When we judge another person with harshness or cruelty, we do so by holding that judgment within ourselves physically, within our body and brain. The fundamental harm is done to us and not the other person.
When a harsh judgment comes from us. Our body, our brain, our physiology and neurotransmitters create and hold that judgment toward another.
The instant we create harsh judgment toward another, we become the target of our own disruptive thoughts and feeling. When feeling ill will towards another, we cultivate physical discord in ourselves. We become the person injured, the person who actually suffers.
The location and effect of a negative judgment toward another person has little or no affect on that person but wrecks havoc in us… physically, mentally and emotionally; it tears us down. It compromises our integrity: the physical integrity of a body that works well, the mental integrity of a mind that works with clearly, and the emotional integrity of feeling good about life and who we are.
It is important and necessary to make decisions about other people regarding issues of safety or whether we want them in our lives. We may meet someone we judge to be dangerous and not want them in our lives, or we may know someone who is clearly fine and decent who just does not fit into our lives… that is a question of compatibility, not harsh judgment.
