The highest form of human intelligence is to observe yourself without judging yourself.  –J. Krishnamurti

We are constantly engaged in the act of observing. Typically, observing is followed immediately by judgement. The lack of separation between observing and judging causes each observation to lead directly to aversion or attachment. Aversion and attachment in turn are the root causes of suffering, as they keep us from accepting reality as it presents itself.

This doesn’t just apply to ourselves, by the way. Krishnamurti has another similar quote that talks about observations in general. We look at the day’s headlines, and don’t even realize that we respond immediately with either a “yes!” or these days, more commonly, with an “oh, no!” to each one.

But when we apply this reactive pattern to ourselves, we tend to be especially critical, to the detriment of our own happiness. If you think I exaggerate, listen to yourself judging yourself and ask yourself if you’d use those same words when talking to a good friend. If not, then you are probably treating yourself unfairly. You might argue that you are doing that to motivate yourself to improve yourself. But again, if you wouldn’t ever use those words to motivate a friend, what makes you think they will motivate, rather than discourage, you?

How to separate observing from judging

Most of us aren’t naturally good at inversions. So practicing inversions is a great place to observe ourselves, and observe how quick we are to judge ourselves. What goes through your head when you kick up into handstand and fall back onto your feet for the fifth time?

  1. “That’s so very interesting, my feet left the floor five times in a row, and I stayed in the air longer each time.”
  2. “I really suck at this!”

I will assume for the moment that it’s the latter, and again, that judgement is just not helpful, in any way. But even if you excel at inversions you can still use your inversions practice to practice observing without judging. First of all, we tend to judge ourselves harshly even when doing things we are actually good at. We just have a knack for making our expectations climb more quickly than our accomplishments.

Or are you one of those rare people who bask in the glory of their own handstand perfection? Then of course this week’s theme is just as applicable to you. After all, judging yourself to be exceptional is in the end just as much of a trap as judging yourself to be a failure. It’s the judgement that’s the problem, irrespective of whether it is positive or negative.

So the question isn’t, “Can you kick up into handstand at the wall?” It’s, “Can you observe yourself kicking up without judging yourself, regardless of whether you ‘make it’ or not?”