"Is That So?"

Thinking about judgment again today (see blog entry of November 28, 2008). Judgment creates perception which hides the truth from us. The world itself is neutral and everything happening is neutral. If we refuse to judge it, we are what the course calls forgiving it. To forgive, in the course's teachings, is to overlook. Overlook what the world offers because it is not real and our judgment of it is a defense against the truth. Allow the Holy Spirit to judge (see) the world through us and in that sense, it will be judged correctly and we will be given a new perception of the world.

"Judgment was made to be a weapon used against the truth. It separates what it is being used against, and sets it off as if it were a thing apart. And then it makes of it what you would have it be. It judges what it cannot understand, because it cannot see totality and therefore judges falsely. Let us not use it today, but make a gift of it to Him Who has a different use for it. He will relieve us of the agony of all the judgments we have made against ourselves, and re-establish peace of mind by giving us God's Judgment of His Son." (ACIM Workbook Lesson 311)

"Perception follows judgment. Having judged, we therefore see what we would look upon. For sight can merely serve to offer us what we would have. It is impossible to overlook what we would see, and fail to see what we have chosen to behold. How surely, therefore, must the real world come to greet the holy sight of anyone who takes the Holy Spirit's purpose as his goal for seeing. And he cannot fail to look upon what Christ would have him see, and share Christ's Love for what he looks upon." (ACIM Workbook Lesson 312)

The teachings of the Course in Miracles have been compared with Zen Buddhism, and recently I read a book in which a Zen story was quoted that reminded me of the course's teachings about being non-judgmental, neutral, about letting everything be as they are. Here is the story:

Hakuin was praised by his neighbors for living a pure life. When a beautiful young woman in the village confessed to her parents that she was pregnant with Hakuin's child, they angrily confronted him.
His only reply was, "Is that so?"
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin, who by now had lost his reputation and credibility as a teacher.
Without a question he took the child and cared for it.
A year later the young woman could no longer endure her dishonesty. She confessed that the real father was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.
The parents went immediately to Hakuin to beg for his forgiveness and to retrieve the child. Without a pause he gave it to them. "Is that so?" was his only reply."

from The Tao of Zen by Ray Grigg, quoted from Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps.

I love this story and its emphasis on accepting things as they are. When we see things as "good" or "bad," no matter what they are, we are judging them in that we give them the meaning that we choose to give them. This is true for everything in this world, from sorrow to pain, even to death. Relinquishing judgment to the Holy Spirit allows us to say, "Is that so?" to all that occurs in our lives.

"Let me not be your critic, Lord, today, and judge against You. Let me not attempt to interfere with Your creation, and distort it into sickly forms. Let me be willing to withdraw my wishes from its unity, and thus to let it be as You created it. For thus will I be able, too, to recognize my Self as You created me. In love was I created, and in love will I remain forever. What can frighten me, when I let all things be exactly as they are? Let not our sight be blasphemous today, nor let our ears attend to lying tongues. Only reality is free of pain. Only reality is free of loss. Only reality is wholly safe. And it is only this we seek today." (ACIM Workbook Lesson 268)

The Shoe

“Without judgment are all things equally acceptable, for who could judge otherwise? Without judgment are all men brothers, for who is there who stands apart?” ACIM Teacher’s Manual, page 12

“When you feel tired, it is because you have judged yourself as capable of being tired. When you laugh at someone, it is because you have judged him as unworthy. When you laugh at yourself, you must laugh at others, if only because you cannot tolerate the idea of being more unworthy than they are. All this makes you feel tired because it is essentially disheartening. You are not really capable of being tired, but you are very capable of wearying yourself. The strain of constant judgment is virtually intolerable. . . . if you wish to be the author of reality, you will insist on holding on to judgment.” ACIM text page 47

The Course makes clear that we not only SHOULD not judge, but we CANNOT judge. Only the Holy spirit can, because He sees everything. Our judgment about anything is flawed. It cannot help but be. Even our reactions to events, other people, circumstances, are flawed because we don’t know the reasons for them.

“I do not know what anything, including this, means. And so I do not know how to respond to it. And I will not use my own past learning as the light to guide me now.” ACIM text pg. 298

So all of the judgment I do about anything is based on what I believe about it from my past learning.

For example, take a shoe. I tried this example when my DH and I were trying to explain the Course to his daughter and she thought I was crazy, I know. But - what is a shoe? A shoe is a compilation of materials stitched together in a manner that fits onto my foot and keeps my foot dry/warm/uninjured. And I can judge that to be a good thing. But had I never seen a shoe before from the moment I was born, I would not know what it was for. I had to be taught in the past what a shoe was for and that the right size, shape, even color, would be a good thing for me. Yet - what about a shoe on another person’s foot coming at me from behind? Well, I know that would hurt based on previous learning (from my past) and that makes that particular shoe a bad thing. (Because, let’s face it, a bare foot would hardly have the same impact.)

Any judgment that I make is based on my past learning and my perception of what is good or bad. Any judgment the Holy Spirit makes is based on knowledge, not perception. And so - I must relinquish judgment to the Holy Spirit. My wanting to be my own god - the “author of reality” - is what keeps me bound to this world. I am not the author of reality - only God is. I must learn to let it all go.

“Your past is what you have taught yourself. Let it all go. Do not attempt to understand any event or anything or anyone in its ‘light’ for the darkness in which you try to see can only obscure.” ACIM Text pg. 297

When I try to see anyone or anything in its “light” - as I see it in this body, this physical world of perception - I see it in darkness.