The Power of Releasing Judgment
Bettina’s Chapter: Space of Being
Invitation When I received the invitation for contributing a chapter to this book I happily replied with a joyful yes! It was so light and expansive. Once I opened my laptop and sat in front of the empty page I wasn’t quite sure where to even begin. Judgment, I wondered, was everywhere. How could I approach something so vast, so slippery and multi-faceted in one chapter? How could I approach something that is the very core and structure of this entire reality, in a few pages?
So, let me invite you on a walk, on a journey. I
have no idea where we will be going. There are
so many possibilities as to how this journey
could unfold. So, let’s go sit by a tree.
A tree will not judge you, nature overall does not judge you. Have you noticed? The sense of ease and relaxation in nature is created by the total lack of judgment.
Where judgment stops is where being begins
Being is not something that we have to become or find, or something outside of us. We are that already. It just got obstructed and diminished. We all allowed judgment to be more real than choosing for us.
The space of being is a space that does not know judgment. Being is when we express our joy and choose what we would like to create. It is the space where we honor ourselves, and others. We don’t change ourselves for others, nor do we cut off pieces of ourselves so that others will like us. We don’t blindly succumb to tradition or follow in anybody’s footsteps without asking questions. It is the space beyond definition, beyond roles and confinement. We include everything and everyone in our choices, also the earth and also our bodies. We are totally present and live from question and awareness, curiosity and the willing- ness to change.
A tree will not judge you, nature overall does not judge you. Have you noticed? The sense of ease and relaxation in nature is created by the total lack of judgment.
Where judgment stops is where being begins
Being is not something that we have to become or find, or something outside of us. We are that already. It just got obstructed and diminished. We all allowed judgment to be more real than choosing for us.
The space of being is a space that does not know judgment. Being is when we express our joy and choose what we would like to create. It is the space where we honor ourselves, and others. We don’t change ourselves for others, nor do we cut off pieces of ourselves so that others will like us. We don’t blindly succumb to tradition or follow in anybody’s footsteps without asking questions. It is the space beyond definition, beyond roles and confinement. We include everything and everyone in our choices, also the earth and also our bodies. We are totally present and live from question and awareness, curiosity and the willing- ness to change.
What if we never judged anyone or anything,
not even ourselves, not even our bodies?
This reality that we think is real
I grew up in Berlin in the 1960s, a time marked by separation and cold war. Who could come up with the idea of separating a city by building a wall right through it, with both parts being governed by different political points of view and social systems, each part based on the assumption that they were ‘right’?
The trees stand still. Turmoil of human creation will not disturb their being. They stand and wait, for us to choose something different.
My family was on the West side, and I grew up with all the amenities of Western culture. As a child, I couldn’t understand the concept of the wall. There was no space in my universe for long waiting and seemingly endless controls at borders, military police with guns, and a strange energy of fear that was hanging like a thick cloak above the long, trailing lines of silent cars waiting at the check point, an inevitable procedure on the way to vacation destinations.
In all these strange dynamics of human creation, I had my own small oasis in the middle of the city. My grandparents had a garden in Berlin. I spent half of my waking days there, a happy child when I could be by fruit trees, flowers, berries and garden beds. I would plant seeds, pick cherries and watch nature from soft blankets in the shade.
This reality that we think is real
I grew up in Berlin in the 1960s, a time marked by separation and cold war. Who could come up with the idea of separating a city by building a wall right through it, with both parts being governed by different political points of view and social systems, each part based on the assumption that they were ‘right’?
The trees stand still. Turmoil of human creation will not disturb their being. They stand and wait, for us to choose something different.
My family was on the West side, and I grew up with all the amenities of Western culture. As a child, I couldn’t understand the concept of the wall. There was no space in my universe for long waiting and seemingly endless controls at borders, military police with guns, and a strange energy of fear that was hanging like a thick cloak above the long, trailing lines of silent cars waiting at the check point, an inevitable procedure on the way to vacation destinations.
In all these strange dynamics of human creation, I had my own small oasis in the middle of the city. My grandparents had a garden in Berlin. I spent half of my waking days there, a happy child when I could be by fruit trees, flowers, berries and garden beds. I would plant seeds, pick cherries and watch nature from soft blankets in the shade.
Do you get the insanity of judgment? Do you see
the creations that we choose when we judge?
Any judgment, whether we consider something as right or wrong, whether we think something is great or horrible, creates a limitation. Judgments, definitions and conclusions are everywhere. Just turn on the news.
If we had no judgments, would we have a different world?
Now, this is what interests me. If we had no judgment, what would be possible? If we didn’t judge ourselves what could we create? If there was no right and wrong, could there be walls?
How much do we limit ourselves with judgments? When we think we have to do things a certain way, ‘the right way’, we create the very limit of our own reality, the wall that we can- not overcome, and we drain our being. For every judgment, there are many other judgments that hold that one judgment in place. It is like a multi-level structure. Judgments become the walls that separate us from our being, our body and the earth.
Any judgment, whether we consider something as right or wrong, whether we think something is great or horrible, creates a limitation. Judgments, definitions and conclusions are everywhere. Just turn on the news.
If we had no judgments, would we have a different world?
Now, this is what interests me. If we had no judgment, what would be possible? If we didn’t judge ourselves what could we create? If there was no right and wrong, could there be walls?
How much do we limit ourselves with judgments? When we think we have to do things a certain way, ‘the right way’, we create the very limit of our own reality, the wall that we can- not overcome, and we drain our being. For every judgment, there are many other judgments that hold that one judgment in place. It is like a multi-level structure. Judgments become the walls that separate us from our being, our body and the earth.
You know somewhere within you that something different is possible. Otherwise, you
wouldn’t be here, reading this book. You might
have wondered what different reality was possible, a reality that was not based on judgment
but built upon allowance?
Are you a dreamer? Can you imagine a world
based on joy and happiness, respect and allowance? A reality that also includes the
earth? Not just from a scientific point of view,
but based on caring for the living being that
we call the earth?.....
Enjoy this taste? You can buy the book on Amazon here.
Enjoy this taste? You can buy the book on Amazon here.
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