Last year, a tattoo parlour opened down the road from where I live. For months, on my missions to Royal Mail or the fruit-and-veg store, I'd walk by the place giving it nary a glance -- all the while my mind making judgments. I'd turn the corner of my road, then on approach, my mind would just go on a rapid-fire litany about tattoos -- how they were this and how they were that.
Then one day, not too long ago, as I approached the parlour, the unusual happened: the judgments didn't go whizzing around my head. In this open, opinion-free zone, I looked into its window. It wasn't just a tattoo parlour, but an art gallery. Not only that, it had on its wall a framed print that I loved. I went inside to inquire about it, only to be told it had sold the day before.
Then one day, not too long ago, as I approached the parlour, the unusual happened: the judgments didn't go whizzing around my head. In this open, opinion-free zone, I looked into its window. It wasn't just a tattoo parlour, but an art gallery. Not only that, it had on its wall a framed print that I loved. I went inside to inquire about it, only to be told it had sold the day before.
Turns out this gallery had one of the few remaining prints around by this artist -- it's near impossible to find anywhere else. And had my judgments not been in control, I probably would've opened my eyes earlier. Judgments, opinions, and beliefs are all activities of the mind, not our true self. The mind likes certainty and to operate as 'I-know-best'. But in this mode, the mind acts as a block to our soul, squaring off its flow and hindering our awareness.
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