So take a few moments to make sure your mind is settled down in the here and now,
Clear of thoughts about the past or the future or other things not related to what we're doing here.
So you can watch the breath,
Be aware of the breathing coming in and going out for a few minutes.
That's a really good way of settling down.
And then we'll do meditation on the development of bodhicitta,
The altruistic intention.
So we've been going through the points of the meditation called equalizing and exchanging self for others.
This is one of the main methods for developing bodhicitta.
And the last couple of weeks we meditated on the faults or the shortcomings of self-centeredness,
Selfishness.
And tonight we'll move on to the next point which is meditating on the advantages,
The benefits of the opposite attitude which is cherishing others or altruism.
So there's one saying that is in the teachings like in the Lamrim that even though we ourselves and the Buddha,
Shakyamuni Buddha,
Have been in samsara from beginningless time,
But the Buddha already got out of samsara a long time ago.
And not only did he get out of samsara but he reached the state of full enlightenment,
Buddhahood.
So he did that long ago and yet we are still in samsara,
Circling in samsara,
Dying and taking rebirth over and over and over again.
So why is that?
How come he got out of samsara and we're still in it?
And so the answer is because the Buddha decided to stop being self-centered,
Stop indulging in the self-centered attitude.
He once had it too.
He was once self-centered but he decided no,
I'm going to stop doing that.
I'm going to stop being that way and instead I'm going to cherish others.
So he worked really hard to bring about that transformation in his mind and train his mind to be more concerned about others and less concerned about self.
And that enabled him to follow the Bodhisattva's path and attain enlightenment.
And so if we feel inspired by the Buddha's example,
Then this is what we need to do as well.
We need to make that kind of switch,
Kind of change in our mind.
But we shouldn't do this with a sense of being forced or being pushed.
You know,
Like,
Oh,
I don't really want to do this but my teacher tells me I have to do it.
So,
You know,
We do it with great reluctance.
So that's not the right attitude.
Instead,
We need to want to bring about this change in our mind coming from a recognition that it is a better state of mind.
Cherishing others is far better than cherishing ourselves.
And so that's the best attitude to have,
To really see for ourselves that it's better to cherish others than to cherish ourselves and then want to make that change in our mind.
So let's contemplate some of the benefits of cherishing others.
So in the Buddhist teachings,
It is said again and again that cherishing others,
Caring for others with compassion and love is the source of all good and happiness.
So we need to check to see if this is really the case or not.
So one thing that is helpful is to think about just things that happen in the world,
Either,
You know,
The whole world globally or even just in our own community,
Our own city or town or the community of people we know and we're involved with.
So bring to mind some actions that were done by people out of kindness and compassion.
So there's actually lots of these happening every day,
Even if they're not reported on the news.
The news usually reports all the awful things that happen,
Doesn't say much about the good things,
But there are lots and lots of good things every single day,
Every single minute.
There are,
For example,
Doctors and nurses and psychologists and social workers who are really working hard to take care of people who have problems,
Sickness,
Injuries,
Emotional problems,
Mental problems,
Addiction problems.
So there's lots of that going on everywhere in your own community and in communities and cities all around the world.
So just contemplate that and understand that these kind of actions are done with an attitude of kindness,
Caring for others,
Cherishing others,
And just try to recognize how beneficial those actions are.
And there are lots of organizations working very hard to relieve suffering.
Just some of the more famous ones are like UNICEF,
Red Cross,
Doctors Without Borders,
The World Central Kitchen that's providing meals,
Millions of meals to people who are hungry and in difficulties like in Ukraine.
So those are the famous organizations,
But there's lots of others that are smaller,
But they're still working very,
Very hard collecting donations and then using those donations to bring medical help,
To bring food and clothes and shelter and relieving the suffering of sentient beings,
Of human beings and also animals.
So just think about those kind of actions that are happening again every single day,
Every minute,
Somewhere in the world,
Those kind of actions are being done.
So try to recognize how fantastic it is that there are people acting with altruism,
With this attitude of cherishing others.
And it could also be helpful to think about what the world would be like if people didn't have that kind of attitude of caring for others,
Recognizing the suffering of others and being compassionate and wanting to relieve that suffering and putting their time and energy and their money into doing that.
So what would the world be like if there wasn't such compassionate altruistic actions taking place?
Now bring to mind an act of kindness,
An act of compassion that you yourself have done recently or further back in time.
Maybe you noticed somebody who is in need of help and you stepped up and offered your help to that person,
Even if it was just something small and simple like helping someone find directions to where they were trying to go or helping somebody carry a heavy bag.
Bring that experience to mind and just think about how that action affected the other person and also how it affected yourself.
So now see if you can come to a conclusion about what you understood,
What you realized from this meditation about this attitude of cherishing others,
Being less self-centered,
More concerned for others.
If you can recognize that that is a more beneficial attitude than self-centeredness,
Then see if you can make the determination to work on that,
Work on increasing that attitude and decreasing self-centeredness.
