In order to do this practice of equanimity towards different beings,
Let's first take a moment to settle our body,
Speech and mind in their natural state,
Relaxing our muscles and allowing our awareness to descend into the somatic space of the body,
Simply noticing our tactile sensations as we breathe naturally,
Letting go of tension with each out-breath and relaxing into the experience of stillness.
Within this relaxed experience,
Let's take a moment to generate a positive motivation for our practice,
Bringing to mind our highest aspirations that are related to our spiritual or psychological growth and the way we want to treat others,
Expanding this motivation so that it includes the benefit of many beings and the world at large.
And with this is our foundation,
First bringing our awareness to ourselves as a person,
Taking a moment to recognize the fact that we,
As a person,
As a being,
Naturally want happiness,
Naturally want to avoid suffering and allow these two desires to drive us towards all the things that we do.
We are subjects to our experience and we do want happiness and freedom.
However,
We don't always realize this with regards to other beings and their desires.
Instead of perceiving them as beings,
As subjects,
We tend to see them as mere functions that can bring us joy or sorrow.
And so to counteract that tendency of objectification,
We will look at the three categories of beings that exist in our mind.
And to do that,
We first imagine a being that for us belongs to the category of friends,
Loved ones,
People or beings that we like.
And then in addition to this friendly being or the being that we perceive as a friend,
We imagine someone neutral,
A so-called stranger,
Essentially an object of our indifference,
Someone that we're familiar with,
But at the same time someone that is neither an object of our aversion nor our attraction,
A somewhat neutral being.
And then to complete this circle of beings that we contemplate,
We also think of a so-called enemy or a being that we dislike in one way or another,
A being that we wouldn't be comfortable spending time with,
Or a being that we strongly dislike.
And so in the space in front of us are these three beings,
A friend,
A stranger or a neutral person and an enemy.
And as we contemplate them,
The first thing to do is to ask ourselves,
Why do I consider this first person a friend?
What's the reason?
What's the logic?
Why am I indifferent towards the second person?
Why is this third person a so-called enemy,
An object of my aversion?
As we contemplate these beings,
We really pay close attention to our answers,
Our reasoning,
And then we analyze these answers.
Are these beings a friend,
A stranger and an enemy from their own side?
Or do they only belong to these categories with regards to my personal context,
My judgments,
Me?
Is it possible for them to switch categories?
For example,
Is it possible for a friend to become a stranger or an enemy,
And so forth?
And then a deeper level of analysis.
Is it possible that from their own side,
These three beings equally want happiness and freedom from suffering?
Is it possible that it's this underlying wish that drives them to do what they do,
However beautiful or misguided?
Whatever the conclusion is,
We take a moment to really rest in it with our mind.
And on the basis of that,
We gently open our heart towards all these beings,
And of course ourselves.
We recognize that each being is a subject that experiences happiness and suffering.
And from their own side,
All beings,
Including myself,
Wants to be happy and free.
And so if we just take a step back from our individual context,
Our conceptual greed of reality,
We would see that all beings deserve greater happiness,
Greater wisdom,
Greater kindness,
Greater freedom from suffering.
With this understanding,
We can rest in an experience of kinship.
Our mutual interdependence,
Interbeing,
Interconnectedness,
Where we don't have to close our heart for specific beings while only opening it for others.
Our mind can become like the earth itself,
Equally welcoming,
Equally open and spacious,
Which does not negate discernment and being able to see that contextually some things are wholesome and some are not.
And so for a short while,
Before concluding this practice,
We rest in this experience of kinship.
Equal openness towards all these different categories of beings,
Which are mere projections from our own side.
And to that we can add the wish,
May all beings attain the state of equanimity,
Equal open-heartedness.
And heartness.
The openness of heart,
Where no one is excluded from our aspirations,
Our boundless aspirations for greater happiness and freedom.
And so it is with these aspirations that we conclude this practice,
Dedicating our effort,
Our energy towards greater equanimity,
Greater kindness,
Greater compassion,
Greater empathetic joy,
And essentially greater happiness for all beings.
May they all abide in the great equanimity and great openness of heart.
And with this,
We bring our awareness back to the body,
Just to ground ourselves.
And then we invite the bell.
