Many believe that God created man in His image. There is also popular belief that God judges each soul based on his actions or karma. There is also another popular belief that god is within us.
Forming a mash up of all these beliefs, a lot of us have come up with the new concept of being the judge ourselves and judge every person on the face of this earth.
The most recent case of this obsession to judge is Sachin's hundredth 100. Expert advices from non cricketing professionals about Sachin's game, his dedication, selfishness etc.
The most ridiculous ones... 'he's playing for his record' , 'Sachin thinking about his 100 is affecting his game'
This is where my problem lies. Would any one accept a similar criticism if a friend or a stranger comes up and says 'you dont enjoy your job, you must retire'. Won't we tell him to shove that thought up his *** and mind his business?
Sachin's case is just an example of how most of us approach lives. We try to judge everyone around us. We form opinions, polarised views with almost no sufficient data about the other person. It's a no brainer that judging others is not going to make your life any better. Yet we do it.
I believe life would be much simpler if we don't judge others and just see one another as individuals going about their lives.
In Buddhism, and Jainism and also in Hinduism, there are cautions against judging others, yet Siddhartha (the Buddha) spreads the burden of judgments on both the judger and the judged. Buddha cautioned against judging others not just because we're supposed to be looking at ourselves, but because we know so little! Buddha says, those who judge must be thoughtful when doing so, but also those who are the target of judgment need to be stoic in the face of such judgements, for everyone is judged by those around them. Buddhist thought provides an interesting approach to this universal issue. In my opinion, the post is more about discernment than of judgement.
ReplyDeleteI haven't believed that 'not judging' others is possible. Be it right or wrong, we judge and are judged. I can't see a logical way around it. From Shanthi's comment I understand that Lord Buddha has also said that judgement is inevitable, but all that we could do is to be careful and stoic.
ReplyDeleteIn spirit I agree with the post that we have the duty to allow others to be independent in their own business. But I doubt if we could stretch it to matters that have made it to the public domain, which includes politicians, writers, social workers, etc. In the case of Sachin, I feel it is a quasi-public affair. It is better for others to stay quiet.
I agree that we need to judge people like politicians, writers etc. They are accountable to the general public. But most times we extend it to judging everyone we come across, whether they impact our lives or not. That's precisely the reason I took Sachin's example. He's no way related to our day to day living yet we end up judging. We do it many times with some neighbor, co-workers and even someone who we see standing idle at a tea stall.
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