The Non-Judgement Myth
Guest Editorial Commentary by William Roberts Printed in Ojai Valley News August 2004
Striving for Political Correctness is admirable because it reminds us to phrase things so we don’t offend others. In a rapidly emerging multicultural world this type of courtesy will facilitate a peaceful integration of all traditions. However our infatuation with Political Correctness has also provided the fodder for a philosophy that threatens to unravel the social order we depend on. That threat grew from the reticence for critical thinking and evolved into the Non-Judgement Myth. (NJM)
Terrible injustices such as slavery, genocide, and undeserved imprisonment occurred for hundreds of years as a result of misguided religious teachings, cowardly pre-judgements and gross racial bigotry. Now many feel compelled to do what they can to prevent those mistakes from happening again. This good intention fueled the NJM. Reserving all judgement is obviously better then the perversions that resulted from prejudicial, premature, or poorly informed dictums. But a decision that is fair, timely and wise is also superior to wallowing in apathy, conceding to fatalism or cowering behind the veil of Non-Judgement. Edmund Burke apparently came to the same conclusion in his admonition: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
We are forced to act at every moment. How we interact with our environment is determined by our desires and who we think we are. Those who claim to have no desires are mentally ill, dishonest or in chronic denial. People who act with poor judgement are uneducated, naive or less intelligent and those who feign Non-Judgement are indolent.
The purchase of a pre-owned car illustrates how the philosophy of Non-Judgement is flawed. The rational car buyer sieves out important facts from the sales ruse and scrutinizes over everything said. Those who exercise no judgment will go home with an expensive lemon. The same principal applies to evaluating the blather preached by charismatic charlatans. Individuals who have studied theological philosophy from reliable sources will be better able to trounce bold declarations like; “There is nobody here; God Is Dead” and “You Are God” then those who sloth behind the NJM.
It’s understandable why the NJM has become so popular in a world filled with unexpected job termination, evaporated retirement plans, dysfunctional nuclear families and international cultural conflicts. These issues are complex, disturbing and overwhelming. The NJM provides a conveniently fashionably Zen-like cognitive solution to the otherwise difficult and upsetting problem of determining how to best resolve such serious social maladies.
Another appealing feature of the Non-Judgement doctrine is that it inversely suggests the false notion that we are free to do whatever we like with cosmic impunity. This is the culmination of the “I’m OK, Your OK” treaty which is another big myth based on ethical relativism. Both trends assume that we have no way of establishing what the “Absolute Truth” is and therefore we have no baseline to winnow good from bad.
Where the NJM finds it’s greatest credibility is in the fact that it appears to be synonymous with the principal of “Detachment”. However these two concepts are radically different. The first is a self-serving New-Age concoction whereas the second is an important principal taught by all great spiritual traditions for thousands of years.
The ubiquitous “Whatever” response has become the Non-Judgment Mantra for anything we don’t want to deal with – including the NY tragedy on 9/11 for some! But detachment means not clinging to the outcome of events that lie beyond our locus of control. Each of us are called to do our duty to the best of our ability but the principal of detachment reminds us that we have no control over the outcome. The NASA space program has proven many times that even the most vigilant efforts of highly qualified individuals don’t always work out as intended. Knowing where our responsibility ends and how to let go when we cross over that line is an essential stage of spiritual maturity.
“Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme.” – Bhagavad Gita 3.21
We may still make mistakes, but as long as we do not quail behind the NJM the normal, self-correcting, reiterative, learning process that we use to comprehend physics will also help us understand the science of the soul.
“…it is possible by suitable practice and by detachment.” Ibid. – 6.35
The NJM is so seductive that the neophyte transcendentalist can become enamored by its apparent validity and get trapped in a cosmic holding pattern for millions of births. Unfortunately the most beguiling argument perpetuating the NJM is the fear that the only alternative is dogmatic fanaticism. Concerns about religious zealotry can be particularly paralyzing for an individual who was raised in a faith based paradigm that used guilt to maintain conformity, threatened waywardness with the fear of eternal damnation and preached there is “Only One Way” to love God.
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Fortunately this is not the case with all religious traditions. The theology of ancient India offers a compelling alternative that vanquishes the NJM without the hangover of coercive, irrational blind faith. Those who are ready to break out of Non-Judgement denial are invited to investigate the virtuosity of Vedic theology. Upon doing so you will realize why so many profound individuals have migrated to it in the past.
“I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence in which another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
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William Roberts is the founding director of The American Vedic Association. He began studying Vedic philosophy in 1973 and assimilated the works of eminent Vaishnava saints while living in India for several years. He became and ordained Brahman priest under the tutelage of the world-class authority on Bhakti Yoga, HDG A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami. The American Vedic Association is currently sponsoring the Free Bhagavad Gita Fellowship gatherings held on the first and third Tuesday of every month. For more information call: (805) 640-0405 Or Contact: mdjagdasa@gmail.com
How To Contact:
William Roberts MBA/MIS, CCP
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