Should Mindfulness Be Nonjudgmental?

“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop a positive vision.” –Dalai Lama

Mindfulness is the mental skill of focusing your awareness on the present, while accepting the emotions and thoughts that come to you. Whereas awareness is a cognitive skill, acceptance is an evaluative ability. In that case, can acceptance be nonjudgmental?

A Prevailing View of Nonjudgment

“Mindfulness is awareness without criticism or judgment.” –Jan Chozen Bays

Mindfulness commonly refers to self-regulated attention relating to openness and acceptance, while being calm and nonjudgmental (Kabat-Zinn, 2003). When practicing mindfulness, nonjudgment often means discarding our automatic judgments, especially the negative ones, and accepting the present as it is. Acceptance may be defined as the act of agreeing with something and approving it, especially regarding unpleasant, difficult situations. When we interact with others, nonjudgmental behavior is a way of accepting people with whom we disagree, while not implementing our own biases.

The term “nonjudgmental” has various meanings. Two particularly relevant ones regarding mindfulness are (a) not forming normative opinions too quickly, especially when disapproving of someone, and (b) without evaluation. While the first meaning is indeed essential in mindfulness, the second one is problematic.

It is often claimed that mindfulness requires adopting an impartial view of our experience while choosing not to judge them and realizing that these experiences are natural.

Mindfulness

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I agree that a major task of mindfulness is eliminating ongoing negative thoughts about ourselves and others, and one way of doing so is by distancing ourselves from our experience while taking an impartial attitude. However, an additional essential way is also to adopt a profound positive attitude. Indeed, traditional Buddhist contexts include judgment, or at least an evaluative direction of one’s observation (Shulman, 2024). Such a profound positive attitude involves respecting other people while considering them of the same equal basic value as us. Humility is such an attitude.

The Virtue of Humility

“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.” –Saint Augustine

Humility is generally considered to be an important virtue in Buddhism, as well as in other major religions and moral viewpoints. Its characterization, however, is complex. A prevailing view claims that a humble person underestimates their worth. This view also exists in Buddhism. Thus, the Karmapa claims that “wherever I am, whomever I’m with… I regard myself as lower than all others. And from the depths of my heart… I hold them as supreme and cherish them.” I believe that this is a mistaken view of humility. Albert Einstein was humble, but he still clearly recognized his exceptional accomplishments in physics.

I suggest an alternative view in which humility involves a profound evaluative belief in the equal basic human value of all people. This belief relies on the common nature and fate of human beings, which dwarf other differences. Hence, the humble person perceives every person as entitled to respect while having an equal status and autonomy to them. In addition to this basic evaluative framework, humility also involves a secondary comparative framework that evaluates aspects, such as professional standing or a unique talent. Accordingly, humility involves a nonsuperior behavior toward other people that prohibits insulting them. Humility does not oblige denying our superior position within the secondary comparative framework. Because of this, there is no conflict between humility and accurately perceiving reality. Humility requires that we do not exaggerate the value of the secondary framework when considering our overall value (Ben-Ze’ev, 1993; 2000: 517–523; 2020).

In its profound egalitarian sense, humility is also central in Buddhism, enabling not merely the prevention of arrogance, hatred, and other negative attitudes, but also the nurturing of the path to enlightenment and liberation. The Zen tenet that speaks of dropping your ego while acting according to it can be explained by referring to humility that considers one’s personal achievements as secondary to the real essence of equal human value. Indeed, studies indicate that mindfulness is positively related to humility (Thornburg-Suresh & McElroy-Heltzel, 2025).

Dynamic Calmness

“Calmness of mind does not mean you should stop your activity. Real calmness should be found in the activity itself. It is easy to have calmness in inactivity, but calmness in activity is true calmness.” –Shunryu Suzuki

The presence of two evaluative frameworks is evident in another central major aspect of mindfulness, namely, calmness. In everyday terms, calmness refers to the absence of agitation or excitement. When we say that the weather is calm, we mean that we don’t anticipate storms, high winds, or rough waves anytime soon. However, though calmness is free of negative elements, such as tension, agitation, or distress, it also involves profound, positive activities that enhance flourishing. This kind of dynamic calmness involves positive acceptance associated with meaningful intrinsic activities, such as mindfulness, which nurture balanced human flourishing.

Concluding Remarks

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” –Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Mindfulness involves two major approaches: (a) a nonjudgmental cognitive approach enabling us to overcome our negative biases and accept the present experiences, and (b) a profound positive evaluative approach concerning ourselves and other people. The main task of the cognitive approach is to prevent mistakes; the main task of the evaluative attitude is to nurture profound positive values. In this sense, I join de Saint-Exupéry in emphasizing the importance of the evaluative heart in forming the significant mindset of positive calmness and humility, which enables us to understand and accept others while enhancing our own flourishing.