How often do you do this?
Last night I went to an event in Minneapolis. It was a beautiful event! It was a Kundalini Yoga and Full Moon Gong Bath. The event as a whole was very powerful and at one point when the sound of the gong intensified my body felt like an electric current was running through it. Releasing and letting go was the energy of the evening. After this amazing experience that I had there was such a feeling of peace, calm and love.
After the event some of us were chatting and another person vocalized that because of some
conflicting religious beliefs they did not enjoy the event at all and in fact were resisting the whole thing. It was apparent that this person was closed off to this new experience and because of that shut the whole thing down.
Even though I didn’t vocalize a response, my mind/ego started figuring out how to ‘convince’ this person that it was a great event and that religious dogma is not serving our highest self, blah blah blah….basically I was judging this person had had already came to the conclusion that he had ‘faulty thinking’ for not seeing it the way I saw it. Whoa!
!! Light bulb moment !!
How many times do we attach our own experience to that of someone else’s?
How often do we judge another for their beliefs because they do not align with our own?
How often do we try to convince another that they have faulty thinking and that our thinking is the ‘right’ way?
I know I have been guilty of it! How about you?
The interesting thing is that I have been where this person is. I used to be so closed off to new experiences and out of fear I felt that I was doing something wrong or against God, etc. The other interesting thing is that I have been judged for not having the beliefs that others hold as well and that never feels good.
How much more peace would we have within ourselves if we could truly let others have their own journey and live their lives with the opinions and experiences that they signed up for in this life?
We come into this world to live our lives the best way we see fit in that time and in that space. It is not up to us to dictate another’s journey no matter how ‘right’ we feel about our position. It’s simply not our place. It is our sacred duty and right to be a witness to others as they travel in this life. Being a witness to another is acknowledging the person for the human being that they are, the valuable life experience that they are living and for their opinions about the matters in life….without judgment. That’s the key….judgment will never allow anyone to feel safe and it will chip away at any relationship that we are in.
In the end….we need to remember that we aren’t ‘right’ …and they aren’t ‘wrong’. This thinking is what breeds separation/division/hate and not wholeness/love among people.
Recognizing that it’s just our ego that gets involved when this happens and allowing space in the conversation for any experience that needs to be had. Someone else’s experience or differing opinion does not have an effect on our own unless we allow it to.
That is the only faulty thinking in this scenario!
Let’s remember to always come with a heart of understanding and compassion vs. judgment.
Judgement is only a reflection of ourselves…not them.
