OUR WORLD
Just watch your mind. Do you
spend more time worrying about
your own problems and challenges or worrying about someone
else’s?
Think about these two choices
like black and white rocks on an
ancient scale. Every time you worry about yourself, stack a black
rock on one tray. And every time
you think about making someone
else happy, stack a white rock.
At the end of the day, which way
does the balance tip?
3. WATCH FOR WHAT OTHER
PEOPLE WANT.
Now wherever you go, use your eyes, ears, and
mind to pay attention to what other people want.
Try to stand in their shoes and see how they see
the world. Maybe someone just wants their talents
recognized with a little praise. Or maybe someone
is having a hard time on a project and could use an
extra hand. Or maybe someone wants a friend to
treat them to a nice dinner and listen to their stories. Stay on the look out for a chance to help like a
hero, without wanting anything in return.
4. MAKE THE EXCHANGE.
When you see some way to help someone, act. Decide that you will make efforts using whatever skills
and abilities you have to help that person get what
they want to feel happier (as long as it’s not hurting someone else, of course). When you are totally
focused on ensuring another person’s happiness,
you are transforming a habitual, human tendency
to be self-centered--that villain energy--into gaining a supernormal habit to serve other people’s
happiness first.
Just start small and build up. Anything can become
a habit of mind if you keep at it. And we are talking
about going from a normal person to a superyogi.
A most curious thing happens if you keep this practice up. Watch as you become happier and the
people in your world become happier. As Master
Shantideva explains in one of the most important
teachings ever given:
64 | NEW CONSCIOUSNESS REVIEW
The total amount of happiness
That exists in the world has come
from
Wanting to make others happy.
The total amount of suffering
That exists in the world has come
from
Wanting to make yourself happy.
So there is a reason that villains
never get happy endings. They are
only thinking about themselves.
If you keep this practice of Exchanging Self and Others going
for a while, another curious thing
can happen. You’ll get so good at
getting your small self out of the
way--and serving others as if they
were you--that according to ancient Buddhist and
Yoga texts, you can begin to be able to read minds.
As Master Patanjali explains in The Yoga Sutra,
“With the necessary cause, one can read the minds
of others.”
One fortunate thing about yogic superpowers is
that they usually only come to people who can get
their small self out of the way and care for everyone. This is why miracles in history are usually performed by saints who are focused on alleviating
the suffering of others.
True, an occasional villain slips in because powers
can be gained and then corrupted, but generally
supernormal abilities belong to saints who want
to serve others.
Let’s just hope you will use your yogic supernormal
powers for good.
About the Author
James Connor recently completed an isolated
three-year meditation retreat. He is the author
of The Superyogi Scenario, a page-turning thriller that allows readers to experience authentic
wisdom that creates superheroes. He is also
the founder of GoBeyond.org, a non-profit that
teaches people how to meditate from authentic scriptural sources in the Buddhist and Yoga
lineages. For more visit: www.byjamesconnor.
com , www.gobeyond.org.