Judgement and Thinking

Judgement and Thinking

“Thinking is difficult, that’s why people prefer to judge” C.G. Jung

As a student in a Fourth Way school, I was given the following instruction; whenever I catch myself judging someone, I am to set an aim to observe the same behavior or characteristic in myself within 24 hours.

Of course, the idea is not new. Centuries ago, Marcus Aurelius, whom my teacher considers to be a conscious being, said “Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”

This is psychological thinking. It is not mechanical and requires the intentional use of a higher part of the mind than we generally use.

As a practice, this particular use of psychological thinking has proven to be indispensable in my personal work. As Ouspensky often said, a new way of thinking gradually becomes a new way of feeling. Judgement begins to lose its power and quiet humility takes its place. Our critical ‘I’s become hollow and difficult to take as truth. Our compassion and understanding grow and our deep connection to one another starts to become a real-time experience; you and I become one in a very tangible sense. Looking at each other in this state, we are no longer separate but share one Life in this moment now.

This is the experience of a higher world, difficult to put into words, but unmistakably Real.

If we can change our mind, we can change everything.

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Image: Martha and Mary, Caravaggio