Treating others like oneself
Today, remember that the creature or person in front of you also fears harm.
- Read · about 2 minutes
All tremble at the rod,all fear death.Treating others like oneself,neither kill nor incite to kill.…All tremble at the rod,all love life.Treating others like oneself,neither kill nor incite to kill.Dhammapada 129–130 · chapter 10, “The Rod” · tr. Bhikkhu Sujato (CC0)
From the text
The two verses say that all beings tremble at the rod, an instrument of beating, that all fear death, and that all love life. Because of this, they instruct: treating others like yourself, do not kill and do not incite others to kill.
In everyday life
The 'rod' is a stick used to strike, and the verses use it to name something every living thing shares: the flinch. We all pull back from being hurt and we all hold on to life. The verse then makes a single move, which is to put you in the other's place: treating others like oneself. The instruction that follows is the most basic one, not to kill or have others kill, but one way to take the verse is that the move behind it reaches much further. A person you are annoyed with also flinches. The spider on the wall also holds on to its life. Today's sit is about arriving in your own body: notice how it relaxes when it feels safe and tightens when it does not. Carry that felt sense out of the sit and into one small decision about how you treat someone.
- Sit · 3, 5 or 10 minutes
Arriving and Settling
Sit upright on a chair or cushion, hands resting in your lap. Read each cue as it appears; between cues you may close your eyes or lower your gaze.
- Live · during your day
Once today, when you are about to swat an insect, snap at someone, or push past a person, pause and remember that they also fear harm. Then choose what to do.
- Reflect · this evening
Where did you notice another being's flinch today, and how did it affect what you did?
Answer on paper, or in the app’s journal, which stays on your iPhone.