The other day, while waiting for our flight to Narita, we checked into the small and crowded Delta Lounge at SeaTac airport. The lounge is constantly overflowing with waiting passengers. It is definitely inadequate to service the number of people continuously entering into the lounge for a little relaxation time before boarding for long flights. It was no different that day.
As we wandered around the room looking for a place to sit, one woman did remove a bag from the seat next to her and offered me the chair. After settling down with my coffee, I looked across the room, and noticed a man seated next to a vacant chair. On the chair was a winter coat. I rather expected him to remove the coat so someone else could sit there. But he did not. After a while I was getting irritated by his inconsideration. People were walking by constantly, yet he seemed oblivious to the scene. I thought how selfish of him to occupy two seats while many others were standing. Negative feeling filled my mind.
After about five minutes, a woman walked over to the chair, picked up the coat, pushed it aside and sat down. That's when I realized that the coat did not belong to the man at all! I felt instantly remorseful for judging the poor innocent man who did nothing wrong.
I began reflecting on how often we have misjudged someone, whether through ignorance of the situation, lack of evidence, or through a prejudicial mind, we create conflicts, confusion, hurtful feelings, and unnecessary hostile environment. When we harbor expectations, we develop judgments. Like the poor guy at the airport lounge, he didn't do anything wrong, but I misread the situation, developed the expectation that he should have shared the chair with others, and he was perfectly innocent. Fortunately I didn't give him the stink-eye! Thomas F. Cleary said, "The excitable observer will pass judgment first and then make knowledge conform to judgment; the prudent observer will first learn to know and then judge according to knowledge." Obviously I was acting like an excitable observer.
Sometimes we also judge ourselves when we expect certain results in practicing yoga. I often hear people tell me, "I can't do the poses well enough." or "wait until I lose some weight." Some will attend one class and decide right away that everyone else is so much better than they are, so they are too embarrassed to come back. Self-judgment such as telling yourself "You're not good" or "You're great and you're better than others", are cause for low self esteem, or for being prideful. In yoga practice, we are all equal. There is no judgment, no competition, no expectation. We practice in perfect harmony with our body, with each moment as the right moment for where we should be: the blending of acceptance, enjoyment, and in the present moment.
"The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgment."
---- Jiddu Krishnamurti -----
Namaste,
Clarie
Sometimes we also judge ourselves when we expect certain results in practicing yoga. I often hear people tell me, "I can't do the poses well enough." or "wait until I lose some weight." Some will attend one class and decide right away that everyone else is so much better than they are, so they are too embarrassed to come back. Self-judgment such as telling yourself "You're not good" or "You're great and you're better than others", are cause for low self esteem, or for being prideful. In yoga practice, we are all equal. There is no judgment, no competition, no expectation. We practice in perfect harmony with our body, with each moment as the right moment for where we should be: the blending of acceptance, enjoyment, and in the present moment.
"The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judgment."
---- Jiddu Krishnamurti -----
Namaste,
Clarie
