OK, I think that I see what is happening here. There is a tremendous difference between
stating an observation and
making a judgment. I will give a few examples to make my point.
Take the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. It matters little whether it happened this way or not. It is the "message" that matters. Jesus gets dragged through the streets, gets rocks thrown at him along the road to the hill, has a painful crown of thorns attached to his head, gets nails hammered through his hands and feet, and has a spear stuck in his side. That's the "short" version. Too make it worse, he may have been heckled the entire time. How does anyone think he viewed this perfectly common example of his fellow man? From his viewpoint, these people were all very
stupid,
misguided,
unaware, self-absorbed "normal" people. But, and this part is extremely important, he didn't "judge" them in any way. He didn't look "down on them" in any way.
He was not arrogant or hostile, but I have no doubt that he could see an aspect of them that WAS stupid, misguided, and quite indicative of people who were terribly trapped and immersed in their own tight little compartmented views of reality (ego). And if he did try to explain to any of them what was going on with them, he would have been labeled "hostile" and "arrogant". But, despite all of that, he still NEVER "judged" them, and continued to extend compassion, love and respect for the LIGHT within (however
hidden that divine spark might have been for most of these people). Despite all that was done to Jesus, he says, "God forgive them for they know not what they do". In other words, he extends total forgiveness despite the fact that they have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THEY ARE DOING (ignorance, stupidity, ego-blindness).
Take Buddha. From his perspective, and I agree, ALL human suffering, pain, disagreement, argument and sense of separation comes from the false notions and views of any conscious entity (that which is housed within or along with the body). I doubt that he looks around in any sort of
admiration at the endless continuing
self-created human drama, that is basically of the nature of
complete idiocy, stupidity, self-delusion, self-unawareness and ignorance. He asserts correctly, that the source of the entire problem is
ignorance. I call it "fucking stupidity". My bad. He is obviously more polite than me, and calls it "ignorance". But, I understand exactly what he means when he talks about
ignorance being the primary culprit, or at least I feel that I do. He doesn't mean "ignorance of information or data" - he means
ignorance of the true nature of self. That is all Buddha ever talked about.
Buddha also probably very much continued and still continues to empathize with, feel compassion for, and LOVE every living thing,
despite the fact that he can totally notice and clearly see the endless parade of idiocy all around him. I have no doubt that if Buddha told any person what HE SEES in them, enedited and unabridged, that the receiver of the communication would take it as "judgment" or "intolerance". That's if Buddha was honest. Buddha stopped talking after awhile, as did Meher Baba and many others, because nobody could hear what they were saying - and pretty much everybody took what they said the wrong way. And realise that these were guys who very VERY intelligent, who were very well practiced in the inner arts, and who still couldn't get just about anybody to understand what any of them were saying. I suppose that I, being nowhere even remotely close to any of them, shouldn't for a second think that I should be able to make any sense to anyone either.:confused2:
In both cases, neither Jesus nor Buddha makes any JUDGMENTS of any sort, and both simply observe and describe an existing reality. Neither has any sense of "I am better" or "you are a dummy". In that I am entirely the same as them.
I do not judge, look down upon or haughtily condescend to my fellow man. It seems that some have the opinion that I do. It is true, I do not think highly of the common situation of Man on Earth. But also, that in no way interferes with my love for WHAT we each are, and my
compassion for the situations we each find ourselves in (to learn from). I do harbor the opinion that all is endlessly evolving to better and better states. And, "that what" is could be no other way.
Many liberals, and some others, often make the mistake of thinking that non-judgment means simply refusing to see any differences or inequalities. That's not true. It is an incorrect thing to do. The trick is to be able to see all the inequalities, differences, pain and suffering, and NOT judge it, but to still honestly and calmly observe it just as it is. It seems some people
stop observing as a way to
cease judging. That doesn't work.
I admire Jesus and Buddha, because to me, each saw far more than most others, YET each still
continued to love, when each probably had far more reasons than most others NOT to love. Why? Because, each could see quite clearly and succinctly the
exact nature of the self-created trap each of us entirely places ourselves within.
This may or may not clarify anything for some of you.
NAMASTE!