Question Western Australia: I am a woman in my late 50s. My mind always justifies, judges, criticises, makes assumptions, condemns, approves, disapproves, likes, dislikes, etc. It does those constantly. For example, when I meet someone, my mind instantly tell me what I dislike about this person. So, why my mind always behave like my own enemy? Is this mind, myself?
Than Ajahn: These are the habits you’ve been doing in your past lives. So, it becomes your habits now. However, you can break these habits by using mindfulness. You have to stop it when you know that you are criticizing or judging others. Instead of criticizing or judging others, you should analyse things as they are.
The Buddha has said that you analyse everything by seeing that everything you come into contact with is impermanent and it cannot be under your control all the time. This is the way you should behave towards things or people. If you want everything to be under your control or you want everything to be permanent, you will only be troubled by it because you can’t do it.
Don’t judge others whether they’re good or bad. It’s okay to know if they are good or bad but it’s more important to know that they are impermanent. It’s more important to know that you can’t really do anything about them. You can’t change them or manage them. Sooner or later, they will be beyond your control. And if you try to control them, it will only make you unhappy.
Youtube: “Dhamma in English, Dec 18, 2018.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto