Like others have mentioned, judgment is what we do – we all form opinions. But the term is apparently mostly reserved to describe being quick to judge and being overcritical.
I’ve been interested in this quality of my own my mind for some time. But it’s not necessarily the just the negative judgments (or opinion-forming) that concerns me. Rather, the mind seems to form opinions good and bad incessantly. Listening to two people talk is to witness people taking turns as they express judgment and opinions. The judgments may be good or bad.
It’s easy to then go back to the voice in our head and see that it too is perpetually serving up judgments and opinions on everything. We like this and dislike that. One of my goals in practice has been to try to find those moments where I can see an opinion is taking shape. In that moment, I pause. Is it possible to not have an opinion – to not like or dislike something? Is it possible to find that experience unfiltered by judgment? I think the answer may be yes.
As a chronic pain sufferer, I have worked extensively to change my relationship with pain. My doctor describes it in terms of neuroplasticity. But subjectively, it means that I can experience sensations that I may (or may have) labeled as pain and not signal my “don’t like” judgment alarm. It doesn’t mean that I’m forming positive opinions. It just means that to some degree, the sensation -> identification as pain -> judgment -> experience of pain
path has been short-circuited.
I’m trying to apply this more generally to see what I can learn about the trigger-happy opinion-forming nature of the mind. I think there may be more to life than merely liking and disliking things.