Together, We Light the Way

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Study of Manual for Teachers 1-25-12

Day 25

III. Tolerance
1 God’s teachers do not judge. To judge is to be dishonest, for to judge is to assume a position you do not have. Judgment without self-deception is impossible. Judgment implies that you have been deceived in your brothers. How, then, could you not have been deceived in yourself? Judgment implies a lack of trust, and trust remains the bedrock of the teacher of God’s whole thought system. Let this be lost, and all his learning goes. 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? Judgment destroys honesty and shatters trust. No teacher of God can judge and hope to learn.

As far as I can see the ego has two favorite activities, thinking and judging. The mind will think and it will judge, but I don’t have to listen to the first or believe the second. I remain very vigilant for judgment and as soon as I notice the judgment I ask the Holy Spirit to heal my mind.

When I first started to do this I felt very anxious when I would find judgments in my mind. This is self-defeating because I was judging myself for judging. Slowly, with the Holy Spirit’s help, I let go of that kind of circular thinking. Now I am happy to see the judgment because I know what to do with it.

I asked Holy spirit what He would have me know about this. He gave me the thought that I will continue to judge as long as I am interested in my judgments. So I see that I can let go of judging more quickly if I do not give my attention to the judgments. Here is how I see this working. I notice a judgment, I know that I don’t want to judge and so I lay that judgment aside.

This differs from the way I have done in the past. I would have a judgment and would think about it. In the beginning years of my practice I would think about whether it was true or not. Then later I learned that it was not my job to judge at all and so it did not matter if it was true or not true. Sometimes I would spend a lot of time looking at it from different angles. Or I would think about why I had that judgment and what I could do to avoid judging in the future.

Next I learned that it is not my job to control my thoughts, to change them or make them go away. I only need to notice my judgments with a willingness for healing. This is very simple and requires little time and no effort, only a strong desire. If it is a judgment I am particularly fond of and I am having trouble taking my attention from it, I visualize myself setting it gently upon the altar and walking away.

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