What "being judgmental" Really Is ? (Gurusfeet.com)

Judgmental is not stating an opinion or even labeling something as "good" or "bad". Being judgmental is when based on one quality of someone or something you conclude about his whole nature, about all his other qualities. You judge his wholeness based on one aspect.

People are quick in labeling statements of others as judgmental. One expresses an opinion during an argument and the other accuses him of being judgmental. We all have been in both sides of this situation, sometimes as the accuser, sometimes as the accused.

Is expression of an opinion means we are judgmental? Not necessarily!
A blind man walks on a busy highway unknowing he is about to be hit by the running cars around him. You shout at him: "hey, you are doing the wrong thing, you can't see, I can see - you are about to be hit by a car if you do not return to the sidewalk"

Have you been judgmental in your behavior with the blind man? Of course not! You were expressing an opinion, you were labeling the man's doing as wrong but still you were definitely not judgmental.

So what is judgmental then?

Judgmental does not mean stating an opinion. Even saying that something is "bad" or "good" is not necessarily judgmental (some will argue that labeling something as "good" or "bad" is wrong. That's another discussion but it is not necessarily judgmental). Not being judgemental does not mean to be opinion-less, spineless, non-skeptical, not being exquisite, being indifferent to whatever. If this was the case then no discussion or analysis of reality would be able.

Judgmental is something else. It is when based on one quality of someone or something you conclude about his whole nature, about all his other qualities. You judge his wholeness based on one aspect.

For example, it is not judgmental to say that "this man who committed a crime did a bad thing", it is an opinion (which can be accepted or not). However, it is judgmental to say that "this man who committed a crime is a bad man".

Why is it important that we will be accurate about what judgmental is? Because otherwise when we are indeed judgmental in the accurate sense, we will not notice it and being judgmental in the accurate sense is a great hindrance in our spiritual and personal development.

It is also important to remember the accurate meaning of being judgmental because next time we find ourselves feeling guilty about expressing an opinion, we could check it again to see if we were really judgmental or not and not automatically suppress the expressing of what we think and feel.