0:00 Intro
0:07 What is the difference between judgements and discrimination?
2:14 Is discrimination always for a larger cause and judgements are made for narrow-minded personal choices?
8:32 How can a common person discriminate properly without making judgements and impressions in the mind?
17:19 How not to be judgemental to ourself and be more compassionate to ourself?
18:52 What is a judgement and what is discrimination?
22:11 Should we give someone who has done wrong another chance? How many times should we give fair chances?
23:23 Should we always avoid making quick judgements empowered by our emotions?
27:42 When we forgive without judgement, is this not justified?
28:13 How does ego impair our judgements?
29:24 How do we judge our own actions in the right way so we don’t underestimate our own abilities?

Discourse: In Quest of Truth – online Q&A no.219
Judgements and Discrimination
You tube Link: https://youtu.be/OyNYUnUnyW8   
Recorded: 01 February 2025

Start of Questions and Answers

Babaji Maharaj:   This entire creation or universe is made up of dualities.  One is important because of the other.  If there is good in the world, definitely there is a bad.  Without that bad, a good never would have appeared as a good.  The same way, every duality is there.  So now in this world, you choose either of the two, whichever appeals to you.  That is by discriminating, “This is good for me.  This is bad for me.”  Somebody might choose a bad thing as good for that person, but that might be actually bad.  But that is that person’s discrimination.  So, this is what is discrimination. 

And then that person makes a judgment, “This is my friend.”  He might be a robber, he might be a murderer or anybody.  But that person considers “This is my friend.”  That is the judgment.  It means firmly when you consider that thing as your friend or not your friend, whatever it might be, that is the judgment.  So, this is absorbed into the consciousness by the mind.  Because through the mind only you make a judgment.  So, then the mind absorbs as an imprint.  That sits in the mind as a pattern, as an attitude. 

So, that becomes the ‘acquired habit of the mind’ that which I would like to call.  Like I tell, from so many lives, acquired habits are coming in the mind; based on that only a personality builds up.  Also, I told the mind is the powerhouse.  Through the mind only one lives.  So, through that only that person’s character, culture, everything blossoms. 

Ma Ambaji:   Baba, I’ve heard You long time back that discriminations are always for the larger cause.  When you discriminate, you discriminate what is permanent and what is impermanent, what is beneficial for the entire society; that is discrimination.  And when you make a narrow-minded decision based on your personal choices, that becomes a judgment.  Am I right, Baba?  And how do You explain that we can grow and become non-judgmental in our everyday life, but we still have the capability to discriminate?

Babaji Maharaj:   This is always a tricky situation.  Many people misunderstand what it is to be a good person, what it is to discriminate a good, consider a good thing as a good, that we don’t dislike the bad people, we don’t show any hatred to bad people.  That is a different thing.  What you need to achieve is, in your mind you must not become corrupted.  This sentence I repeat, everybody try to understand.  In your mind you must not become corrupted by making a judgment of this world.  I would say here either way. 

I have always told, you call this world as ‘very good’; then also mentally you get involved.  You call this world as ‘very bad’; then also you get involved.  When you are going for Self-Realization, your aim is Ultimate Truth.  You want to merge with the Ultimate Truth, settle in your real Self, Aatmasaakshatkaara.  Then you have to be like this, that within your mind you must avoid making any judgment.  Practice the sadhana in such a way that your mind shall not and will not absorb any imprints, because your mind will not make an actual judgment. 

Like as a yogi, now, in this world I might appear behaving with both good and bad in that way.  Some people might think why Babaji is considering that person as a bad person?  “Why this person misbehaved?  It is not proper,” I tell everyone.  “Such a person behaved like this.”  Many people have asked the question and considered.  Actually, in my mind, I don’t consider anybody as a bad or a good.  I see only the Self, only the divine. 

But what happens when the drama is happening in this world? A certain person may disturb your spiritual life also.  Say, you build an ashram and you want to live in the ashram, you want all the sadhaks, people who want to meditate, they want to come and sit with you in the ashram.  But if somebody tries to disturb that ashram set-up itself, then you have to take action on that person.  In the world of drama, maaya, you have to consider “This person is bad.  This person is creating disturbance among peace-loving people.  Unnecessarily trying to put one against the other.”  Means these are all examples I am giving.  I am not directing again any individual, or any group of people. 

Generally, for educational purpose – all of you might be getting to see in society.  These people, they come to temples, places of worship or ashram.  They tend to behave in the same way.  They try to put one against another and they enjoy.  It becomes like a game for them.  But when I notice, “I need to bring this down, as a Master”, if necessary I may take a cane, like the judge in the courtroom tells, “Order, order!”  Like that, if it comes to my notice that somebody is not behaving properly, creating disturbance, then I have to pull them up.  But by doing so, I am doing a favor to that person also.  I am not becoming corrupted, and I am not considering that person as a wrong, or I am not showing any hatred.  If I do like that, if that person really loves me, considers me a Master, so that person will rectify himself, will become a good person, will give up such wrong bad habits.  If they don’t give up a wrong habit, then the karma will go with them. 

That’s what Swamiji used to tell; “55,000 life cycles,” He used to tell.  We don’t know why He used this number often, so that is why it is in my consciousness also.  55,000 life cycles can go, and you may lose control over yourself.  In this human life, if you cannot control yourself, if you cannot control your mind, if you cannot do meditation properly. 

So, all this matters so much with the judgments and discrimination.  This is how one has to go.  I hope people will understand.  We have to be careful in this world.  As Ramakrishna said, “If it is a tiger, Narayana, you have to be careful, it will behave like tiger.  It won’t behave like Narayana, because the consciousness is stuck in the brain.”  If it is a bad person, that person will behave badly.  Though it is the same pure Aatman there, but that Aatman is stuck with the brain’s reflection, and that consciousness is helpless, doesn’t know anything else, refuses to learn.  He has not been properly educated.  Means how important all these things to understand on the spiritual path also.  That is a beautiful topic today, “Discrimination and Judgments.” 

Ma Ambaji:   Baba, in the Ramayana, as a Hindu, I consider Lord Rama as Bhagavan.  Even Bhagavan Ram had to make a decision, He had to make a judgment.  Though He was beyond any good and bad, but He had to choose to kill Ravana, to make a decision, take a judgment on him that he was Ravana, evil personified, and He had to kill him to maintain the dharma in the society. 

So, for a common person, for me I will say that it is not a very big thing, because I am not taking any kind of huge judgments on the society.  But sometimes it becomes very difficult to understand that my discrimination onto a certain subject is really a matter to be concerned, or just I am making a unnecessary judgment on something which could be trivial.

So, does this affect an individual making any decision, does that affect our mind?  And if that affects our mind…  Like You said it does not affect you, but it may affect my mind because I am a commoner.  You have achieved Self-Realization, it may not affect You.  But how a common person like me, who has very little sadhana to understand that making any kind of judgment is bad for my mind, especially judgments on human beings, judgment of any trivial things which doesn’t really does not matter.  If I have to make a judgment for a larger cause, for the good of the society, that is worth it.  So, how Baba can explain a common person that what is right and what becomes a judgment that impresses our mind?

Babaji Maharaj:   See, in this world, a person must learn to discriminate.  Otherwise, such a person will become a hypocrite.  Just to show that they are a good person, they don’t want to discriminate the bad as a bad person, but if the same thing happens to them, then they will react.  Any human being I am telling, generally.  As long as the fire doesn’t come to burn their house, they might postpone reacting, they might keep quiet, they will wait until the neighbor’s house is also burned.  Once that is burned, now the fire is going to catch your home, then what will you do?  

That is what happens if you see the history of this world also.  Countries fight with each other.  Say, we are a country staying at a long distance, we just don’t bother.  But if we are the neighbor, we get to see so many innocent lives getting trapped and getting killed.  Two armies fight.  Now that the duty-bound armies are all gone, they fire missiles anywhere, on any innocent society, innocent people in the society, they destroy anything.  They just want to subdue the enemy.  And there is no such dharma now left.  Mahabharata time was totally different – they had set a set of rules.  Only a certain type of maharati who is on the chariot with such weapons will fight only with such a maharati of another army, not the person on the ground; he will not attack.  So, that type of rules were all there, but today’s era is gone, human thinking level has gone down very much. 

So, often you get to see such people as hypocrites.  As long as it does not affect them, they don’t want to comment and they want to stay away.  But see, if anything happens to ashram, I cannot pass the buck to anybody else in Dehradun city, because I am the in-charge.  I have to protect.  We have to fight if anybody is doing wrong.  People may call me a bad person.  People may call, “Why Babaji is behaving like this.  He is a good person.  He should not be behaving like this.”  Good person – does it mean that I simply allow anybody, XYZ to come and take away my Guru’s Ashram.  That is not!  Discrimination, we are talking.  It is such an important topic. 

This is what many human beings in the world, they fail to understand things properly, fail to act properly.  That’s what if one person hits your one cheek, show him another cheek also.  That doesn’t work everywhere; in today’s world, it doesn’t work.  If you go to this country, if you go and surrender like this, they will take away your eyes and they will torture.  They won’t allow you to do like that one.  They won’t appreciate that you are a peace-loving person.  So, the human nature has gone down to such a lowest possible level and nobody seems to be trustworthy today.  So, that’s what one has to be very careful.  And then, side by side practice spiritual sadhana, regular meditation. 

Think – reasoning also, do think.  When you have to fight, you fight.  Afterwards, think that that bad person is not worthy that you keep remembering that bad person the whole day.  Think like that.  At that time he was bad and he behaved badly with my Guru’s Ashram and I had to fight with him.  But why should I remember him throughout the day, throughout the year?  Not necessary.  I have many other important things to remember.  I have my Divine God to remember.  I have my Divine Guru to remember!  They are the worthy personalities.  The worthy entity is the Parabrahman because that is my abode, end; this world is a maaya.  But inside the maaya, if any maaya tries to trouble me, I will play the maaya.  That is different.  But I will not allow my mind to be troubled unnecessarily, corrupted because I have to win.  Before death happens to the physical body, I have to win. 

When the death comes to the body, it comes just like that.  It won’t tell you also.  It won’t tell you anything that is happening.  Something might happen, and then we are gone.  That’s how that death comes.  For that we have to be prepared.  At that time, “Let nothing come to the mind my Lord.”  Nothing happened really.  Anybody misbehaves, they will undergo their karma.  We try to tell them, “You don’t do this one.  This is not proper.  55,000 life cycles you have to.”  I have been trying to tell for the last 25, 26 years.  The day my Lord takes the cane, then He won’t listen to me also even.  So be careful when you behave in this world.  When you think in this world, when you utter a word, you have to be careful.  So, it is every individual’s responsibility to be careful in this world.  Because you are living in the midst of thirty-two wicked teeth, one tongue.  You cannot run away.  You have to be careful.  And also you have to keep yourself purified so that when death comes to your body, take up, vow that you are not reborn again, you will merge with the Divine.  “Enough is enough.  Shaolin, let’s go back home.”  That is the word.

Ma Ambaji:   Baba, a question has come in.  It says, how not to be judgmental on ourselves and how to be more compassionate to ourselves?

Babaji Maharaj:   You need to judge yourself as long as your mind judges.  The moment your mind stops judging then you don’t have to judge yourself, you just remain in yourself.  That’s what happens.  Watch your mind.  If your mind is becoming corrupted, has started hatred to somebody, that is not good.  But if you are forced to fight, to defend a certain institution, a certain kingdom, a certain thing, a certain country, then that was a noble cause.  A larger cause that you are defending.  That’s it; afterwards, you don’t have to keep allowing the same thing to play on your mind.  This you have to reason out and practice sadhana daily.  As much as possible practice.  Take the Lord’s name.  Try to meditate.  One hour if you can achieve that you can keep your mind quiet in between eyebrows – one hour!  Nothing else happens in the mind.  The time simply passes like that.  Then you can achieve a lot in the mind.  The mind will not absorb any imprints.  It will remain pure consciousness always. 

Ma Ambaji:   Another question has come, Babaji.  The person has asked, how do you explain judgment and discrimination?  Why is this topic there?

Babaji Maharaj:   See, I told in the beginning also.  In this world, you have to discriminate to sit with a Guru and you pay reverence to that Guru so that you can learn.  Before learning itself, if you start considering “Why should I discriminate?  Wherever my Guru is sitting I will also go and sit with Him.  I also know, I have also learned.”  So, then there is nothing that you will get.  The discrimination is needed to .  We are always at the lotus feet of our Guru.  The future generation might consider me as a Guru.  So, that is how discrimination in this world is needed.  So, if there is nothing that you want to learn… Finally, you do it according to your physical needs.  Means then you become a victim.  Helplessly, you have to do everything according to the need of the physical because you have to sustain the physical body. 

So, in the midst of this, you try to think about your real Self.  Try to discriminate ‘Who am I.’  That’s what great teachers always taught.  Swamiji said “Meditate and know yourself.”  This discrimination is necessary – who am I really?  Am I born with this body?  Am I going to become extinct when the body dies?  This is discrimination you have to do.  Such a thing only can bring you above this level.  And slowly when you achieve expertise, you will be able to make the judgment.  This world, including our own physical body, is impermanent, is not going to be there forever.  So then how can we depend on any one of these, our own body or anything, for a permanent peace and happiness, for a highest happiness? Think like that, highest one, you want happiness.  That is your existence right.  No problem.  You need to have happiness.  But think, what is the highest, permanent?  Like a child I used to think it must be there twenty-four hours, twelve months all the time.  Why is there a fluctuation? Like that you have to discriminate and make judgments.  “No, this is impermanent.  This will not be there forever.”

Ma Ambaji:   Another question has come, Babaji.  When a person does something bad for me or my belongings, you take strict action.  When the person comes again saying he or she will correct, should we allow that person next time, or see that person at this time with the old image?  Means we judge that person with their old behavior or give them a chance, a fair opportunity, a genuine chance, and how many times we should give fair chances?

Babaji Maharaj:   You can give a chance one more time, no problem.  But careful; watch whether that person is really trying to correct themselves or not.  One more time, that’s all.  You don’t have to give 18 times, 20 times like that, no need.  One more time also if he doesn’t correct, then you will realize this person will not correct himself.  He is always like this.  He is not fit to be here.  Take such a decision. 

Ma Ambaji:   Baba, discrimination gives time.  When we discriminate, we give time to our mind and we contemplate that particular thought and make a right decision.  But when we make a quick judgment, “This is not right.  This is wrong,” a quick judgment can never be good for me and for my society.  But my discrimination on every thought can lead me to a right decision.  Am I understanding both correctly, that we should be aware of making quick judgments on anything, even on ourselves or on others?  We always contemplate, discriminate and come to the right point that “Yes, this is not good for me.  And it will not be good for my society.  It’s harming me and it’s harming my society.”  That’s my discrimination.  “And what is permanent?  What does ultimately stay with me?”  That is discrimination.  Making a quick judgment on anybody’s personality, those judgments are very temporary and they’re harmful in fact.  Because I have made those decisions according to my emotional thoughts.  My emotions are empowering my judgments.  So, am I rightly understanding both of them?

Babaji Maharaj:   You see, one thing that is important, you need to overcome emotions first.  Because emotions can be your strength, but sometimes it can be your weakness also.  You may not be able to make a proper judgment.  A proper judgment in my opinion, when you are able to consider a larger cause – is the other person’s action causing damage or harm to a larger cause, to a country, to an institution, to any such thing.  Based on that, you make a judgment and take a decision.  Then you are not making any judgment or discrimination on the particular person.  But you are making a judgment and discrimination on that person’s actions.  Then you will not worry whatever that person is thinking in the mind. 

For me, important is what that person is acting upon.  That action I need to stop.  Like an army of one country would like to defend their country when another country’s army invades them.  They won’t be thinking what these soldiers are thinking in their mind.  Their thing is, “These soldiers are attacking my country, their action is wrong.  So, I am going to defend my country again against them and drive them away.  If necessary, I will kill them.” 

So, that is how they would have overcome all emotions.  They judge simply based on the actions.  If such a person is harmful for a larger cause, then you make him stay away.  Whatever way that is possible.  So, that is what is important.  Important is to overcome emotions.  Emotionally, when people can make mistakes and unnecessarily selfishness can happen, one has to be very careful.  That is what Krishna taught, “Always try to take a decision based on a larger cause.”  Why a soldier is respected so much; we have to be grateful to a soldier – because he is protecting a larger cause, a huge country; with that a huge culture, a huge character, huge subjects, everybody.  So, all these things are involved.  So, that is how one has to take a decision. 

Ma Ambaji:   There is another question, Baba.  So, when we forgive without judgment, is this not justified?

Babaji Maharaj:   Without judgment, you forgive; that happens only when you are not harmed.  And that other person is not harming anybody, then you don’t have to make any judgment at all. 

Ma Ambaji:   Another question has come.  How does ego impair our judgments?

Babaji Maharaj:   Ego always brings in selfishness.  Such people always if you observe make one set of justice for themselves, they talk another set of justice to others.  They might tell others to meditate, but they themselves wouldn’t have meditated properly.  That’s how things happen.  And they will be criticizing all others’ meditations, “This is wrong, that person is not doing,” but they themselves wouldn’t have done anything properly.  That’s what is the ego; ego crops up everywhere.  Ego people are always selfish, and they turn to tricks.  They talk something to defend themselves.  They talk something else for others.  So, that type of thing crops up because of ego.  Ego is because of selfishness.  They will always be selfish.  They will not even see larger cause also. 

Ma Ambaji:   Baba, there is one more question.  How do we judge our own thoughts and actions in the right way so that we do underestimate our own skills and capabilities?

Babaji Maharaj:   When your mind is pure, you will always do the right things.  Mind is the powerhouse.  It is the mind which induces you to become greedy, selfish, all these things.  Through spiritual exercises, rightful spiritual exercises, if the mind becomes purified, then you will be able to understand your own faults easily.  You will not behave like that one.  You will just mind your business to do your spiritual exercises.  You will talk less.  You won’t go on talking too much.  That disturbs the mind, runs; mind spins, spins, spins, spins, spins, spins.  That must cool down.  That is necessary.  “Talk less.  Work more.”  That is what Swamiji used to tell.  So, that is how you can overcome these things.  You will know. 

Because sitting here, every one of you knows your mind.  Only when you overstep on your conscience and justify your actions, then you do wrong things.  Many times you get to see in the society, people, often they overstep on their conscience.  Not the consciousness, conscience, right, what I am telling.  They overstep and go on telling, “I am the right person.”  Slowly, slowly, they get into such an ego and think, “I am the king.  I can do anything I want.”  Like the old saying, “Power and money corrupts people.”  When these two things come together, very rarely in history, people have not become corrupted, have served people, have worked for people always.  That is possible when you meditate deeply; that only purifies your mind.  

Final answer is meditation.  Understanding the right technique.  Just watch in between eyebrows.  Don’t make any judgments during meditation.  Don’t try to think anything, don’t try to do anything; you just watch.  Then your mind slowly gives up its long habits.  Since time immemorial, so many lives would have passed by that it has acquired habits; it will give up all such things.  The judgmental habit goes.  If you get to see me in my daily life, you will see me as if I am also behaving like anyone of you ordinarily.  But my mind never makes any judgment.  I am at peace all the time.  Nobody is my friend.  Nobody is my enemy.  But I will take cane if necessary when anybody is misbehaving.  Nobody should take me granted as a teacher I tell my students.  I don’t want people to take me granted, that’s why I don’t tell about my mind too much. 

End of Questions and Answers

Babaji Maharaj now concludes:

   I love all of you.  May my Divine Guru bless all of you to do sadhana. 

Thank you Ambaji for these beautiful questions and a beautiful topic that you all chose.  It gave such a beautiful opportunity for me.  Everything that I have spoken and told is only for educational purpose, for everybody to learn, not to accuse anybody, any group of individuals, any individual, please.  Always just for teaching.  Nobody should think that this was directed against them.  Everybody has something to learn.  And the life is the best teacher if you want to learn.  We all have learned from life.  A person who refuses to learn in life is really condemned.  The life teaches you.  Every moment it teaches you to become purified, to realize your real Self, to remind you of the impermanence of the universe and your own physical body.  Every moment!  You know, just like Ravanasura thought he can lift the Mount Kailasa.  And Lord Shiva just pressed with His toe finger and it was hard for Ravana.  Like that the death button the Divine is keeping.  All of us like Ravanasura think that we can lift Mount Kailasa.  And the Divine just presses a little bit here.  Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram.  Don’t forget this truth.  Practice meditation.  May you all be blessed by the divine Guru Shivabalayogi. 

End of Session