Re: Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!

just wrote:
This is a question which has perturbed me for so long as a person who
"believes" in much of Buddhism and practices meditation who is also very... passionate about justice:

How is it "right" to be nonjudgmental about injustice?

How can injustices be "remedied" if we don't judge them?

e.g. if we don't call murder bad, how can we punish it?

If we don't judge murder to be murder, how can we squelch it?



IS NON-JUDGMENT NOT REALLY THE RIGHT TERM? Like with Right Action (even though non-doing is often spoke of) is Right Judgment the correct principle (although we're familiar with the usage of the advocacy of non-judgment [advocacy being the assertion that something
is good, right, or advantageous].)

Now, I can see how non-judgment can be advantageous to cultivating peace -- this has nothing to do with the "goals" (those things which are judged to be good!) of Buddhism as I understand them.

BUT I DON'T SEE HOW NON-JUDGMENT IT "RIGHT" OR MORAL...

BECAUSE I DON'T SEE HOW WE CAN DEAL WITH THINGS THAT ARE CLEARLY
WRONG (VIOLENCE AGAINST THE INNOCENT, FOR EXAMPLE PHYSICAL TORTURE OF
A CHILD) IF WE DON'T FIRST JUDGE THEM, i.e. I believe judgment is implicit in strong action to cause an event to stop or to punish the person responsible for an action.


I hope this message comes across properly, not as being disrespectful
of religious beliefs or as the writing of an overly judgmental (by
any definition, even those who don't attempt to adhere to a strict
policy of non-judgment) person. !!! :) (how funny)

So, words are difficult, as is often the case with these things...

but does anyone have any "fingers pointing at the moon" to offer in helping with understanding the true meaning of the "advocacy" of
"non- judgment" by Buddhists.

(Incidentally, I can't help but judge the spelling of judgment
without a second 'e' to be silly... How did we go from judgE to
judgment with no second 'e'. Very silly, in my estimation, my
judgment.)

:)

I mean this post to be very serious:


How can we live practical lives and fight injustice if we don't judge?


Are we to give up fighting injustice?

If we had a country of all practicing Buddhists -- who truly adhere
to whatever parts of the religion are clear -- and once in a while someone went crazy and killed someone, who could serve as judge? How could we do anything to deal with the person without first judging them?

I asked the questions in many ways, a bunch of fingers pointing at
the moon (true question) -- I await your fingers pointing at the moon
(true answer).



Several ideas that may be of help:

1. I'm not sure where the non-judging language comes from. I suppose select Mahayana traditions that emphasize nondual language might use a word like non-judging. But even then, I suspect the idea is not so much that we can't make useful, pragmatic distinctions as we navigate the world, but that such distinctions and concepts should be held tentatively and not fueled by cravings, egoistic imaginings, and dogmatic views about the world.

2. There are a number of movements within Buddhism that try to articulate a concern for justice within the world. Do a google search on "engaged Buddhism" and you should turn up any number of groups that see Buddhism as informing their engagement with the world.

3. Finally, at a purely practical, experiential level, play with the idea of first watching how your judging mind works in normal, everyday settings. I will do this when I am sitting in an airport, driving my car, or engaged in some other activity (such as reading anything about people from Texas) where I have a tendency to be fairly judgmental. You may find that you can identify some patterns of judgment that, on reflection, are poorly thought out or lead you to engage in unskillful behavior. It may even be the case that once you are able to identify these patterns, you can let go of judging so you can engage more skillfully with the world - even helping others in ways that may do justice to them.
.

Relevant Pages

  • Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!
    ... If we don't judge murder to be murder, ... IS NON-JUDGMENT NOT REALLY THE RIGHT TERM? ... of Buddhism as I understand them. ... I believe judgment is ...
    (talk.religion.buddhism)
  • Re: Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!
    ... "believes" in much of Buddhism and practices meditation who is also ... of Buddhism as I understand them. ... CHILD) IF WE DON'T FIRST JUDGE THEM, ... I believe judgment is ...
    (talk.religion.buddhism)
  • Re: Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!
    ... "believes" in much of Buddhism and practices meditation who is also ... If we don't judge murder to be murder, ... of Buddhism as I understand them. ... I believe judgment is ...
    (talk.religion.buddhism)
  • Re: Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!
    ... "believes" in much of Buddhism and practices meditation who is also ... of Buddhism as I understand them. ... CHILD) IF WE DON'T FIRST JUDGE THEM, ... I believe judgment is ...
    (talk.religion.buddhism)
  • Re: Non-judgement in the face of injustice?!?!
    ... If we don't judge murder to be murder, ... of Buddhism as I understand them. ... I believe judgment is ... How can we live practical lives and fight injustice if we don't ...
    (talk.religion.buddhism)