How Meditation Can Help You Cope With Your Enemies

I was recently listening to a guided meditation on loving-kindness by Sharon Salzberg and underneath the audio file on the webpage was the following, so I thought I’d share it with you as it may help some of you. 

“QUESTION: Sometimes I can include the whole world in my loving-kindness meditation – except a couple of people I’m really upset with. What should I do when I come up against that feeling?

ANSWER: The Dalai Lama said, “If you have an enemy and you think about them all the time – their faults and what they’ve done, and your grievances – then you can’t really enjoy anything. You can’t eat; you can’t get a good night’s sleep. Why give them that satisfaction?” It’s common sense: The more absorbed we are in another person’s state of mind, the more obsessed by them, the less free we are. So it’s often out of compassion for ourselves that we practice loving-kindness – which may not necessarily mean liking these people but can mean developing a different perspective about them. You can start with remembering that all of us want to be happy – including people who aren’t doing a very skillful job of it.”

Not being emotionally hijacked by someone who may do or say things intended to hurt you is another major benefit of the regular practice of meditation. 

Being able to let any negative feelings go whilst remaining calm is not only real freedom it is good for your physical and mental health too.

Try it and see.