Every day, make an effort to rejoice in the success of others: particularly success with things that you want for yourself.
Think of someone and imagine him or her having a breakthrough, and find that place in yourself that makes you feel happy for that person.
Pierce through the pang of jealousy. Let your love for humanity shine through and dispel the darkness of meanness: the close-mindedness, the Gollum-face, the hardened ugliness of being petty and ungrateful.
You want children? Find that sincere happiness for your friend who just gave birth. Longing for a romantic partner? Wish that couple that just got together all the love in the world. You sometimes yearn for a bigger car, or more money? Seek out stories of your acquaintances or even strangers who "made it" recently and open your heart to spur them on, to wish them even more success.
Say a silent prayer for them, and imagine you beaming golden light of success, happiness, and fulfillment in their direction. Imagine them smiling and radiating and in complete balance.
When you hear about the success of someone, particularly if it is about something that you miss in your own life, feel that pang of jealousy — it is only human and nothing to be ashamed of. But immediately transcend it by sincerely wishing that person well. This act of transforming a pang of jealousy into something positive, generous, sincerely well-intentioned, will bring immediate happiness and joy to you — and make the world a little better.
And it will, in the long run, grow your soul and bring you the fulfillment you are craving for — although you can't know what form it will take, or when it will happen. Be prepared for positive surprises, and recognize the opportunity when it presents itself.
But what about competition, you might say? Isn't that a healthy thing that helps us push forward?
Only competition against yourself. We haven't come here to compete against others, but to compete against our own lower nature, our own mistakes and bad habits, our own illusions about ourselves and the world. Success and competitiveness come as a consequence of that. (And yes, nothing wrong with competitiveness in that sense.)
Practice this every day, and it might change your life, even if it takes some time. It might even change history.
What do you have to lose except your misery?
Reader Comments
We sure hope to be growing ^ ^ our mastery of ego plllllease 🙏🙏
Plants are welcome in my garden, weeds included.
I have a wild life pond and all is welcome 🐚 🐌 🦋 🐛 🐜 🐝 🦗 🕷 🪳 bar 🦖 🦕 there too big.
YOU got it!! YaY!! 💎
Only judgement IS the difference.
Well done WN3; as always
What a 🌟
👌
Each of us is different. We are each in a process of consciousness growth through experience. How can we work with each other, and not judge? What is judgment? There are many elements to it. One of those is that another’s actions affect me, and in fact are taken as not my way of doing things. Jesus said, “Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” What is he saying? When you judge, see it as a mirror, and your reaction is the mirror’s image. Another element, is fear of another, and then judgment is about protecting oneself. Another element, is irritation, because another does not move fast or slow enough. How to even begin? Let go. Accept the other as they are by accepting your reaction as another sense like sight.
One of the keys to a good life is gratitude. Most think of gratefulness as happening, when something occurs then we are grateful. This is a passive understanding of gratitude. You can choose to be grateful for what occurs in your life. Why? If you don’t accept your life as it is, then how can you process the experience and move from where you are? If you resent things that have occurred, aren’t you wasting your remaining time? Forgiveness is another key, because it cuts the chains of negative events in your life.
We are all aware of perspective which gives us a sense of 3 dimensional space or objects. We are seeing objects from different facets or angles. What is “perspective” in intellectual reasoning and in emotional reasoning? It is the same, different angles or facets of thoughts and emotions. By being aware that there are different perspectives, that your own perspective is not the only one, frees you from much conflict with others. In other words, you can let go, and let them be.
I will end with a Jesus quote from the Gospel of Thomas, because it is a teaching that to know your Self is the path. “When you know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will understand that you are children of the living Father. But if you do not know yourselves, then you live in poverty, and you are the poverty."
There is a Gurdjieff teaching that you have to pay for what you receive. This means everything you want has to be put into practice, you have to convert knowledge into being.
"You are not great enough to be free from jealousy. At least be great enough to not be ashamed of it."
They say that jealousy is the negative pole of the Jovian/Jupiter value of 'Happiness for others'.
Likewise:
Greed is the Lunar opposite of altruism.
Laziness is the opposite pole of Mercurian industriousness and diligence.
Lust, the negative pole of Venusian chastity.
Pride the negative vice of the Solar virtue of faith and humility.
Anger being the opposite pole of Martian conscious love.
Gluttony as the negative pole of Saturnian self-control and temperance.
As Hermes Trismegistus teaches in The Kybalion, every negative energy or vice has its pole, and one can switch and transform their negative state by going straight to the positive value or virtue. Hence, all heavy metals can be transformed into gold.
I would also say that Pride is equally as devastating and destructive, and that it comes in so many shades and disguises itself behind great walls of spirituality, religion, knowledge. There is spiritual pride, just as there is religious jealousy.
Truly.
As Vernon Howard is quoted as saying, “You have succeeded in life when all you really WANT is only what you really NEED” [Link]
Some other person sang something about 'You can't always get what you want..." but I just can't remember the name...