60. The Practice of Immeasurable Impartiality
Longchen Nyingtik Meditation 60
The Beginning
Take refuge and arouse bodhicitta.
The Main Part
Meditate: For now, I am keen on people close to me—my parents, friends, and relatives, while averse to foes—harm-doers, enemies, and illness-causing spirits. But this kind of bias is unjustified. Why? It is because in past lives, my present enemies had been my relatives and friends, and my present relatives and friends, my past enemies.
All relationships are not fixed, which is evident even during one lifetime alone. For instance, if I try to be agreeable to my nemesis, he may turn into a helping friend or even become a part of my family. On the other hand, from fighting over an inheritance, arguing, or negligence, friends and relatives today may turn into my worst adversaries tomorrow; worse, I may even lose my very life by their hand.
Throughout the past, present, and future, the reversal of relationships from intimacy to hostility and vice versa is quite evident; the designation of friends and enemies are thus indeterminate. Therefore, resolve: I must cast off all attachment or aversion that involves holding friends close or keeping foes at a distance. I will maintain an attitude of equanimity toward friends and enemies, and treat everyone without prejudice.
When you meditate, start from one person as your object, then two, three, ten, one hundred, one thousand people, continuing extending until you embrace all the sentient beings in the vast space with great impartiality, free from a fixed frame of reference.
Reminder
When you become adept in the practice of bodhicitta, you can actually see the equality between friends and enemies. Frankly, it’s not implausible to attain this realization in one lifetime. By persistent long-term practice, your mind will gradually bend in this direction.
The Conclusion
Dedicate all the merit of your practice to all sentient beings.
