sometimes you do strange things. Because you’re
lonely, you say cruel words; because you want some-
one to love you, you insult them. Exchanging yourself
for others begins to occur when you can see where
someone is because you’ve been there. It doesn’t
happen because you’re better than they are but be-
cause human beings share the same stuff. The more
you know your own, the more you’re going to under-
stand others.
When the world is filled with evil, how do we
transform unwanted situations into the path of awak-
ening? One way is to flash absolute bodhichitta. But
most of the techniques have to do with relative bod-
hichitta, which is to say, awakening our connection
with the soft spot, reconnecting with the soft spot,
not only through the stuff we like but also through
the messy stuff.
People have plenty of reasons to be angry. We have
to acknowledge this. We are angry. But blaming the
other doesn’t solve anything.
Ishi had plenty of reasons to be angry. His whole
tribe had been killed, methodically, one by one.
There was no one left but him. But he wasn’t angry.
We could learn a lesson from him. No matter what’s
happening, if we can relate to the soft spot that’s
underneath our rage and can connect with what’s
there, then we can relate to the enemy in a way
in which we can start to be able to exchange ourself
for other. Some sense of being able to communicate
Bringing All That We Meet to the Path 63