Bob Schwartz

My view sometimes, maybe yours sometimes, is to see myself as superior. It may not be direct or obvious. Holding an opinion of someone or something, what to do or not to do, what to believe or not believe, is seemingly just application of our knowledge, experience and reason. But underneath may be this: I know better, or maybe, I am better.

A step back from viewing ourselves as superior is to view all others as equal to us. Not just in the sense of legal and moral rights and judgments, but as a matter of being, theirs and ours. To see others , detailed differences aside, as needing and wanting exactly what we need and want, as suffering exactly as we suffer. As being equal.

If this seems hard, it is. Think of the person you have most criticized or reviled in recent days and say: He is just like me. I am not superior to him. He and I are equals. Hard indeed.

But it gets harder.

Eight Verses for Training the Mind says:

Whenever I am in the company of others,
May I regard myself as inferior to all
And from the depths of my heart
Cherish others as supreme.

As I said, harder. But incomparably valuable, if we are to move ourselves away from always or often putting ourselves first.