From a Buddhist point of view, there are two concepts playing out here. One is “judging” and the other the concept of “causes and conditions.”
We judge and take actions based on our judgements. At some point results of our actions come to fruition, either to us or to others and may extend into the future. What I do is of consequence, regardless of how benign I believe it to be.
When I say I am bonbu, I understand I have qualities, traits or behaviors that I’d rather not have. Who chooses to be foolish, greedy, ignorant or stupid? No one, not even me, but there you have it, I am.
I wonder why I am unhappy, disturbed, irritable, anxious or fearful. I wonder why I experience dukkha. Then I discover Buddhism. The teachings make sense. I believe if I just follow the teachings dukkha will end and I will live happily ever after. I think walking the Buddhist path will be like weeding. Just pull out some things I don’t like and plant ones I think are good. Easy to say…
Another “weeding” example is about people and came from Prof. Helen Manock of Boston College, a Prof. of Interpersonal Relations. One assignment was to select two people (A and B) we believed could be our life partner. For each person we made two lists. One listed all the good qualities that made that person the perfect partner. The other listed all the qualities we didn’t care for and wanted to change.
What we discovered were the “good “qualities of A turned out to be the “poor” qualities of B. What made B so great were the shortcomings of A. It didn’t add up. It only made sense when we accepted that it was not the qualities that were bad or good, but our judgement of them in the individual person, as a whole.
Unlike Amida Buddha, we judge, we compare - we like, we dislike. We lay deep solid foundations that serve to support our own views. It isn’t easy to let go of a lifetime of our culture insisting we judge everything from coffee to politics to pharmaceutical drugs and categorize what is good and what is not.
What if we at least begin to understand the role “me” plays, the “me” that judges, the “me” that makes “me” the only true and just arbiter of everything… If we pause to consider this role, the burden we’ve taken on, we may see that it is “me” who adds a judgment onto what is not inherent in the object or subject.
Could that at least be a start to living the life we know is possible - a life with less unhappiness, less disturbance, less irritation at our self and others and live with less anxiety and fear?
As Amida Buddha embraces us just as we are, we can begin to consider how we judge some to be flowers and others weeds. After all, we aren’t weeds and yet we label others as such. Perhaps by becoming aware of our desire to judge we lose sight of how dependent we are in our interconnections with all life. Why do we think we can ignore the Buddha Nature in all life?
Namo Amida Buddha
Namo Amida Buddha
Namo Amida Buddha
Rev. Anita
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