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One of the most challenging aspects on our spiritual path is learning to identify when our mind is using the strategy of the Judge and Victim. The mind is set up to analyze and qualify everything we perceive. It is always going to come to a conclusion about that perception based on what we have been taught to believe about what we are seeing. If we agree and approve of what we are seeing, then the emotional reaction to that perception is happiness of some kind. If we do not agree with what we see, and it is going against what we believe, then the emotional reaction to what we perceive will be anger, frustration and resistance. The Judge represents our mental assessment process. Whether we are approving or disapproving, we're still judging. The problem is that judging leads to an emotional reaction of some kind, rather than peace. We cannot just perceive things that our programming aligns with in life; life doesn't work that way. We're always going to see things that do not align with our belief system. If we're attached to the proclamation of our judging mind, we will be at the mercy of everything we look at in life. And considering our eyes are open at least 12 hours a day – this means that we'll be subject to a rollercoaster of emotional reactions all day long! If you perceive something that you do not agree with and get upset – you are now the victim of your perception. Most people think that they are the victim of what is happening outside of them – the events and people they do not agree with. But this is not truth. They are a victim of the judge in their own mind – never anything outside of them. Now what I am sharing here is key – the understanding that as soon as we judge we automatically become a victim of our own decree. We do not usually see the “happiness” that results from our perception as being a victim, but indeed it is. (That happiness is not from inside of us, but from what we believe about our outer circumstances and therefore is not true.) Whether we become happy or angry at what we perceive – it's still the same thing. We are a victim of our own mind, rather than a victim of what is occurring outside of us. So realizing this – we must ask ourselves this question: Why do we chose to judge the things that we perceive, if we know that the end result is that we will be victimized by our own thoughts? Good question. The reason is that we don't have the awareness to see this. The rest of humanity is behaving the same way as we are, so we need a clean mirror to clearly reflect our “doings” to us! That's why we engage a teacher; to reflect our attachment to our thoughts and judgments to us – so we can see that we are the source of our pain and suffering, not our family, boss, job or the weather outside us. Next time you are having an emotional reaction to an event or person in your world, stop for a minute, detach from the situation and see what you are doing. Realize you are not your mind, you are not the Judge and you do not have to choose to be a Victim. With awareness comes power and freedom, and ultimately inner peace and happiness that cannot be shaken by anything outside of yourself.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Sheri Rosenthal DPM is a master Toltec teacher and author of The Complete Idiot’’s Guide to Toltec Wisdom and Banish Mind Spam!. Having trained with don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements®, she currently takes students on spiritual journeys www.journeysofthespirit.com and works with personal apprentices. You can reach her at info@sherirosenthal.com or www.sherirosenthal.com
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