost necessities for peace on the earth plane. What does it matter that your neighbor is a Jew, Gentile, or New Age soul? That is what they choose to believe. Just because you choose to believe something different does not mean that you cannot get along with each other. If you do, you will just have respect for their differing opinions.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter # 296, March 1, 2010)
If one honestly believes that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, their truth, then is it even possible not to accord respect for others and yet demand it for ourselves? Sometimes we feel like a cog—a gear—in the vast “political and social machine” of modern society. But if a gear has no “teeth,” the wheel can’t turn. This is the equivalent of Maitreya’s frequent advice to “give it no energy.” If we as individuals “give no energy” to the shouting, eventually the “shouters” have no one to hear them.
And how do we “give it no energy?” It seems to me that the answer to that question lies in the following operational definition of respect for the opinions of others: Listening without judgment. Only when we honestly listen can we “hear” what others are saying. When judgment begins, listening stops. When listening stops, understanding becomes impossible. When understanding is impossible, problem solving is non-existent. Everything desirable in this list becomes moot because the objective is to win the war, not to communicate, and certainly not to search for common ground and solutions to the problems of modern life.
• “Why do you judge and criticize? You do so because the Self needs to justify itself and it can only do so when it can see what it perceives to be imperfection in another. You often set yourself up as judge and jury, believing that you—and you alone—know what is good for another person. ... The Self is an energy that believes it knows everything. ... It looks at everything as if it were God, or the Ultimate Being.
“... It is a truly spiritual soul who can love with no judgment or criticism, who can accept a person for who they are totally without any comment or expectation. ... Everyone in your life is there for a reason. However, the Self does not like it, hence the criticism and judgment. If one can get above this habit of making negative comment, one can become a truly beautiful soul and human being. Nobody has the right to question another. Each of you is learning in the way you have chosen. ... The world will never change—cannot change—while criticism and judgment are a part of life on the earth plane.
“... ‘How can I do this?’ I can hear you say. You can do this by saying words that will change the energy of your habit patterning, words such as ‘I no longer feel the need to criticize; I am only looking at something the Self does not like. That person has a right to live their life the way they want to.’
“There is no right or wrong way. Every soul is doing what they need to do to work out their karma, lessons, and life experiences. Find out why you are angry, sad, fearful, questioning, or whatever and, by doing so, you will see a different part of you. Be at peace in your own silence, allowing others to live and experience their life. Give no comment on anything. If you are presented with a person who has a problem, do not judge but find out the reason for that problem. You truly will become a powerful person by doing so.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #224, March 5, 2009)
Judgment closes us down and is final; everything automatically becomes black or white, “good” or “bad,” especially when it is based on dogma, the “party line,” “because that is what I was taught,”—in short, any form of conditioning. It closes all possible doors to real communication, understanding, and problem solving. In contrast, respecting others’ opinions leaves open the possibility of change on either or both sides. We should not suppress or deny our own truth, but insisting that it is THE TRUTH rarely, if ever, advances practical solutions—or for that matter, soul evolution. As Maitreya so often said, “What a waste of energy!”
It is important to consult your inner guidance, your intuition, when evaluating information to form an opinion. Just remember that judgement is a vibration completely at odds with your Higher Self; it does not judge.
• “It is the [Lower} Self who judges. ... The Higher Self would never do this because the Higher Self is connected to the Supreme Being, or God. It knows that all men have their own path and their own reasons for doing things.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter #271, December 21, 2009)
• “You see, a spiritual person has no judgment, does not blame others for their problems, has no hate in their heart, and does not have to justify themselves to anyone.” ~ Maitreya (Newsletter # 246, October 2, 2009)
We need to be open to receiving information, processing it in an open manner, and expressing your opinions quietly and clearly with love—or, at the very least, with respect. That is often all that we, as individuals, can do in a world dominated by the Self. But in the long run, becoming the best version of ourselves that we can imagine is the single best thing any of us can do for the world at large. My truth.
Happy Thanksgiving and have a great month!
Dennis