Non-judgment Essential For Spiritual Path

Through non-judgment, you switch focus from the negative to the positive. If you’re
viewing the world as bad, ugly, problematic; or judging those around you as arrogant,
selfish, sinners... then your focus is subconsciously negative. Often you don’t even realise
this.

Even those on the spiritual path might go through life thinking they are focused only on
God, but by engaging in subtle labeling this is where you are dwelling; this is what your
energy fields are emanating and this is what you are creating in your current realities
every moment.

Through a conscious practice of non-judgment you could train your subconscious mind to
remain in a positive state of being.

As the journey deepens however, ‘thou shalt not judge’ becomes the gnosis that ‘there is
nothing to judge outside us’ since the world and its people are but reflections of Self.

This often leads to a phase where you do not judge the outside or other, but begin to
flagellate Self as the source of all that you meet as life.

This serves a vital purpose initially; because when you realise that it’s all about you, you
cannot distance yourself from the qualities you’ve been projecting onto others and
perhaps for the first time you make an effort to change the source that is you, rather than
pass the buck outside.

Self-blame is not a healthy frame of mind. However, once Self-blame has turned your
attention within, you are ready to move on by coming to terms with the fact that there is
nothing like ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ to judge. Because all your facets are aspects of the One God
or Self choosing to experience its different aspects for a larger purpose.

Judgment is becoming redundant indeed. You stop judging Self or the other and instead,
view all as being part of a larger picture, knowing now that there is a larger purpose
behind each quality or experience that you might have formerly judged as negative.

At this point comes another revelation. Thus far, non-judgment has always implied a
moving away from judging anything as negative or wrong or less.

But a natural extension of not judging anything as ‘bad’ implies not judging anything as
‘good’. If you were to judge anything as good, your negative judgment is only hidden, as
everything that does not fit in with your criterion of good, is actually automatically
rendered bad. This is a big leap in consciousness and it takes you beyond ‘judgment’ into
a state of being without labels.
Non-judgment does not mean non-observation. You will observe, there will be
discrimination, even preference. You may indeed view someone as angry or arrogant or a
cheat for example but without the judgment of it being good or bad; without adding the
usual inner plethora of: “she should not be”, “how can she be”.

You cannot move away from the spoken language and will need to use the words, yes,
but if you are truly not judging from within, then your energy signatures are not
emanating judgment.

This brings us to a profound understanding that if we were to use all such words like
angry, arrogant, cheat and so on without judgment, we are going to change the energy
behind these words — where they do not imply an automatic negative verdict — and we
will indeed develop language without labels.
We Are All Actors In A Cosmic Drama

Taraka Brahma wants to emancipate living beings, but only those who want liberation get
liberation. When you long for liberation, the search leads you to the Sadguru. Everyone
of us has a fixed role to play. You are a character in a divine drama. The composer of this
drama is Taraka Brahma.

An episode in the Mahabharata is instructive in this regard: After battle, the battleground
at Kurukshetra became a cremation ground. At the end of the war some people came
there from the Kauravas' side. Among them were women and a few elderly men.
Gandhari, mother of the Kauravas, was also there. Kunti, mother of the Pandavas, and
Krishna, Pandavas' friend, were present as well, along with the visually challenged
Dhritarashtra. Everyone was weeping. Gandhari had lost hundred sons in the war.

Krishna approached Gandhari and said: "Mother, why are you weeping? Death is a
natural law. One who is born will die. So why cry?" Gandhari replied: "Yes Krishna, you
have come here to console me, but i ask you, behind this great event whose mind was at
work? Who was the author of this great plan? Was it not you?" Krishna replied: "Those
who have committed injustice and sinned have been punished. What can I do about that?"

Gandhari said to Krishna: "Everything you have said up until now is quite correct. From
the worldly point of view, everything that has happened until now is as it should be,
because every action must have its reaction. But my point is: You yourself are Taraka
Brahma; your duty is to liberate living beings. You can give liberation to whomsoever
you please.

"As Taraka Brahma you can create and destroy as you wish. In this drama of yours you
have created characters who are honest, ideological people. If one does virtuous deeds
then one gets liberation. To teach the people you create these kinds of characters. And
you also create sinful characters to show how much a person degenerates because of
sinful behaviour. In this drama, you could have had my hundred sons play roles of
righteousness and the Pandavas play roles of unrighteousness, if you had so wished. In
that case my hundred sons would have gotten salvation. Now, after having made me cry,
you come to console me!

Taraka Brahma formulates his plan in order to create situations that lend themselves to
illustrating values, to create awareness. For instance, if one engages in honest work then
one moves towards eternal truth, and if one performs dishonest work then one moves
towards untruth. Thereafter comes the other part of the story.

Gandhari said: "Krishna, give me permission to curse you". Krishna replied: "Okay, curse
me. I give you permission". Gandhari cursed him: "Just as my entire lineage has been
destroyed before my very eyes, may your Yadava lineage be destroyed before your very
eyes as well". "Let it be so", Krishna replied.

Remember always that we are only actors in a universal drama. This is not our real
identity. Someone may play the role of a king, but he might not even have two handfuls
of rice in his house. Someone plays the role of a poor man, but in real life he may be very
rich. We ought to remember that we are only playing specific roles in a cosmic drama.
Act according to the role given. This is a person's duty.

http://spirituality.indiatimes.com
Marshall Different Ways To Bust Stress
SWAMI TEJOMAYANANDA

How do we overcome stress? Some people try smoking or drinking. Others seek change,
a vacation. Many tend to seek various temporary escapes from tension. Some of these are
tamasic or inactive such as drinking, rajasic or active such as pleasure trips and others
may be sattvic or serene such as going to a spiritual retreat.

If, after the retreat, we are afraid of facing life's challenges again, it was only an escape, a
diversion, which did not solve our problem. When we gain a new vision at the retreat, we
should become more dynamic and fearless, ready to face all challenges. Some kinds of
stress are normal; they could be called objective stress.

This is perceived when we face a challenge. When a lot of work must be accomplished in
a short period of time, or we have a tight schedule of engagements, though we may be
efficient, because the time is limited we feel stress.

In those situations we have to "keep cool". Figure out how work can be accomplished in
a short time with efficient time management. One way of overcoming stress in the
objective field is to become more disciplined and organised. Waking earlier, for example,
can help make our lives smoother.

When we hurry, we try to do things quickly and often make mistakes, but with planning
and discipline we can act with greater efficiency and less strain. Another kind of stress is
subjective. In the outer world there are only situations; in the physical world there is no
stress, no tension.

The strain that we feel, which is so exhausting, is not because of the outer situation but
because of our inner reaction to that situation. When does the outer situation become a
problem, a threat? Worry and anxiety arise from our inability to face a particular situation
and to deal with it effectively.

This is the stress we feel in many forms and we try to relieve in many ways. Anxiety
comes when we are unprepared. If a student has studied well, is the examination a
problem for him? No, because he is well prepared! When there is job insecurity, strained
relationships within the family, or any emotional upheaval, there is always stress.

All the time there is fear. The only certain thing about the world is that everything is
uncertain. Accepting the fact that nothing is certain; that all is unstable, itself relieves
tension and stress. The most effective method of avoiding subjective stress is to have
faith.

You could call it faith, devotion, or surrender. Faith is the clear understanding that the
Lord is taking care of us. Is He not running everything? And still we worry! That is why
in Bhaja Govindam it is said, "O fool! Why worry? Is there not for you the One who
ordains, rules, and commands?"

When we travel by plane, the plane flies; we only eat and sleep. We know that the pilot is
taking care of us; we have faith in him. When we are seasoned travellers, we are not
afraid of anything; we are relaxed. We should have the same attitude in life, remember-
ing Krishna's assurance: "Rest assured. Remember Me. I will take care of you. Those
who remember Me with single-pointed attention I take care of; I take care of their entire
lives".