A Meditation From The Practice Of Thinking Of Others

Often when things go wrong in my life, I tend to think about…me. When things go well, I tend to think about…me, again. I, me, mine. As humans, we’re hardwired for that. Maybe it’s how we protect ourselves. Maybe it’s one way we teach our kids to protect themselves.

What if we thought of others instead, in both instances? What if, when something went well – in our practice, in the law, in our lives - we thought, oh, I have enough. I have plenty. I’m sending this good thing, this good energy, to my friends, my family, my colleagues. To people I don’t even know. To my enemies! To all the humans. All beings. What if we did that?

Transcript

So just beginning with the body,

Locating the body,

Sensing into the body,

Dropping in,

Settling in,

Sensing the weightedness of the body,

Connected to the chair,

The cushion,

The floor,

The earth,

Seeing what is happening in the mind body right now,

Allowing for whatever is present,

So settledness or agitation,

Sadness,

Joy,

Difficulty,

Ease,

Welcoming it all,

So connected to the earth,

Connected to ourselves,

And then connecting to each other,

Connecting to one another here on the wake-up call,

Connecting to the other beings in your environment,

If you're home,

The people who share your space with you,

If you're in a workplace,

The people who share your workplace,

If you're in a car,

The people who share the road,

Acquaintances and strangers,

And even the difficult people in your life,

In the world,

And then if there is something difficult going on in your life,

Just calling it to mind,

And breathing,

Breathing into the heart,

Knowing that other people feel this way,

Have had this,

It's not just me,

It's not just you,

Recollecting the story of,

The ancient story of the mother,

Whose child died,

Bringing the child to the Buddha and asking him to bring the child back to life,

And the Buddha said,

I'll do it,

But first,

Bring me a mustard seed from a home in your village that has experienced no loss,

Of course,

After knocking on door after door,

The woman realized that she was not alone,

And she came back and said,

I can't do it,

And she became a practitioner,

So,

Encountering pain and breathing it into our heart with the recognition,

Others have this pain too,

And maybe there's something really wonderful in your life right now,

Or even a small thing,

Some small pleasure,

Some small tenderness,

And just take a moment to cherish that and to rejoice,

Feeling that goodness,

Letting it bring a smile to the lips,

And then intentionally reconnecting to the people in your environment,

Your home,

Your workplace,

Your life,

The world,

And making this wish that other people could experience this joy,

Or this relief,

Or whatever this wonderful thing is,

Or this small thing is,

Really sending it out there as if opening the hands and making a kind of offering to the world,

We can even do that right now,

Just open the hands,

And the sensation of how that feels,

How does that feel?

When life is pleasant,

Think of others,

And life is a burden,

Think of others.