This Moment without Judgment

We all have strategies for when we feel unsettled. One of mine is to dig into the readings that inspire me. That is what I did this week as it helps me to ground, refocus on my practice and work harder. This was the poem that inspired me and what I shared with my students this week. 

Peace Is This Moment Without Judgement, Dorothy Hunt

Do you think peace requires an end to war?
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from
your boss, your spouse, yourself?…
do you think peace will come some other place than here?
Some other time than now?
In some other heart than yours?

Peace is this moment without judgment.
That is all. This moment in the Heart-space 
where everything that is is welcome

Peace is this moment without thinking
that it should be some other way,
that you should feel some other thing,
that your life should unfold according to your plans.

Peace is this moment without judgment,
this moment in the Heart-space where
everything that is is welcome. 

On the mat is our practice for off the mat as it always is. As we moved through our physical practice, I reminded students to cultivate peace in the moment by letting go of judgment. It seems simple but it is very difficult and the first step is noticing the judgmental thoughts. Maybe they creep in around the ache or pain of the moment or a difficult balancing pose where we feel wiggly. Those judgmental thoughts are waiting for the chance to strike, to take away our peace but with practice we can “catch them in the act.” 

Off the mat, it works in a similar way. Judgment is often a cover for fear and doubt. Again, those thoughts rob us of the chance for peace moment to moment if we let them but we don’t have to. It is the two wings of the mindfulness bird that I often talk about that helps us to fly; one wing is noticing and the other wing is compassion. Once we see the thoughts we can then connect to our “heart-space where everything that is is welcome.”