We often think of judgement as something that determines the guilt or innocence of others; however, it is essential to distinguish between justice and judgement.
The energy of judgement is a powerful but uncomfortable energy that cleaves apart and serves as the razor that splits the mud into the water and the sand to leave the ocean and the desert. If we understand this energy, it is a powerfully creative force that can lead to very creative power. This energy allows us to split the elements of dreams into action and potential and create progress.
Justice typically unfolds as an inevitable situation—where karma has taken its turn, and a guilty party faces their consequences, or the innocent are set free. The two elements that we typically see being judged are innocence or guilt. But we get judged every day on other energies such as: love vs rejection; potential vs achievement; compassion vs selfishness; unity vs division; creation vs destruction; openness vs concealment; efficiency vs waste; power vs dominance; truth vs deception; beauty vs low self-esteem; rejoicing vs groaning; purpose vs desolation; success vs failed creation; progress vs failure; engaging vs isolating; performance vs mediocrity. Judgement is the dynamic force that shifts the energy from one side to the other. Let’s call the two sides of energy the poles of judgement in this conversation.
The prelude to the state of judgement is often a higher-order or seemingly better state. The change that you are going through is because of something different before. Maybe there was supposed to be better than it is now, or there was an illusion that is coming to the fore, based on a change of assumptions, the non-realisation of premises or a fundamental change in the reality of the world. Something happens, and the state changes. This something could happen due to action, inaction, discovery or imposition of will.
Judgement typically happens because of previous actions. These actions could have been voluntary or involuntary. The objective of judgement may be to determine if you were the cause or the victim and if there is a reason to maintain the energy that has brought you to your current state, or if a change is warranted. As such, judgement is the process of evaluating the extent to which the energy needs or is changing. This is an important aspect as it shows that whatever the consequence of the judgement, the energy must and will change.
When judgement is an action that you go into prepared, and it is not foisted on you, you are inviting scrutiny and the process, and its consequence will invariably change you.
Judgement based on inaction or discovery is a potent catalyst for change. This type of almost accidental state change is where the unexpected happens, and you are somehow benefitted or even potentially harmed and it changes your potential. The real judgement, in this case, is based on what you have done with the opportunity. If you work it, then you are judged as victorious, and when you ignore it, you tend to move to a lot lower state of being. History is littered with the carcasses of those that have failed to act, and paintings and library walls are decked with the stories of those that have turned discoveries into catalysts for change.
The change that necessitated judgement was not necessarily positive; otherwise, we would have declared a victory. So, judgement inherently has some sense of perceived failure associated with it. The perception of failure is not in the judgement, but the judgement itself is to mediate the perception of failure to a new normal. This sense of perceived inadequacy or failure comes from a standard that was set inside or outside of ourselves. Inside it may be motivated by experience or peer pressure, and externally it is by a common or shared value system such as a state of laws, prevailing norms or imposed rules in a group. Rules then are a permanent type of judgement that is only made stronger by judgement and then creates a new ongoing set of judgements going forward. As it is, judgement can also not be an outright failure — else it would automatically have been defeat or loss — so there is still some element of uncertainty — either in time or substance, which will cause the separation of the poles of judgement. In this duality of not being quite a victory or quite a failure, there is an energetic motion that allows the creative energy of your actions being spliced at every turn and either moving you forward or backward.
The distinction between moving forward and backward is challenging. While you may believe you are progressing, you could actually be regressing, and due to the fine line of balance, each small step could tip the scales of justice. As you are typically quite focused on every level, the inevitable causality of the complex set of variables are brought into balance — a set of actions or non-actions can develop into a potent force that comes to bear on the present situation. The challenge is that every action of this nature needs to be met with a corresponding force to maintain balance and if this spirals out of control — you may find yourself outside of the energy of justice in the heart of chaos. Chaos is a world in which there is no judgement but also no order. It is a dark and volatile space in which no happiness can reign, and creativity is senseless as it is only consumed. The only way out of chaos is to establish the pattern of order that eventually forms a beautiful change that is both ordered, self-repeating and wholesome. Chaos only disappears when it is destroyed through dreams, judgement and action.
Living in the energy of judgement is when you are heading towards a state of judgement, and your actions need to stand up to the scrutiny that is to follow. These actions need to motivate and aspirate high ideals and support real vision else these actions will enter the maelstrom of judgement and just come out as more dreams. Remember that judgement parses the action state and separates that which changes the world from that which does not. Dreams cannot stand on their own — they need substance to be delivered.
This means doing the right thing in the face of extreme odds to ensure that you live to fight another day. The only way to overcome and to survive while in the energy of judgement is to use vision and action to translate the inevitable into the seemingly impossible. Inevitable and impossible are the two poles can only be separated by the power of action that supports judgement. This will only happen if you apply yourself more than 100% and step way beyond the energy that brought you to this path in the first place. It is when you rise above your situation by subjecting yourself to the rigour of the required change and changing what needs to be changed. It is being rigorous, disciplined and painfully diligent about moving ahead millimetre by millimetre, even if sometimes there are setbacks that take you further back.
This eeking out of existence seems like the lowest form of happiness at the time and often is very painful. It is the hard yards, the real pain of transformation, but if you add joy, happiness and an open spirit to this and do the work — you start to take massive strides forward. The clear vision, desire to break free and step by step actions that you took start slowly gaining momentum and starts to blend into a transformation that bends the energy away from utter hopelessness to green shoots that grow slowly into some nice-looking shrubbery. It is not a great grand oak yet, but through many cycles, it may become one, once again.
The energy of judgement is one where there is a something that now has to be acknowledged to create a new reality, or more accurately an adjustment to the reality that is now. It may be as simple as an official acknowledging that there has been a change and a collective or for there to be a seminal event that ushers in a new dawn. Any change can usher in a new reality.
For the energy of judgement to work, there must be someone or something that can judge you. This is a superior or somehow powerful entity that has sway or dominion over the subject of your judgement. It could be yourself, or a perception of some aspect of yourself, most notably your past and unfulfilled expectations of someone that you want to please. The judge could be active, passive, aggressive or docile and administrative, punitive or compassionate. Depending on how you understand the judge, you may alter your approach to the energy of judgement.
The process of judgement is not fun as all that came before is measured, weighed and burnt away. New layers may be added, but it will always be more constrained than it was previously and to break free may require a whole new reality that may be limited differently. The challenge is that somehow, the energy of judgement travels with the judged as the past is a natural constraint in breaking free from judgement.
Judgement is an essential part of a type of wheel that moves from judgement to reality, subjugation, dream, action, glory/victory/partial victory/partial failure/failure, judgement again.
Judgement is also letting external parties into our existence. You cannot be part of something if you are not willing to be judged in that existence. It is almost that where there are two or three people, there will be judgement. It is our natural state to judge, have a sense of justice and to insist on fairness in the procedure, application of justice and attention. It then follows that the elements of procedure, consistent justice and attention are key components of any group of people. Invariably some entity controls or patrols these rules and that define membership and ensure that members conform in some way or form to the group basis.
To understand the energy of judgement, arguably, the most important aspect is to evaluate the potential of breaking free from that energy. It may be the best option in some cases, especially when there is mindless oppression or a reality that is not useful. In many cases, however, we must make ourselves fit to be judged. By constantly getting better at the things we will be judged on, we get better and better and challenge ourselves to be the best by a definition that only we will understand in time. There is a reason why some of the most challenging sports have petty rules, and some of the most beautiful artistic expressions require significant work. It is because of the rules that we can learn to innovate within the bounds of a judged world. We instantly know the best chess player — because it is someone that uses the same rules as the weak chess player and redefines what it means to be judged. This is, in fact, the hallmark of genius. It is the people that do not change the rules but understand them, combine them and ultimately transcend them that achieve the real victory.
That victory may seem empty to people that stand outside of the circle of judgement, but it fills the circle and resets the boundaries for those that achieve it within the circle. By breaking free, it is possible to stand outside of the circle of judgement, but it may be hard to fight your way back into the circle and shift the boundaries. There is an old story of an Indian brave that fought with the elders to change the rules. The elders expelled him from the tribe, and for some time, he shouted at the borders of the tribal lands. Nobody heard him, and no one took him seriously. In time he returned to the tribe and worked from within to change it. In time he became an elder and eventually the chief of a prosperous tribe that grew under his vision and caring and compassion for those around him. This is the consequence of the energy of judgement — it puts you in a circle to be judged and through prevailing, pushing to get better and achieving more; eventually, it helps you change the rules.
Judgement is complex energy that is a precondition for creative expression and ultimately acknowledges the purity of the service that we express to one another. By both judging and being judged, we set norms, standards and expectations that allow us to regulate and mediate our shared existence to higher ideals. Without it, we invite chaos into our lives and or we expand our view too narrowly into a world of complacency.
Stand and be judged… Stand and succeed… Invite the energy of judgement and build in yourself the confidence to make judgement your ally in a world where few are willing to embrace it.