and when we open our heart to experience their joy as our own.
1 . Imagine the person who has something that you envy.
2 . Recognize your shared humanity. You can refer to the
previous practice or simply focus on the hopes, dreams, fears,
disappointments, and suffering of the person you envy.
Recognize that, just like you, the person you envy wishes to
achieve happiness and to avoid even the slightest suffering.
3 . Imagine how happy what they have must make them. Think
about what it must mean to them and to their family that they
have what you envy. The car, the house, or the position may be
a source of great satisfaction. Try to expand your heart to
include them and their good fortune. Rejoice in their good
fortune. Rejoice in the fact that they do not need your help
because they have helped themselves.Suffering, Adversity, and Illness—A Lojong Practice
A fundamental premise of Tibetan mind training, or lojong, is to take
whatever suffering and adversity you experience into your spiritual
practice and use it to help you grow and develop. Let’s say you have a
difficult boss. You can see this as a challenge to become more
responsible, tougher, and more resilient. If you are in a car accident and
your car was totaled, rather than focusing on the loss of your car, you can
be grateful that you were not harmed. If you experience a financial crisis,
or even bankruptcy, you can see the experience as an opportunity to
empathize with others who are going through similar hardship and to
expand your capacity for empathy and compassion. As the Archbishop
said, there are some aspects of empathy and compassion that can only be
discovered through suffering.
1 . Think of where you are experiencing suffering or adversity.
2 . Think of others who are experiencing the same situation.