A judgement by definition involves a comparison of one thing with another. As you gauge the actions of yourself or others against some arbitrary bar of excellence, you will come up short when pitted against the innumerable, radically different beings in this rapidly moving world. And when you judge things that others say or do as bad, you are most likely reacting to slivers of that thought or deed within yourself. If you dig a little deeper, you will also notice that those things are linked to so-called negative emotions—be they anger, sadness, modes of depression, and so on. By judging them and dismissing them you suppress the vital insights they provide as to what is really going on and going wrong.

Ārjavam (आर्जवम) is the quality of integrity in thoughts, words and deeds. When your thoughts are at odds with what you do or say, you separate yourself as thinker and doer. And with this separation it is easy to eschew the need for any accountability of action. On the other hand, wisdom is a measure of how judiciously you choose between the things you like to do that give you bad results and the things you don’t like to do that give you good results. So, instead of being judgemental, instead of categorising things as good or bad, slow down, examine the outcome and try to use that insight to give you better results in your life.

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