As the older son nears his father’s house he catches the sound of music on the air. Music
has become ubiquitous in our world, almost a wallpaper of sound, but in Jesus’ day musicians
would have to be gathered, signaling a special event. As he draws closer the music is mingled
with the sound of laughter, and he see dancers flashing past the windows; a very festive
gathering is in progress. To discern what was happening he would have had to come quite
close to the house, but rather than stepping inside to see what had caused the celebration, he
calls to a servant to explain. This action could be interpreted as his way of showing
consideration for his father, not wishing to meddle into something that was not his affair. But if
that were the case, why did he ask the servant, “what this meant,” in much the same manner as
asking, “What is the meaning of this?” The tone Jesus gives this question indicates the older
son was probably feeling agitated long before he was told the reason for the party. Was he
offended because a servant hadn’t come ahead of time to inform him his brother was home
and invite him to the party, or had he walked to his father’s house expecting to find something
he didn’t approve of? Already displeased that a celebration was going on, the elder son
becomes even angrier when reason for the party is confirmed. When the servant invites him to
join the festivities, he flatly refuses. He has made a judgment and therefore perceives the
celebration as a problem.
Some dictionaries give the same definition for the words knowledge and
perception, but from a spiritual standpoint they could hardly be more disparate.
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary does hit closer to the mark in identifying knowledge
as, “the range of one’s information or understanding.” In our Father’s case, that
range is all-inclusive; His knowledge is power because there’s no uncertainty
involved. On the other hand, Webster’s aligns perception with awareness that’s
gathered through the physical senses. Because its dependant on the body,
perception at it’s best is variable, temporary, limited and uncertain. Each of us
perceives from a different perspective, gleaning information through our senses and filtering it
through our brain. Therefore, as stated earlier by several researchers, it’s impossible for
objective reality and truth to exist in the explicate order. By choosing separation we traded
knowledge for perception. Perception is slave to duality, and duality encourages judgment.
Judgment is simply the process of evaluation that’s based on the selective use
of our limited perception. The false mind has convinced us we need judgment as a tool to
organize our lives. It offers us the dualities of good/bad or right/wrong, and encourages us to fit
every action, thought, experience and thing into one category or the other. Nothing in our
illusion can be innately good or bad, right or wrong, but when we use these criteria
as the basis for judgment, it brings something else into existence; judgments create
“problems.” A “problem” is something we have assigned to the bad/wrong category. The false
mind encourages judgments and the problems they create because they make us feel
uncomfortable or unhappy until we manage to correct or eliminate them. The stronger our belief
in good/bad, right/wrong, the more judgments we’ll make and the more problems we’ll perceive.
In reality, the slippery slope of duality>judgment>problems cannot exist, yet in our dream we
seem to be confronted by problems at every turn. Although the false mind supports the
belief that problems originate outside us, the truth is, absolutely nothing is a
problem unless we make a judgment about it and label it as such.
has become ubiquitous in our world, almost a wallpaper of sound, but in Jesus’ day musicians
would have to be gathered, signaling a special event. As he draws closer the music is mingled
with the sound of laughter, and he see dancers flashing past the windows; a very festive
gathering is in progress. To discern what was happening he would have had to come quite
close to the house, but rather than stepping inside to see what had caused the celebration, he
calls to a servant to explain. This action could be interpreted as his way of showing
consideration for his father, not wishing to meddle into something that was not his affair. But if
that were the case, why did he ask the servant, “what this meant,” in much the same manner as
asking, “What is the meaning of this?” The tone Jesus gives this question indicates the older
son was probably feeling agitated long before he was told the reason for the party. Was he
offended because a servant hadn’t come ahead of time to inform him his brother was home
and invite him to the party, or had he walked to his father’s house expecting to find something
he didn’t approve of? Already displeased that a celebration was going on, the elder son
becomes even angrier when reason for the party is confirmed. When the servant invites him to
join the festivities, he flatly refuses. He has made a judgment and therefore perceives the
celebration as a problem.
Some dictionaries give the same definition for the words knowledge and
perception, but from a spiritual standpoint they could hardly be more disparate.
Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary does hit closer to the mark in identifying knowledge
as, “the range of one’s information or understanding.” In our Father’s case, that
range is all-inclusive; His knowledge is power because there’s no uncertainty
involved. On the other hand, Webster’s aligns perception with awareness that’s
gathered through the physical senses. Because its dependant on the body,
perception at it’s best is variable, temporary, limited and uncertain. Each of us
perceives from a different perspective, gleaning information through our senses and filtering it
through our brain. Therefore, as stated earlier by several researchers, it’s impossible for
objective reality and truth to exist in the explicate order. By choosing separation we traded
knowledge for perception. Perception is slave to duality, and duality encourages judgment.
Judgment is simply the process of evaluation that’s based on the selective use
of our limited perception. The false mind has convinced us we need judgment as a tool to
organize our lives. It offers us the dualities of good/bad or right/wrong, and encourages us to fit
every action, thought, experience and thing into one category or the other. Nothing in our
illusion can be innately good or bad, right or wrong, but when we use these criteria
as the basis for judgment, it brings something else into existence; judgments create
“problems.” A “problem” is something we have assigned to the bad/wrong category. The false
mind encourages judgments and the problems they create because they make us feel
uncomfortable or unhappy until we manage to correct or eliminate them. The stronger our belief
in good/bad, right/wrong, the more judgments we’ll make and the more problems we’ll perceive.
In reality, the slippery slope of duality>judgment>problems cannot exist, yet in our dream we
seem to be confronted by problems at every turn. Although the false mind supports the
belief that problems originate outside us, the truth is, absolutely nothing is a
problem unless we make a judgment about it and label it as such.
It would seem to be far simpler to navigate our
dualistic illusion if a uniform criterion for good/bad,
right/wrong existed, but our belief in separation demands
that each of us devise our own set of values and
standards. Unfortunately, this means our ethics often
collide with the differing value systems of others, leading
to the creation of more “problems.” Our belief in
specialness drives the erroneous conviction that
our standards are correct and others should
adapt to our way of perceiving things. When we
judge someone else’s ideas or behaviors to be a
problem, we then feel justified in attacking them
to rectify matters. We become so comfortable with our
own standards and judgments, so certain we’re correct,
we’re shocked when we discover someone else has
judged us to be the problem!
dualistic illusion if a uniform criterion for good/bad,
right/wrong existed, but our belief in separation demands
that each of us devise our own set of values and
standards. Unfortunately, this means our ethics often
collide with the differing value systems of others, leading
to the creation of more “problems.” Our belief in
specialness drives the erroneous conviction that
our standards are correct and others should
adapt to our way of perceiving things. When we
judge someone else’s ideas or behaviors to be a
problem, we then feel justified in attacking them
to rectify matters. We become so comfortable with our
own standards and judgments, so certain we’re correct,
we’re shocked when we discover someone else has
judged us to be the problem!
The Elder Brother
Chapter Nine
Now his elder son was in the field; and as
he came and drew near to the house he
heard music and dancing. And he called
one of the servants and asked what this
meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother
has come, and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has received him
safe and sound.' But he was angry and
refused to go in. His father came out and
entreated him. . ."
Luke 15: 25-28
he came and drew near to the house he
heard music and dancing. And he called
one of the servants and asked what this
meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother
has come, and your father has killed the
fatted calf, because he has received him
safe and sound.' But he was angry and
refused to go in. His father came out and
entreated him. . ."
Luke 15: 25-28
The Elder Brother
Judgment, Problems and the
Loss of Peace
Loss of Peace
| Copyright © 2007 Oroborus Books Lee and Steven Hager |
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