Right Judgment – Turn anger to love. For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn (judge) the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned (judged); he who does not believe is condemned (judged) already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. John 3:16-21 RSV
Buddha turned away from the world when he saw a dead body, concluding that the world was nothing but suffering. Six hundred years later Christ’s dead body hung high on a cross for all to see. Not so that we would recoil from suffering but that through death we could experience renewal. This heralds a change in consciousness.
Judging, condemning, is a deadly thing. We so confidently judge other’s. We perceive their motives better then they do themselves based on sparse information. Our judgement is based on our past, and often limited, experiences. What is missing from this process? Individuality!
Only when our I AM has penetrated the highest levels of our soul can we judging accurately. Only by the brightest light, shone into every aspect of a situation, can we judge; and then, according to the amount of reverence in our soul. We develop reverence when our I AM irradiates the soul of its narrow likes and dislikes, of feral instincts and emotions.
The cross calls us to reverence because it prompts us to look up. Looking up is not very rewarding today, our so-called heroes are found wanting. The hero must now be found within; individuality is that hero. Not individuality that never thinks of others, but individuality that treats the other person as if they were our selves. Yet, wherever we look in the world there is a lack of reverence, a lack of love and a lot of anger.
While evolution would have us operating out of the highest soul levels, much judgement still comes from the angry feelings in the lowest soul levels. In the depths of Sentient soul we are not capable of Right Judgement. Buddha spoke of Right Judgement at the turning point in the development from the Sentient soul to the Mind soul. We are now six hundred years into the development of the highest, Consciousness soul level.
This anger in the lower soul is greatly misused and misunderstood today. To experience anger about injustice, especially when we are young, serves a purpose. Through anger our “I” is motivated to confront the outer world, as it must.
This is the battle of light and darkness. John says, And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. Verse 19
If anger does not rise up in us it means we love the darkness, we do not want to go out into the light with our raw emotions. Yet when we do, when we get into the light, we must immediately feel restraint, we must become selfless and meet each situation with love, with our I AM. In this way anger is the precursor of love. Then John says, But he who does what is true comes to the light, that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been wrought in God. Verse 21
Love is wrought in God. The love that hung on that cross is the nature of God’s love … For God so loved the world.
It is anger that assists us to take an independent stand against the outer world. If we don’t take this stand we cannot have our I AM, our independence, our individuality. It’s like we smoulder in our inner cave against some injustice. But we cannot stay in the cave, our anger will poison us. We must come out of the cave, not to express the anger – for that is evil – but to contain our anger and allow love to take its place. Love, therefore, is purified anger. Right Judgement is the right balance between anger and love. The right balance between selfishness and selflessness.
Then we can experience the death that leads to renewal of our consciousness.
From the series of Reflections on the Eightfold Path of Buddha in the Gospel of St John. Purchase the series here.
