What I find useful is that the Buddhist ethical guidance is directional, not absolute (different to the commandments). There is space and grace for imperfection (by contrast, perfectionism is a feature of supremacy culture).
Judgement is also understood as a pattern of mind - which protects us from feeling. To come closer to internal coherence, we need to notice when judgement arises, notices the embodied sensations and then work with safety and breath to stay present and allow the underlying feelings to arise. What would become possible if you slowed down, dropped out of the mind and allowed your heart to really connect with deep compassion with the suffering you describe? This compassion can be enough to ripple change into the world without needing to judge or change others.
In my experience (I struggle with judgement a lot), judgement is most akin to aversion (one of the five hindrances). Understanding it as a hindrance has really helped me find ways to work with it (without unleashing more judgement by judging the judgement!! The teaching of the arrows!)
Talking about coherence, I was tempted to include a passage about how the Oslers the started eating meat when moved out to Poplar Grove in the Karoo, as that is the only way the community sustains itself, and how they changed the precepts as a result. It gave me some sense of liberation from the "dogmatic" ideal of Buddhists don't eat meat.
I resonate strongly with this idea of judgement as a pattern of mind. I've been thinking about it in terms of the elements, and how when there is judgement, I'm often in the air, lofty and ungrounded, and how it is good to consider earth and be more grounded. But it's a good prompt to go a level deeper and feel into the underlying sensations 🙏🏻
I find the desired ripples teaching challenging. I guess for me, there is a through-line which I struggle with that nothing we can do is ever enough. And I justify that by accepting suffering/dukkha as a natural part of reality.
What I find useful is that the Buddhist ethical guidance is directional, not absolute (different to the commandments). There is space and grace for imperfection (by contrast, perfectionism is a feature of supremacy culture).
Judgement is also understood as a pattern of mind - which protects us from feeling. To come closer to internal coherence, we need to notice when judgement arises, notices the embodied sensations and then work with safety and breath to stay present and allow the underlying feelings to arise. What would become possible if you slowed down, dropped out of the mind and allowed your heart to really connect with deep compassion with the suffering you describe? This compassion can be enough to ripple change into the world without needing to judge or change others.
In my experience (I struggle with judgement a lot), judgement is most akin to aversion (one of the five hindrances). Understanding it as a hindrance has really helped me find ways to work with it (without unleashing more judgement by judging the judgement!! The teaching of the arrows!)
Thanks for sharing this perspective, Shivani.
Talking about coherence, I was tempted to include a passage about how the Oslers the started eating meat when moved out to Poplar Grove in the Karoo, as that is the only way the community sustains itself, and how they changed the precepts as a result. It gave me some sense of liberation from the "dogmatic" ideal of Buddhists don't eat meat.
I resonate strongly with this idea of judgement as a pattern of mind. I've been thinking about it in terms of the elements, and how when there is judgement, I'm often in the air, lofty and ungrounded, and how it is good to consider earth and be more grounded. But it's a good prompt to go a level deeper and feel into the underlying sensations 🙏🏻
I find the desired ripples teaching challenging. I guess for me, there is a through-line which I struggle with that nothing we can do is ever enough. And I justify that by accepting suffering/dukkha as a natural part of reality.