Judging Others Doesn't Let You Love
By
Sumit Paul, New Age Islam
18 November
2022
"
To Judge Is To Nudge Your Heart In A Negative Way. "
-
Turkish poet Nazim Hikmat
"
Judging Others Doesn't Allow You To Love. "
-Mansur-Al-Hallaj
'A heart
that doesn't judge, loves the best,' said Fariduddin Attar. The most loving and
beautiful thoughts reside in a heart that has no time to judge others. Just
before drinking poison, Xenophon (a disciple of Socrates) asked him whether he
had bitter and negative feelings for those who planned and executed his ritualistic
punishment, Socrates smiled and said, 'Mer Enst Vi En Phin' (How can I
judge?). Just imagine, the man is condemned to die yet he's not judging his
foes! Because, he has no foes or he doesn't consider anyone to be his
adversary. Only a heart so pure and sublime is above all pettiness and
bitterness.
When an
Armenian mystic Sarmad Kashani was brought before the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb,
a courtier asked him ' Do you know, he's Jahaan Panaah (one who shelters
the whole world, in other words, emperor)? The naked fakir laughed uproariously
and said, ' Whole life, I never differentiated between an emperor and a
commoner because my loving heart had no scope and room to judge people from
different walks of life.'
Only by NOT
judging, we remain egalitarian to all. A heart that doesn't differentiate is
the heart that embraces all. It's the inherent nature of judging embedded in
the collective psyche of mankind that engenders vices like racism, apartheid,
casteism, jingoism etc. Why do we dislike certain people and they dislike us?
The root cause is our habit of judging them and vice versa. Judgement is always
an impediment. It impedes the flow of love and acceptance. It begets prejudices
and a prejudiced mind cannot love wholeheartedly. To judge is to entertain a
permanent grudge.
When
British professor Sir Arnold Toynbee read that Rudyard Kipling condescendingly
said, ' East is East and the West is West and the twain shall never meet,' the
gentle professor of History at Oxford just commented, ' This East/West judgement
of petty minds enslaved a great civilization (India).' To judge is to harbour
negativity. All the unrest in the world is due to mankind's cumulative
judgemetalism (Michel Foucault's apt phrase) that makes us think fallaciously
that others are not on a par with us.
When the
mind gets bereft of all judgments, it can see things as they are. Perceptions
become crystal clear. The mirror of mind must always be dusted off so that the
sands of judgments cannot stick to it.
Finally, if at all one wants to judge, one must start with judging
oneself, for, Aghiyaar Ko Tatolne Mein Hayaat Gayee/ Apni Qeemat Taaq Pe Rah
Gayee (Life went in vain in judging others/ My own value got shelved). So,
following the latest murder in the Capital, don't judge and condemn all Muslims
as people with a fiendish mindset. That'll be an act of gross injustice to an
entire community.
-----
A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul
is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He
has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several
languages including Persian.
URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/judging-love-mystic/d/128426
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