You can do these exercises either by merely thinking, or you can reinforce this practice by adding
a visualization: when you inhale, imagine that their negativity and sufferings enter your heart as
black soot, or smoke, and when you exhale white light shines from your heart and touches those
beings in distress, removing all their sufferings. Do that for each cycle of breath, and by gradually
increasing the spectrum of people in front of you, eventually include those you feel neutral toward,
and then enemies.
B)
These first two meditations address the sense of separation by reaching out to them with your own
well-being. Shantideva, however, in his “The Way of the Bodhisattva”, suggests an additional set of
practices based on exchanging oneself and others. They focus on something of particular
importance, which is developing antidotes to pride, competitiveness and jealousy. Arrogance,
rivalry and envy are considered among the main causes of problems and sufferings, and are a
major hindrance to developing genuine compassion. Furthermore, pride, rivalry and envy often
follow in the wake of any positive mindset – such as compassion – and can directly destroy the
beneficial qualities of altruism and benevolence. Shantideva recommends these practices to
develop antidotes that will counteract those mental toxins.
When performing this meditation of exchange, think of people that you consider either being
inferior, equal or superior to you. Towards the people that you feel are inferior to you, you most
probably have pride; towards the ones you consider above yourself, or that have more, you may
feel envious. In this exercise you meditate on exchanging yourself with them.
Imagine, for example, being somebody that is jealous of you. Put yourself in their position. Feel the
person’s envy. Feel how they must be struggling with their jealousy, how they are besieged with
that wretched feeling. From that position of being jealous, look at your former self, with all the great
qualities and possessions, but also imbued with arrogance and pride. Seeing yourself as that
haughty person will help you to realize how wrong it is to be arrogant, and contemptuous, towards
others; this will decrease your pride.
Again do this meditation by exchanging yourself with somebody that you feel is equal to you. See
how it must feel for that person when you, as your normal self, are in a state of competition and
rivalry. Experience how this does not feel pleasant. Once you realize this, it will decrease your urge
to feel superior to the other. For the third group of people, meditate on exchanging position, by
using a person you consider above you, and who is very proud and arrogant. Go through the same
process again. Look at your usual self in a jealous and envious frame of mind. From such a shift in
perspective, you will see how futile and meaningless your behavior is, and it will decrease your
own jealousy.
Meditating on all three constellations will cultivate a view that is detached from your normal self-
clinging, and will develop insight and compassion (see also
in this volume). These
practices are very helpful, particularly in difficult situations that we all certainly encounter. When
feeling proud, tending towards rivalry, or with envy, recalling these meditations will serve as
antidotes. They will rid us of these defilements that only cause suffering – in us and in others.
3. A Meditation on Developing Equanimity
Imagine yourself to be sitting between two groups of people. You, in the center, are calm,
balanced, your reasonable self. Looking to your right you see another version of yourself, imbued
with your self-clinging attitude, full of pride and not considering others. To your left, visualize a
small group of people that are destitute, in pain and without recourse to helping, money or shelter.
You, in the middle, are an unbiased, sensible person. Consider that those people on both sides of
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