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Tuesday, 29 August 2006 20:43 |
 Active Image | Janese Johnson
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When we think about the bigger picture, we can see that we are all on this planet together whether we like it or not.
One way of coping with all the differences has been to categorize each other by our beliefs, culture, race and economic status.
Recently, on my daily walk, I had the pleasure of
meeting two Republicans, a Christian, a mercenary, a Democrat and a
gardener. I know this because all of them shared their status with me
upon our meeting. It would be interesting to know what category they
put me into since I did not give them a specific title. I found that
with each title they gave me, I would form an opinion about them. Often
times our concept of their "status" is way off, which can cause great
difficulties and misunderstandings.
On this particular day, I attempted not to judge anyone, and what I
experienced was wonderful! I had a positive experience with all my
neighbors, and it seemed that they also had one with me. I saw all of
them differently than I might have had I let my judgments take over. I
have not quite mastered the art of not categorizing, and I probably
never will because in some ways judgments help people to take
information and act according to the situations.
If I tried not to judge anything then how would I know how to discern
in situations? Judgments are a necessary part of survival. What seems
to get us into difficulties are not judgments but the categorizing of
people based on our judgments and concepts. Categorizing is very
different than judging because it assumes that people are a certain way
because of their beliefs, culture, race, political party, or one of the
many categories we can find. We then put them in the same box as the
others who match that, and we treat them according to our concept. This
is what has caused most of the human suffering that we have experienced
throughout history.
Krishnamurti who was born in India in 1895 and died in 1986 who
traveled the world with the teachings that we are all part of mankind
has said, " When you call yourself an Indian or a Muslim or a Christian
or a European, or anything else, you are being violent. Do you see why
you are being violent? Because you are separating yourself from the
rest of mankind. When you separate yourself by belief, by nationality,
by tradition, it breeds violence".
With the political atmosphere that is going on around the world, we can
truly see Krishnamurtiës great wisdom when he says that separation
breeds violence. I know that I have been guilty of the we versus them
thinking, especially in the arena of political party thinking. How can
we best hold a vision that is contrary to someone elseës vision and
still see them as part of the whole group? We tend to separate,
categorize and try to beat the other person. I have seen on a small
basis that when I am seeing the person in a larger way and not
categorizing them based on the beliefs, I relate to them in a more
loving and authentic way.
I might not have agreed with my various neighborës viewpoints, careers,
or lifestyles, but when I stood back and saw them from a whole angle, I
was able to have a little more understanding from their viewpoint. Now
the tricky part is, how can we affect change in a current situation
that is not working without making others wrong or separating from
other people? This seems more challenging but I think is not a whole
lot different than what we do with individuals. It is almost the
"forgive them for they know not what they do" thinking and not "the
they are bad people because they believe or do these things" thinking.
These are very trying times for so many of us, and if we really do want
to see peace and harmony in the world, then I believe that working on
not categorizing others from ourselves is an important step in that
direction.
Janese Johnson has been doing intuitive counseling nationally for more
than 20 years. She may be contacted at janesej-at-buncombe.main.nc.us.
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