Question: In your introduction on the web site, you talk about “a total absence of judgment” as the second step in awakening. I find this very hard. I have experienced how judgment hurts me and others. Yet it is so very hard to overcome judgment in my life. Any suggestions that you have will be greatly appreciated.

Leonard Jacobson‘s Answer: It would be very helpful for you to read my books as I provide detailed guidance in the books as to how to overcome feelings of anger, resentment, blame, guilt and judgment. I also offer guidance on how to be more fully present which is of fundamental importance in overcoming these feelings.

I am happy to offer some guidance here though.

Here are some suggestions.

Decide that you are no longer going to be judgmental. You will neither judge others nor allow yourself to be affected by the judgments of others. It is a decision you make and an intention you adhere to.

This does not mean that judgment will simply stop. Old habits die hard. Bring awareness to judgment every time it arises within you. Do not judge it or try to stop it. Do not be afraid to express the judgment, but be sure that you do not direct it onto any one else. It is helpful to hear your own judgments expressed aloud. Express the judgment in a lighthearted way. Do not take it too seriously. If you do this, without believing in any of it, you will see the absurdity of it. You will probably begin to laugh. Once you have identified the judgment, simply let it go. The judgments are not true. All they do is keep you in separation.

It is sometimes helpful to exaggerate the judgment. Find creative ways to exaggerate the judgments within you. You will know you are on the right track if you start laughing. For example, you could walk around judging everything in the garden. Make this a daily meditation for a week. Once again, it is a lighthearted approach. Just because judgment keeps us in eternal separation (hell) does not mean we should take it too seriously.

Do not judge the judgment. That is like a double bind that locks you further into it. Do not take it too seriously. It is the nature of the ego to judge. It is up to you to see through it and to demonstrate to the ego that you are beyond judgment and will not even judge the judgment of the ego.

You cannot really transcend anything unless you have the dimension of Being available to you. Choose to be present more often in your life. As you choose to be more present, you will open into that dimension of you which is your Being. It is that dimension of you that lives in this moment and no other. At the level of Being, there is no judgment.

There is a story in one of my books about Adam & Eve. I will include that here in the hope that you will find it interesting and perhaps helpful.

Adam and Eve

In Genesis, we are told that Adam and Eve were ejected from the Garden of Eden because they had eaten of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of what is good and evil. To decide what is good and evil is a judgment. It is judgment that resulted in the ejection of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. It is judgment that prevents their return.

God had warned them against judgment. Now judgment had taken them into the world of duality. It had taken them out of the Mind of God into a world of their own minds. They had chosen to separate from God and go their own way. Now they are condemned to live in a world of their own creation.

Adam and Eve exist within each one of us. It is a story that reflects our original state of consciousness. It reflects our original state of Being. We began in the Garden of Eden. We began in a state of innocence. We began in the Mind of God. Now we are separated from God. We are fallen from God and the only thing which keeps us fallen is our continuing judgment.

When we come to recognize that judgment is the original sin that led us astray, we can begin the long and delicate process of transcending judgment in our lives. When we have transcended judgment completely, we will find that we have been restored to God. We have been returned to the Garden of Eden. We have found our way home.

But to our utter amazement we will find that the Garden of Eden no longer exists within the mind of God. That which began as an image in the mind of God has been manifested into physical form. The Mind of God has given birth to the Body of God. The Garden of Eden now exists in physical form. It is our planet Earth. When we awaken fully into the present moment, we will realize that we have come home. In fact, we have always been home. But like Adam and Eve, we have abandoned God and the Garden of Eden by journeying into the illusory world of our own minds.

Leonard Jacobson